Post-Apocalyptic Survival Modpack

Chapter 82: Day 3

Chapter 82: The Third Day
As the first region in the community to complete reforms, and also the permanent residence of the King, Riften's average quality of life and social atmosphere are clearly leading the world.

Even if the sky were to fall, no one would dare cause trouble here.

Here, the experiment with the material network was very successful. From then on, even the time for distributing Combination Potion No. 41 was eliminated, and people could connect to the network anytime and anywhere to access it.

This saved a lot of manpower.

Currently, restrictions have been imposed, allowing each person to take a maximum of two sets of Medication No. 41 within 24 hours.

Actually, one set is enough for one day; the extra limit is to prevent unexpected situations.

Of course, even if both of them encounter unexpected problems, you can apply for additional applications, and they will be approved as long as there are no issues.

After all, the cost of this thing is just an instant healing potion and a not-so-precious mental buffer. Any resident could produce more valuable items in a day than these two things, so they could drink it as much as they wanted.

"Every place will become a city that never sleeps in the future."

Wang Ji was somewhat stunned as he looked at the bustling and noisy nighttime streets.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
He wasn't quite sure.

drop--

Before I could think for long, a new message came from the magic network.

The person who sent the message was Lind, the head of the Underground Zerg Research Institute.

It was clear that he was very anxious at the moment. When he contacted Wang Ji, he did not prepare a report in advance, but instead dictated the summary directly.

"There is restlessness within the swarm."

Lind said, "A new mutation or deformed worm has emerged. It looks very strange. Its body is rotting, twisted, covered with deformed tumors, and it is also irritable and aggressive."

"From my observation, there was no pressure generated inside the swarm; this sudden change is very unnatural."

"Moreover, and more importantly, these deformed insects behave very abnormally; they attack anything indiscriminately, whether it is their own kind or our researchers."

"It's more like a virus; it's mutating, massively mutating, and spreading extremely fast!"

"The subterranean insectoids have reacted spontaneously, creating barriers to try to stop the mutated insects or to clean up and strangle them. However, these mutated insects are too contagious to be stopped by conventional means. Some Titan insects have already been infected and turned into terrible monsters."

Something feels wrong.

Upon hearing Lin De's report, Wang Ji's heart skipped a beat. He quickly checked his cognitive points and found that there was still no change.

It's not a parasite.

Scare yourself.

Although they are not annoying parasites, they should not be ignored.

Linde's report shows that this swarm mutation is highly contagious, and the underground insectoids are powerless to stop it, leaving them no choice but to let it spread.

If this continues, the underground insectoids will eventually be completely infected and transformed into something else, thus endangering the community.

We can't just sit back and do nothing.

"wait for me."

Wang Ji replied and immediately opened the gate to the Immortal Realm to teleport there and find Lin De.

Then, guided by Lind, they quickly arrived at the scene of the incident.

It was late at night.

Generally speaking, according to the habits of the subterranean insect race, most of them will find a place to lie down and rest as night falls.

But today the insect hive was unusually noisy, filled with hissing and roaring sounds, and there was also an unpleasant smell.

Wang Ji looked down and saw that the ground was covered with the remains and empty shells of insects, as well as foul-smelling green and black blood.

this…?
Wang Ji immediately noticed something was wrong.

Most of the underground insectoids have green blood, while a small number that build nests and lay eggs have large yellow bellies filled with nutrients.

As for blood that is black and smells bad, I've never seen that before.

"hiss--"

A piercing wail drew Wang Ji's attention, and his gaze pierced through the darkness to a corner.

For the first time, Wang Ji felt that the clear vision that the Endless Abyss Hat provided, allowing him to penetrate the darkness, was a bad thing.

The scene horrified him.

A worm covered in pustules, with rotting flesh and deformed limbs, was holding down another worm, opening its huge mouth to devour its flesh and tear its body apart.

The other insect wasn't even completely dead yet; it was enduring the pain of being devoured alive, watching its body being torn apart and eaten piece by piece, unable to resist.

Wang Ji couldn't bear to watch for another second, and immediately evaporated the deformed insect, leaving not a trace.

He couldn't help but look around and examine the surroundings more closely.

So that's how all this wreckage came about...

Within a group that exhibits clear intelligence and social behavior, even when there is no shortage of food or even an overabundance, cannibalism still occurs.

This is clearly a huge anomaly.

Wang Ji flew down, landed on the ground, and checked the condition of the insect that had been gnawed down to only half its original size.

He's still alive; there's hope.

Just as Wang Ji was about to feed the insect a bottle of instant healing potion, the insect suddenly stopped moving.

A familiar stench of decay wafted over.

Its remaining limbs began to deform, and the blood that flowed out gradually turned black.

It was infected.

