Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 252

Chapter 252: Chapter 245 Combat Chicken in the Mech Suit_1
 

“Where did they all escape to? The inland?”

The Black Tiger Gang’s territory was quite extensive.

Everyone feared war and fled towards the hinterland.

“They’ve gone in all directions. They’re seeking refuge with relatives and friends, and if they truly have no other choice, they’ll try their best to get away from the border. I heard that Dafeng Village by the Black Water River was wiped out overnight by the thugs of the Nine Insect Gang. Since Luoshui Town is adjacent to the Shennong Sect, everyone is also scared of falling victim to their cruel hands.”

The Nine Insect Gang’s ruthless move was extremely malicious.

It terrified the residents of the villages and towns near the border, causing them to abandon their homes and flee in droves.

After these people sought refuge in other parts of the Black Tiger Gang’s territory, it would certainly trigger a new wave of war and fear.

Qin Niu had a hot bath and changed back into his usual plain clothes.

But the old woman cooked a steaming bowl of noodles for him.

“Young man, it’s not easy being away from home, and there’s not much to eat. I made you a bowl of noodles. Eat it while it’s hot to fill your stomach!”

“Thank you, madam!”

After receiving it, Qin Niu was very grateful for the old woman’s kindness.

“How much for the noodles? I’ll pay you.”

“What money! Just eat up!”

The old woman waved her hand and went into her room, probably to sleep.

Qin Niu found a fried egg hidden beneath the noodles.

Usually, a big bowl of noodles like this would cost at least two wen money.

The money wasn’t much, but eating it warmed his heart.

After finishing the noodles, he went upstairs and chose a guest room to sleep in.

In the middle of the night, he heard someone knocking in a daze. It must have been someone knocking on the door of the inn.

He instinctively grabbed the Ink Blade but stayed in bed without moving.

“Master Qin, Master Qin, save me! Save me…”

Someone was calling him.

The voice was urgent, filled with panic.

Qin Niu hurriedly shouldered his basket and went downstairs, opening the door of the inn, only to find two of the soldiers he had encountered upon entering Luoshui Town.

But their faces were pale, and they looked terrified.

“What happened?”

Qin Niu asked the two men.

“Insects, a large swarm of poisonous insects that bite upon sight. They move fast and bite anyone they see. Three of our brothers have been bitten. The insects’ venom is violent: those bitten convulse on the ground and blood seeps from all seven facial orifices. We beg Master Qin to save our captain and the other brothers.”

This soldier seemed to be in his late twenties, with a cultivation at the level of Grade Ten Mortal.

He was already speaking with a sob in his voice.

To frighten a Grade Ten Mortal regular soldier to tears showed just how frightening those insects must be.

“How did the two of you manage to escape?”

Qin Niu clearly wouldn’t take the two at their word.

If the insects were so fierce and others couldn’t escape, it was suspicious that these two had managed to get away.

“We were on guard duty for the latter half of the night, sitting by the fire, so that’s why we were unharmed.”

Soldiers maintain their vigor by taking turns on night watch duty, pairing up in shifts, which is standard procedure.

This strategy was even modeled after the defense patterns of wild animals.

When zebra herds rest at night, they designate sentinels to stand guard. This allows the rest of the zebras to rest assuredly, maintaining their energy.

The next night, other zebras take over so that those who stood watch the previous night can rest securely within the herd.

With such rotations, the entire herd can always stay energetically robust.

“If those insects are afraid of fire, why aren’t you using torches to rescue the people?”

“It’s no use, there are too many insects. We were afraid of getting trapped, and then there would be no one left to send a warning. We beseech Master Qin to take action and save our captain and the other brothers. I must immediately inform the main camp. The arrival of these insects is strange; it could very well be an enemy’s attack strategy.”

One of the soldiers, having said this, mounted his horse and hurried off toward the outside of the town.

He was delivering a message to the local garrison.

Small military encampments are usually not exposed recklessly.

Especially during a period of warfare between two armies.

Because they could easily be surrounded and taken by the enemy in one fell swoop.

