Chapter 253 - Chapter 253: Chapter 246 One-Sided Slaughter s

Chapter 253: Chapter 246 One-Sided Slaughter s

He needed time, and even more so, a mass of resources to cultivate the Ant Queen and assist the evolution of its Breeding Skill once again.

A daily production of a thousand eggs was already quite impressive.

For those bugs that produced only a few hundred or even just a few eggs in their lifetime, it was considered high yield.

But compared to some insects with particularly strong breeding capabilities, it still couldn’t form an overwhelming advantage.

At the moment, facing an army of Labu beetles like a tide, Qin Niu walked with ease, as if entering a realm without insects.

Wherever he passed, the Labu beetle swarm either parted to the sides or turned on one another.

The rest were simply overwhelmed by the fierce Termite Army.

The Termite Army at this moment was even more ferocious than the dreaded Army Ants and moved with greater speed.

This time, the Termite Army participating in close combat was primarily composed of the newest types of soldiers.

There were only a very few of the earlier Grade Two termites.

Because the termites from the initial batch had basically developed abilities for mental attack or mental control.

Qin Niu treasured them dearly and would not let them engage in close combat with the enemy unless it was absolutely necessary.

Among the many ant species, the Grade Three Lightning Poison Bomb Worker Ants were particularly dazzling.

Not only were they fast movers, but they could also spray venom to attack the enemy, and they possessed a super strong biting force.

The Labu beetle’s shell seemed quite fragile before them.

Almost biting through with each attempt.

The most formidable part was their ability to spray venom. Their venom contained both neurotoxins and corrosive toxins, a mix of poisons.

When getting close to the enemy, they often sprayed venom at the Labu beetles’ eyes and antennae.

Even the Grade Three Labu beetles were powerless in front of this ‘hidden weapon’ and fell victim one after another.

Besides, the Grade Three Dark Poison Ants, Grade Three Tiger-striped Soldier Ants, Grade Three Green Carapace Giant Worker Ants-each of these soldier types had its unique characteristics.

All of them had the ability to penetrate armor.

The Labu beetle’s agility and carapace, these two advantages, were precisely countered by them.

Moreover, the Labu beetles’ biting force was nowhere near that of these specialized Grade Three termites. Once combat ensued, it was truly like destroying dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, completely one-sided.

It turned into a one-sided massacre.

Qin Niu hadn’t expected his termites to be so formidable against the strongest among the beetle types, the Labu beetles.

At this instant, he truly witnessed the terrifying combat strength of the termites.

In the past, when leading the Termite Army, they faced particularly powerful enemies. It was either the Corpse Bee or the Grade Four or Five Steel-winged Wild Bees. Being suppressed was only to be expected.

Aerial forces naturally suppress infantry.

Termites actually had aerial forces; Breeder Ants had wings and could fly. It’s just that their flying capability was very ordinary.

Also, the main task of Breeder Ants was reproduction, not combat.

Therefore, the possibility of termites evolving an aerial force was quite slim.

Their evolutionary direction was mainly infantry.

The Labu beetles also had wings, but their flying capability was lousy, nowhere near comparable to wasps and honeybees.

When they fought termites on the ground, they had no advantage at all, and countless Labu beetles were slaughtered.

The termites themselves had already been trained on the battlefield.

It was clear that these Labu beetles were novices freshly deployed to the battlefield. Once combat began, their inexperience showed at every turn.

The termites, on the other hand, grew stronger as they fought, and their cooperative synergy far surpassed that of the Labu beetles.

Though the Labu beetle army was vast in number, they fought individually, like scattered sands.

The termites, however, were more like a well-trained army.

In battle, the trained against the uncoordinated, the outcomes were entirely different.

In just a moment, Qin Niu had successfully reached the wooden house.

With one kick, he broke through the tightly shut wooden door. Inside, several soldiers holding torches were fighting against a terrible swarm of insects. The platoon leader’s cultivation should have reached the first level of the Acquired Realm, but facing these tiny insects, it was his worst nightmare.

One sword strike could kill a few insects, but more would likely take the opportunity to crawl onto him.

Being bitten by even one insect would result in immediate poisoning.

On the ground lay three bodies, and two others were writhing in agony, bleeding from all orifices.

The dense swarm of insects engulfed these two as well.

The three bodies were also overwhelmed by the swarm, with only their contours barely visible.

Labu beetles were omnivorous insects; they also consumed flesh.

After killing a person, they would directly gnaw on the body.

They were veritable demons.

As soon as Qin Niu burst in, he immediately set about exterminating the swarm inside the house. The pressure on the four surviving soldiers was immediately relieved.

In just a short while, Qin Niu successfully rescued the four soldiers.

“Thank you for saving our lives, Master Qin! I am Luo Wanglei, and I will never forget Master Qin’s grace in saving our lives,” the leading platoon leader thanked Qin Niu.

“We’re all subjects of the Black Tiger Gang, and it’s only right to help each other out. You don’t have to be formal, Lord Luo. This swarm of insects is unusual and numerous; it’s likely the enemy deployed them. Who knows how many civilians have been harmed along their path.”

Qin Niu wasn’t afraid.

But the insects left people and livestock poisoned wherever they went.

“We’re about to report this to the higher-ups immediately. There’s an Insect Master at the military base who should have a way to deal with these insects. Master Qin, we shall meet again later.”

