Chapter 456 [(*^▽^*)]

As they were talking, the three of them had already walked to the middle of the neat and clean pile of rocks, and seemed to be thinking of sitting there for a while to rest.

The three of them chose a large rock and sat down on it, some even lying down. It was obvious they were exhausted, which left Lin Leyou and Xue Rui speechless.

Sure enough, in less than half a minute, the gaps between the rocks turned black at a visible speed. Soon after, it seemed as if black water was flowing out from them, and the black poisonous ants gushed out. From the appearance of the black poisonous ants to the complete coverage of the entire pile of rocks, it took less than ten seconds. This shows how fast these ants are. If you don't react in time, you won't be able to escape at all.

The three people who had just been resting on the big rock panicked and stood up on the rock, starting to stomp on the ants that were climbing up. But unfortunately, there were so many ants that they couldn't stomp them all even if they worked themselves to death. And if they wanted to escape now, they had to run.

Even if ants crawl on you and bite you, there's still a chance to escape if you run far enough away. However... Lin Leyou narrowed his eyes slightly. The pile of rocks had now turned completely black.

From a distance, it looked as if a pond had appeared out of thin air, filled with black water that had already reached above the three men's calves, even though they were standing on a large rock.

This shows just how many black ants surged out from underground in such a short time—enough to completely overwhelm the three of them. In the blink of an eye, the three finally thought of escaping, but clearly, it was too late.

Two people stepped off the rock and ran in any direction, but unfortunately, the black water instantly submerged them up to their waists. Black ants swarmed them, and in less than a minute, the two were swallowed up by the ants and disappeared without a trace. The one who survived was barely clinging to life... um?

Just then, he seemed to take out a prop, and the black insects that had been clinging to him were instantly isolated. An oval-shaped protective circle appeared around him, and all the insects were kept outside the protective circle and could not get any closer.

The man secretly breathed a sigh of relief and did not leave immediately. Instead, he examined the wounds on his body. There were indeed many small red dots where he had been bitten by black ants. If there were only a few, they would not be noticeable at all and could even be overlooked if one did not look closely.

But how many black ants had he been bitten by? At least several thousand. As a result, his body was covered with countless tiny red dots. Fortunately, these bites were neither painful nor itchy, and he could not feel anything when he touched them. His skin was still smooth and even. However, he didn't know why, perhaps just to be on the safe side, he ate a round pill, which was probably for detoxification.

Lin Leyou said, "I don't know if this person is a player or a resident, but no matter what... he can definitely leave there safely. Should we make our move?"

Xue Rui: "That's not necessarily true. Look over there."

Lin Leyou stared intently, "Huh? How could this be..."

The person who had just used the item was leisurely checking his condition in the swarm of insects, but unexpectedly, less than two minutes later, the protective circle that had enveloped him seemed to be on the verge of collapse. He noticed this and was shocked, as if he was very surprised that these insects could break through his item. Only then did he panic and run to other places.

Unfortunately, these black ants seemed to have sensed that the thing was about to break, and no matter which way it moved, they would follow it like a persistent leech, determined not to let it leave their encirclement.

Lin Leyou originally thought the protective barrier was about to break, but to his surprise, the precarious protective barrier quickly stabilized and appeared to have been restored.

Xue Rui: "This thing should allow you to recharge points to increase the stability time."

Lin Leyou immediately thought of his own gold-plated protective gear, but it was clear that the item this person had was inferior to his, otherwise...

"It's a decent prop, but it's quite difficult for him to move around. I guess it's because of the constant impact and movement from these insects. I don't know if he can get out of it."

The man kept shifting his position, but just as Lin Leyou and the other man saw, all the black ants went berserk and covered the entire circle surrounding him with insects. All that could be seen was the black swarm of insects wriggling around, and the man's figure had disappeared.

Disappearance doesn't mean they're dead. They only received a reward system notification for two points, and they haven't received the third one yet, so they're definitely not dead.

Lin Leyou said, "Even if he didn't die, he's probably in grave danger. If he uses that item, he should still have a chance to escape. I just don't know if he has that many points left."

