Immortality begins with Swallowing the Stars.

Chapter 2 Re-entering Panlong

"clang!"

The window at the highest point of the stadium, which had been boarded up, shattered with a crash.

Lu Jing's scalp tingled as he stared at the monster that had charged in. Its body was covered in a smooth exoskeleton, its three pairs of hind legs were like long, thin daggers, its foreleg joints were all tightly retracted into its chest, its blood-red needle-shaped mouthparts resembled a sharp sword, and its compound eyes, which shimmered with seven-colored light, made people involuntarily want to vomit.

The screams around him woke him up.

Outside, the sounds of gunfire filled the air, while inside, screams, cries, and roars filled the space.

The insect monster let out a gurgling sound, and its forelegs shot out like lightning, instantly piercing through a person. Then, its blood-red mouthparts pierced into the flesh and sucked out bodily fluids.

The panicked crowd jostled and pushed, but Lu Jing held his younger brother, who was trembling with fear and dared not utter a sound, in one arm and protected his sister, Lu Shengnan, with the other. His strength and physique, which were at least twice that of an ordinary person, allowed him to easily withstand the chaotic impact of the crowd and quickly move away from the insect monster.

Fortunately, the military was on guard outside, and only one stray managed to get into the stadium. But even one stray was not something an ordinary person without firearms could handle. However, as the saying goes, when being chased by a bear, all you have to do is run faster than everyone else.

After several piercing screams, the rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire suddenly rang out, silencing the crowd.

"Don't run around! Don't move!"

Two fully armed soldiers used gunfire to scare away the surging crowd, squeezed in through a side door, and then quickly set up a machine gun, aiming at the insect monster rampaging through the crowd. They spat out continuous tongues of fire, and the insect monster's hard exoskeleton was easily torn apart by the machine gun fire, with colorful juices flying everywhere.

Seeing this, Lu Jing nodded to himself. The insect monster that had broken in was indeed only a beast soldier level, and it should only be a low-level beast soldier. Ordinary machine guns could easily tear its shell apart.

"Danger outside! Everyone stay indoors and do not go out!" The soldier who broke in killed the insect monster without any delay, hurriedly gave a few stern instructions, and then left amidst the calls on the walkie-talkie. The door was closed again.

The increasingly intense sounds of gunfire continued to reach their ears, leaving only the sounds of crying and heavy breathing inside.

There was both relief at narrowly escaping death and worry about the war situation outside. People collapsed to the ground one after another. No one got up to clean up the corpses. They all tacitly avoided the bodies of the insect monsters. Everyone's heartstrings were tied to the rumbling gunfire outside.

"Brother...will we be alright?" After this incident, Lu Shengnan had forgotten Zheng Hu, whom she both loathed and feared, and couldn't help but murmur the question.

Lu Jing looked down at his younger brother, Lu Shengchuan, who was trembling but still trying not to cry, and patted the back of the boy's head, nodding: "Don't worry, the last insect swarm was more ferocious than this one, but we still got through it smoothly, didn't we?"

Although he offered these words of comfort, a fire was burning inside Lu Jing's heart. This feeling of helplessness, of being left to fate, was truly unbearable.

A strong person!

Only by becoming strong can one control their own destiny, as well as the destiny of their loved ones.

"Brother!" The younger brother, who was gripping Lu Jing's hand, suddenly exclaimed, "It...it moved..."

Lu Jing's expression hardened, and following his underling's gaze, he saw one of the hind legs of the insect corpse lying on the ground twitch in the gap between the crowd!

The insect monster isn't dead!?

The unusual movements of the insect corpses naturally did not escape the notice of the people who were constantly on edge and living in fear.

"The bug isn't dead!"

"The monster is still alive!!"

"Help!"

In an instant, gasps and screams erupted again.

Lu Jing's expression shifted, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes. He turned and rushed out of the panicked crowd, taking a few steps to the fire extinguisher box in the corner of the wall. Amidst a chorus of surprised shouts, he shattered the glass with a single punch and retrieved the fire axe.

With a few strides, Lu Jing, relying on his strong physique, broke through the panicked crowd and arrived in front of the insect monster struggling to stand up on its hind legs. Amidst the terrified gazes of the surrounding crowd, he used all his strength to slash the axe like a bolt of lightning into the bullet-torn wound next to the monster's head.

Stimulated by the intense pain, the insect monster emitted a piercing, strange hiss and struggled wildly, its whip-like tentacles striking Lu Jing's body.

Lu Jing remained unmoved, as if he had abandoned all feelings of pain and fear. He pulled out the fire axe and chopped into it again like a madman.

After a short, strange cry, the insect monster's struggles ceased completely, and it lay paralyzed on the ground, motionless.