“Wait, you have horses, help me take someone away.”

Qin Niu was still concerned about the old woman who ran the inn.

When he arrived at the inn with the soldiers, the old woman had already fallen victim to the poison.

People hid inside the large iron pot in the kitchen, but the wooden lid failed to fend off the attack of the Army Ants.

Her death was a tragic sight, with numerous Army Ants gnawing at her corpse.

Witnessing this, Qin Niu clenched his fists.

In war between armies, innocent civilians should not be harmed.

Yet the Nine Insect Gang specialized in harming the people, acting like demons.

“I’ll take you to a safe place.”

Qin Niu led several soldiers to an area the insect swarm had not yet reached. “Master Qin, come with us! With your abilities, you would surely achieve great military exploits on the battlefield.”

“I cannot join the army just yet, you all hurry along! Those insects move very fast and will soon reach this area.”

The insect swarm’s advance had a certain order to it.

Wherever there was a path, they would follow it.

Upon detecting the scent of humans, they would immediately surround and attack.

“Take care! Until we meet again!”

Luo Wanglei mounted his horse and, along with the four surviving soldiers, quickly departed.

After seeing them off, Qin Niu turned and headed in the opposite direction of the insect horde’s advance.

He was determined to eliminate the enemy Insect Master and avenge the elderly woman.

The swarm had come from the direction of the Tianshui River.

Following the path of the swarm, he arrived at the riverbank only to see a large number of Army Ants floating on the river surface.

They drifted downstream and, upon reaching the shore, crawled onto the land.

This suggested that the enemy had released a massive number of Army Ants upstream on the opposite side of the river.

Most insects are afraid of water, but these Army Ants were not, which meant they were even more difficult to deal with.

Qin Niu continued along the riverbank, encountering ferocious newly-landed Army Ants all the way. They launched attacks at him upon detecting his scent.

Unfortunately for them, Qin Niu was protected by the Termite Army and was not afraid of them at all.

Eventually, finding the pace of progress too slow, Qin Niu had his Poison Ants mimic the scent of the Army Ants to mask his human smell.

The trick worked wonders.

The Army Ants no longer attacked Qin Niu, ignoring him as if he were a big living man invisible like the Steel-winged Wild Bee.

Qin Niu executed the Misty Rain Traceless Step and ran swiftly forward.

The swarm was even larger than he had imagined, stretching two to three kilometers along the river surface.

How many Army Ants could there be?

The Insect Master of the Nine Insect Gang was so formidable that he could annihilate the Black Tiger Gang with just a massive swarm of insects, without needing soldiers to take action.

As the number of Army Ants on the river surface gradually diminished, Qin Niu knew he was nearing the end.

He immediately slowed down, advancing stealthily under the cover of night.

Soon, with his keen hearing, he faintly heard voices coming from the opposite side of the river.

Looking over, shadows flickered across the river, with lights twinkling.

There were quite a few people active on the other side.

Now deep into the night, these people surely wouldn’t be idling around for fun by the riverbank.

Separated by the wide river, Qin Niu could do nothing about those people on the opposite side.

He hid in the dark, quietly observing.

The lights barely revealed a large number of boats gathering on the opposite shore.

” What are they trying to do?”

He was astonished.

He hadn’t expected to encounter such significant military intelligence upon his return to the Black Tiger Gang.

Judging by their movements, they were probably planning to cross the river and launch a night raid.

Even without understanding military strategy, Qin Niu realized the gravity of the situation.

The Shennong Sect was bordered by the Black Tiger Gang across the Tianshui River, and with this natural barrier, the Black Tiger Gang only needed to station a small team of soldiers for sentry duty along the riverbank.

If the Shennong Sect launched a night raid, once they crossed the river, they would catch the Black Tiger Gang completely off guard.

A strike from Luoshui Town, although a considerable distance from Black Tiger City, would penetrate directly into the heartland of the Black Tiger Gang.

An expanse of fertile land would fall entirely into the hands of the Shennong Sect.

Once the Shennong Sect’s armies established their foothold here, reclaiming lost ground would be more difficult for the Black Tiger Gang than ascending to the heavens.

This attack method of the Shennong Sect is quite despicable. They first release a large number of Army Ants to clear out the civilians and guards along the riverbank, creating an uninhabited zone, then cross the river at night for a surprise attack, naturally without worrying about being discovered. By the time the Black Tiger Gang realizes an army is launching a sneak attack, the enemy will have already taken over the entire heartland of the Black Tiger Gang. Merely with the landlords, Protectors, and family guards from each village and town, they wouldn’t be able to resist the enemy’s advancing army.

I must hurry and notify the upper echelons of the Black Tiger Gang.”

Without further observation, Qin Niu quickly departed.

It would take about two days to reach Black Tiger City from Luoshui Town.

By then, the opportunity would be long lost.

Luo Wanglei had taken four soldiers to deliver the message, which meant there must be an army stationed locally.

Following the direction Luo Wanglei and the others had left in, Qin Niu ran at breakneck speed.

The proficiency level of his Misty Rain Traceless Step was also increasing rapidly.

He grew faster, and his figure became more blurred, turning into a lingering afterimage.

Cries of agony and screams came from up ahead.

One could tell it was the wailing of people fleeing for their lives.

Many, upon discovering the invasion of poisonous insects, fled their homes overnight, desperately running ahead with children, the elderly, and spouses in tow.