"Um?"

Upon hearing Wang Lan's outburst of profanity, Ding Taishun and the other two men, who were bandaging his wounds, froze. They exchanged bewildered glances, and Ding Taishun cautiously asked, "Mr. Wang, did we...did we hurt you?"

Wang Lan seemed lost in thought. Hearing this, she snapped out of her daze, looked up at the group, paused for a moment, then realized what she meant and said, "Oh, I'm fine, it's just..."

He thought about it carefully for a moment and said, "It was like suddenly, something entered my body. It was really strange."

"Have something to eat," Nan Chen said as he walked over and handed Wang Lan a locust leg.

She was also wrapped in gauze and bandages, but they were rather rough, clearly indicating that she had done it herself. Judging from the direction of the gauze on her body, her injury was quite serious.

Just now, the bamboo forest was in chaos, with all sorts of insects swarming out of their nests.

From the relentless pursuit of the locust army to the sudden attack by the mantis that had merged with the bamboo while keeping up the rear, and the blockade of their path by midges, along with a series of strange and unidentifiable insects such as ladybugs flying in.

For a moment, it seemed as if the bamboo forest was having a meeting of insects.

However, the mantises were quickly devoured by the locusts. Just then, a large number of mantises crawled out of the ground. The largest mantis was nearly three meters long, and the scythes on its arms seemed to exude a chilling aura, making it extremely imposing.

Immediately afterwards, the mantis army actually engaged in battle with the locust army.

The mantis's scythe is incredibly sharp, moving with incredible speed. Despite the overwhelming force of the locust army, none of them escaped the mantis's scythe, either being cleaved in two or having their heads pierced.

For a moment, the two kinds of insects fought fiercely, neither gaining the upper hand.

Midges blocked their path, but compared to other insects, their evolution didn't seem to be very significant; the largest of them was only the size of a fist. Li Shuo charged ahead of the group, his long staff crackling and transforming, but this time it didn't turn into a large gun; instead, it became a flamethrower.

As Li Shuo pulled the trigger, a fierce flame shot out from the muzzle, igniting the midges, which were burned to ashes in a matter of moments.

The last remaining white-armored soldier played a crucial role at this moment, because although the flamethrower was extremely powerful, some gnats managed to escape the flames and fly towards the group.

The white-armored soldier's punches were exceptionally precise, landing one blow after another on the midges without missing a single one. Instead, every punch landed accurately, and the white-armored soldier seemed tireless, continuing to throw punches without diminishing either speed or power.

But soon, other swarms of insects flew over.

Fortunately, none of the flying insects were very large.

Although Ding Taishun and his men were not good marksmen, they were very skilled at random shooting. They raised their guns and sprayed bullets indiscriminately, which actually caused great damage to the flying insects. One after another, the insects were pierced through, and those that managed to dodge were killed by Sha Si and Zhang Jian's precise bursts of fire.

Amidst the bamboo forest, a chaotic battle erupted, plunging the area into utter disarray.

Regardless, the situation was brought under control for the time being.

Wang Lan and Nan Chen exchanged a glance and were about to rush over to help the others, but as soon as they moved, a chilling killing intent suddenly attacked from behind.

Before Wang Lan could turn his head, he saw a blue sickle fall down. He immediately pushed Nan Chen away, but when he pulled his arm back, he was a step too slow and the sickle scraped down his arm.

A large chunk of flesh had been cut off Wang Lan's shoulder.

The pain instantly made Wang Lan lose his mind. He turned around and threw a punch, sending the mantis's head flying.

This action caught the attention of some mantises, who turned and charged towards Wang Lan and Nan Chen.

Thus, the previously balanced situation in the bamboo forest was completely shattered.

The mantis swung its scythes incredibly fast, while Wang Lan was injured and bleeding profusely, which slowed down his movements. Although Nan Chen was not as good as Wang Lan in actual combat, he was exceptionally skilled with the two daggers and fought fiercely with the mantis.

The situation in the bamboo forest was extremely chaotic.

After a fierce battle, the locust army and the mantis army were both severely damaged, while the other insects were wiped out by Ding Taishun and his men.

Wang Lan and Nan Chen were also seriously injured. Although Nan Chen's close combat skills were not weak, his physical strength was still far inferior to Wang Lan's. This was of course related to Wang Lan's extraordinary abilities and his possession of the C System. In fact, Nan Chen's physical strength was also much stronger than that of ordinary people, but compared with Wang Lan, he was insignificant.

Thus, the battle between the two and the mantis gradually became one where Wang Lan took the lead, with Nan Chen assisting from the side. Wang Lan used the two broken mantis scythes as his own, and relied on the Bloodthirst skill to heal his own injuries while constantly inflicting new wounds through continuous slashing.

By the time the battle ended, Wang Lan was covered in blood...

Before the Bloodthirst skill could be fully utilized, there were already no more creatures to kill on the battlefield.

The battlefield was now littered with the corpses of these monsters.

The group rested and lit a fire. The faint light made the night less terrifying and silent.

And so everyone's dinner became locusts, because it is said that before the mutation, locusts were edible creatures, and were delicious and nutritious.

And indeed, everyone who tasted the locusts praised them highly.

After they had eaten their fill, everyone sat together.

Wang Lan didn't want to be wrapped in bandages. He moved his body a bit and felt that his injuries were almost healed, so he quickly tore off the bandages. Then, seeing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, he said, "Don't look at me like that. Think about what we're going to do tonight. Don't think we're safe. This is only temporary. These insects are appearing too frequently."

As he spoke, Wang Lan tore off the last piece of gauze from his body and threw it into the fire in front of him. He then looked at his palm, clenched his fist tightly, and everyone saw that his fist made a cracking sound, which sounded very powerful.

"You...you're all better?" Nan Chen's face was full of astonishment. As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at the gauze and bandages on his body.

"Alright!"

Wang Lan patted his chest, looking radiant, but then his expression changed, filled with worry, and he said, "However, I guess I'm going to be in trouble soon."

As she spoke, Wang Lan picked up the mantis sickle that was placed beside her, stood up, and turned to look behind her.

In the darkness, a strange shadow seemed to appear...

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

at the same time…

A strange cry then rang out…