Chapter 369: Burning the Bugs |
"Help!"
"Run! There are too many bugs!"
"Fire! They're afraid of fire! Use fire!"
"Don't run! Fight back with fire! These bugs are afraid of fire!"
Inside the town, chaos reigned.
These bugs crawled in from every direction, burrowing straight through wooden houses. Even some stone buildings teetered on the brink of collapse.
One area, in particular, became a disaster zone: a brand-new section in the town's north side, whose color stood out awkwardly against the surrounding houses.
A person fleeing stumbled and fell to the ground. Behind him, the bugs surged like a tidal wave, crawling over his body. Amidst his screams, they gnawed him down to white bones.
Someone threw a torch, igniting a wooden house.
...
Bright firelight illuminated the faces of everyone in the residential complex.
In the open space at the center—the area deliberately cleared for the bugs—countless insects wailed and writhed in the flames.
The air was thick with the smell of roasting bugs.
Gradually, the fragrance turned to a burnt odor, spreading outward.
Under the glare of the massive flames, the remaining Black Beetles outside the complex retreated in fear, leaving behind a ground littered with corpses.
Qin Ziwu went out to check and found that the remaining bugs outside the perimeter had all disappeared.
He chased forward a bit further to confirm the bugs had truly retreated, then returned with relief.
Qin Ziwu reported back, "The bugs are gone."
Qin Ziwen said, "Don't let your guard down. Send more people on duty tonight to prevent them from pulling a sneak attack. It's unlikely with their intelligence, but better safe than sorry. From now on, we'll form a regular patrol rotation around the complex, with shifts."
Saying this, Qin Ziwen realized that, due to the unique terrain of the last map, the complex had never established a regular patrol or watch post.
The map before that had been the wide-open Gobi Desert Plain, with good visibility except during sandstorms, so no watch post was set up then either.
The very first map was even worse—back then, everyone in the complex was too busy looking out for themselves to unite.
At the center of the area, the flames gradually died down. The crowd filed in orderly to clean up the mess, clearing out the Black Beetles that had been burned to charcoal.
Qin Ziwen picked up a Black Beetle, its body scorched hot and curled stiff in his palm.
He gripped its body with both hands and tore it apart—like splitting a burnt loaf of old bread. With a ripping sound, it came apart cleanly in two.
Inside was tender, white meat, exuding a fragrant aroma.
"There's this much meat!?" Qin Ziwu leaned in, surprised at the sight.
The bug looked so fierce and ugly, yet it had this much meat on it.
"The meat yield is pretty high, and there's plenty of fat too. Look, the grease has been roasted right out." Qin Ziwen pointed to a spot near the back of the bug's head. A patch of slightly yellow grease, charred by the fire, had seeped into the large chunk of white meat behind it, releasing a faint aroma into the air.
As he spoke, he tore off a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly.
Qin Ziwen's eyes lit up. The taste was even better than he had imagined.
The bug might look ugly on the outside, but inside, it was this delicious.
"Try it." He tore off another piece and handed it to Xiao Wu.
Qin Ziwu's mouth twitched, and he instinctively leaned back. "Maybe I'll pass... I believe it tastes good."
The meat reached his lips, the warm, tender flesh pressing against them. Qin Ziwu opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed his eyes and took a bite.
Qin Ziwen asked, "How is it?"
Qin Ziwu, his brows furrowed, swallowed it whole like a greedy goose. Feeling the lingering meaty aroma in his mouth, he said instinctively, "Not bad."
"These bugs are a hassle, but if we handle them right, they might just become a decent food source." Qin Ziwen thought of the Feed Processing Plant he had just acquired.
The bug corpses could be thrown right in and processed into feed.
Not far away, the newcomers from the hospital who had just joined the complex quietly breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the insect tide dealt with.
The sight of that dense, teeming bug swarm earlier had terrified them.
Many of them had hidden up in the hospital's higher floors initially, and with the dim lighting, they hadn't really gotten a good look at the large shrimp.
But the firelight just now, revealing those black bugs as thick as a dark tide, writhing and dancing in the flames, had given them all a bad case of trypophobia.
Wu Shanqi stood behind Zhao Pu, rubbing the goosebumps on his arms.
"Old Zhao, after you guys crossed over... is this what you deal with around here?"
"Not exactly." Zhao Pu shook his head. "This is our first time seeing these bugs too."
Wu Shanqi sighed with relief at that. "Good."
"Last map was an island. We faced megalodons, mosasaurs, and plesiosaurs."
The expression on Wu Shanqi's face stiffened. "And extinct dinosaurs."
"Probably even more. Judging by the difficulty, every time we cross a map, the things we encounter get worse." Zhao Pu glanced at him. "You all were probably dragged down by us. Otherwise, your first map wouldn't have thrown this kind of difficulty at you."
He paused, then added meaningfully, "Then again, maybe it would have been worse. With us around, like it or not, at least there are rules here. A place without rules might be a lot more terrifying."
Seeing Wu Shanqi's shifting expression, Zhao Pu could easily guess what was on his mind.
But he wasn't in a hurry either.
These newcomers hadn't lived through the hardest times, hadn't known real hunger. No matter what you said, some things just wouldn't sink in.
People were complicated.
No wonder the Guild Leader had said to keep these people out of the Qin Alliance for now, needing a map-long observation period.
Even his own old classmate had changed.
Let alone the others.
"Don't overthink it. Just do your best. The complex is short on doctors right now. Work hard, and there might be an opportunity." Zhao Pu offered some reassurance. Sure, the Hundred Schools Book Tower had medical texts, but learning medicine was different from learning other skills. Training a qualified doctor took time.
So for now, the complex was still short on doctors. The arrival of Wu Shanqi and his group could fill that gap. If they performed well during this period, they might even be able to climb up the ranks and gain a foothold in the Qin Alliance.
"Thanks, Old Zhao. I'll treat you to a meal sometime." After Wu Shanqi spoke, Zhao Pu went off to handle his own business.
Zhao Pu watched his busy back for a moment, then turned and walked to a corner of the complex yard.
A group of doctors was gathered there, including two hospital leaders.
"Doctor Wu, what did they say?"
"Can we go back? We all have families. It's not like we're alone. If we can go back, that'd be the best."
"Little Wu, if you can get us back, you'd be a hero! Performance reviews, bonuses, promotions, the department head selection—even a government commendation. All better than being stuck here with bugs."
...
"Brother, these bugs are all burnt. They can't be eaten, right?"