Chen Hao shook the water droplets off his hands and looked up at the sky. The sun was almost setting, and the light swept obliquely across the transparent box in the corner, making the dark mass inside look like it was alive.
He stared at it for two seconds, then suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, that thing hasn't been opened yet, has it?" He muttered as he walked towards the box, his steps unhurried, chewing on half a piece of dry food. "You said you wanted to investigate the source of the insect powder last time, but you got busy and forgot."
Nana stood still, her optical eyes turning towards the incubator: "The carbon dioxide concentration continues to rise, the outer shell is slightly expanding, and the vent blockage rate is 82%."
"Judging from your tone, it sounds like you're saying 'My pot is about to explode.'" Chen Hao squatted down and tapped the lid of the box with his fingertips. The sound was muffled, not like it was empty, but rather like it was full of something moving inside.
He frowned: "Could they... be doing renovations inside?"
“It’s a possibility.” Nana took a step closer. “According to behavioral databases, high-density gregarious insects may build nest tunnel systems in enclosed environments to optimize temperature and humidity distribution.”
"So they don't just eat and poop, they also double as designers?" Chen Hao grinned, then stopped himself. "Wait, those seedlings outside... don't they have teeth marks on the edges of their leaves?"
He turned his head to look at the edge of the vegetable garden. A few newly sprouted green leaves stood crookedly, with a clean, missing section at the edge, as if they had been measured and trimmed with a ruler.
"This isn't gnawing, it's harvesting." He stood up, patted his pants, and said, "We're raising feed insects, how did we end up doing the work of a locust plague?"
“Initially conceived as an edible short-winged cricket with a three-week breeding cycle and a mild diet.” Nana scanned the damaged parts of the seedlings. “However, the current samples show a 47% increase in bite depth, a 1.6-fold increase in the area of grazing beyond nutritional requirements, and a behavioral pattern that has deviated from the baseline.”
"So, they've gone bad?"
"To be more precise—it got out of control."
Chen Hao snorted: "Good heavens, the Qiang brothers held a meeting and they all betrayed us."
He reached for the knob on the lid. The metal buckle clicked, and as soon as the lid was lifted a crack, a blast of hot air rushed out, carrying a slightly fishy smell.
The dark figure inside trembled suddenly.
Thousands upon thousands of crickets clung to the inner wall, layer upon layer, like a breathing asphalt blanket. Some were squeezing into the crevices, while others had already climbed to the edge of the box, their thin legs hooking onto the plastic edge, their antennae trembling incessantly.
"Holy crap!" Chen Hao recoiled, nearly falling to the ground. "This isn't a breeding box, it's a zombie incubator!"
One jumped out and landed on his shoe.
He looked down at it, and it looked up at him; their big eyes met.
"What are you looking at?" he said.
The insect didn't react; it turned around and hopped towards the vegetable patch.
Then came the second, the third... more and more squeezing out from the gaps. After landing, they didn't run around randomly, but lined up and moved towards the green seedlings.
"They know their way around?" Chen Hao's eyes widened. "And they can even march in formation?"
“Strong greening tendency and significant light avoidance.” Nana brought up the thermal projection, “The movement trajectory of the group spreads in a fan shape, with the target clearly pointing to the new plant tissue.”
"Got it, pick the tender ones to eat." Chen Hao grabbed a stick from beside his feet and pushed aside the few that were close by. "We've worked so hard to grow these vegetables, and before we've even had a chance to cook a single dish, they're already having a buffet?"
"I suggest initiating the expulsion procedure immediately." Nana took a half step back, and the robotic arm deployed its side wing modules. "Low-frequency sound waves can be used to interfere with the nervous system and induce a return to the nest."
"Sound waves? You want to play lullabies for them?"
"The frequency is set to 180 Hz, which acts on the abdominal ganglion of insects and causes disorientation."
"It sounds like a noise-canceling device for square dancing."
Nana didn't reply. A thin, tubular device popped out from the arm interface and inserted into the ground power supply slot. A few seconds later, the old loudspeakers erected around the field ridges began to hum, the sound so low it was almost inaudible, but the tips of the grass swayed slightly.
