“Bang, bang, bang…” The sounds of impact came one after another.
Qin Sang watched the large iron gate rattling with each hit and thought to herself that it was a good thing they had replaced it with a thick, heavy iron door. Originally, they had installed this door to guard against looters who might come to steal supplies after the apocalypse. But instead of looters, a swarm of mosquitoes had come knocking.
“Sangsang… maybe we should go hide in the space for a while?” Qin Ma listened to the banging and worried that the door might not hold.
Qin Ba nodded in agreement.
Qin Sang knew that the mosquito swarm outside was being led by a single mutated mosquito. The fact that they were all concentrated on attacking her house meant they were likely drawn by the energy in her body.
This really proved that she was a hot commodity.
If her family hid in the space, they would be safe. But the villagers would certainly suffer.
Qin Sang wasn’t a saint. She had no intention of sacrificing herself to save others. However, after her experience with the mutated cockroach, she was confident she could handle the mutated mosquito outside. Furthermore, if she didn’t dare to fight even this mutated mosquito, what would happen when even more terrifying mutated creatures appeared in the future? Would she just hide in her space forever?
And not just herself. Qin Sang looked at her parents and said directly, “I’m going to kill that mutated mosquito. Mom, Dad, do you think you can handle the rest of the mosquitoes?”
Her parents couldn’t hide in the space forever either. With her by their side, this was a perfect opportunity for some live combat training.
Seeing their daughter’s determined expression, Qin Ba and Qin Ma, though hesitant, didn’t try to stop her.
“Alright, we’re still in fighting shape! We’re not afraid of a few measly mosquitoes.”
Hearing her father’s words, Qin Sang smiled. She then pulled out two sets of thick clothing, two helmets, and a large stack of cooling patches from her space. These things were like hand warmers, but instead of providing heat, they provided cooling when stuck inside clothing.
“Mom, Dad, I’ve observed the mosquito swarm. The leader is over a meter long, and its mouthpart is also about a meter long. One sting from that, and a person would probably turn into a dried-up corpse. The other mosquitoes have grown too—they’re about the size of a child’s palm. Their mouthparts are also very long. Wear this clothing, and it should block some mosquitoes. Stick on the cooling patches so you don’t get heatstroke. Wear your helmets to protect your heads…”
Listening to their daughter’s instructions, Qin Ba and Qin Ma said they would absolutely follow them.
Qin Sang dressed the same way, taking every possibility into consideration.
She was willing to fight, but she also needed to protect herself.
After they were geared up, Qin Sang pulled out a pile of Gatling-style water guns from her space. All of them were filled with insecticide.
“I’m going to open the door. You two spray the mosquitoes directly with the water guns. I’ll take the opportunity to lure the mutated mosquito to the village basketball court. I’m leaving the house to you. If you can’t handle it, run to the basement.”
The basement rooms had no windows. If they hid inside and closed the specially made iron door, even zombies would have to surrender. That room had been specifically built as a safe room.
The mosquito swarm, of course, had no idea about the Qin family’s plans. They continued mindlessly slamming into the large iron door. Qin Sang watched the door begin to dent and signaled for her parents to prepare for battle.
Just then, someone came downstairs.
“I’ll help too…” Qu Meijing, dressed in thick clothing, stood on the stairs, looking at the family.
Hearing this, Qin Sang raised an eyebrow, wondering if Qu Meijing had changed her stripes. But she didn’t have time to argue with her. She simply nodded. “Alright, you can use these water guns too. Remember, staying alive is the top priority.”
She could ask about Qu Meijing’s motives later. Right now, the priority was to kill these damned mosquitoes. If it weren’t for the high temperature and dry air, using fire would have been the most suitable method.
—
With a screech, the thick iron door was pulled open by Qin Sang. The piercing buzz grew even more irritating.
Qin Sang led the way, spraying insecticide outside. Sure enough, quite a few mosquitoes fell to the ground.
But the mutated mosquito was agile. It flew backward into the air.
Qin Sang took the opportunity to run out of the house, heading straight for the basketball court. As for whether the mutated mosquito would follow—that was a certainty.
