Upon hearing this news, Zhou Huai's spirit was greatly stirred.

He had originally thought that with three sides of Donghai City's walls breached and large areas of the city damaged, the System would likely deem this challenge a failure.

He never expected it to succeed.

It seemed the System's criteria for mission success was likely based on the final number of people rescued in Donghai City.

This was a guaranteed SSS-Class Profession orb!

He was finally going to have his first SSS-Class Professional Clone!

Thinking of this, Zhou Huai's heart pounded uncontrollably.

SSS-Class, that was a being at the pinnacle of all Professionals, the closest to a god.

Zhou Huai quickly withdrew his consciousness and returned to his main body.

Inside the bedroom of the Ye Family Manor, Zhou Huai lay on the bed, taking several deep breaths in a row, which finally calmed his wildly beating heart a little.

He slowly closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into the familiar System space deep within his mind.

A giant gashapon machine quietly floated in the very center of the space.

Inside the machine, countless colorful orbs slowly rotated, shimmering with an alluring glow.

Zhou Huai focused his will and pressed the 【Extract】 button, which glowed with golden light, with great force!

Buzz—!

The gashapon machine spun rapidly!

Inside the machine, the colorful orbs, under the high-speed rotation, transformed into a dazzling river of light, mesmerizing to behold.

The light flowed and rotated, and finally, all the light seemed to be swallowed by an invisible black hole, converging into a single point.

Immediately after.

Whoosh—!

A simple, ancient orb, entirely black but with countless mysterious golden patterns flowing across its surface, shot out from the gashapon machine!

It didn't immediately transform into a scroll like the previous Profession orbs.

Instead, it quietly floated before Zhou Huai's eyes.

An indescribable sense of weight and oppression assailed him from that small, black orb!

Zhou Huai's breathing hitched at that moment.

This feeling was something he had never experienced before when extracting S-Class or even SS-Class Profession orbs.

“A black orb...”

Zhou Huai subconsciously swallowed, his heart once again accelerating uncontrollably.

“What Profession will it be?”

Just then, the black orb flashed with light.

It slowly unfurled, transforming into an ancient scroll, also black in color, but embroidered with countless intricate patterns in dark gold thread.

The next second, the familiar System prompt slowly sounded in his mind.

“Congratulations, Host, you have extracted the Profession: Unique Hidden Profession, SSS-Class Insect Emperor!”

“Insect Emperor?”

Zhou Huai opened his eyes, repeatedly chewing on the name.

“Insect Master Profession?”

In his mind, information related to this Profession immediately surfaced.

Insect Master belonged to a type of Summoner Profession.

It involved summoning various insectoid beasts for combat.

Among all Summoner Professions, it was considered quite mediocre.

Most Profession ratings were only C-Class.

It had a low potential ceiling, and few could reach S-Class.

This was mainly because the individual strength of insectoid beasts was generally not strong, and their health was very low.

In each battle, a large number of them would likely die.

To unleash their true power, one could basically only rely on a swarm tactic.

However, cultivating tens of thousands, or even millions, of insect swarms.

The money required was not much cheaper than raising a Dragon.

But the power that could ultimately be exerted was far inferior to that of a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» true giant Dragon.

The cost-effectiveness was extremely low.

Therefore, looking across the world, there were few outstanding Insect Master Professionals.

Of course, there were always exceptions.

It was said that Sakura Country once had an S-Class Insect Master.

That person came from one of Sakura Country's top wealthy Families and never lacked money.

With a massive investment of funds, he managed to cultivate an elite insect swarm with extremely terrifying combat power.

At his peak, it was said that he once single-handedly fought against three S-Class powerhouses of the same Rank without falling behind.

From then on, his reputation soared.

Unfortunately, a few years after that Genius Insect Master became famous, for unknown reasons, he betrayed and joined the notorious Dawn Guild.

He became an eternal disgrace that the Sakura Country's upper-class Family could never wash away. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Of course, these were all digressions.

Zhou Huai quickly brought his thoughts back.

He eagerly opened the Insect Emperor's attribute panel.

He wanted to see what Heaven-Defying attributes and skills this so-called SSS-Class Insect Master would possess!

“【Clone Panel (Unnamed)】”

“【Profession: Unique Hidden Profession, SSS-Class Insect Emperor】”

“【Rank: LV1】”

“【Health: 500 / 500】”

“【Mana: 3000 / 3000】”

“【Strength: 153】”

“【Agility: 141】”

“【Stamina: 102】”

“【Mental Energy: 555】”

“【Skill List:】”

“【1. Emperor of Insects (Passive): You are the supreme Emperor of the insect race, able to ignore any species, any Rank, and freely control all insect races.】”

“【2. Insect Space (Passive): You possess an independent space specifically for raising insect races, capable of housing trillions of insect races.】”

“【3. Aberrant Swarm (LV1): Within the Insect Space, one basic Soldier Beetle hatches every 1 second, starting at Rank 1. It can be upgraded by devouring the corpses of other exotic beasts. During the devouring process, there is a certain chance to acquire the exotic beast's skills.】”

After reading the Insect Emperor's attributes and skill descriptions, Zhou Huai's breathing suddenly hitched.

Immediately after, an uncontrollable surge of ecstasy, like a volcanic eruption, instantly overwhelmed all his reason!

From the skill descriptions, this SSS-Class Insect Master didn't seem as Heaven-Defying as he had imagined.

There were no world-destroying forbidden spells.

Nor was there the domineering power of slaying a Dragon with a single sword.

But without a doubt, its potential was unimaginably vast!

First, there was the Heaven-Defying passive skill, 【Emperor of Insects】.

Ignoring any species, any Rank, and freely controlling all insect races!

What did this concept mean?

It meant that as long as Zhou Huai wished, he could even control the insect swarm that had wreaked havoc at the North City Gate before, and even the Hell-level BOSS that had been hiding in the shadows and never showed itself!

This was no longer simple summoning.

This was defection!

This was seizing power!

This was truly the power of an Emperor!

Secondly, there was 【Insect Space】.

This skill perfectly solved one of the biggest pain points of the Insect Master Profession: logistics.

With this independent space capable of accommodating trillions of insect races, he no longer had to worry about the placement of the insect swarm.

Finally, and most importantly, 【Aberrant Swarm】!

It came with its own Insect Space, eliminating the need for breeding and hatching.

They emerged directly as adult insects.

One every second!

In one day, 86,400 Rank 1 Soldier Beetles could be hatched!

This speed was countless times faster than that of an ordinary Insect Master!

The most crucial point was that the hatched Soldier Beetles could also be upgraded by devouring the corpses of exotic beasts!

And there was a certain chance to acquire the skills of the devoured exotic beast!

This was the most terrifying aspect!

This meant that Zhou Huai's insect swarm army would have infinite growth potential and possibilities!

He could customize, cultivate, and forge a unique and terrifying army with various abilities according to his needs!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

He abruptly looked in the direction of the East City Gate.

The corpse of that Purgatory Flame Dragon... it seemed to still be there, right?

What would happen if his Soldier Beetles devoured the corpse of that Hell-level BOSS...?