Chapter 187, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City, is both a crisis and an opportunity...
Grandpa Zhang slapped his thigh in frustration: "I was careless!"
They were so preoccupied with whether the herd of beasts would return and whether it was related to the blood moon that they completely forgot that wild animals also inhabited the mountains.
They regularly clear out and hunt wild animals that roam the area, ensuring their safety.
But the situation is different now. These wolves and wild boars, which appeared out of nowhere, have gone berserk, let alone the wild animals in the mountains.
They also have the advantage of being close to the water!
Most of the able-bodied men in the hunting party stayed in the village, leaving only a few to guard the mountains at night. They were no match for a herd of wild animals.
"Village chief, quickly contact Lu Xuan and Cheng Ming to go up the mountain and help. We can't let the beasts destroy the greenhouse!"
While others were reminding him, Li Tie had already quickly dialed Lu Xuan's number.
Having just smashed the head of a frozen wild boar, Lu Xuan's eyes darkened upon learning of the accident in the mountains.
The viewers in the live stream were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
【Ahhh! I completely forgot there were greenhouses in the mountains!】
What about the crops inside? Hopefully, they've been destroyed by the wild animals!
[Hurry, streamer! Go and help! Kill all those beasts who dare to destroy the grain!!!]
Lu Xuan glanced at the remaining small group of wild boars in front of him, and flicked his finger.
Giant, overwhelming bloodsucking vines erupted, weaving among the hunting team members, quickly piercing the hearts of the ferocious boars, and hurling their heavy, muscular bodies from over twenty meters in the air to the ground.
Nearly a hundred wild boars were wiped out in an instant. The speed was so fast that the able-bodied men in the midst of the battle were momentarily stunned, let alone those wild boars that had already been killed but were still convulsing.
Many people didn't notice that Lu Xuan had just received an X-communication call. The latter succinctly explained the situation, then quickly took out a sled and rushed to the mountain where the incident occurred.
Others, equally worried about the damage to the greenhouse, rushed to the shed where the sleds were stored to catch up.
·
When Zhang Chengming and the others arrived, Lu Xuan, who was only a step ahead of them, had just thrown out another batch of wild boars that had stormed the greenhouse.
No one had time to deal with the hideous wild boars; they rushed into the greenhouse in a great hurry.
Upon entering, I was met with a devastating blow.
At this point, less than ten days had passed since the third batch of seeds was planted during the coldest season.
No matter how fast the mutated seed grows, it is still only a half-grown seedling.
But now, looking around, large swaths of seedlings that were growing vigorously and full of life yesterday have been flattened, eaten from the roots, trampled, crushed, and ravaged until they are dripping with juice and covered in mud.
The place was a complete mess.
A quick glance revealed that at least a dozen acres of farmland had been damaged.
That translates to a loss of tens of thousands of kilograms of produce!
"These beasts!"
Xiong Mao cursed loudly with a contorted expression, while Li Jing, who usually had a good temper, turned red with anger.
Wu Yang's face was so cold it could freeze someone to death, and Li Tuo rushed out and kicked and burned the already dead wild boar.
The viewers in the live stream felt as if they were the old farmers who had lost their crops, and they were furious.
That damned wild boar!!
Why are they wasting food when they're targeting the villagers?!
Those who waste food will suffer a terrible death!!!
[Flog the corpse! Flog these wild boars repeatedly, tear them apart by five horses, and subject them to slow slicing!!!]
"...Well, there's no need to be so emotional."
Is this the legendary cyberpunk farming game?
Anyone who didn't know better would think you were the ones who suffered the loss.
[Maybe one of these prizes will be given to us in a future raffle! Why can't we get a share? Ugh, I'm so mad!]
Li Tie and the others arrived quickly.
Seeing the terrible state of the greenhouse, everyone's eyes turned red with anger, and the women cried with heartache.
"What a tragedy!" Miao Jinfeng wailed, clutching her chest.
Grandma Lin was heartbroken. "All those perfectly good seedlings have been ruined! They were all crops!"
Although they have no shortage of food, as farmers, who wouldn't be heartbroken to see their hard-earned crops destroyed?
The group of people cursed and cried for a while.
After recovering slightly, Li Tie said in a deep voice, "Alright, instead of crying and wailing, we should hurry up and clean up these damaged seedlings and replant them. We can't really give up this harvest of tens of thousands of catties."