Lu Jing threw the fire axe, its blade already chipped, onto the ground. Before he could even feel any lingering fear, all his attention was focused on his chest—after a burning sensation, the pale pink, door-shaped birthmark composed of intricate patterns seemed to be stained with blood, each line turning bright red.

"As expected! At least killing a beast-soldier level being is needed to reopen the gate!" Lu Jing was delighted to see a phantom blood-red gate reappear in his mind. As long as he pushed the gate open, he could descend into the other world again.

But now is not the time.

While dealing with his sister and brother's concern, Lu Jing sat down on the ground to regain his strength.

To successfully cross over to another world, one needs an undisturbed environment. Otherwise, if one fails again, it will be even more difficult to open the gate next time, requiring the killing of more and stronger beings to possibly meet the requirements.

However, he soon noticed that the sounds of gunfire outside had completely ceased at some point, and several cheers resounded through the sky, seemingly the cheers of the refugees in the library and other teaching buildings across the street.

"We've won!"

"The insect swarm is over!"

"Long live!"

After a while, soldiers entered the stadium and informed everyone that the insect swarm had passed and that the military would clean up the city next.

"Brother, can we go home now?" Lu Shengchuan, the younger brother, shouted excitedly.

"Hmph!" A familiar figure walked over; it was Zheng Hu, who had been bothering his younger sister Lu Shengnan earlier.

Zheng Hu glared at Lu Jing, then turned his gaze to Lu Shengnan and sneered, "Nannan, don't be ungrateful. Do you think your cheap brother is strong enough to protect you in this world? Heh heh, you have no idea what you're going to face next. We still have some old friendship. You can come to me anytime you think it through."

After saying that, Zheng Hu turned and walked out of the stadium with his followers.

Only Lu Shengnan, looking worried, and Lu Jing, seemingly lost in thought, were left behind.

"There's definitely something wrong!" Lu Jingxin's expression darkened. Zheng Hu's brother works for the military, so he must know something.

Since the sea monsters invaded the coastal areas, beast tides have also frequently occurred in the inland areas. However, the strength and scale of the monsters are far less than the beast disasters suffered by the coastal areas. For example, Heyun City has blocked two waves of beast tides today.

The government is facing a shortage of manpower and resources, leaving it unable to maintain public order as it does in peacetime. In fact, apart from murder cases, there is no manpower to investigate and enforce judicial procedures for other cases and general conflicts. Is the government really in such dire straits, or is it concentrating its resources and manpower on other preparations?

Moreover, the impact of the beast tide was far less than he had imagined; the current weapons available to humans were perfectly capable of dealing with this beast-soldier-level swarm.

Moreover... he remembered that in "Swallowing the Stars", the population of China was concentrated in the six major base cities and the satellite cities near the base cities.

Is Heyun City one of the six major base cities in the future?

If not... what about the future of the millions of people in Heyun City?

Lu Jing became increasingly alarmed as he thought about it. After all, he was different from others. Most people probably thought that today's insect swarm was already an unbearable test, even if they had seen the tragic scenes of the invasion of overseas returnees in coastal areas on the news, but that was too far away.

But Lu Jing knew that the real test of the Great Nirvana Era had not yet arrived.

……

As night fell, in a dormitory room that was originally a six-person room in a dormitory building, the bed frame and desk and chair were all removed and replaced with a large bed, carpet, sofa, and all kinds of electrical appliances such as TV and air conditioner.

On the bed, Zheng Hu chuckled as he held the two girls in his arms, "Babies, just bear with it a little longer. In a few days, once the city is cleaned up, I'll take you to my brother's villa. It's spacious there, and it even has a swimming pool. Humph, unlike here, where I was just given such a tiny dorm room, and we even have to limit electricity and water every day."

"Brother Tiger, didn't you say you were going to give us another sister today?" one of the girls asked sweetly.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hu's face instantly turned cold, frightening the two into silence, unsure of what they had said wrong.

"That bitch!" Zheng Hu's face was contorted.

To be honest, Lu Shengnan was extremely beautiful for someone who was just a street thug before. She was a pure and intelligent high-achieving girl, which made him look good in front of his brothers.

However, it's not as amazing for him now.

Others may despise and fear the current state of the world, but Zheng Hu is quite fond of it. With his brother's background and the near-apocalyptic environment, all he needs are a few bags of rice, a box of instant noodles, a box of chocolates, or simply nice, clean clothes and a comfortable living environment to make the women he could only look at before bow down to him.

Even the seemingly solid moral and legal systems have become loose, allowing him to experience a more unbridled and unrestrained pleasure that he could not experience in peacetime.

