Mobile Shelter

Chapter 154 Prelude to the Cataclysm: The Emergence of the Insect Swarm

Before the other person could react, he reached out and grabbed their body, then brought it to his mouth.

"Click"

He then casually tossed the headless corpse aside.

The first-generation mutants would mutate again after consuming enough brain matter, while the second-generation mutants, who would twist off the heads of their prey and attach them to their own heads, would put the heads of their prey back on their heads after hunting down their target.

However, as the number of heads on their heads continues to increase, the bodies of those second-generation mutants will gradually become overburdened.

However, for some reason, whenever those second-generation mutants had more than five heads on their shoulders, first-generation mutants would inexplicably appear around them and then, like picking fruit, pluck the heads off the second-generation mutants.

Perhaps those first-generation mutants had an instinct for sustainable development; even when casually taking the heads off the shoulders of second-generation mutants, they would leave one behind, only taking the excess.

With the arrival of torrential rain, it wasn't just in the city that mutants appeared.

It is important to know that the ratio of the ocean area to the land area on Earth is seven to three. Even though Earth is constantly expanding, the area covered by the seawater that was originally water vapor floating in the air can still cover most of Earth when it rains.

The torrential rain lasted for several hours. Normally, with such a large amount of rainfall, even if there was no flooding, the land would at least become muddy.

But in reality, the rainstorm had just ended, and there wasn't a trace of water on the land. All the rainwater, like the ginseng fruit in Journey to the West, melted into the soil as soon as it hit the ground, leaving no trace at all.

Rainwater is actually the carrier of those tiny alien life forms; when it comes into contact with living organisms, it can directly infect them through their skin.

However, if it does not come into contact with living organisms and falls on the ground, it will, like the gray snow before, directly seep into the earth.

However, compared to the gray snow of the past, the alien micro-life forms at this time are more infectious and prone to mutations in living organisms.

What kind of life forms are most numerous on Earth?

Without a doubt, insects rank first.

Even in the face of extreme natural disasters, the insects buried deep underground suffer the least damage.

The insects that lived underground back then, although infected by the gray snow, were tiny alien life forms that were hiding in the gray snow and were mainly concealed. They did not have the extremely high level of activity they have now.

Therefore, even if those insects come into contact with the gray snow, they will at most die directly for various reasons.

Now, as those tiny alien life forms sense the threat from the original will of Earth, they have transformed from their original dormant state into an active state with an extremely high capacity for infection and mutation.

So when the rainwater soaks the earth again and comes into contact with the insects buried deep in the soil, it is only a brief contact.

Those insects that originally lived underground quickly mutated and swelled at an extremely fast rate, just like the creatures on land that came into contact with rainwater.

Compared to the mutants that cause chaos after mutating in the city, the mutated insects hidden underground did not immediately attract human attention.

Meanwhile, the convoy was still using drones to monitor the chaotic situation in Kyoto.

After witnessing the chaos in Kyoto, everyone unanimously felt fortunate that they had made the decisive choice to leave Kyoto, thus avoiding the chaos.

However, although the city of Kyoto was in great chaos at the time, and all the areas observed by drones showed heavy casualties.

However, people still maintained an optimistic attitude towards the final outcome in Kyoto.

After all, everyone present, including Dong Qi, knew more or less about the situation in Kyoto.

The true front-line combat units in Kyoto were the soldiers before the catastrophe and the mutated marine creature hunting teams composed of ordinary people led by awakened individuals after the catastrophe.

These two front-line combat units, which possess formidable combat capabilities, are usually stationed in rest areas far from the city. Therefore, the chaos that occurs in the city will have little impact on these two units.

More importantly, both front-line units have a large number of awakened individuals.

So if the Awakened Ones on the convoy side were able to issue an early warning before the rainstorm arrived, then the Awakened Ones in the two combat units would inevitably do the same thing.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, the camps where the two front-line combat units are located should not experience a bombing when faced with such an emergency.

Just as the convoy members had thought, the situation at those two camps was actually much better than that in Kyoto city.

Although in these two camps, several people were mutated after being soaked by the rain during the downpour due to various accidents.

Because there were many Awakened in the camp, as soon as the rain stopped and the mutants hadn't even had a chance to unleash their power, they were immediately controlled by various control abilities, just like the convoy.

Under normal circumstances, after stabilizing their camps, the combat units should then send troops into the city to eliminate the mutants causing chaos.

