“Wait—it’s not even dark yet. Why are there so many mutated insects?”
Through the balcony, they could see a dark, dense swarm of mutated insects descending from the sky. They came in all varieties—pretty much anything with wings was among them. These insects descended from above, attacking inhabited buildings in every direction.
Because it was daytime, many people who had already adapted to the high temperatures were out and about on the ground. At night, when mutated insects were most active, most people would hide underground to stay safe. So this sudden daytime appearance of a massive swarm caught everyone completely off guard.
“Let’s go—”
Neither the Qin family nor Xu Lin were cowards. Even though they were still reeling from the impact of the Beast Taming World revelation, when danger struck, none of them stood by idle.
As always, every human life saved counted. And since this world was turning into a Beast Taming World, it wasn’t just insects and plants—large mammals would soon appear too. Mutated insects were already terrifying enough; mutated mammals would undoubtedly be even more lethal.
“Cuihua, you guard the front. Tiedan, watch the rear. Sanhua, come over here…”
As soon as they descended the stairs, they heard Aunt Er directing her stray cat and dog army with practiced precision. They hadn’t been back for a while, but it seemed Aunt Er’s army had grown significantly.
Seeing Aunt Er’s capable command, and watching the village chief and Brother Fa organize other villagers to coordinate the fight, Qin Sang knew that everyone had grown stronger during their absence.
So she didn’t interfere with them. Instead, she led her family and friend toward the intersection—the junction of several urban villages. That’s where a large number of mutated insects were gathering and scattering to attack other areas. It was the perfect place to wipe them all out at once.
But Qin Sang quickly realized she might not have much work to do.
—
Crack, crack…
Shwip, shwip…
Little Gold, who had followed them down, leaped off Qin Sang’s body. It darted toward whatever mutated insect it could find, dismantling them with a couple of swift moves, then crunching and swallowing them whole. The process was savage, and the speed was astonishing.
“This…”
The mutated insects flying overhead had originally swooped down to attack them. But after witnessing Little Gold’s display of power, they scattered and fled.
In an instant, more than half of the mutated insects in the village had fled. The ones that remained were easy pickings for the villagers.
“Sang Sang, is this golden ant yours?”
Brother Fa had noticed the commotion and came running over, his voice brimming with excitement.
Qin Sang nodded and took a closer look at Brother Fa. He had lost weight, but the energy field radiating from his body had grown significantly stronger.
“Yes, this golden ant is mine. Like Aunt Er’s cat-and-dog army, it can help deal with mutated insects.”
Hearing this, Brother Fa’s eyes lit up as he stared at Little Gold, looking as if he wanted to scoop it up and run home. Of course, that was just wishful thinking. If everyone could have a golden ant like this, no one would have to die anymore.
Thinking of the two brothers on his patrol team who had lost their lives recently, Brother Fa felt a pang of sorrow.
Xu Lin spoke up at that moment: “There’s only one of these golden ants right now.”
Brother Fa looked deeply disappointed. “I was going to ask where you found it and if we could each get one.”
Qin Sang: “There will be chances in the future. But for now, maybe learn from Aunt Er and get more cats and dogs to help out.”
Brother Fa sighed. “It’s been almost three months since the apocalypse. Stray cats and dogs have either been eaten or taken in by people to fight mutated insects.”
Qin Sang spread her hands. There was no easy fix for that problem.
Meanwhile, Little Gold, who had been wreaking havoc, had already taken care of every mutated insect nearby in the time it took Qin Sang to chat. As for the larger bugs that hadn’t yet evolved energy cores—it simply stomped them to death. It had no interest in their carcasses.
Sensing the energy field, Little Gold found no more mutated insects in the vicinity. It turned and dashed toward the courtyard gate, its two antennae waving excitedly.
Qin Sang sensed Little Gold’s agitation and turned to look—and nearly jumped out of her skin.
Little Gold had opened its mouth and was about to bite down on the mutated aloe vera by the gate!
