CH 15

Weakness is sin

“Report…report… There are a large number of unknown insects approaching dozens of metres away, the preliminary judgement is that it contains extremely high danger!” said a member with a similar ability to clairvoyance, his voice trembling. Seeing the terrifying appearance of the group of monsters up close, he felt that it was already good that he did not fall down to his knees.

However there is no need to report, the impactful picture has already slowly unfolding in front of everyone.

What truly eye-catching was that the countless beetles [1] were all the size of washbasins. [2] These insects were like monsters that could devour everything. Wherever they passed, the forest, grass and shrubs became barren. If humans are surrounded by these swarms, it is estimated that even the bones will be swallowed up in a few seconds!

It can no longer be called a bug. Although it looks like a beetle, each of them is the size of a washbasin. The shell is black and shiny, just a glance can tell you it is sturdy. If you hit using a knife you probably will only leave a white mark on it.

The sharp claws on the monster’s limbs flickered with cold light, propping its body away from the ground, which made it look a bit like a spider. The teeth that are constantly wriggling in their mouths make a “Yi Yi” sound, which makes people’s scalp tingle. They all know that once they are touched a little by this kind of thing, their skin will break and their flesh will rip apart.

Human-devouring Gu worm! [3]

These words flashed through Shen Qingjia’s mind, she secretly thought that she was unlucky to have encountered such a thing.

Although there is a Gu word in the human-devouring Gu worm, it actually has nothing to do with the legendary Gu. Theoretically, it will take a year for small creatures to mutate but this human-devouring Gu worm is a special case. It is said that the human-devouring Gu worm was originally used by a biological research institute in Y city for research but after taking too many biochemical drugs and exposed to too much radiation, after the apocalypse happen, it has the ability to adapt to meteorite radiation and mutated into this monster. In a previous life, Shen Qingjia heard that it first appeared in the second zombie wave, but she didn’t expect the nest to be here and it has already reproduced so many offspring…

Xu Kai’s face was ugly and everyone’s face from Hope base was pale.

“What – what the tm is this?” [4]

Currently there are 51 people left in his team. Can they all be able to defeat this monstrosity?

These beetles, like wild beasts from ancient times, want to destroy everything, wherever they pass everything is swallowed up by them. This kind of momentum is simply unstoppable!

Facing the terrifying scene, everyone’s back was covered in cold sweat and everyone’s heart became extremely heavy.

As the human-devouring Gu worm moved rapidly, everyone tensed and began to sweat on their palms, their whole bodies stiffening to the point where they could barely move. The impact of such huge numbers on them was unparalleled and unspeakable.

Even thousands of ants swarming together is enough to make people terrified, not to mention that there are thousands or maybe even tens of thousands of washbasin-sized monsters. The black monsters coming down like a black wave, making everyone tremble with fear, they couldn’t even think of fighting and they almost wanted to turn around and run away!

“Everyone stays strong, this is just a level 1 mutant animal. We have even killed the level 3 peak mutant animal, so why should we be afraid of these little bugs? As long as we work together, we will be able to beat these monsters!”

Although Xu Kai feels uneasy, [5] as the team leader, anyone can panic, but he cannot. He immediately mustered up the courage and started to motivate everyone!

Yes, even if they try to run away, with this thing’s speed, it is basically lighting the lamp in the toilet [6] – courting death! There is no way to escape now and only by defeating these bugs will they have a chance to survive.

After Xu Kai’s motivational speech, everyone’s fears subdued a little and they began to prepare to deal with the monsters.

The human-devouring Gu worm crawls very fast and it only takes a few seconds to reach the crowd. Zhu Ai controls the water flow and forms a spherical protective film to cover the two people. This protective film floats in the air like a bubble. It seems to be fragile but once the mutant animals and plants below level 3 touch it, they will be melted and only the crystal cores remain. Of course, this protective cover can’t stay running all the time. It consumes too much ability and mental power, and Zhu Ai estimated that she can only keep it up for about an hour.

Those who dare to explore the secret realm are the elite troops of the Hope Base. Some of them may not have outstanding combat power but they definitely have excellent life-saving ability.

The wood ability user emits light that can repel insects all over their body and the metal ability user metalizes their entire body… For the others, to protect themselves, they throw out wind blades and fireballs one after another.

Xu Kai is a careful person and even without Shen Qingjia’s reminder, he can quickly see the strength and the weakness of the monster.

“The neck and mouthparts of this insect, er, just call it the mouth, have the weakest defences. Remember to focus on these two points!”