She was, after all, a fragrant human!
Sure enough, the buzzing behind her was especially harsh and was getting closer. Knowing she couldn’t outrun something with wings on just two legs, Qin Sang pulled out her scooter from her space and stepped onto it.
The electric scooter was extremely fast, and Qin Sang quickly widened the distance between herself and the mutated mosquito. But the creature pursued her relentlessly.
Many villagers who had heeded the warning and hid inside their homes peeked out through their glass doors and windows to watch her.
Qin Sang wanted to shout at them to hide, but then she thought about how the world would only become more and more dangerous. If they hid now, they might save their lives this time. But what about the future?
It was better to learn survival skills early to prepare for an increasingly strange world.
With that thought, she stopped worrying about the onlookers and focused on luring the mutated mosquito to the basketball court.
Once she arrived, Qin Sang immediately pulled out another Gatling-style water gun from her space. Still in her running stance, she suddenly spun around and sprayed the mutated mosquito before it could react, drenching it completely.
This soaked the mutated mosquito’s wings, causing it to fall from the air.
Seizing this opportunity, Qin Sang took out the Dragon’s Roar Bow’s arrow from her space, intending to use the same trick and crack open this creature’s head.
Unfortunately, the mutated mosquito’s body was much leaner than the mutated cockroach’s. Jumping onto it wouldn’t work well. So she reluctantly put the arrow back into her space and instead pulled out a bamboo fly swatter that was half as tall as a person.
The fly swatter had been made earlier to deal with the giant cockroaches. Her father had made it by hand. It had a half-person-long handle, and the swatting part was a square of woven bamboo with a side length of half a meter. It was huge—one swat could kill many giant cockroaches.
The fly swatter in her hand was new. Qin Sang had specifically secured several fly paper sheets to the swatting part.
Yes, the kind of unfolded cardboard sheet with a thick layer of sticky glue. The moment an insect landed on it, it would be stuck fast and unable to move.
Qin Sang had modified it earlier, just in case she encountered another mutated insect. She hadn’t expected to put it to use so soon.
Holding the giant fly swatter, she watched the mutated mosquito charge at her on its two thin legs, its long mouthpart leading the way. Behind her helmet, Qin Sang’s face broke into a wide smile.
She channeled energy into both arms and brought the swatter down on the mutated mosquito with a loud smack.
Of course, it didn’t kill it. That wouldn’t be that easy. But just as she had anticipated, the wings behind the mutated mosquito’s back were stuck to the sticky paper.
The creature began to struggle, but Qin Sang wasn’t about to give it another chance.
Strike while the iron is hot. She pulled the arrow from her space. This time, she aimed the arrow at the mutated mosquito’s neck and stabbed it several times. The head fell straight to the ground. She bent down, dug out the energy core, and tossed it into her space.
Only then did Qin Sang finally have the energy to check on the situation at her house.
Good, very good.
The scene her spiritual power scanned showed the area in front of her house and the yard covered in the corpses of large mosquitoes. Neither of her parents had been bitten.
As for Qu Meijing, it seemed she had been bitten on the hand, leaving a lump the size of a longan. It looked a bit scary.
But what delighted Qin Sang even more was that they weren’t the only ones fighting. Some of the village’s more formidable residents had also armed themselves head to toe, bringing out all kinds of weapons to take on the mosquito swarm.
Some sprayed insecticide, some used insect nets, some used electric fly swatters.
Even the little tabby she had brought home was meowing at the mosquito swarm.
This was excellent!
In a cheerful mood, Qin Sang was about to throw away her gloves, which were still covered in mosquito sticky fluid. Just then, the management bureau personnel arrived.
Among them, besides the team responsible for their area, there was also a unfamiliar face.
Qin Sang hadn’t paid much attention to him at first. But as soon as this man arrived, he circled the mutated mosquito’s corpse twice. Then he pointed a finger at Qin Sang and loudly demanded, “Who told you to kill this mosquito?!”
Qin Sang ignored him and looked directly at the team leader. “I’ll leave the scene to you. Remember to credit the points to my account. I’m going home now.”