The effect was immediate.
The crickets, which had been steadily moving forward, suddenly stopped, their antennae flailing wildly, and their legs began to fight. Some spun in place, while others collided with each other, and the group instantly broke up into a chaotic mess.
"Hey, it really works!" Chen Hao laughed. "Your trick is even more effective than herding ducks."
"Initial suppression effectiveness is 79%." Nana stared at the data stream. "It is expected to be guided back to the original box area within fifteen minutes."
"Then let's put in more effort and make them roll back to their solitary confinement."
Nana raised her hand to adjust the power knob.
The buzzing sound suddenly intensified.
The next second, something unexpected happened.
The crickets that had been convulsing on the ground raised their heads one by one and turned in unison toward the source of the sound.
It's not moving around randomly, it's not running away.
It is a **array**.
The front row lay down, and the back row stepped on their bodies to stack them up, three or four layers high to form a small slope. The one on top stretched out its neck, its tentacles pointing straight at the megaphone.
Then—everyone moved forward.
Like a silent army.
"Wait... do they understand you're giving them instructions?" Chen Hao asked in a low voice.
“Impossible.” Nana spoke faster. “This frequency is outside the learning feedback range and should not produce adverse adaptation.”
But the swarm of insects didn't stop.
They trampled over the turf and mud, densely packed together, their vanguard heading straight for the base of the sonic transmitter.
"They're attacking." Chen Hao took two steps back. "A swarm of insects, launching an attack?"
"Activate the electromagnetic blockade network." Nana quickly switched modes, and a circle of blue electric arcs shot out from her arm, forming a semi-circular barrier in front of the swarm of insects.
The first cricket that bumped into it froze instantly, twitched twice, and fell to the ground motionless.
The ones after that didn't stop.
One after another, they crashed into each other with a crackling sound, and the corpses fell one after another, yet none of them retreated.
In just one minute, a thin layer of dead insects piled up on the ground, like a black and gray carpet.
"They've gone mad... completely mad." Chen Hao's throat was dry. "Aren't they afraid of dying?"
“It’s not a lack of fear.” Nana quickly recorded the data. “It’s more likely that the group’s central commands are overriding the individual’s survival instincts.”
"What do you mean? Who's controlling your brain?"
"We cannot rule out the possibility that environmental changes could lead to social restructuring."
"Stop using technical terms, all I want to know is—why do they have to rush forward?"
There was no response.
There was only the sound of electricity and the soft crackling of insect shells.
Finally, the last one crawled to the electric grid, its two front legs touched the arc ring, its body trembled violently, and it still managed to arch forward an inch before collapsing.
The entire room fell silent.
The wind whistled through the empty box, creating a whooshing echo.
Chen Hao squatted down and picked up a dead insect from the ground. Its abdomen was hard, its wings were a darker color than normal, and its joints were a bit purplish.
He looked at it over and over a few times, then suddenly asked, "What they're eating... is it the insect powder we gave them?"
"The insect powder came from the first three batches of healthy individuals," Nana responded, "but we haven't conducted any retesting of the ingredients recently."
"So, if something goes wrong with them, the feed we give them might change?"
"The logic holds true."
Chen Hao held the dead insect in his hand, without throwing it away.
In the distance, the vegetable garden was a mess, leaves torn and small holes dug in the soil. The sonic boom was still humming, and the electric grid flickered in the distance, like a dead snake.
He looked up at Nana: "Do you think their sudden movement just now was to damage the equipment? Or... to send some message?"
Nana's optical eyes slowly focused on his face.
“The motivation is currently undetermined,” she said, “but one thing is certain—this is not natural behavior.”
Chen Hao nodded without saying anything.
He stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his pants, and glanced across the entire farmland.
The sun had completely set, leaving only a dark red streak on the horizon.
He held the dead insect in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white.
The wind made the megaphone's power cord sway slightly, hitting the stand gently with a "tap".
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