But just as the front-line combat units in the camp had assembled and were ready to depart, countless strangely shaped insects suddenly burst out of the ground around the camp.

Perhaps if it weren't for the high-hardness cement foundation in the camp, those insects might have dug tunnels directly from the interior of the camp.

The mutated insects that broke through the soil were like mutated marine creatures that had left the ocean. Although their individual combat strength was not very high, their numbers were truly terrifying.

Those seemingly endless insects kept crawling out of the surrounding burrows one after another.

Seeing this familiar scene, the staff officers in both command posts issued similar orders without prior agreement.

The war reserve warehouse is opened directly, and everyone receives a full load of weapons and equipment to meet the high consumption of supplies for a week.

Once everyone was equipped, they decisively abandoned everyone in the camp and broke out separately as planned.

The specific meeting point will undoubtedly be the location of the current imperial court, the survival base on the outskirts of Beijing.

Due to the drones' battery life issues, and having learned about the situation in Kyoto, all the drones that had been dispatched have now begun their return journey.

Although the drones sent out by Dong Qi could still hold out for a long time, they still chose to return directly to base in the shadows.

After all the drones returned to the convoy, Lu Ziye spoke to everyone, saying, "I'm sure you've all seen the situation in Kyoto through the drones."

Although this chaos is unlikely to last long, Kyoto will likely be able to retake it quickly if they get serious.

But if we go back to seek asylum now, we'll probably not only have to hand over the supplies we were carrying, but we'll also be assigned jobs. Although we're all awakened beings, we should receive some preferential treatment when jobs are assigned, but—

Although Lu Ziye did not continue speaking, everyone already understood what he meant.

Seeing that no one else around him spoke up, Lu Ziye continued, "We've already stayed here for quite a while, so I don't plan to stay any longer."

I believe everyone is already aware of the situation in Kyoto. If you don't want to leave and want to stay here, I suggest you don't go back to the city now, but go directly to the survival base in the outskirts of Kyoto.

Although I reckon that place is probably full by now, awakened individuals like us would likely be easily accepted if we went there to seek refuge.

As for leaving Kyoto as originally planned, I won't hide it from you. I don't think the situation in Kyoto is an isolated case. What was originally a safe migration route is probably not safe now.

So if you're willing to continue leaving with the convoy, you should prepare yourself mentally in advance.

After all, once they reached the originally designated supply location, it was almost impossible to obtain supplies smoothly as planned.

After hearing Lu Ziye's analysis, everyone present fell into deep thought.

At this moment, Dong Qi thought of those meteors that broke through the rain clouds and directly reminded them: "I don't know if you noticed, but before the rainstorm, holes of different sizes suddenly appeared in the gloomy sky."

Those holes looked as if something had fallen from the sky and pierced through the rain clouds.

And it seems that the rain clouds in the sky only begin to rain after those things penetrate the cloud layer.

Upon hearing Dong Qi's reminder, everyone immediately began to recall the scenery in the sky before the rain, and found that it seemed to be just as Dong Qi had said, as if quite a few things had pierced through the rain clouds and fallen down.

While the others were still pondering, someone suddenly spoke up: "Could what's falling from the sky be some kind of treasure? After all, this kind of thing happens in most post-apocalyptic novels."

According to the novel, these were all unexpected opportunities in the early stages of the cataclysm. Even if what fell was not treasure, it was the offspring of some powerful mutated creatures that would later become powerful.

Those sources of disaster that were unmatched in the later stages are now just weak cubs.

What might have been an invincible source of disaster in the future can now be eliminated by our combined efforts.

Furthermore, even if they cannot be killed directly, the combat power of those monsters at this time, when they first arrived on Earth, should not be very strong.

Even if we can't win a direct confrontation, if we want to strategically retreat, I doubt the enemy can stop us.

Everyone felt a stir in their hearts after hearing what that person said. Then everyone turned their attention to Lu Ziye. Since he was the team leader, it was up to him to make the final decision.

Noticing the gazes of the other team members, Lu Ziye understood what they were thinking.

Lu Ziye pondered for a moment before speaking directly: "The bold get rich while the timid starve. At this point, even if we don't fight desperately now, we probably won't survive long in this special period."

However, we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We don't know the exact landing locations of those things falling from the sky, so we'll continue along the original planned route.

If we happen to encounter it along the way, we'll take a slightly detour and go explore it.

