Somewhere downstairs, a woman screamed. Perhaps she had also seen the bugs.
The beetle, approximately the size of a human palm, crawled slowly over the glass. On its eight slender legs were densely-packed, small protrusions that adhered smoothly to the glass, and in the middle of each protrusion was a pinprick-sized white dot, which was a suction cup. The beetle dragged along a long, soft brown tentacle behind its drop-shaped tail, leaving a wet, dark brown ooze in its wake as it crawled—it seemed to want to come in.
Poet tested the seams between two of the windowpanes by running over them with his fingers. "It's fine. It's sealed, so it can't get in."
"Each generation is worse than the last," Mr. Shaw said. "They just keep getting uglier. Before, they still looked like bugs."
"The fusion of genes." Poet looked at the glass. "The more fusing there is, the more bizarre its appearance and the stronger its infectiousness. I know a scientist, and he said that throughout the past hundred years, none of humankind's research could explain the principle of infection."
"Hah," Mr. Shaw said.
He released a meaningless sound from his mouth but then shrank into a corner of the room, as far away from the window as possible, and said, "Can't you close the curtains?"
"I want to look at the city some more." As Poet spoke, he lowered one side of the curtains, shrouding the room in darkness. Within the gloom, a strange grief showed in his profile. "This... city that may not have much time left."
An Zhe looked outside. It was early morning, and beneath the dim skies, the gray city stretched outwards, half of it concealed in the thin white mist. The sun had risen and the mist was burning off, revealing some colossal mechanical structures at the maximum range of his field of vision that towered and pierced straight up into the sky. Humans always had many strange devices that guaranteed the base's safety, but there were some times in which they couldn't do so, such as right now.
Poet turned towards him. "You don’t seem the slightest bit afraid."
An Zhe pursed his lips, unsure how to respond.
Poet lowered the other side of the curtains and smiled at him. "You're truly very strange."
"Am I?" An Zhe asked.
"You're too quiet, like it doesn't matter regardless of what happens next," Poet said. "In our generation, there are very few people with your type of character."
An Zhe smiled. "Perhaps."
It was impossible for there to not be even the slightest difference between mushrooms and humans. In an attempt to make himself more human-like, he asked Poet, "Then what shall we do now?"
Poet thought for three seconds, then said, "Pray.
"Pray that the ultrasonic disperser hasn't been completely destroyed. Or pray that this is just a group of bugs that are brainless and live entirely on instinct.
"After that, pray that our glass is sufficiently solid and won't be easily smashed."
Right as he finished speaking, the sounds of things pelting the window came in a flurry. It was the sound of countless bugs flying into the glass.
Mr. Shaw shot a dark look at Poet. "I pray for you to be a mute."
Poet became flustered too. He lifted a corner of the curtain, then swiftly closed it again. "Don't look, you guys."
"Already saw it," Mr. Shaw said. "The bug swarms have come."
In the following moment, his countenance abruptly changed. "Hurry! Check the vents!"
Poet suddenly looked towards one corner of the room. "The vent is there!"
The direction they looked in was right over An Zhe's head. It was a hole leading outside that was protected by wire mesh, but because it hadn't been repaired for a long time, it had deteriorated and an opening had formed. Seeing it, Poet tore off half of his shirt sleeve and handed it to An Zhe. "Plug it up!"
The vent was not small. An Zhe accepted the fabric, then wadded it up in his right hand and stuffed it into the hole. "It's not enough."
Poet tore off another piece. An Zhe held the first piece in place with one hand and took the other piece with his other hand.
He felt a sudden sting of pain in the tip of his right index finger.
An Zhe paused, then calmly stuffed the other wad of fabric in as well, firmly stopping up the vent before sitting back down on the bed. While Mr. Shaw and Poet were checking the rest of the room for other holes, he lifted his index finger up to his eyes.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
A red spot the size of a pinprick.
The texture of his skin shifted slightly, changing into snow-white hyphae. Taking advantage of how the other two were facing away from him, he tore off those hyphae with a fierce yank.
New hyphae extended from the breakage point and formed a human finger once more, a new one without any wound.
An Zhe didn't know if doing so would have any effect, nor could he see anything wrong with the hyphae he tore off, but he didn't really have any other options.
"There aren't any other holes," Poet said, turning back around.
"... Mm," An Zhe replied.
However, the sounds of insects colliding into the glass came faster and harder, and the glass rattled as if it was about to shatter. The broadcast in the corridor continued to issue instructions, but they were nothing more than some nonsensical "please close the doors and windows, and do not panic".
Poet sat down, his face slightly pale. "It's in God's hands now, I guess."
"Shut up right now." Mr. Shaw's gaze was grim. After yelling at Poet, he looked at An Zhe.
An Zhe didn't understand why. "What is it?"
"Hurry," Mr. Shaw said. "Call your man."
An Zhe was speechless.
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District 1, Dispersion Center.
The huge, black ultrasonic disperser loomed half-hidden beneath the gray skies, its disk-shaped main body making it look like an enormous flower blooming in the city.