Xue Rui took a closer look, then turned back to continue eating. The large pot in front of them was full of various ingredients, and they had also cooked a lot of noodles. It tasted particularly good, and they had added some chili peppers for seasoning.

Lin Leyou opened the map and glanced at it. He found that the person behind him was at least half an hour away and wouldn't be able to get over. So he quietly continued eating. They originally thought that this person could at least hold on for a while longer, but they didn't expect to hear the system notification sound while they were eating. They had received points again.

The two exchanged a surprised glance, then looked over there. The ants were still layered upon layered, and could not be seen from the outside, but the red dot on the map had disappeared.

"He's dead. I thought that prop would last a long time. After all, when he took it out to use it, he was leisurely checking his wounds without any rush."

Xue Rui: "It was just carelessness."

Lin Leyou paused slightly, "Hehe, I was indeed careless. This carelessness cost me my life. Failure of the mission resulted in a deduction of 100 million points. Am I really a player?"

Xue Rui: "They might not be players, but if they're residents like Brother Lin, knowing this dungeon is very difficult, why do they still act like they don't care?"

Lin Leyou said, "I don't know about that, but there are two possibilities. The first is that he is simply that stupid, and the second is that he doesn't care about 100 million points. These points are not as important as whether his body has been bitten or not."

Xue Rui: "I'd guess it's the first one. If it's the second one... he's the one who's really stupid."

Lin Leyou nodded, "After all, points can't be directly transferred or gifted."

However, many things in the Endless World are tradable, so... sometimes the rules aren't so rigid, right? You can't directly transfer or give things away, but you can trade them.

For example, you can trade directly in the underground market of the hardware plaza, but I don't know where the bottom line of this rule that prevents direct trading lies.

Many shops and companies also earn points, which are considered company revenue. Will these points be distributed to the residents of the endless world who own shares, just like dividends in the real world?

If that's the case, then it makes sense. This person must be a descendant of some powerful figure in the infinite world. Only in this way could they obtain so many points without feeling any remorse.

"Forget it, his identity is none of our business. I didn't even see what he looked like. Look at that corpse over there..."

Before Lin Leyou could finish speaking, he noticed the situation of the pile of rocks. Not only him, but even Xue Rui was shocked. This time, the three corpses were not used as incubation tools, but were directly used as food.

Xue Rui was shocked, "It's only been a few minutes? The bodies of those three are almost gone..."

Lin Leyou took a deep breath. "That's true. There are probably tens of millions of these black poisonous ants. With so many ants, if each ant bites and takes away a bit, these three corpses probably won't last more than a few minutes."

In less than ten minutes, the pile of rocks returned to calm, with only some tattered cloth remaining on it. The black ants then picked it up and threw it away from the pile.

Despite their apparent disdain, these black ants still manage to keep their rooftops clean. They seem to have a bit of OCD about cleanliness, which is quite admirable.

Lin Leyou exclaimed, "Not even a trace of blood was left. These black ants really ate everything clean."

Xue Rui glanced at the pot in front of him. "Brother Lin, let's eat. We haven't finished eating yet. We can look at it after we finish eating."

Lin Leyou snapped out of her daze. "Right, right, we haven't finished eating yet. Let's continue."

The two quickly finished their meal, cleaned up the food, and then quietly stayed there to wait for the next person to arrive.

The valley where the black ant nest is located is actually the best route in the vicinity. If you take a detour, it would take at least ten days to get there. So even if these people know that there is danger here, they will definitely take this route. It has to be said that the villagers of Xiushan Village probably chose this route because they had no other choice.

The reason is simple: this road is too obvious. If someone knows of Xiushan Village's existence and is determined to find it, then this valley is the only way through.

Even if you can't find the way ahead or behind, as long as you find this valley, it will be the best route no matter where you go, and you'll probably find Xiushan Village hidden deep in the mountains.

Fortunately, Xiushan Village has remained peaceful for many years, and no one has come looking for trouble.