Everyone seemed to awaken from a dream.
"Yes, replant the seedlings! Replant them quickly!"
It's impossible to give up what you've gained.
Not only did they have to clear away the dead seedlings and replant them as quickly as possible, but Lu Xuan also had the foresight to think of another problem that everyone else had overlooked.
Blackout.
At night, the greenhouses in the village and on the mountain turn off their supplemental lights, so they are not very conspicuous.
It's different during the day.
A greenhouse with its supplemental lighting on is like a beacon in the polar night, naturally attracting the attention of all wild animals.
The village was attacked for two consecutive days because it had lights on day and night.
During the day, there are greenhouse lights; at night, there are streetlights and indoor lights from some people who stay up late.
They need to live and earn a living; they cannot abandon these means of lighting.
With a limited number of people in the village, and unable to disperse their forces to guard three different locations, they could only try to reduce the probability of the greenhouses on the mountain being discovered.
After Lu Xuan raised this question, Li Tie and the others realized that there was such an oversight.
Lu Xuan took out a blackout cloth and said, "You can use this to block out the greenhouse."
No light could get through, so wild animals couldn't find the greenhouse. The watchman wouldn't leave the greenhouse and let the wild animals smell human scent. Animals aren't stupid; they wouldn't run into a dead animal for no reason, would they?
If the greenhouse happens to block the path of the mad beast horde... well, they're out of luck.
Just like today.
Lu Xuan took out another batch of hypnotic bombs and handed them to the night watchmen, saying, "If any more beasts appear later, just throw them out."
Wait until the beasts are asleep before finishing them off. Anyone can do it; there's no need to add more people.
□□ can actually be used as well.
However, 'crying and weeping' may stimulate the already frenzied herd to become even more aggressive.
It's safest to just fall asleep and die in your sleep.
...
Covering all the greenhouses on 200 acres with blackout cloth is no small project; it will take at least three or four days to complete.
These tasks were mainly handled by the guards and daring male helpers.
At first, the helpers were reluctant to leave the village and go up the mountain.
The village chief didn't try to persuade him further, only saying that he could get triple pay for this job.
The helpers immediately stopped objecting, and some of the bolder female workers even volunteered to go.
The village chief asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid of encountering wild animals on the mountain?"
One of the female workers laughed and pointed out, "If the village hadn't been confident enough to protect us, you definitely wouldn't have let us go over there to help."
The greenhouse had already been damaged once, so how could the village not make thorough preparations?
Since that's the case, why not take advantage of this special period to earn as much money as possible?
If they're lucky, they might be able to make a fortune while these beasts are attacking.
Li Tie gave a thumbs-up to the visionary female worker.
If more people are willing to go, the work will be done faster, so of course he won't refuse.
It's just a matter of paying a few more fees; the village can afford it!
Lu Xuan also did not forget the Huo family army.
After all, they have greenhouses that are much larger than ours, which are a bigger target and we also need to find ways to shield them.
Huo Tiankuo not only purchased a sufficient amount of blackout cloth, but also proactively bought several boxes of hypnotic bombs after learning about their existence.
In the following days, most of the helpers were assigned to two mountains and quickly got to work.
At the same time, the village also encountered new troubles.
They encountered a swarm of beasts completely different from the previous large predators—a swarm of rats!
Countless rats with bloodshot eyes swarmed in from all directions, and the able-bodied men had no time to protect all directions.
Many rats swarmed into the village.
The Lu family.
The women in the village got goosebumps all over when they saw the rats scurrying around outside the window.
"How can there be so many rats! It's disgusting!" Su Ying rubbed her arms, her expression full of disgust.
Li Yue was also puzzled, "It's really strange. In such cold weather, how come the rats didn't freeze to death?"
Since the start of the polar night, the outside temperature has dropped to minus fifty degrees Celsius. They have bio-clothes to wear and are not afraid of the cold, but what about the mice?
Even the warmest fur can't keep out such low temperatures, right? This is really weird.
Wu Yinyin's perspective was somewhat different from theirs.
She said with frustration, "Wild boar meat may not be very tasty, but at least it's edible. Rats are completely inedible, so killing them is a waste. It's such a loss."
The other women paused, their expressions turning even more unpleasant.
