Eternal Winter's Reign - Book 2 - Chapter 59 - New Strategy (Patreon)

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Don't mind this. It's so that free readers can't see half the chapter.

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Alexander North

I end up following the hive queen for over a day, with it heading directly South of the capital. All the way to the mountain range between the capital and my original base. A place I haven’t been in a while.

Along the way, I make sure to call Cynthia over the phone just to tell her that I won’t be back for a little while.

And to my surprise, even after reaching the mountains, I still continue following the trail into them. Deep into them, in fact.

Until I eventually find the place where the hive queen is fleeing to.

One that genuinely has me gritting my teeth.

Because, now that I’m nowhere near the capital, I can clearly sense the cold energy of everything here. What with the sleeping Frozen Lord not being here.

And what I sense is another hive. Just like the one in the capital.

With another hive queen in it. Judging by the power of the energy source.

I frown at the large ravine in the middle of the mountains. A ravine most people probably wouldn’t have noticed considering the fact that only frozen ones and Symbiont Hosts can sense cold energy in the first place. And it’s a ravine directly at the peak of a large mountain in the form of a massive hole rather than a ravine.

In fact, calling it a ravine in the first place is wrong.

I stare at the bugs coming out of it for a bit before sighing and going back down the mountain.

Right. I could barely battle against one hive queen on my own, and that was with the help of the infrastructure in the capital playing to my advantage.

The chances I can fight two of them at the same time out in the middle of nowhere are pretty slim.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up.

I can tell that the Frozen Lord who spoke before isn’t focusing on me. What with its presence not being here and all. So the creature likely assumed I wouldn’t be able to defeat the two hive queens.

At least, on my own.

With that thought in mind, I go ahead and call the doctor. And when she answers, I immediately state, “I have a situation you might want to know about.”

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After heading back to rest at the bunker for the night, I return to the mountains before immediately guiding all of the soldiers I find waiting there through them towards the hive. Soldiers numbering at least a few hundred that were sent from several of the nearby bases after their commanders all heard news of this hive from the doctor.

Plenty to hunt the hive queens with. Especially when one of them is majorly injured.

All of the soldiers are Symbiont Hosts, with over two thirds of them being Tier 1 and less than one third being Tier 2. Along with just two Tier 3s. With one of them being that very same mutated Tier 3 I saw before.

The guy in question seemed rather pleasantly surprised to see my wings as well. What with him also having wings of his own on his back.

Everyone just tensely follows me through the mountains towards the hive. Without anyone speaking much at all.

Leaving the only noises being the crunch of our boots in the snow along with the faint hum of the jeeps behind us. Each of which are powered by cold energy cores in order to be able to function within the Eternal Winter.

The hives and hive queens pose a major threat to everyone, and not just me. So the bases were more than happy to help out in clearing them.

And with the help of all of these Symbiont Hosts with me, along with their weapons and the four mechs I see trailing along with us, I should be able to take on the hive queens.

Plus this gave me a chance to meet the commanders of the other bases. None of whom were as stupid and stingy as the chairman who formerly led Delta Base.

Hours pass as we trek through the blizzard of the Eternal Winter within the mountains until we finally arrive at the peak where the hive is. And after seeing the bugs swarming around within it, all of the soldiers immediately tense up even more without exception.

“This is worse than I thought…” Lieutenant Colonel Rorris states with a single flap of his ice wings and a frown on his face. “And you said they’re constantly being produced by the hive queens?”

I nod my head while looking down the large hole with my arms crossed. “At a rapid pace.”

“In that case…” the lieutenant colonel mutters before turning to the men and pulling a radio to his mouth as he states, “Retreat to the base of the mountain and begin setting up the basecamp. We’ll need to have a place to rest if we’re to face off against this many of them.”

And with that, all of the soldiers begin to fall back except for the commanders of each force. With the doctor surprisingly being here as well.

But the head commander is the Tier 3 mutated Symbiont Host, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Rorris.

The lieutenant colonel turns to me again and asks, “According to your report, the hive queens will likely be indisposed right now. Is that correct?”

“Affirmative,” I state while focusing on the hole. “Unless the second hive queen disturbed the first, it should still be focusing solely on producing new bugs. Meanwhile the first one will likely be recovering.”

“And you’re uncertain whether or not the first hive queen will be able to produce more offspring?” the lieutenant colonel continues, making me look at him and nod.

I have no idea what parts of the creature are necessary considering its mixed biology. So I don’t know if I destroyed its organs necessary to produce more bugs or not.

“Very well,” the lieutenant colonel states before turning to the others. “Let’s begin the planning session.”