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As the car sped along the road, the buildings continuously drew away and the shadow of the disperser up ahead swiftly grew.
"If the Dispersion Center is destroyed," Lu Feng said, interrupting him, "will the other dispersers still work normally?"
"They might stop working," the researcher said, then briefly fell silent. "The operation of the dispersers is excessively complicated. To ensure that the entirety of the Outer City is perfectly covered by the ultrasonic waves, the intensity and wave bands of all the dispersers are uniformly managed from afar by the Dispersion Center. If the emergency procedures were not promptly initiated when the center was destroyed, I'm afraid there will be very serious consequences.
"However, that's only the worst outcome, and the probability of it happening is very low," he said. "The Disperser 1 at the Dispersion Center has is the biggest ultrasonic disperser in the entirety of the Outer City. Because its power is too strong, it has adverse effects on the human body, which is why District 1 doesn't have permanent residents and there aren't many workers or troops stationed at or near the Dispersion Center. In the event of insufficient manpower, temporary loss of communication may be because of other reasons, not necessarily—"
His voice abruptly cut off as he looked through the car window and straight at the ultrasonic disperser up ahead.
Over a hundred years ago, in the Peaceful Age's springtime, when flowers and leaves were developing, gardeners would spray insect repellent on the plants so that they would be free from insect bites.
And at the present moment, the ultrasonic disperser—this black flower—was covered with protrusions that were striped in gray, white, black, and yellow. Huge worms had crawled all over it.
No, it wasn't only worms.
His breathing became sharp pants, stuttering all of a sudden.
"No..." he said. "Colonel, do you see it?"
Lu Feng yanked the steering wheel around!
The car executed a hair-raising sharp turn on the narrow road and drove back in the direction it came from!
At first, the armored vehicles behind it angrily flashed their lights, but then they all made sharp U-turns as well—
At the end of the road, the black swarm of bugs exploded like fireworks, covering the sky as they flew up and came back down like a sudden downpour of rain. The arthropods' exoskeleton-covered bodies pelted against the glass, and it felt like the entire car was moving forward in the face of stray bullets.
Inside the car, the communicator's volume was set to maximum, and the operator's violently-trembling voice came from it.
"Colonel, emergency communication from District 2. Full-scale outbreak of bug swarms. Requesting assistance."
"Emergency communication from District 3. Large numbers of insect monsters were discovered during the evacuation process. Requesting assistance."
"Emergency communication from the City Defense Agency."
"Emergency communication from the City Affairs Office."
"Emergency communication from District 8—"
"Connect to District 8," Lu Feng said quickly. "Can the underground shelter safely accept the entire city's emergency evacuees?"
"Colonel Lu!" The person on the other end spoke even more quickly. "Small flying mosquitoes have entered via the ventilation system, and more than ten infected ones have appeared here. Requesting the Trial Court's assistance!"
A three-second-long silence.
Lu Feng said, "Kill the infected ones. Everyone else take refuge and wait for assistance."
The communication line was cut off.
"Colonel." A young voice rang out. "The Trial Court has assembled, and at present, there have been no casualties.”
"Disperse assistance to the various districts. Prioritize District 8."
"Yes sir."
The call ended.
"Colonel." In the car, the researcher spoke with a forced veneer of composure. "We're returning to the Main City."
Lu Feng's tone of voice was flat. "The Main City?"
"The Main City has an independent defense and dispersion system, so it can ensure absolute safety."
The car gradually slowed. Up ahead was a fork in the road.
Lu Feng said, "What about the Outer City?"
"The entire Outer City is exposed. The insect monsters can penetrate anywhere with their advantageous body sizes, so the danger level of the insect swarms is higher than when the Southeastern Base fell to the rodent swarms." Calm gradually returned to the researcher's voice. "You may be the Arbiter, but under these circumstances, you can't save anyone."
The abundant justifications allowed the researcher to regain his reason and composure, and he even smiled as he said, "It's meaningless to go anywhere now. There's no way to reduce the number of casualties. You know that what I'm saying is correct. You can't protect anything else, but you can keep us safe."
A voice came from the communicator again. Previously, the situation was critical, so Lu Feng set it to emergency mode, and the communication was automatically answered three seconds later as a result.
But what came through wasn't an operator's voice.
"Colonel," a clear voice spoke, slower than the speed Lu Feng was accustomed to and with a soft lightness to the words. "Your things are still here with me."
"Where are you?" Lu Feng asked.
"Next to the City Defense Agency," An Zhe said. "... Lots of bugs are crashing into the windows."
There was a tremble at the end of his words, as if he was afraid.
Lu Feng turned the steering wheel halfway around and drove onto one of the road's branches. The researcher looked at the abandoned branch with eyes wide open, his body seemingly about to bounce up from the seat yet secured in place by the seat belt. He blurted out, "You—"
Lu Feng seemed to have not heard him at all. He only replied to the communicator, "Wait there."