Ted, the Insectoid captain, moved his ugly mandibles and affectionately stroked a double moon-shaped pendant in his palm.

This pendant was a token of love given to him by his wife, Puli.

The double moons on it were carved based on the two red moons seen every night, and it was a precious b-rank item.

Like him, Puli was a Forest People soldier who had once served Victor. In the final battle of the Otherworld invasion,

her Forest Guard unit was attacked by Demon General Te Ke and ultimately died in the aftermath of the Corrupt Dragon's Dragon Breath.

Yet he had survived ignobly until now, bearing the curse of the forest being swallowed by the Otherworld, transforming into an Insectoid.

It was this pendant, capable of purifying the soul and carrying Puli's love for him, that maintained Ted's basic conscience,

allowing him to keep a sliver of conscious clarity amidst the corrupt qi-infested forest.

The rest of the Insectoids all had more or less similar experiences to Ted.

They had once been muddled, following the orders of the Demon General and Corrupt Dragon Knight, killing many of their fellow kin, including the animals living in the forest.

Although they would also receive orders to eliminate the Otherworld beast tides attempting to swallow the dungeon and resist the invasion of the Evil God's forces.

But this was merely a good deed done with ill intent by the Corrupt Dragon Knights to consolidate their rule over the forest.

And now, this Corrupt Qi Storm spreading across the entire forest could even kill them.

Even the most wicked Insectoid understood that the Corrupt Dragon had completely abandoned them, like tools to be discarded after use.

Thanks to the purification towers established throughout the forest, the Insectoids in the forest were able to survive smoothly.

It was quite ironic; they who were originally meant to dismantle the purification towers now had to rely on them to save their lives.

With the suppression of the Purification Aura, they all recalled bits and pieces of the past at this moment.

The beautiful life of the past, contrasted with their current tragic experiences, pained their otherwise numb hearts even more.

All the Insectoids understood that, at least for them, the days of the past were gone forever.

"O Great Lord of Spirits, please bless us with victory and let this forest, eroded by corruption, return to a pure land of peace and prosperity."

Ted pressed the pendant to his forehead and prayed continuously, only hoping that the Sacred Lake would achieve victory in the battle.

Just then, a man's voice rang out from a distance.

"Ted, we're back."

At the entrance of the camp, two Forest People knights clad in armor walked in.

The Insectoids all raised their heads.

"Lord Harold, and Knight Morr?"

Ted remembered that the two of them were supposed to be assisting the Sacred Lake in battle; why did they suddenly have time to return here?

Little Spark stood on Morr's shoulder, its claws tightly gripping the gaps in Morr's armor, looking around curiously.

Suddenly, an unbelievable hope surfaced in his heart.

"Could it be that the Lord of Spirits is willing to let us join the battle?"

Sure enough, confirming Ted's guess, Harold spoke, bringing them good news:

"Be grateful. Not only has the Lord of Spirits agreed to let our entire Insectoid Army participate in the battle, but we will also go deep into the valley with the Sacred Lake's most elite Animal Warriors to confront the Corrupt Dragon."

Morr looked at these Insectoid soldiers and felt quite gratified.

Ted and the other Insectoids were first stunned, wondering if they had misheard.

But after seeing Morr's certain gaze, they instantly snapped back to their senses.

The gloomy atmosphere that had originally shrouded the camp was swept away.

They knelt on the ground excitedly and thanked in unison: "We thank the Lord of Spirits for his trust in us!"

Not only that,

as the two knights approached,

the space opened by Little Spark also enveloped Ted and the other Insectoids.

The corrupt qi that had already penetrated deep into their bones and flesh suddenly let out a sharp, thin cry, as if meeting its nemesis.

This corrupt qi was like pulled threads, quickly detaching from Ted and the others and dissipating into a cloud of dust.

Their originally deformed limbs stopped growing, and their out-of-control flesh became stable.

Under the dual purification of the Purification Aura and Little Spark, even the pain in their bodies was suppressed, turning into a cool sensation.

The Insectoids all felt the changes occurring within their bodies in disbelief.

"Ji ji?"

Little Spark tilted its head, not realizing that all of this was happening because of its arrival.

As a fellow administrator of the forest, it could eliminate the effects of the corrupt environment within a small area.

This Forest Fire Phoenix, reborn from an egg, although having lost all its memories, still had residual instincts that would protect the myriad living beings of this forest.

Morr stepped forward and spoke in a solemn tone:

"Then, please burn one last time, everyone."

Surprise and emotion intertwined as all the Insectoids looked up and said seriously:

"Understood!"

They would definitely not fail the expectations of the Lord of Spirits and the two knights.

This was not just for themselves, but for the entire forest.

The Insectoids shouted in unison: "For the homeland! For the Firefly Forest!"

Feeling the temperature of Little Spark's claws on his shoulder,

hearing the voices of the Insectoids before him,

for a moment, Morr felt as if he had returned to the days of fighting alongside the Forest Fire Phoenix in the Firefly Forest.

A layer of moisture couldn't help but rise in his eyes.

However, this time, those fighting alongside them were not only the former Forest People but also the animals from all over the forest.

"Ding! You have completed the hidden side quest, Insectoid Savior. Successfully saved more than a hundred Insectoids, allowing them to fully regain their sanity."

"Quest reward: 180 points of class experience, 500 otherworld crystals."

Qi Ye, who was gathering the animals near the castle and taking them all into his Sanctuary Domain, was stunned for a moment.

These quest rewards were issued for an ordinary Adventurer.

To the current Qi Ye, whose experience often reached tens of thousands, the reward was just a drop in the bucket.

But something was better than nothing.

He wondered to himself as he hadn't seemingly done anything, so how did he suddenly complete a side quest?

Qi Ye pondered for a while and attributed the reason to Little Spark, who had gone to the Insectoid camp with Morr.

It was probably that Little Spark had used some method to make these Insectoids regain their sanity.

In any case, it was a good thing.

After figuring out the source of the achievement, Qi Ye continued to busily stuff all the Animal Followers he encountered along the way into his Sanctuary Domain.

Some of the animals also followed Green Bean's orders, actively forming a long line to gather in the square and be taken in by Qi Ye.

Soon,

several hours later, after circling the castle several times, Qi Ye counted the number of animals in the Domain, which had reached fifteen hundred.

Just then, Morr and Harold also arrived at the castle with the Insectoid Army.

All the Insectoids were ready, waiting to launch the expedition against the Corrupt Dragon.