Qin Sang’s warning seemed to come both in time and too late.
After the call ended, the Qin family stayed home and didn’t idle. They began trying to figure out exactly what these black specks were. Meanwhile, the Management Bureau also sprang into action.
Soon, they discovered that these black specks were being carried by the rainwater. Earlier, when the heavy rain had just started, no one had been going outside, so nothing had happened. But once the rain caused flooding and people began relocating through the storm, the evacuees carried large numbers of these specks with them to safe areas, contaminating those places as well.
Even worse, the Academy of Sciences had already determined that the black specks were no ordinary thing.
“They should be a type of interstellar insect.”
At the Qin household, the living room had been cleared out, with only a glass table remaining, on which sat several large laboratory glass containers. Inside were some black specks, and beside them, wriggling black worms.
Compared to the almost negligible energy field of the specks, the black worms emitted an energy signature similar to that of the interstellar insects.
As for how the specks turned into black worms—it was actually quite simple. Just pump energy into them.
In essence, the interstellar insects’ purpose in invading Blue Star was to harvest energy. The same applied to these specks, tiny as they were.
But Qin Sang hadn’t expected the specks to be eggs. After absorbing energy, they hatched into black worms.
These black worms looked a lot like native Blue Star roundworms. Roundworms—everyone knew what those were: a type of parasite. To test what these black worms really were, they needed to provide a host.
In the end, Qin Sang took a free-range chicken from her space and placed it into the glass chamber with the black worms. Then she released the restrained worms. The next moment, something astonishing happened.
The black worm shot straight toward the chicken’s eye and burrowed right in. As it burrowed, its tail twisted at the chicken’s eye socket—straight out of a special effects movie.
After being parasitized, the chicken became highly aggressive.
From this experiment, Qin Sang had at least a general idea of what the black specks were.
But for more detailed and scientific understanding, she would have to leave that to the Academy of Sciences. She didn’t delay—she sent her experiment video to Xu Lin.
Then she immediately notified the village.
At the same time, the Academy of Sciences had also discovered the nature of the black specks and the dangers of parasitism. The authorities had already ordered a temporary halt to population relocations.
However, with the floods bearing down, if people didn’t relocate, they would eventually perish anyway.
The authorities were already working on solutions to the black speck problem. But the crisis still broke out.
——
“Kill—!”
Watching the chaotic brawling in the video, Qin Sang immediately understood the insects’ goal.
The people in the video were all spirit beast masters who had formed contracts with spirit beast insects. Now, these spirit beast masters had lost their minds, attacking anyone nearby at random, regardless of grievances. And their spirit beasts seemed to have lost contact with them—no one was summoning them out.
That might have been the only silver lining.
At least humans fighting each other were still less destructive than spirit beasts would have been.
But precisely because the spirit beast masters had lost their sanity and couldn’t summon their beasts, humanity’s combat power dropped dramatically when the insects attacked again.
——
Yes, without warning, just as humanity was struggling with floods and black worms, the interstellar insects struck again.
And this time, the assault was fiercer than ever before.
The black fissures in the sky gaped open like monstrous jaws, and countless insects poured out of the dark openings.
Even though the rain hadn’t let up, the insects seemed completely unaffected.
Qin Sang looked at the insects raining down from the sky, then at the current situation in the village, and could only sigh inwardly.
A few days earlier, their village had taken in many evacuees. Most of them had since been parasitized by the black specks. Some were lucky—the specks were still eggs. Others weren’t so fortunate—the specks had hatched into black worms.
The black worms’ lethality was directly targeted at the brain. The Academy of Sciences had already named this creature the “brain worm.”
After being parasitized by brain worms, humans lost control of their emotions and became highly destructive.
There were quite a few brain worm victims in their village.
Because time was so short, the authorities hadn’t yet found an effective treatment. Surgical removal and deworming medications had proven largely ineffective. So these infected individuals were kept in isolation. And due to the rainstorm, they could only be confined where they were.
Now, the village had to spare people to guard the infected, while also sending others to fend off the attacking insects. Official reinforcements were already stretched thin and couldn’t provide support.
Faced with this situation, Qin Sang felt like she was about to explode.
But no matter what, since the insects had come, she had no choice but to fight.
As for the black specks brought by the rain, fear had taken a backseat. After several days of studying the brain worms, the authorities had made some progress. As long as you protected your eyes, you could largely avoid brain worm infection. In their egg stage, the worms could only infect through contact with the eyes. The adult worms were more aggressive—they would burrow in as soon as they spotted an eye. But wearing goggles essentially prevented infection.
So, before heading out, Qin Sang made sure to put on a pair of high-seal goggles. If you didn’t have those, swim goggles could work as a substitute.
This protection wasn’t foolproof, but it guarded against about ninety percent of cases.
Either way, Qin Sang geared up before leaving and shared her stockpile with other villagers who were also heading out to fight.
——
“You’re back?”
As soon as they stepped out into the rain, they saw someone fighting several insects alone with their spirit beast. Qin Sang recognized Xu Lin at once.
Xu Lin was in the middle of battle, and the sound of rain drowned out her voice. But he still sensed Qin Sang’s energy field. Without speaking, he made a few gestures toward her.
Qin Sang immediately responded with matching gestures. Then she led the villagers forward.
About two to three hundred meters ahead, more insects had appeared. It seemed the attack on their village involved a considerable number.