“Yes Sir!”

“Its limbs and claws are very long and it is very likely to have a good jumping ability. Everyone, be careful with ambushes!”

“Yes Sir!”

“Climbing the tree is not a last resort, this kind of monster also can climb, if you are torn in half by the monster or fall off the tree and smash to death, don’t blame your deputy head, I have reminded you in advance!”

“Yes Sir!”

“Everyone, take out the guns. Guns are very lethal to this level 1 mutant animal. The logistics team took out incendiary bombs and grenades and started killing the enemy!”

“Yes Sir!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One by one, incendiary bombs, anti-tank grenade, compressed fireballs and thunderbolts were thrown into the swarm, and there was a violent explosion, it took away the lives of more than 100 monsters in a few seconds. If offensive level 2 ability user aim is good, they can kill the insect in a few seconds.

Four or five metres above the ground, inside the bubble protective film floating in the air, Zhu Ai and Co stood quietly, watching the black swarm under them. In the fire, they struggled and died, but more human-devouring Gu worm rushed forward without fear of death. The fire is blazing, black and red entangled with each other, becoming a magnificent picture painted with life.

Shen Qingjia’s fingers were itchy when she saw it, “Zhu Ai, can you attack outside the protective cover?”

Zhu Ai nodded, at the same time, a silk-like water flow wrapped around her hand and the same things moved toward the human-devouring Gu worm on the ground. The dozen or so monsters sensed the water approaching and made a frightening hissing sound but they couldn’t fight back. The moment they touched the water, they were immediately dissolved and a dozen or so crystal cores were wrapped in the water and pulled up.

At Zhu Ai’s level, level 1 crystal cores have no effect to help her upgrade but it can still be used to supplement the ability consumed in battle so it has a good effect. Although she and Shen Qingjia collected a large amount of this “disposable rechargeable battery” in the last zombie wave which was still stacked in their carry-on space, the more batteries they have, the better.

Shen Qingjia didn’t want to fall behind, so she stretched out her right hand. Three compressed fireballs in her palm were spinning like satellites revolving around the earth and with a wave of her hand, several fireballs flew to the swarm under and exploded with a bang. It killed more than a dozen human-devouring Gu worms.

This kind of fireball is the maximum she can compress now [7] and each fireball is comparable to an incendiary bomb.

“It can’t go on like this.” Zhu Ai suddenly said.

Shen Qingjia looked down and saw that even in the face of the monstrous heat, those human-devouring insects were still shrieking loudly, refusing to retreat despite knowing that death and destruction were ahead of them, they were still charging towards the Hope Base’s team in a frenzy! Compared to the black swarm of insects, the fifty-one members of Hope Base were just a boat in a stormy sea, likely to perish at any moment.

There are several thousand human-devouring Gu worms, so what if a hundred or a thousand are killed or injured? At that time, when everyone run out of power, incendiary bomb and anti-tank grenades are completely consumed and the protective cover disappears, they can still crush everyone with a huge numerical advantage!

Zhu Ai is a powerhouse, she is at level 3 peak and the protective cover can stay for one hour, but what about the level 2 ability users below? I am afraid that their ending is at the worm’s belly!

Shen Qingjia, who was at level 2 peak fire ability user, once again felt her weakness.

Translator’s notes:

[1] 甲壳虫; put this as notes since the description will change later into worm so I can told myself yeah I do not get it wrong lol

[2] 洗脸盆; the size of the desktop washbasin with and without edge is 900mm*650mm, according to Baidu. So around 2.9 feet*2.1 feet

[3] 噬人蛊虫; so apparently Gu worm is common theme in Xianxia novel? Anyway the next paragraph will explain a lil bit about Gu worm and human-devouring sounds cooler than man-eater so that is why I use it

[4] 这tm到底是什么东西; the tm is written like that, due to censorship, netizens usually used tm as fuck. So yeah, this is supposed to be ‘what the fuck is this?’

[5] 然心中也没有底; literal translation: heart hit bottom, meaning: have no idea what is happening, don’t know what to do etc.

[6] 厕所点灯; so, funny idiom. Apparently this means seeking death, since the next sentence means ‘courting death’ I decided to keep this idiom.

[7] 这种火球是她现在能够压缩的最大限度; honestly I have no idea what compressed [压缩] here means but on this chapter author stated ‘compressed fireball and thunderbolt’ so I guess, it is like Chidori [for the thunderbolt] probably?