However, if those things land outside the planned route, those who really want to go can leave the group and explore that area on their own; the convoy is not making it mandatory.

Upon hearing Lu Ziye's arrangement, everyone present immediately agreed to it.

Just as everyone finished their discussion and was about to return to their cars, bulges appeared on the ground around them.

Before anyone could react, mutated insects suddenly appeared beneath their feet, bursting out of the ground and immediately attacking everyone around them.

However, everyone present was an Awakened One with superpowers. Just as the insects left the ground, the Awakened One who could control the vines still made the first move.

Before the insects could even get close to the group, several thick vines burst out of the ground at an even faster speed, and then with a mere sweep, quickly cleared away the insects that had just appeared around them.

Before he could even smugly say anything, the ground around them suddenly scalded like boiling water, with mounds of earth rising up from the once flat ground.

As the mound of earth cracked, countless insects burst forth from the soil.

Looking at the sheer number of insects around them, everyone present felt a chill run down their spines.

Although the attack from the vines earlier showed that the individual insects were not very strong.

But seeing the endless stream of insects breaking through the soil, everyone knew that if they stayed here, they didn't know how many more insect attacks they would suffer.

Fortunately, when they gathered for their meeting, there was some distance between them and their car.

The insects that broke through the soil mainly attacked them, while the vehicles parked not far away were not their primary targets.

In addition, since there were more than one driver in each vehicle during this evacuation, Lu Ziye said to another member of the convoy beside him after seeing this situation: "Old Xu, notify the other people in the vehicles and tell them to drive away from here according to the original plan."

We'll act as bait to lure the insects away, and then we'll break out and escape once the convoy leaves.

Upon hearing Lu Ziye's instructions, the team member called Lao Xu first nodded, understanding Lu Ziye's meaning, before reminding him, "Then you should cover your ears first. My voice is a bit loud, so be prepared."

At Lao Xu's reminder, the others, while dealing with the ever-approaching insects, also prepared noise reduction measures in their own ways.

If possible, one should stuff some miscellaneous items they are carrying into their ears, as this will not have much impact on the subsequent battle.

Other members who didn't have suitable earplugs also asked nearby teammates for something after seeing what the others were doing.

Since the ear holes aren't very big, a small paper ball is enough to plug them. So, for those unprepared team members, as long as someone asks, they can quickly borrow the appropriate items.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Lao Xu then loudly repeated Lu Ziye's words.

Although everyone present had made preparations in advance, no one expected that Lao Xu's voice would be so loud.

The loud noise not only alerted the people in the other vehicles, telling them to drive away immediately, but also caused the insects that had been near them to freeze in place, as if petrified.

Even though the other team members had earplugs, their ears were still ringing from Lao Xu's loud voice.

But seeing that the insects' attack had been interrupted by Lao Xu, they did not miss this opportune moment.

Someone threw a water bottle, which then exploded in mid-air.

After the mineral water bottle exploded, the mineral water inside instantly turned into thin, elongated water needles in mid-air. These water needles acted like magnets, constantly attracting water molecules from the surrounding air.

As the number of water molecules increased, the size of the water needles also increased, and then the water needles suddenly fell and covered a large area.

This move looks very flashy and is very powerful, but the casting animation is a bit long. If Old Xu hadn't used his voice to suppress the insects and temporarily immobilize them, it would have been almost impossible to achieve such a great result.

The other person's fighting style felt very familiar to Dong Qi.

The man threw a hammer with a very large head into the air. The hammer then rapidly enlarged in the air, and when the huge hammer head fell, it crushed the insects below.

It also compacted the soft ground, preventing insects in that area from easily emerging from the ground like insects in other areas.

The most striking feature is the several vines that appear frequently. For some reason, after each attack, the vines themselves become covered with thorns, much like the stems of a rose.

Although these spikes are short, whenever the vines encounter prey, whether by entwining it or sweeping it like a stick, the spikes on the vines will pierce the target's body.

After the spikes pierce the target's body, they do not follow the vine away.

Instead, it will break off directly and remain on the target's body, causing the target to writhe in pain.

The spikes that were originally left on the target's surface slowly burrowed into the target's body as the target twisted its body.

Subsequently, the spikes will slowly disappear from the target's body surface as the target continues to writhe in pain.

As the spikes penetrate deeper into the target's body, the attacking target, which was originally writhing wildly, will gradually reduce the range of its movements and eventually collapse to the ground, motionless.