Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 91: Monstrous Bees

Chapter 91: Monstrous Bees

The two researchers were left in shock.

"Move it!" Lyra yelled, shoving them toward the cave entrance. "Tie the safety ropes now!"

They scrambled to grab the ropes.

The woman quickly secured hers, but when she glanced over, she saw her colleague awkwardly clutching a fan-shaped crystal under his arm.

Frustrated, she snatched the crystal from him and tossed it aside, tying his rope for him. "I’ll deal with you later!"

She pressed the retract button, and the device kicked into gear, lifting him up.

She was about to grab a data device just two meters away when Lyra suddenly pressed the retract button again.

"I’ll get it," Lyra insisted.

As the woman disappeared into the exit, she shouted, "Forget it! Get out of here first!"

But when she looked down, her heart froze—Lyra was being swarmed by monstrous bees.

Then, however, in a flash of bright green light, the ropes zipped upward.

Lyra, with her protective suit ripped in places, was lifted to safety. Seeing this, the woman exhaled in relief.

Seeing the device Lyra was hauling up with a light band, she felt even more relieved.

But the ominous sound of buzzing wings brought back her tension.

"They’re catching up?"

The headset crackled, and Lyra’s calm voice cut through, "They won’t catch up."

A green barrier expanded beneath Lyra’s feet, holding off the monstrous bees below, though it was slowing her down.

It was already late at night on the surface.

The man was the first to emerge, scrambling out and shouting in terror, "So many monstrous bees are after us!"

Everyone around him froze. They quickly grabbed him and asked, "Monstrous bees? What’s that?"

Bees were some of the most troublesome creatures—they swarmed. Alone, they were not strong, but in groups, they were relentless, and a big enough swarm could even take down a high-level beast!

The woman climbed out next, shouting at Kogar and the others, "Help! The intern’s still down there!"

Zorion’s eyes narrowed, and he sprinted to the edge of the drill hole. If he could block the entrance... He raised the rocket launcher in his hand, aimed at the entrance, and shouted, "If those bees get up here, we’re all dead!"

Panic spread immediately, and someone suggested, "Should we block the hole?"

"Get out of the way!" Zinnia shoved the person aside.

Thierry, thinking of Lyra’s powers, said, "Lyra can seal the entrance!"

Kogar, realizing Zorion’s true intentions, started running over, "No way!"

Two meters from the entrance, Lyra glanced up just in time to see the cold grin on Zorion’s face. The barrier beneath her suddenly expanded, wrapping around her and pressing her against the well wall.

The gap left was just enough for the monstrous bees to swarm up.

Zorion’s face twisted in panic as he tried to pull the trigger, but the fast-moving bees engulfed him, and he let out a scream.

He quickly used his powers to fling the bees away, but it only made them angrier, and they chased him with renewed fury.

Everyone else kept their distance.

After Lyra managed to make it to the surface, she quickly pulled out a series of devices to block the entrance.

Not many bees had made it out, so Zorion was rescued in time.

However, where the bees had stung him, his skin turned black and purple, and soon his whole body swelled as if he’d been soaked in water.

"Healing device, now!"

The Skywalkers brought over a healing device to treat him. While the external wounds were healed, the poison lingered, leaving him barely clinging to life.

’He’s lucky to be alive,’ Lyra thought, lowering her eyes. ’I should’ve let more out.’

At last, everyone had a moment to process what had happened below. The woman didn’t waste any time, kicking the man hard several times. "You useless fool! You nearly got us killed!"

"If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been in danger!"

The man tried to dodge her kicks, complaining, "If she, an intern, can take that much, why can’t I?"

All eyes turned to Lyra, suspicion growing. ’Is there something valuable down there? Did she...’

Feeling self-righteous, the man was about to continue his complaints, but Lyra grabbed him by the back of the neck and shoved him toward the edge of the entrance.

He kicked his legs in fear, "What are you doing? Let me go!"

Lyra pressed his face against the green barrier and whispered, "Do you have a problem here?"

Through the transparent barrier, the monstrous bees with their fuzzy bodies were clearly visible, just on the other side.

Terrified, the man squeezed his eyes shut. "No! I’m sorry, okay? It was all my mistake!"

He couldn’t believe they had just escaped such terrifying creatures.

Grains, hiding behind a researcher, muttered quietly, "So brutal."

Kail stayed silent, lips pressed together.

This uncomfortable scene made the man’s colleague feel a twinge of sympathy, and he was about to step in when the woman who had gone down with them stopped him.

"He deserves it. The monstrous bees were asleep before. We had all the data and were ready to leave, but he just had to go into the water and wake them up. She saved him, and he’s still ungrateful. If it weren’t for this intern, our equipment would’ve been destroyed by those bees, and we’d have no energy mine to find."

"They almost lost the data?" Hearing this, all the technical staff quickly backed off. "Serves him right!"

Afterward, no matter how much the Skywalkers pressed for details, the man didn’t dare say a word about what Lyra had taken.

As the researchers continued analyzing the data, trying to figure out the value of the energy mine, dawn slowly broke.

The roar of engines snapped everyone out of their thoughts, and they cheered as they looked up at the sky.

Two helicopters and a battleship, marked with the Phoenix Legion insignia, approached quickly, with fighter jets already firing at the beast horde below.

The warship landed on a flat area, and suddenly, even the fiercest roars didn’t seem so scary anymore.

Vice Admiral Oleg strode out, slapping Phillip hard on the back. "Phillip, you really are my lucky charm!"

Cohen, who followed him, wrinkled his nose in disgust. ’Is the Oleg here to save lives or make a profit?’

Erin, however, was furious about Zorion’s near-death experience. "Lyra, step forward!"

Lyra, still half-asleep, stood up to face Erin’s wrath. "It was your mistake that led to Lieutenant Zorion’s severe injury!"

"It was his own recklessness that caused this mess," Lyra replied, shrugging. "I think Lieutenant Zorion should ask himself why the monstrous bees only stung him and not anyone else."

Zinnia and the others struggled to hold back laughter, not wanting to strip away what little dignity Zorion had left.

Erin glared at Lyra, whose face resembled her cousin’s but with a cold, detached expression. She clenched her fists. "You could have blocked the bees. Why did you let them fly up? And you say it wasn’t your fault!"

"If you say so," Lyra responded calmly, as if to ask, what are you going to do about it?

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Erin realized she couldn’t do much, so she turned to Cohen to complain. "Lieutenant Commander Whyte, she admitted her mistake. She should be punished."

Cohen’s face darkened. "First, she’s my responsibility as an intern. Lieutenant Commander Shedd, you don’t need to tell me how to do my job. Second, sending an intern down the drill hole was against protocol to begin with. In a crisis, I don’t expect an intern to be responsible for protecting a Lieutenant."

He had just learned from Kogar that Zorion had actually tried to kill Lyra.

Such despicable behavior was completely out of line.