Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

Ou Yun chuckled twice, "That's too much trouble!"

What can Leng Ruolan do? She's desperate too!

She had no choice but to turn to the crowd and say, "Prepare for battle, everyone."

Then he began the troop buildup: "Alexander, Hammer, hold the edge of the basin. North, South, and Red Bean, intercept any stragglers that manage to climb up. Douglas, you handle the damage—don't let them have a chance to devour each other and become even more troublesome. Marcus, you start building temporary bunkers right now, the kind that can withstand a frontal assault."

"receive!"

Marcus had already pulled a bunch of iron pipes and canvas from his backpack—tools he had brought from the camp, some of which Chen Ge had enthusiastically recommended.

"Big brother." A helpless tone.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you want to test that sword's charging mechanism?"

Leng Ruolan sighed wistfully, "There will be plenty of targets for you to practice on in a little while. If that's not enough, I'll bring you some more."

"Captain Leng, you're so nice to me, hehe."

"Shut up."

*

Soon, the first wave of insects surged up from the edge of the basin.

Those fist-sized beetles crawled extremely fast, their black shells reflecting a luster like cockroaches in the sunlight.

Their mouthparts resemble miniature cutters, and each one's mouth is filled with spiral-shaped fine teeth.

Leng Ruolan made the first move.

The twin blades whirled through the swarm of insects, each swing leaving a trail of black mist in its wake.

The insects that came into contact with the black mist were instantly corroded into black powder, without even a chance to struggle.

But there were just too many insects.

Once one passage was cleared, even more insects swarmed in from both sides to fill the gap.

Although Leng Ruolan fought her way through the insect swarm, the overall speed of the swarm's advance was hardly affected.

"There are too many! We can't possibly kill them all!"

Alexander shouted as he swung his hammer.

Each time his hammer slammed down, it could flatten a dozen or so insects, but while he was flattening one, dozens more would crawl under his hammer.

It was like hitting a cockroach egg case with a hammer.

Ou Yun then shouted, "North and South! Red Beans!"

The two lynxes responded immediately and launched an attack from both sides simultaneously.

Nanbei used its huge claws to swat the insects that crawled up the rock wall one by one, while Hongdou specifically bit those that were slightly larger—it ate them one by one, cracked their shells, spat out the crumbs, and then immediately moved on to the next target.

Marcus had already set up a temporary shelter at the location designated by Leng Ruolan.

He used iron pipes to support the canvas, and then used rock fragments to weigh down the edges, quickly building a half-person-high arched retaining wall.

"The cover is set up! You can retreat this way!"

"Don't retreat yet!"

Ou Yun suddenly shouted.

Everyone looked at him at the same time.

Ou Yun plunged the Abyss Sword into the crevice in the rock beneath his feet and gripped the hilt with both hands.

"brush!"

The red light on the sword suddenly surged at that moment, and the luster flowing in the patterns was brighter than ever before.

"Since these little insects evolve by devouring their own kind—"

A slight smile played on his lips. "What if their energy is absorbed?"

The Sword of the Abyss emitted a low hum.

The red light on the sword spread outwards from the sword like a shockwave.

When the red light touched the insect, the purple patterns on its carapace instantly dimmed, and its body went limp on the ground as if a battery had been removed.

One circle, two circles, three circles—the red light spreads to a wider and wider area, affecting more and more insects.

The swarms of insects that had been attacking frantically collapsed like dominoes after the red light swept over them.

[The Sword of the Abyss is absorbing energy...]

[Current charge: 7%...11%...15%...]

"Holy crap! This sword can actually attract energy like that?!"

Alexander's eyes widened.

"Big brother is awesome!"

When he turned around, he found that Ou Yun's expression was even more shocked than his.

"Holy crap, I guessed it right!"

"..."

"I just discovered that too!"

"Ou Yun shouted, 'Once it's charged to a certain level, it can unleash an area-of-effect skill—these bugs don't have a high amount of abyssal energy, but there are a lot of them, and their charging speed is faster than fighting big monsters!'"

[Current charge: 23%...31%...]

The red light spread to the edge of the basin and began to spread downwards along the rock walls.

The insect-like monsters at the bottom of the basin, which were devouring each other, were also hit by the red light—their reaction was more violent than that of the small insects. The moment they were hit by the red light, their bodies began to convulse, and the purple patterns on their bodies disappeared as if they had been erased by an eraser.

The largest insect-shaped monster let out an angry roar.

"roar!"

It shook off its prey and charged toward the edge of the basin.

Just by rushing over like that, it looked like a semi-trailer truck—a semi-trailer truck that could climb walls, its six legs moving incredibly fast up the steep rock face, leaving deep scratch marks on the rock face with every step.

"The boss is here!"

Douglas raised his precision rifle, aimed at the monster's eyes, and fired three shots.

"Bang bang bang!"

The bullet struck the monster's head armor, sending up a trail of sparks.

Only a few faint white marks remained on its carapace—it had devoured too many of its own kind, and its carapace was now far harder than those of the giant scorpions from before.

"We can't break through it! Its carapace is too thick!"

"let me."

Leng Ruolan's voice suddenly came from the side of the monster.

She had somehow managed to get to the monster's side, just like her usual ghostly fighting style—

"when!"

Her twin swords crossed to block the monster's swinging forelimbs.

The monster's strength was astonishing. Leng Ruolan was pushed back more than a meter, and the soles of her boots rubbed two white marks on the rocks.

"Big brother! Is it fully charged?"

"39%! Not enough for a second area-of-effect attack!"

"Let's cut this one down first!"

Leng Ruolan exerted her strength suddenly, crossing her twin blades to grip the monster's forelimb joints and lifting it upwards.

The monster cried out in pain as its forelimbs were twisted and lifted upwards, exposing the gaps in its carapace on its chest and abdomen.

Taking advantage of the opening, Ou Yun thrust his sword into the crevice.

[The Sword of the Abyss is absorbing energy...]

[Current charge: 47%...51%...]

The insect-like monster let out a piercing scream.

"Ughhhh!"

The abyssal energy within it surged towards the sword like a floodgate being opened, causing the patterns on its armor to flash wildly.

It struggled desperately to shake off the luck, but the sword of the abyss was stuck too deep, and each struggle only made the blade twist even deeper inside its body.

[Current charge: 68%...72%...]

"Powered up!"

Ou Yun drew his sword, the red light on its blade already dazzlingly bright.

"On my command, everyone stand back!"

Leng Ruolan immediately released her grip and jumped to create distance.

Nanbei, with a red bean in its mouth, ran wildly toward the stone pillar.

Alexander carried Douglas—even though Douglas said his leg wasn't injured and he didn't need to be carried.

Marcus quickly added another layer of iron plate to the bunker.

In an instant, everyone shrank behind Ou Yun.