“Madam, insects have come. It would be best if you hid in a large urn. As long as you secure the lid tightly, you should be able to escape this disaster.” Qin Niu, having eaten a big bowl of noodles, naturally had something to repay.

“Okay!”

The old woman replied, already heading toward the kitchen.

Clearly, she’d taken Qin Niu’s advice to heart.

“Lead the way!”

Rescuing someone was as urgent as putting out a fire; having gotten clear directions, Qin Niu didn’t dawdle.

He directly had another soldier who stayed behind guide him.

Soon, the two arrived at the docks of Luoshui Town.

This was where eleven soldiers were stationed on guard.

It was also the passageway into the market town from the Tianshui River.

“Insects, it’s these insects! Master Qin, be careful!”

The soldier, holding a torch, hadn’t even reached the docks when he spotted the insects attacking from the ground.

They surged like a tide, numerous in number.

Hurriedly crawling forward.

The wooden hut ahead was the temporary camp for a dozen soldiers, from inside which desperate cries still emerged, indicating there were survivors.

“Just follow behind me.”

Qin Niu, with the Termite Army, wasn’t afraid of these crawling ground insects.

The priority was to rescue the people first.

Over sixteen thousand termites in the Termite Army cleared the path ahead.

The remaining over four thousand, which had the ability to launch mental attacks, directly climbed onto Qin Niu for combat.

Rather than engaging in close combat, it was better to let their long-range attack capabilities assist.

The insects on the ground were a type of black armored beetle.

Slim and elongated, they moved with extraordinary agility.

Upon closer examination, Qin Niu identified them as ground beetles.

They belonged to a particularly fierce category of omnivorous insects.

It must be emphasized that not all insects are called insects. Termites, bees, ground beetles are all insects. But spiders, centipedes, and such are not considered insects.

They can only be called bugs.

Centipedes, millipedes, both belong to arthropods.

Ground beetles are Coleoptera.

Coleoptera, a superfamily of insects, are characterized by their hard exoskeletons.

For example, rhinoceros beetles are the favorite of insect enthusiasts.

Not only are rhinoceros beetles large, but they also possess two impressively long horns and have tremendous fighting strength. They are well-known powerhouses, and their defensive abilities needless to say.

Even praying mantises have to detour around them.

Ground beetles, however, belong to the smaller-sized insects within the Coleoptera.

They are known for their swift movement, ferocity, and many naturally have stink glands which allow them to spray toxic gases from their tails.

If sprayed on a person’s hand, it immediately causes redness and pain, and the smell is very unpleasant.

However, they differ from the stink bugs found among Hemiptera, colloquially known as stink bugs.

The gases released by stink bugs indeed smell terrible.

And also carry a certain toxicity.

In a fight, ten stink bugs wouldn’t stand a chance against a single ground beetle.

They are the ‘bantam fighters’ among the ground beetles.

The ground beetles crawling on the ground were obviously bred and enhanced by an Insect Master.

Their mandibles had evolved extreme biting strength, and they had developed venom glands in their mouths.

That was the most frightening part.

Once they bit someone, they immediately injected their venom.

“My god, the weakest are Grade Two ground beetles, most are Grade Three, and their numbers are so vast.”

Qin Niu felt a wave of numbness in his scalp.

Insect warfare has two developmental directions.

One is to win through quality, breeding insects so tough that they are impervious to weapons and resistant to elements, with great mobility and toxicity. To possess just one could allow one to snatch the enemy leader with ease, as easy as reaching into a bag.

Even Buddha, back in the day, was once stung by Scorpion Spirit.

This serves to illustrate how terrifying the toxicity of insects can be.

The second direction is to win through numbers.

On top of having a certain quality, breeding a large number of insect swarms to reach a terrifying figure.

This approach is equally horrifying.

Especially against ordinary humans and skilled fighters, it is almost guaranteed success.

When it comes to explosive reproduction, the Termite Queen of Qin Niu was second to none, and likely no other insect would dare claim to be first.