Wang Ji immediately stuffed the medicine into the insect's mouth and forced it down its throat.

however--

Snapped!
As soon as the healing potion entered his stomach, the insects in front of him exploded, and the foul-smelling blood rushed towards Wang Ji, only to be deflected by the distorted barrier inherent in the Cloud Soaring Robe, preventing it from actually touching him.

"what happened?!"

Wang Ji was somewhat at a loss.

No, no, why did the healing potion kill the insect directly? Previous experiments clearly showed that the healing potion was effective on insects; as long as they had a breath left, they could recover and their missing body tissues could be fully regenerated.

Why did it fail? Connecting everything before him, Wang Ji immediately deduced a possibility:
The treatment solution is a highly toxic poison to the mutated insects.

This change reminded Wang Ji of something unpleasant.

There is another thing that can be harmed by healing potions, and that is—zombies.

And all evil spirits of the dead.

Wang Ji instructed, "Lin De, I'm giving you a new task. Go and thoroughly disinfect the research institute. Use all available means and don't miss any corner."

"In addition, make everyone who has been in close contact with the underground insectoids drink milk immediately, then isolate them and observe them for at least three days. During this period, make them drink milk every day, as well as receive treatment potions."

"Including yourself, do it immediately, don't delay."

"Received!" Linde replied, and immediately went back to arrange these matters.

Wang Ji was left staring at the silent insect nest filled with empty shells and ruins, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Roar--

The earth shook violently, and a mutated Titan Worm sensed something unusual and charged towards Wang Ji.

Wang Ji waved his hand and crushed it into pieces.

At the same time, he also conducted an exploration underground.

There are no normal insects left in this area; they are all mutants.

"This insect nest cannot be left."

Wang Ji connected to the Magic Network Source Material Library and began a thorough and comprehensive disinfection and highly intensive bombardment of the area.

In no time, the enormous insect nest was razed to the ground, and the entire area was destroyed, leaving nothing but soil and rocks.

It's clean.

No, not necessarily.

Just to be on the safe side, Wang Ji opened the communication network and began to check the situation of other places that might have come into contact with the underground insectoids.

This question actually yielded some results.

Many Zerg nests have shown abnormalities, and according to eyewitnesses, they appear to be fighting amongst themselves.

People didn't take this phenomenon seriously, assuming it was just some kind of activity by the insect swarm. Although it was a bit noisy, everyone chose to respect it.

This is also due to the top-down influence of the royal family; the residents of the community generally have a relatively mild attitude towards other species.

But this gentle and relaxed attitude almost led to disaster.

The fact that most places with access to the underground Zerg are reporting anomalies suggests that this event may have been going on for some time.

It certainly didn't happen today.

Wang Ji stopped with any screening and directly mobilized the community's resources to conduct a comprehensive, carpet-like scan of the surface insect nests, leaving no one undetected.

Before long, reports began to appear.

Wang Ji reviewed them one by one and issued extermination bombing orders for the infected areas.

As for areas where no signs of infection have been found, they will be observed and monitored, and preventative measures will be taken in advance.

It was a very busy and turbulent night.

As dawn broke, Wang Ji continued his work, still on his way to the next marked infected insect nest.

drop--

As the sky was still gray and just beginning to lighten, a communication came through the magic network.

When Wang Ji looked, he realized it was Oswald.

This was the first time he had taken the initiative to contact Wang Ji, which was quite unusual.

Oswald: "I have something to tell you. Are you busy right now?"

"Very busy."

Wang Ji replied simply, as he was preparing to carry out a devastating bombardment to clear out the large infected insect nests that had been issued.

and many more.

Upon seeing Osvid's message once again, "Then I'll wait until you're done with your work," Wang Ji paused in his actions.

Why would I do this myself? There's a great mage here.

With a casual wave of his hand, he could easily access world records and pinpoint exactly where the problem lay with the insects.

Moreover, this guy is far more efficient at bombing and clearing than I am at it.

Sometimes being too diligent isn't necessarily a good thing. When faced with a problem, you always think about doing it yourself first, forgetting that there are more convenient ways.

Thinking of this, Wang Ji immediately told Osvid about what had happened.

Oswald asked Wang Ji for coordinates, and soon appeared beside him.

It's getting light.

As the sun gradually rises, it casts its first dazzling golden rays upon the world.

In mid-air, Wang Ji's figure was bathed in golden light.

Bathed in sunlight, he pointed to the thoroughly infected insect nest at his feet and said, "These are the insects, look..."

He stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

The sunlight passed over Wang Ji's shadow and spread into the insect nest.

He opened his eyes wide, looking somewhat bewildered.

Without exception, all the deformed insects on the ground exposed to the sunlight caught fire.

Suddenly, their bodies burst into flames, emitting agonizing howls.

Day 2 - end.