Chapter 9
Desert Ants
The night was long, and the blood moon stood witness to the chaos that had descended.
Outside the shelter that cost tens of billions of yuan, Zhang Hu led more than 100 men to kill the mutant beasts.
At the beginning of the Cataclysm and the early stages of the mutation, there were very few mutant beasts that could stand up against Divine Runemasters.
The mutant beasts gathered outside the shelters were huge, especially the gerbils. Apart from being huge, there were also many of them; there were at least thousands of them.
Blood stained the armor and the weapons of the men as they slaughtered the mutant beasts. They looked like demons that had crawled up from the abyss. They were even more ferocious than the mutant beasts.
Not much time had passed before Gu Changqing returned to join the slaughter. He was powerful and unshakeable, like a killing machine that mowed down dozens of mutant beasts every minute.
…
Half an hour later.
The ground outside the shelter was drenched in blood. The dismembered carcasses of the mutant beasts covered the ground as far as the eye could see.
After the massacre, everyone began to collect the crystal cores on the ground and in the carcasses of the mutant beasts.
“Boss, this is awesome!” Zhang Hu said. His saber and armor were dripping with blood. It seemed like he still had not had enough of the killing.
Gu Changqing looked into the distance. No one knew what he was thinking.
Seeing that there was no response, Zhang Hu asked, confused, “Boss, what’s wrong? With our strength, is there anything we should fear?”
Gu Changqing shifted his eyes to Zhang Hu and said, “Desert ants. They’re not really a threat to us…”
“Ugh! They’re only found in the Black Continent, right?” Zhang Hu asked, puzzled.
Gu Changqing replied, “Don’t forget that this place was once a prison. In the past, in order to prevent prisoners from escaping, the ants were brought in from the Black Continent to the desert. It was another layer of security. Nearly a century had passed so no one knew if they still existed. The smell of blood is strong here. It might attract them…”
He continued to say, “Just in case, tell everyone to collect the crystal cores as quickly as they can. We need all hands on deck. If the desert ants appear, it’ll be more beneficial than harmful to us!”
In his previous life, Gu Changqing heard that a few months after the Cataclysm, an extremely huge army of desert ants had appeared. When the military heard about it, they sent thousands of fighter jets to the Gobi Desert to deal with them.
Although Gu Changqing was aware of this, he still built the shelter here. His goal was very simple. He planned to kill the desert ants and harvest their crystal cores. After all, despite their large number, they were not a threat to the shelter at the moment.
Meanwhile, Zhang Hu laughed upon hearing Gu Changqing’s words. He understood Gu Changqing’s extension. He said, “With our strength, even if we can’t eliminate them all at once, we can slowly take our time to kill them and harvest their crystal cores. It’ll allow us to quickly raise our strength!”
After saying that, Zhang Hu hurried away, telling the others to collect the crystal cores as quickly as they could.
Things were easy now, but Gu Changqing knew that this was only the beginning.
The mutant beasts in the city were easy to deal with, unlike the ones from the wilderness. Moreover, there was also a bigger threat. About 71% of Earth was occupied by water. When the sea monsters came to land, that would be the moment when humans lost hope.
In Gu Changqing’s previous life, all the coastal cities were destroyed by sea monsters whose numbers were unimaginable.
…
The men worked very quickly after listening to Zhang Hu’s reminder. After about ten minutes, they gathered outside the gates with sacks of crystal cores in their hands. They had yet to count how many crystal cores they had obtained.
“What a great harvest! Boss, are the desert ants really coming? I still want to hunt!” Zhang Hu said with a smile.
Gu Changqing said casually, “The smell of blood is strong here. If they didn’t come now, they won’t come so soon. Come on. Let’s go back.”
Just as Gu Changqing was leading everyone into the shelter…
Meow!
“Hmm?”
Everyone turned to look at the source of the commotion.
A huge black cat ran over at lightning speed, and a woman seemed to be sitting on its back. In just a moment, they arrived in front of the group of men.
Zhang Hu recognized the woman on the cat’s back immediately. He said teasingly, “Oh, isn’t this the famous Internet celebrity, Tuan Tuan? Is this your cat?”
As soon as Tuan Tuan, who was clutching onto the back of the cat, saw the group of men, she relaxed. She inhaled deeply before she bit her lip and asked pitifully, “Brothers, can you allow me to enter the shelter? Don’t worry, I won’t stay here without doing anything. I can do all the chores here. I only hope that you’ll take me in.”
Tuan Tuan was puzzled by the armor the men wore, but now was not the time to ask questions. She looked at Gu Changqing after she finished speaking. Based on his domineering temperament, which one could only have after being in a high position for a long time, she was sure that he was the richest man in Longjiang City and the owner of the shelter. After sizing him up for a while, she felt that he was really attractive.
“I hope you can keep your word. I don’t keep idle people here,” Gu Changqing said, very satisfied with her humble attitude. If she had shown even a hint of arrogance, he would not have spared her a glance.
“Of course! I’ll do everything you tell me to!” Tuan Tuan hurriedly said. Her heart finally felt at ease.
With that, she followed the men into the shelter.
…
At this time, Su Youwei and Lin Shuiyao were riding on the back of the Tibetan Mastiff that was the size of a van. They left Longjiang City and made their way to the shelter in the western suburbs.
The Tibetan Mastiff was running at lightning speed, but suddenly, a red figure that was even faster suddenly ran past them and blocked their path.
The Tibetan Mastiff growled and bared its fangs before it pounced over.
The red figure was extremely fast and easily dodged the Tibetan Mastiff. Then, the red figure said loudly, “Sister, it’s me! Lin Chen! I finally found you through the location-sharing app on my phone!”
After dodging the Tibetan Mastiff, the figure removed his helmet.
Lin Shuiyao, who had been frightened just a moment ago, looked over, and her face lit up immediately.
The other party was a handsome young man dressed in a set of armor with fire and dragon patterns. He looked about 18 years old.
“What is this? Fire Dragon Armor?” Su Youwei asked as she looked at the newcomer.
‘His armor is really too flashy…’
Lin Chen turned to look at Su Youwei. Seeing the armor on her body, he knew that she was also a Divine Runemaster like him. He chuckled softly and said, “I also have the Emperor Armor.”
Lin Chen turned back to Lin Shuiyao and asked, “Sister, where are you going?”
Lin Shuiyao felt even safer now that she saw her brother also had a suit of armor. She said, “Brother, you came at the right time. We’re going to the shelter in the western suburbs.”
Lin Chen said disdainfully, “It might not be necessarily safe in the shelter. It’s better to follow the military. Sister, I won’t let you get hurt as long as I’m around.”
“Sister Shuiyao,” Su Youwei said, nodding in agreement, “I think your brother is right. It’s better to follow the military.”
Lin Shuiyao thought about it for a moment before she said, “Alright then. Let’s not go to the shelter.”