“Don’t eat that!” Qin Sang shouted.
But it was too late—Little Gold’s steel-like jaws weren’t joking, and it was already about to chomp down on the mutated aloe.
Just then, the previously motionless mutated aloe suddenly radiated a green glow. The green light condensed into glowing orbs that shot toward Little Gold in attack.
However, Little Gold’s carapace was extremely tough—the green orbs bounced off without any effect.
Taking advantage of the moment, Qin Sang bent down and scooped up Little Gold. She quickly stepped back and said to the mutated aloe, “Don’t attack, okay?”
As soon as she spoke, the green glow on the aloe slowly faded. The plant, already looking withered, seemed to shrink even further after that one attack.
Well, that was clearly energy depletion.
Qin Sang reached out and tapped Little Gold on the forehead. “You little rascal—you can’t just attack anything in the house, got it?”
Little Gold shook its little head, pretending it didn’t understand.
Brother Fa, who had watched the whole thing, was completely baffled. “Dalinzi—is Sang Sang talking to that golden ant?”
It wasn’t a strange question. After all, every mutated insect that had appeared so far had no rationality whatsoever—they just wanted to eat human brains.
Other animals and plants were rumored to have started mutating too, but they weren’t directly attacking people. Of course, that might just be because there weren’t many of them yet.
But Brother Fa knew that no one anywhere had reported a mutated insect that could obey human commands. Even the bees raised by old farmers had turned against them after mutating, developing a strong appetite for humans.
Xu Lin naturally understood the implication behind Brother Fa’s question. “Just keep this to yourself for now. Eventually, more insects like this will appear—and then life for humanity won’t be quite as dangerous.”
Yes, based on what Qin Sang had described about the Loess Secret Realm, Xu Lin felt that those mutated insects were the real mutated insects. The ones running rampant outside? Hah—who knew what they even were.
Just then, the long-range walkie-talkie on Brother Fa’s belt crackled to life.
Catching a few words, Qin Sang’s expression immediately turned serious.
“Should we go help?” She looked at her parents and Xu Lin.
All three nodded. Brother Fa, however, hesitated. “There aren’t many patients at the community hospital right now. Most of the people staying there are hunters who’ve come to the area—they’ve got some fighting ability. Maybe we should wait?”
The call had come from the community hospital asking for backup. They’d been surrounded by a swarm of mutated spiders because of the large number of people gathered there.
Mutated spiders were among the deadliest of all insects—venomous, sharp-clawed, silk-spinning, and they liked to fight in groups.
“Hunting? What’s that about?”
Qin Sang had been away from the village for several days and had no idea it had become a hunting hotspot.
Brother Fa explained: “We’re close to the suburbs, and there are a few small underground survival zones out there. A lot of people who migrated from other places have settled there. More people attract more mutated insects, so villages near the suburbs have taken in quite a few of these hunters. They kill various mutated insects, trade the useful parts and energy cores for points with the authorities, and use those points to buy gear and supplies.”
She hadn’t expected hunting teams to have formed so quickly.
Qin Sang was intrigued. From what Brother Fa said, those hunters were pretty strong—probably didn’t need their help. Still, she was curious about their capabilities and wanted to go check them out.
Xu Lin could tell what Qin Sang was thinking and directly suggested, “A-Fa, you stay in the village. Uncle Qin, Auntie, you two should stay as well. I’ll go with Sang Sang to check out the community hospital.”
Brother Fa was more than happy not to leave the village. After that wave of attacks, quite a few villagers were injured. While the insects were keeping their distance, he needed to organize rescue efforts quickly.
Seeing that, Qin Sang decided to leave Little Gold behind to hold down the fort—even though the little guy clearly wanted to follow her and keep eating bugs.
“Sang Sang, Little Gold’s strength is on a completely different level from these mutated insects out here. It’s like night and day.”
On the road, hearing Xu Lin’s words, Qin Sang knew exactly what he was thinking.