But after all, she was his girlfriend before the apocalypse, and although Lu Shengnan was extremely rebellious, she still held her ground and didn't let him get her in the end.

As the saying goes, what you can't have is always the best. The girl he never fully gave himself to had fiercely aroused his wicked possessiveness, making him itch with desire.

Zheng Hu touched the finger marks on his arm left by Lu Shengnan's stubborn brother, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He got up, shooed the two girls away, and picked up his phone to make a call: "Brother..."

……

"Finally, I can go home!"

Many people who have been hiding in various shelters in the city these past few days have been happily looking at the latest text message notifications on their phones.

After a day and a night of hard work, the military has cleared most of the remaining insect monsters from the city. Therefore, they sent out a notice via text message that those who want to go home can leave the shelter and return home on their own, and wait for the next beast tide warning before returning to the shelter.

The military has specially allocated a significant amount of manpower to guard the nearby reservoir, waterworks, and power plant, so most residences can still enjoy limited water and electricity. After all, densely populated shelters are only suitable for short-term management, as hygiene and accommodation would become problematic in the long run.

Lu Jing also brought his younger sister and brother back to their fortunate, still intact home.

Many residential buildings in the city were damaged in yesterday's insect swarm attack, mostly by human-made firearms. After all, in such a battle, the military couldn't possibly avoid firing at residential buildings.

As dusk approached, Lu Jing grew increasingly anxious, for nighttime was undoubtedly the best time to descend into the other world.

I had just finished washing up when a text message notification suddenly went off.

Lu Jing picked up his phone and his expression changed slightly.

"What happened?" Lu Shengnan, who was standing nearby, also leaned closer and saw the contents, then looked alarmed: "How could this happen? It's too sudden..."

The text message was clearly a military conscription order, requiring soldiers to report for duty tomorrow. At a time of life and death for humanity, voluntariness was no longer an option. After the last insect swarm, many soldiers were killed or wounded, so the military forcibly conscripted more soldiers to replenish their ranks.

This was naturally bad news for Lu Shengnan and Lu Shengchuan, siblings. They had both witnessed the insect monster yesterday. If it was so dangerous even while hiding in the shelter, it goes without saying how dangerous it was for the soldiers on the front lines fighting the monster.

"This...this must be that bastard Zheng Hu's doing!" Lu Shengnan was burning with anxiety: "If only I had known...if only I had agreed to him...I would have gone to beg him right now!"

Although she had always been at odds with Lu Jing since childhood, it was partly due to her hostility towards her stepmother who had taken her father away, and partly because Lu Jing's academic excellence since his rebirth made him the "other people's child" in comparison, which made her, living in the shadow of this half-brother, develop a rebellious mentality.

But since her father and stepmother died from RR virus, she only has these two close relatives left in the world, and their relationship has improved a lot. Moreover, since entering the shelter, Lu Jing's protection and extraordinary decisiveness and strength have made this former rebellious girl feel a little affection for him.

"What's your hurry? Come back!" Lu Jing said, somewhat amused and exasperated, as he shouted at him back.

Tears welled in the girl's eyes as she cried out, "Brother, I know you're stronger than ordinary people, but you're not a superhuman like Zheng Hu's brother. You're no match for those monsters!"

"Even without Zheng Hu, I would have joined the military long ago!" Lu Jing sighed and comforted him with a smile.

He wasn't lying; joining the military was a path he had long planned.

On the one hand, he needs more information from higher levels, to know the current movements and future plans of the top leadership in Heyun City, in order to better respond.

On the other hand, each time he activates his cheat ability, he needs to kill a lot of lives, and at least beast-soldier level lives. With his current strength, it is too dangerous for him to go into the wild alone. Joining the military would naturally make him much safer.

Finally, he is not an orphan who only has one person to feed and no one to worry about. Even if he can descend to another world through a mysterious gate and embark on the path of a strongman, he still has a younger sister and a younger brother who is half-blood-related to him. His parents have passed away, and he has to take on the responsibility of an older brother both emotionally and logically. He still needs to rely on the protection of the authorities to have a greater chance of letting his two remaining relatives get through the early stages of the Great Nirvana Era.

"I've gained some insights into a traditional Chinese martial arts manual I recently collected, and I'll be going into seclusion tonight to practice. If I haven't left by tomorrow morning, please don't disturb me unless absolutely necessary!"

After comforting him and giving him a few more instructions, Lu Jing returned to his bedroom, lay down on the bed as if he were going to sleep normally, closed his eyes, and faced the blood-red door in his mind.

"This gate still only leads to one world—the Panlong World. Well, although we didn't gain anything substantial last time, we did lay a foundation. It seems we have to take a risk this time!"

(End of this chapter)