Native mutant insects had become scarce—the villagers could mow them down like cutting vegetables. But the interstellar insects, with their wide variety, were much harder to handle.
Everyone summoned their spirit beasts. Qin Sang sent out Little Gold, Little Grass Seed, and Little Tabby all at once.
As for weapons, the humans used energy cannons—a step above laser weapons. These were powered by energy cores harvested from interstellar insects, and their firepower was more than a notch above laser arms.
Qin Sang fired at a long worm-like insect ahead, and its head exploded instantly. She couldn’t help but marvel at how technology could change fate. Even her Dragon’s Roar Bow, without energy enhancement, wouldn’t be nearly as deadly.
If humanity were given just a little more time, they might actually be able to launch a counterattack into insect territory.
It wasn’t just them—everyone capable of fighting was out in the rain, armed with weapons and spirit beasts. Through livestreams, people could see that not only was it raining from the sky—it was raining insects. This battle felt like a make-or-break moment for humanity’s survival.
Humanity’s efforts soon paid off. The insects’ first wave was repelled. And on top of that, the spirit beasts from the Loess Secret Realm also mobilized again.
Because of the rain, these spirit beast insects had been reluctant to come out—they hadn’t been seen for days.
Once these spirit beasts joined the fray, the balance of power between humans and the interstellar insects tipped once more.
But that was when the insects’ real scheme came to light.
Suddenly, the quarantined brain worm victims grew unnaturally strong, broke out of confinement, and charged recklessly into the battlefield—attacking the uninfected.
And then, quite suddenly, these infected individuals charged at the uninfected like zombies, attacking them with manic ferocity.
Qin Sang’s group also ran into these infected—including the young man who had come to her house that day.
He came from a four-generation household, with elderly and young alike at home. A person who should have been living a happy life was now like a madman, lashing out at anyone in sight.
Qin Sang channeled energy into her eyes and could clearly see several glowing worms writhing inside his skull. Without a doubt—those were brain worms.
Brain worms couldn’t be removed through surgery. Reportedly, the first person to undergo the operation ended up being parasitized anyway.
But Qin Sang refused to believe that any creature was truly invincible. Every living thing had its counterbalance.
Under the heavy curtain of rain, a sudden idea struck her. She remembered how mutated parasites had once infected humans—and how they were eventually cured by mutant plants.
So, through their contract, she called Little Grass Seed over.
The little one had only successfully contracted yesterday. After the contract, its appearance remained that of a dandelion seed—it hadn’t grown at all.
And dandelion seeds, after all, were spread across the world in all sorts of ways. Experts had noted that this type of organism had parasitic traits.
“Little Grass Seed, want to take on a task?”
Though she didn’t speak aloud, through the contract, Little Grass Seed sensed trouble coming.
But Qin Sang showed no embarrassment at all and said directly: “Can you get some of your seeds into the bodies of these infected people?”
Her idea was actually quite simple. Parasitism, right? She’d have dandelion seeds parasitize the human brain too. Then, let the seeds germinate, and use their roots to drain the brain worms dry.
This was basically the most fundamental feeding method of mutant plants.
Little Grass Seed whined: “I’m still a baby…”
Qin Sang: “Babies can still produce seeds. Don’t think I don’t know…”
The spirit beast contract allowed Qin Sang to clearly understand Little Grass Seed’s abilities. After evolving, Little Grass Seed still had no active attack capabilities. But it could produce many seeds and have them parasitize other organisms to absorb energy.
Of course, all that energy would eventually flow back to the main body—Little Grass Seed itself.
This ability consumed quite a bit of energy, and Little Grass Seed—being a lazy spirit beast—wasn’t too keen on doing it.
But since Qin Sang had called it out, it could only wobble its little body and get to work.
For the first test, Qin Sang grabbed a random stranger she didn’t know.
And fortunately, luck was on humanity’s side. The result was astonishing.
Little Grass Seed’s seed entered through the man’s nose and made its way to his brain. Once it reached the brain worms, it immediately began germinating and sending out roots. The roots split into several strands, piercing straight through the three brain worms inside his skull.
The worms began to struggle, and the man convulsed along with them. But the seed’s power was immense. The explosive force of germination left the brain worms no chance to fight back.
Within less than a minute, the three brain worms were completely drained—not a trace left.
“You okay, buddy?”
Qin Sang released the man she’d been holding down and asked directly.
He stared blankly at her, then shook his head, looking dazed.
After confirming his brain was clean, Qin Sang had Little Grass Seed recall the germinated seed.
Then she saw the sprouted seed begin to glow, condensing into a small green energy ball. It bounced out through the man’s ear and returned to Little Grass Seed’s body.
Well, it looked a bit mystical. In an animated show, this scene might have been cute. But in real life, it was rather strange.
Still, the result was good.
With this discovery, Qin Sang stopped fighting insects. She called Xu Lin over to guard her and began rounding up infected individuals one by one to treat them.
At the same time, she had Xu Lin report this finding up the chain.
The country was vast—she wasn’t the only one who had contracted a mutant dandelion. Otherwise, no matter how hard she worked, she could never save everyone.
After receiving the report from Xu Lin, the authorities immediately initiated a top-level operation.
Countless people who had contracted mutant dandelions were mobilized, launching a massive, sweeping rescue campaign.
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