Chapter 111 - The Terrifying Broodmother

As Qin Feng was facing the bugs on the first floor alone, Wang Chen, driven by fear, had completely sealed away the safe passage thereby blocking themselves in from the blood-thirsty monsters below. It was only after seeing the insectoids’ miraculous retreat into the distance was the entrance opened back up as he wanted to meet Qin Feng downstairs as soon as possible.

However, it was right at that moment prior to their meeting when Wang Chen discovered something that was so scary that it solidified his resolve to offer a truce with Qin Feng.

Wang Chen led Qin Feng to the window where a sniper rifle was leaning against the windowsill.

“Mr Qin, it’s in that direction!”

Qin Feng peered through the scope after confirming that he was pointing the rifle in the right direction.

The massive black rift remained floating in the sky above Han Town from which insectoids would fall out from time to time. However, a noticeable change was that the number of bugs entering this city had grown sparser than during the initial stage of the infestation.

The cars that once roamed the busy streets had now been exchanged with these God-forsaken bugs. Dark-red, almost black colored patches could be observed smeared across the town’s surface, on cars or on the walls to name a few places.

While they were only standing on the second floor of the building, Liu Xue’s influence and standing in Han Town earned them the strategic location that was the hotel. The window Qin Feng was standing at overlooked the once flourishing street that ran through the central business district and right across the road was a massive skyscraper that was once a trade center.

However, stuck between the two grand buildings was a massive spider web.

Resting on the web, was a colossal spider that could easily send chills down the spine of anyone who dared to look at it.

Qin Feng froze as his eyes met the herculean arachnid.

“It’s a beast king!”

The distance between the two buildings was at least seventy to eighty meters wide. Just how was it possible that there was a spider web this big?

Looking closely, each individual spider silk had at least the thickness of a hemp rope. The gigantic eight-legged beast on the other hand, had a body that was at least three to four meters long, the size of a minivan. That was excluding eight of its legs that stretched up to more than ten meters long each.

Such a huge beast, it was the largest Qin Feng had ever seen since his rebirth!

To put the length of ten meters into perspective, if we were to compare it to the floors of your average building, assuming three meters per floor, ten meters would be over three floors tall!

With the spider choosing to spin its web between these two buildings, it was hard to imagine just how devastating its effects would be if further left unchecked.

As if that was not bad enough, hanging on the spider’s web were more than ten cocoon-like sacs, each roughly around one-tenth the size of the spider.

However, Qin Feng deduced from its shape that they must be the unfortunate ones who had fallen into this beast king’s jaws.

“It’s a steel-limb broodmother!” He Ling interrupted the silence, his voice noticeably shaky. It appeared that he already knew of the spider’s existence.

“Now that it’s food supply is taken care of, the steel-limb broodmother will soon initiate its mating process. From each human body, it could produce up to three hundred steel-limb spiderlings which, only after three days would be mature enough to breed. If that were to happen, we’d be drowned in a sea of spiders!”

Qin Feng’s brows furrowed at the thought of the impending disaster.

What He Ling said was no lie.

Back on the first floor, there were indeed male steel-limb spiders. Despite their smaller size, they were not weak creatures. If not for Qin Feng, the four people standing before him would have been torn to shreds without losing too much of their own.

What this implied was that there would soon be a surge in the number of male spiders out hunting for food.

“We cannot afford to let them breed!”

Qin Feng announced in a stern tone.

“We know that! Still, we don’t have much of a choice here do we? It’s a beast king after all!”

Wang Chen felt his mouth gowing bitter.

Qin Feng nodded, realising the powerlessness of this bunch of survivors.

“We’ll strike tonight!”

As long as the Verdant Emperor Saber remained unfinished, Qin Feng could not afford to make any rash decisions.

As its name suggested, the limbs of the steel-limb broodmother was not something which could be snapped in two with bare hands.

However, Qin Feng’s announcement was taken with surprise and disbelief by these men.

“Mr Qin, are you saying that you’re gonna kill the beast king tonight?” Yu Hai asked hesitantly before adding on to his initial question, “Say, just how strong have you become now?”

He could not possibly be E-tier, right?

Qin Feng seemed to be right around seventeen, at most eighteen years of age. If he had indeed reached E-tier, then would that not make him an even greater entity, with more potential than Liu Xue?

