Chapter 397 - 369: Burning Insects
"Help!"
"Run! There are too many bugs!"
"Fire! They’re afraid of fire! Use fire, quick!"
"Don’t run! Fight back with fire! These bugs are afraid of fire!"
The town was in utter chaos.
The bugs swarmed into the town from all directions, chewing straight through wooden houses. Even some of the stone buildings were on the verge of collapse.
A brand-new area on the north side of town, its color clashing with the surrounding houses, became the hardest-hit disaster zone.
Someone, unable to escape in time, stumbled and fell. The bugs behind them surged forward like a tide, crawling all over their body. Amidst piercing screams, they were devoured down to their bare bones.
Someone threw a torch, setting a wooden house ablaze.
In the pitch-black cavern, flames instantly shot toward the sky!
...
The bright flames illuminated the faces of everyone in the Gated Community.
In the open space in the middle, the clearing specially cordoned off for the bugs, countless insects shrieked and danced in the flames.
The air filled with the scent of roasting bugs.
Gradually, the aroma turned acrid, and the smell of burning spread outward.
Bathed in the intense light of the flames, the remaining black beetles outside the Gated Community retreated in fear, leaving the ground littered with corpses.
Qin Ziwu went out to check and found that the remaining bugs that had surrounded them were all gone.
He pursued them for a short distance to confirm they had truly retreated, only then returning with peace of mind.
Qin Ziwu returned and reported, "The bugs are all gone."
Qin Ziwen said, "We can’t let our guard down. Assign more people to sentry duty tonight to prevent the bugs from circling back for a surprise attack. It’s unlikely given their intelligence, but we should be prepared for anything.
"From now on, we’ll establish a regular patrol team around the Gated Community to stand watch in shifts."
It was only then that Qin Ziwen realized that due to the last map’s unique terrain, they had never established regular patrols or sentry posts for the Gated Community.
The map before that had been the wide-open Gobi Desert, where, aside from sandstorms, visibility was excellent, so they hadn’t set up watch posts then either.
And the very first map was out of the question; back then, everyone in the Gated Community was just trying to save their own skin, and there was no sense of unity at all.
In the center of the clearing, the fire gradually died down. People walked in an orderly fashion to clean up the aftermath, clearing out the black beetles that had been burned to charcoal.
He picked up a black beetle. It was still hot from the fire, its body curled up stiffly in his palm.
Qin Ziwen grasped its body with both hands and pulled. Like breaking a stale, burnt loaf of bread, it ripped apart with a CRACK.
Inside, tender white meat was revealed, giving off a fragrant aroma.
"There’s actually this much meat!?" Qin Ziwu, craning his neck to see, was somewhat surprised by the sight.
’This bug looked so ferocious, but it’s actually this meaty.’
"The meat yield is pretty high, and there’s a good amount of fat, too. Look, the fat right here has been rendered out," Qin Ziwen said, pointing to a section behind its head. A piece of slightly yellowish fat, seared by the intense heat, had melted into a large chunk of white meat behind it, releasing a faint, fragrant 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 be ugly on the outside, but it’s surprisingly delicious on the inside.’
"You try some." He tore off another piece and handed it to Xiaowu.
Qin Ziwu’s mouth twitched, and his body instinctively leaned back. "Maybe we should just skip it... I believe you that it’s delicious."
The piece of meat was pressed against his lips. The warm, tender flesh touched his mouth. Qin Ziwu looked like he wanted to say something but stopped. Finally, he squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth to accept it.
Qin Ziwen asked, "How’s the taste?"
With his brow furrowed, Qin Ziwu swallowed it whole. As he registered the lingering, savory flavor in his mouth, he subconsciously replied, "Not bad."
"These bugs are a bit of a nuisance, but if handled properly, there’s no reason they can’t be a suitable food source." Qin Ziwen thought of the feed processing plant he had just acquired not long ago.
’The bug corpses would be perfect to put in there and process into feed.’
Not far away, the newcomers from the hospital who had just joined the Gated Community secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the bug swarm dealt with.
The sight of the dense swarm just now had scared them witless.
Many of them had hidden on the upper floors of the hospital at the beginning, and with the dim lighting, they hadn’t really gotten a good look at the giant centipede.
Instead, it was the sight of the black bugs under the firelight—a swarm as dense as a black tide, writhing as they burned in the bonfire—that truly gave them the creeps.
Wu Shanqi stood behind Zhao Pu, rubbing the goosebumps on his arms.
"Old Zhao, after you guys transmigrated... is this the kind of stuff you deal with over here?"
"Not always." Zhao Pu shook his head. "This is our first time seeing these bugs, too."
Wu Shanqi breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good."
"The last map was an Island. We were up against things like Megalodons, Mosasauruses, and Snake-necked Dragons."
The expression on Wu Shanqi’s face stiffened. "And extinct dinosaurs."
"Probably more than that. Based on the difficulty, the things we encounter get more terrifying with every map," Zhao Pu said, glancing at him. "You all were probably dragged into this because of us. Otherwise, your first map wouldn’t have been this difficult."
At this point, Zhao Pu paused and said meaningfully, "Of course, it could also have been worse. After all, with us here, whether you like it or not, at least there are rules. A place without rules can be even more terrifying."
Seeing the shifting expressions on Wu Shanqi’s face, Zhao Pu could easily guess what he was thinking.
But he wasn’t in a hurry.
’These new people haven’t been through the hardest times, haven’t starved. No matter what you say, some things just won’t sink in.
’People are complicated creatures.
’No wonder the Guild Leader said not to let these people join the Qin Alliance yet, that they needed an observation period of one map.
’Even this old classmate of mine is different from how he used to be.
’Let alone the others.’
"Don’t overthink it. Just do your job well. The Gated Community needs doctors right now. As long as you work diligently, there will be opportunities," Zhao Pu said comfortingly. "Although we have the Hundred Schools Book Tower with its medical books, learning medicine is different from learning other skills. It takes much more time to train a qualified doctor."
"So, at this stage, the Gated Community is still short on doctors. The arrival of Wu Shanqi and the others is perfectly timed to fill this gap. If they perform well during this period, it’s not impossible for them to surpass others and secure a firm footing in the Qin Alliance."
"Thanks, Old Zhao. I’ll buy you a meal sometime," Wu Shanqi said. After he finished, Zhao Pu went off to attend to his own business.
Watching Zhao Pu’s busy departing figure, Wu Shanqi stood in place for a moment before turning and walking to a corner of the Gated Community’s courtyard.
A number of doctors were gathered there, including two hospital administrators.
"Dr. Wu, what did they say?"
"Can we go back? We all have families. We’re not just single people with no one to answer to. Going back would be for the best."
"Xiaowu, if we can go back, you’ll have performed a great service! Performance reviews, bonuses, promotions, the selection for department head, not to mention the government commendations... that’s all much better than keeping company with bugs here."
...
...
"Bro, we can’t eat these ones anymore, right?"