“The Loess Secret Realm is gone now. Finding another mutated insect like Little Gold is probably going to be extremely difficult.”
To have strength, rationality, and the ability to form a beast-taming contract with a human—such a creature was one in a million. The mutated insects currently appearing in the human world couldn’t compare to Little Gold at all. They seemed more like under-evolved species.
The two of them were riding electric scooters, so they hadn’t traveled far before they spotted the community hospital’s outpatient building in the distance.
By now, the building’s outer walls had cracked open. A large number of insects surrounded the building, most of them mutated spiders.
Quite a few people were visible too. Some were on the roof using flamethrowers to deal with the spiders’ webs, while others were on the ground using various electric-grid guns and cannons to fight the massive mutated spiders.
As for the mutated spiders, they seized every opportunity to spray venom at people. So the humans couldn’t cluster together too much. Anyone caught alone was quickly wrapped up into a meat roll by spider silk and hung on the web.
By the time they arrived, the crisscrossing spiderwebs were already half-filled with human “meat rolls.” These people weren’t dead yet—they were wriggling inside the silk. And whenever they moved, the webs shook, drawing small mutated spiders that would rush over and inject venom into them…
After observing all the spiders’ attack patterns, Qin Sang said directly, “Let’s use fire.”
The two of them were only flesh and blood. They were vastly outmatched by the hundred-plus mutated spiders here.
The biggest difference between humans and bugs was that humans could use tools.
The people inside were burning the webs with fire—so the two of them would do the same from the outside. With a pincer attack, surely the mutated spiders wouldn’t stay so calm.
So they got to work. Both Xu Lin and Qin Sang had official-issue flamethrowers in their spaces. Aside from guzzling fuel, they worked just fine.
The smell of burning protein began to spread. Qin Sang was grateful she was wearing a gas mask and helmet—otherwise, she’d be nauseated right now.
Xu Lin was similarly fully geared up, operating his flamethrower not far away.
Their actions immediately drew the attention of the mutated spiders fighting inside. A large number of them swarmed toward them.
Facing a dark, surging mass of multi-legged horrors, Qin Sang wasn’t the least bit afraid. She had Xu Lin cover her with the flamethrower while she drew her Dragon’s Roar Bow and went on the offensive.
One, two, three… after an eight-kill streak, the mutated spiders stopped charging forward.
Seizing the opportunity, Qin Sang called for Xu Lin to keep burning with the flamethrower and turn up the heat. The people inside, hearing the commotion from their side, also stopped engaging the spiders directly and started burning everything too.
Fortunately, the square in front of the community hospital was large and open. Aside from the stench, their burning had little impact on nearby residents.
But their burning frenzy thoroughly enraged the lead mutated spider.
Soon, Qin Sang and Xu Lin spotted a mutated spider significantly larger than its kin—clearly the boss had arrived.
Together, they aimed their flamethrowers at the boss. But this spider had some tricks up its sleeve—it used the webs strung everywhere to leap around, dodging their attacks. Arrows were useless, and fire wasn’t working either. Qin Sang was considering switching tactics.
Then, out of nowhere, Little Gold appeared. It lunged at the boss and, with a few quick chomps, bit off all eight of its legs.
This sudden turn stunned both Qin Sang and Xu Lin.
It also stunned quite a few onlookers, who all turned to stare at the golden-glowing Little Gold.
The little creature, however, was thoroughly pleased with itself—shaking its head smugly but refusing to deliver the finishing blow.
Seeing this, Qin Sang had a sinking feeling.
Sure enough, in the next moment, a small rift appeared in the sky. Though the rift was tiny, the eerie energy that radiated from it in that instant was all too familiar. Qin Sang’s heart jolted.
“Little Gold—”
Little Gold was smart. Sensing something was wrong, it immediately leaped off the boss spider and ran toward Qin Sang.
Qin Sang had already grabbed Xu Lin and was running back, shouting for everyone to flee.
The next moment, beams of black energy descended from the rift in the sky.
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