Qin Feng chuckled at the unexpected question.

“I don’t think there’s a need to answer your question. I’m afraid you guys would piss your pants out of fear if I were to indeed say it out loud.”

Qin Feng could not possibly say that he was an F4-tier aptitude user. The strength he possessed was something that far exceeded what these people could imagine after all.

Even if his ability was revealed to this lot, there was still the chance that they would doubt his capability to kill this steel-limb broodmother.

As such, things were better left unsaid.

Qin Feng’s words only made him all the more mysterious a character in their eyes, with powers that might just be beyond their expectations.

It did not take long before Qin Feng earned their respect.

“Follow me, the buildings on this street are not worth defending!”

“Roger that!” They too, understood the worth, or the lack thereof, of the building in which they were occupying. The only reason for them being here was because of the food supply left here untouched.

In hindsight, it really was the best choice for them to leave this place after all.

They had severely underestimated how deadly these creepy-crawlies could be!

“Before we leave, go get combat supplies from next door, and recharge that energy blaster! We’re gonna need it!” Qin Feng started issuing orders.

“Right!” Wang Chen was the first to agree. Combat supplies included a wide range of equipment including hemostatic agents for example. These all could be found in what was once Liu Zhenshan’s equipment store.

Qin Feng led the way as pointman while Wang Chen and his three-man team trailed closely behind. Upon reaching the first floor, they made their way into the equipment shop next door through a secret passageway.

As Qin Feng had walked this path before, it had already been cleared through once. However, due to the battle just now, some insectoids managed to crawl their way in.

It was hard to imagine just how dense the crowd of bugs was from before, being able to squeeze a sizable portion of them into this tunnel.

“Hellfire!”

Qin Feng raised his hand in front of him before activating the attack, from which five fist-sized fireballs shot out, each flying toward different targets.

Splat! Splat! Splat!

The fireballs smashed into the bugs’ bodies before clinging on stubbornly like napalm, resulting in an excruciatingly painful death, evident in their violent thrashing on the ground as they were literally roasted alive.

“Move your asses, only bring what you can carry. It’s fine if you leave stuff behind, there will be survivors taking refuge here someday.”

Qin Feng urged.

In an urban area in which anarchy had befallen, stores would generally be left abandoned by their owners. Naturally, they became prime targets for looters seeking supplies either for survival, or for a quick buck.

“Roger that!”

While it looked from the outside to be filled with supplies, the equipment store was actually pretty empty. There were a handful of variants of combat fatigues, with different numbers denoting each variant on display. The rest of the fatigues were instead, found in the storage space behind the counter. Out in the open were crates of perishable goods; hard-tack crackers and regular medical supplies to name a few.

It did not take long before Wang Chen found a hemostatic spray lying around somewhere. He hurriedly tore open his shirt and sprayed the liquid onto his injured abdomen. It seemed that he had barely escaped the jaws of death as the blade mantis’ slicers slashed into his belly.

Wang Chen then took out a piece of wound dressing and applied it to the puncture. Only after successfully applying the dressing did he let out a sigh of relief.

The four men moved swiftly, collecting whatever they could and stored them away into eight large military-grade rucksacks before leaving through the backyard.

“Xiao Bai, open up the door!”

Qin Feng notified Bai Li after switching on the communicator.

The iron door popped open, revealing Liu Zhenshan crouching beside the smelting furnace. It had been forty-or-so minutes since Qin Feng left the place and that was the amount of time it took for the Star Steel spearhead to melt. As for now, it was skillfully being incorporated into the Verdant Emperor Saber by the old man.

Qin Feng led the three men into the room before locking the door shut. Liu Zhenshan turned around to check out the noise and upon seeing Qin Feng’s return, he let out a breath of relief.

“How’s the situation outside?”

“It’s fine!”

Liu Zhenshan did not need to know too much about the steel-limb broodmother.

“Well then, Qin Feng, could you go over to the underground shelter where Liu Xue and the group are hiding? Since it’s safe outside I think it’s best for them to move over here. There are two warehouses beside the smelting facility and the built-in defense system’s pretty robust too!”

Qin Feng too, had thought about this before. However, no matter how bad the situation was in the underground shelter, the risk was simply too high to stay above ground. Though, to the perception of many, such risks could be averted with the presence of Qin Feng.