It wasn't just because they were at a disadvantage in the fight, but also because the very topic of eating rats made them feel disgusted.
Lu Qing's morning sickness symptoms had mostly subsided, but Ke Wei was still there. As soon as Wu Yinyin finished speaking, she turned her head and started gagging.
Suddenly, Aunt Chen exclaimed, "Look at those rats! They've started eating the mushroom lamps outside!"
"What!?" The women who had instinctively stepped back immediately craned their necks.
Sure enough, we saw rats scurrying around frantically tearing at the mushroom lamp.
"Isn't it said that glowing mushrooms are inedible?" someone asked, puzzled.
"But it won't kill you," Lu Qing said.
The main reason you can't eat it is because it tastes bad, has little nutritional value, contains a small amount of toxins, and will make you feel nauseous.
Lu Qing speculated: "Mice have a different diet than us, so perhaps this is something they can eat."
It's also possible that the crazed rat swarm doesn't care whether the glowing mushrooms are edible or not.
The food was there, and they could eat it, so they ate voraciously.
Besides, rats are naturally found in dirty and messy places, and they'll eat garbage, so what's a little glowing mushroom to them?
It would be even better if they ate themselves to death.
As the glowing mushrooms were gradually eaten away, the light outside dimmed again.
For some reason, the red moon didn't appear tonight, and with the streetlights off, they couldn't see anything outside either.
The unknown is always the most terrifying. In order to determine the movement of the rats, some people couldn't help but move a little closer to the bed.
Ji Xiuling felt that this action was not safe and was about to speak to dissuade them when she saw out of the corner of her eye that a rat suddenly scurried to the window, its red and frantic eyes staring at them menacingly through the window, as if it were looking at a piece of fat meat.
"ah--!"
The women standing by the window screamed in fright.
The others were also startled, their eyes widening in surprise.
More and more rats pounced on the window, and in the blink of an eye, the large window, which was more than two meters long and wide, was completely covered with rats, densely packed together.
The women were utterly disgusted by what they saw.
Su Ying closed her eyes tightly.
It's so disgusting, it's the kind of thing that if you look at it too much, you'll have nightmares and want to punch Xiong Mao a couple of times.
Liu Yu nervously swallowed, gripping her mother's arm beside her. "Won't these rats really come in? Won't they chew up the windows or the outside door?"
The others' eyelids twitched at the sound.
Many people thought of the bedding or wooden boxes in their homes that might have been damaged by rats before the disaster.
A rat's teeth are indeed quite sharp.
Seeing the atmosphere among the crowd becoming increasingly tense, Lu Miaomiao spoke up to reassure them: "Don't worry, everyone. I've activated the house's protective shield. Neither rats, wolves, nor wild boars can cause any damage to this house."
The crowd's attention shifted slightly.
Wu Yinyin recalled what Lu Qing had mentioned during a previous conversation and confirmed, "Is it that protective shield that can form a protective barrier around you that can't even be damaged by lightning?"
Lu Miaomiao nodded, "As long as there are enough energy stones, the attack from mere wild beasts cannot damage the protective shield at all."
"If you look closely, you'll see that the mouse isn't actually completely stuck to the window."
The others hesitated for a moment, then forced themselves to look quickly and found that the rat was indeed a hand's width away from the window.
The women breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"It's good that they can't break in. I don't want to be buried by a swarm of rats," Wu Yinyin said, patting her chest in relief.
Miao Jinfeng glanced at the training room diagonally opposite, "Are there protective shields over there too?"
Lu Miaomiao nodded, "Yes, the protective shield over there has already been activated."
The robot's vision is much better than that of humans. Even though the outside world has been completely darkened by the rats, she can still clearly see the rats that are blocked outside the protective shield of the training room.
Only after confirming that safety was guaranteed did everyone relax a little, but they were still worried.
Aunt Liu frowned and said, "Why hasn't the hunting team reacted yet? Haven't they noticed so many rats coming into the village?"
Liu Yu thought for a moment and said, "There must be too many of them, and we can't take care of them all, but Lu Xuan should have a way to deal with it."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the others noticed a new change outside.
"Look at those rats! They seem to have retreated!"
Aunt Zhang saw the rats stuck to the window disappear quickly and exclaimed excitedly, "They really retreated, and it seems they all retreated in the same direction?"