The team leader nodded. “No problem, Miss Qin. We’ll handle things here. Someone might contact you later about the situation.”
Qin Sang nodded, said nothing more, waved her hand, and walked toward her house.
The unfamiliar face tried to say something else, but Qin Sang simply flicked her hand, flinging the sticky fluid from her glove onto his face.
“Ah! You damned woman…”
Ignoring the yelling behind her, Qin Sang thought to herself that if the management bureau personnel weren’t there, she would have beaten this man half to death.
—
“Sangsang, Sangsang’s back!”
Before Qin Sang even reached her house, she saw quite a few villagers gathered at her doorstep. Not far away, some staff members in protective suits were taking notes.
“Sangsang, are you okay?!” Qin Ba and Qin Ma rushed over from the crowd, looking their daughter up and down.
Qin Sang shook her head. “I’m fine. Are you two okay?”
“We’re great! Those big mosquitoes had long mouthparts, but we were quick. They barely had a chance to get close. It’s just that Qu Meijing doesn’t have much experience. She panicked at first and got bitten, leaving a big lump.”
Listening to her parents, Qin Sang looked toward Qu Meijing, who was being treated by the staff not far away.
Other than the large mosquito bite on her hand, she seemed fine. But the process of treating the mosquito bite was a bit bloody. They used a scalpel to cut open the bite and squeeze out the pus.
The medical staff’s movements were very skillful. Qin Sang thought to herself that this probably meant there had already been incidents of mutated mosquito injuries elsewhere.
—
“Right. Quite a few mutated insects have appeared in the western safe zone, including mutated mosquitoes. If you get bitten by a mutated mosquito, the wound needs to be treated immediately. You also need to get several vaccines.”
Three hours had passed since the mutated mosquito attack. The scene had long since been cleaned up. Qin Sang was resting at home when she suddenly received a call from Xu Lin. Hearing him say this, she felt that life in the western safe zone must be very difficult. After all, it was near the southwestern region, an area known for producing all kinds of insects.
“Vaccine production is very difficult right now, and inventory is low. So be careful. And not just with mutated mosquitoes—you need to be careful with all mutated insects.”
Qin Sang believed this. Insects, especially pests, had always been capable of carrying many viruses. Mosquitoes, for example, could transmit chikungunya, malaria, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever, Zika virus, and so on.
“But that’s not why I’m calling you.”
Xu Lin’s tone became very serious. Qin Sang realized he was about to say something important.
“After the mutated cockroach you killed at the farm was sent to the Academy of Sciences, Exploration Team Captain Qin was harassed by someone there. Kang Shaoqi knows Captain Qin. He heard from him that someone at the Academy of Sciences has been asking around about who killed the mutated cockroach.”
Qin Sang understood the implication.
“Someone at the Academy of Sciences is looking for the mutated cockroach’s energy core!”
“Exactly!” Xu Lin’s tone turned cold. “I’ve already found out who it is. His name is Fang Ming. He’s a researcher. He doesn’t seem important, but he’s a student of Professor Su, the most prominent professor at the Southern Safe Zone Academy of Sciences. I’m still digging into his background. Don’t go out for a while.”
Hearing him tell her not to go out made Qin Sang even more certain that this person had considerable influence.
“Alright. I need to lay low anyway. I also have the energy core from today’s mutated mosquito.”
—
“Useless!” At the reception desk of the Southern Safe Zone Academy of Sciences, Fang Ming looked at yet another mutated insect corpse missing its energy core. He was so furious that he shouted abuses at the person who had delivered it.
The person delivering the corpse was none other than a team member from the management bureau responsible for Qin Sang’s community area. With him was the unfamiliar face who had pointed and yelled at Qin Sang earlier.
Fang Ming berated the team member for a long while before finally letting him leave. As soon as the team member left, he turned to look at the unfamiliar face.
The unfamiliar face was a fat man. Seeing Fang Ming glare at him, he immediately rubbed his hands together, bent slightly, and said, “Brother Fang, that woman named Qin Sang is no joke. By the time we arrived, the mutated mosquito had already been decapitated.”
Hearing this, Fang Ming seethed with hatred inside. This was the second one!
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