Everyone looked in the direction the rats had disappeared and realized that they had fled in the same direction as the hunting party that had slaughtered the beasts. They understood immediately.
"Finally, there's some movement."
Wu Yinyin even boldly took out a powerful flashlight and shone it outside, "I didn't see anyone coming. How did they manage to lure the rats away?"
Others guessed, "Lu Xuan must have done something, right?"
But they couldn't quite figure out exactly what they had done.
Months passed, and they seemed to have forgotten how the cave managed to keep almost no animals attacking them during the hottest season.
...
On an open space.
Wu Yang saw the swarm of rats running out of the village. "They're here!"
Li Tuo exclaimed excitedly, "The Vampire Vine is indeed the best!"
Lu Xuan remained noncommittal.
If the greenhouse hadn't been fenced off as well, the initial group of rats wouldn't have been put inside.
But there's no way around it. After the destruction of the greenhouses on the mountain, the village now attaches unprecedented importance to crops and is unwilling to accept a second loss.
But rats are particularly good at digging burrows.
Even though the ground is frozen solid now, digging a hole is not easy, so we still need to take precautions.
If they were to burrow into the greenhouse and wreak havoc, Lu Xuan could foresee how heartbreakingly the village women would cry.
Therefore, he first had the vampire vines mark the area around the greenhouse, and then marked the village last.
Sure enough, as the oppressive aura of the vampire vines appeared, the rat swarm, even in their berserk state, instinctively fled at the oppressive aura emanating from a creature far superior to themselves.
Lu Xuan deliberately left an opening by letting the vampire vines fall on their side, so the rats could only escape from Lu Xuan's position.
The initial swarm of rats they intercepted had been completely dealt with, and as soon as a new batch arrived, the able-bodied men, who were well-prepared, immediately took action.
Wind and Fire types can cooperate, Water and Ice types can cooperate, and Thunder and Rock types can also cooperate with Water types.
Then Lu Xuan used his enhanced abilities to boost their strength; one group played with fire, another with ice, and yet another used low-power, dense lightning to strike the rat swarm.
While its power is far less than Lu Xuan's, its area-of-effect attacks are still much more efficient than using ranged weapons.
Others with unsuitable or no special abilities are simply responsible for finishing off the main force after they have dealt with the rest of the troops.
In addition to amplifying the others, Lu Xuan also used his gravity ability to precisely apply pressure to the rat swarm, directly increasing the gravity fivefold. The rats were instantly crushed into meat patties and killed instantly!
The rat population is visibly shrinking rapidly.
With their cooperation, all the rats were killed in less than half an hour.
The hunting team's fighting rhythm is getting better and better.
[Their teamwork was also quite good; I'd give it an 80.]
[But the coolest one was the streamer, who crushed the mouse into a meat patty! So cool!]
Why not just use hypnotic grenades? Wouldn't that be more efficient? Half an hour might be fast, but it's also exhausting.
Lu Xuan said calmly, "It's rare to have such an opportunity to challenge our limits and unleash our potential. We don't even have time to train them properly, so why would we need to use a hypnotic bomb?"
After witnessing his strength, none of the members of the hunting team who had awakened their supernatural abilities did not feel an urgent desire to level up.
But this isn't the real apocalypse, so it's not so easy to level up superpowers here.
But now, a solution has come to us of its own accord.
The pressure of a dozen or twenty people hunting three or five wild beasts each day is on a completely different level compared to facing hundreds or thousands of beasts and frantically exhausting oneself.
He consulted with Zhang Chengming and other people with supernatural abilities after his broadcast ended yesterday.
During the remainder of the beast attacks, he will still fight alongside the hunting team, but only to the extent of providing support.
Unless it's a life-or-death situation, he won't risk his life to help the superhumans, maximizing their potential to break through their limits and accelerate their progress.
Lu Xuan said, "They have already agreed."
Lu Xuan looked at the unrecognizable rats around him. "We don't know how long the beast attack will last. If we're lucky, a few people might be able to reach level two in one go."
For ordinary disaster victims, the beast attack is a catastrophic crisis, but for the village's superpowered individuals, if handled well, it can be a rare opportunity.
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Author's Note: Special thanks to: Changyushan for launching one rocket launcher (2025-04-27 18:21:53)
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