Bug City

Abner stood at the castle gate, looking down from the mountain with a deep and calm gaze.

Not long after, a beautiful woman walked out of the castle gate. She was wearing an indigo dress, and was slender and graceful.

She stood beside Abner naturally, and looked at the mist below the mountain with him.

Abner said, "I asked Ronald to come back. The town cannot be without bloodline people."

Fayrell: "That's all I can do. Have you told Mason about this?"

Abner: "Ronald is back, so he will know."

Faile's eyes were filled with worry: "Will he blame us?"

Abner: "If you want to know, just ask him."

"You know that's not what I meant," Fayelle said angrily.

"It's better to talk to him than to be afraid. Nothing is worse than communication."

"Wait until we come back."

Faile rested his cheek on the other's shoulder and said softly, "Abner, we have experienced so many battles together, but today I feel scared. What if we can't come back, what will happen to Mason? He is not qualified to inherit the title. What if..."

"It's not a possibility." Abner stopped her gently, as firm as he had been in the past few decades. "We will be back."

…

The horse strolled leisurely in the square during the day, and occasionally rubbed against the tree in the center. Now it goes to the tree every day and shows great love for it.

While walking, it suddenly stopped and looked towards a house.

A chestnut head popped out from the side of the house. Pegasus stared at him without blinking. The boy ran over and obediently raised a bag of red fruits to feed him. Pegasus watched for a while, until Mason touched its mane in a flattering way, it started to eat.

"Ronald is going back. What if something happens to him?"

There were few wild fruits in spring, and Mason probably ate them all. He fed the horse while muttering to himself. Pegasus chewed the red fruits and listened to him chanting: "There are very few people as good as Ronald in the world. He is fair to others and follows the chivalry. If he encounters danger, it will be a loss for the knight..."

Pegasus paused in chewing, and Mason continued, "If there is any good mount willing to help him at this time, Ronald will definitely be able to return safely, and I will be relieved!"

The Pegasus glanced at him, snorted with some disdain, and ate the last fruit.

Mason felt relieved and touched the horse's mane with a smile. The Pegasus narrowed its eyes, as if it could sense the juice on its fur. Before it could explode, Mason ran away.

Ronald will be fine with Pegasus looking after him. Pegasus is a powerful horse!

Afterwards, Mason sent a letter to the Dark Border in the name of a profiteer, asking Ron to take care of his cheap parents.

After doing this, the chestnut-haired boy finally breathed a sigh of relief and put aside the worry in his eyes.

The situation in the black fog is unpredictable, I just hope everyone around me is safe.

…

One combat device after another was placed on the city wall. The reinforcements from the Twelve Round Table Trials came in handy at this time. With the reinforcements from each family as the center, the Brainworm Bloodline issued precise calculations and continuously issued orders to transport combat supplies.

Under their command, all operations became extremely efficient. There was no need to use communicators or passwords, and the invisible network of thoughts intertwined together to become a channel for intelligence transportation.

Finally, all this intelligence will be gathered through various nodes to the commander-in-chief of this battle, Sevich. The brainworm closed his eyes and summarized the content of the intelligence, playing with the teacup unconsciously in his hand. Until the new brainworm bloodline came in from outside and reported seriously: "Lord Sevich, all combat deployments have been in place."

"Where are the teams?"

"They did not go through the nail town, so they must have entered the black fog through other means."

"That's fine. Even if we face a big war, humans may not all cooperate. There may be Black Mist followers lurking in the army, preparing to attack the team. It was a wise decision for them to cover their tracks."

Sevich opened his eyes. The brainworm bloodline person who heard him spoke remained expressionless and asked, "Do you need to ask the three family heads about the situation?"

Just as Sevich was about to agree, he suddenly felt a pain in his head. He held his forehead, frowned, and endured the pain. The Bloodline hurriedly stepped forward: "Lord Sevich, is your headache coming back again?"

"It won't affect your work, don't worry."

Sevich answered, took out a medicine bottle from his pocket, poured out three pills with a sweet aroma and ate them, his face regained its initial calmness. Since he fell from the wall some time ago, Sevich always had a headache from time to time. It was as if someone was shouting something incomprehensible in his head, and even made him lose his composure when he met the master after he recovered.

As the center of all brainworm bloodline people, not everyone is qualified to meet the master brain. In the past, Sevich had only met that master three times. But this time, as soon as the two sides' thought networks touched, he had a headache so much that he wanted to bang his head against the wall, and had to end the meeting early.

Fortunately, as time went by and he took his medicine on time, Sevich's headaches became shorter and shorter and no longer affected him.

Seeing him recover, the bloodline doctor who met him breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the medicine bottle with great respect: "Lord Arthur is really an excellent medical bloodline doctor. At that time, all the doctors in Partington were helpless with your headache, but it was he who took out the secret medicine that made you recover so quickly."

In front of his confidant, Sevitch did not hide anything: "Arthur is indeed an extremely good medical bloodline. If it weren't for the rampant secret brew in Partington, they would not have stopped their travels and chosen to come to Partington."

"It's really amazing. Secret brewing has only been popular for a short time, but I didn't expect that doctors who can treat its addiction symptoms would appear so soon, and it is said that the effect is very good. It's a pity that due to the shortage of materials and technical problems, only Dr. Arthur and his team have mastered the treatment method."

Sevich nodded. "The Mastermind has agreed to provide them with materials and expand the scale of treatment. Once the problem in Partington is solved, they will also provide assistance to surrounding cities. By then, secret brewing will no longer be a problem, but a real treatment drug."

He stopped talking, and the headache was gone. He signaled the other party to continue reporting the situation. The two of them continued to plan the steps of the defense line, one talking and the other listening.

Shaken also came to the border of the black fog. The chilly wind of early spring reminded him of the spring in Partinton. It was magnificent and prosperous. The blond young man narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, vaguely sensing his fellow tribesmen in the black fog.

Even across thousands of mountains and rivers, the blood of the Luo family still loyally connects each other. Luo's consciousness patrols the subconscious as always, and the souls float beside him and whisper.

"How are things going over there?"

"Dan's as excited as a dog on the loose. I just gave him a whack to calm him down. Where are you?"

"Luo said that the ancestor is leaving here quickly in some way. The place he is going is beyond the range of perception. If we don't go now, we will lose him."

"I'll go."

"I'm going too."

"We can all go. Luo's consciousness is made up of the subconsciousness of our family members. As long as enough of us go, we can split off a small Luo consciousness there. Then we can use it to help our ancestors."

The souls made a decision. The giant of consciousness stopped, raised his head and stared at a certain place. He pointed in that direction, and half of the souls following him disappeared silently. In an incredible way, he came to another sea of ​​consciousness.

This is the deepest part of human consciousness, separated by a transparent and solid wall, through which the hazy starlight can be vaguely seen.

When the souls stepped into this place, they lost contact with Luo's consciousness and could no longer sense the existence of their family members, but soon, new light rose in each soul, and countless flames condensed together to re-construct a giant conscious person wearing a bright red cloak.

They carefully avoided the starlight and huddled in a corner of the sea of ​​consciousness. The master of the sea of ​​consciousness continued to move forward in ignorance.

The inside of the portal was dark, with black mist spreading all around. A group of people stood on an invisible road in the air, with a dome made of red silk above their heads, bearing the heavy pressure of the black mist from the outside world.

Space is completely wrong here. The black mist tried to break through the red wire barrier countless times, but it could not reach the people passing through. If the ability of the portal had not been enhanced, I am afraid that all the people who stayed here would be crushed into pieces by the void. Ricks knew the danger here very well and explained it faster.

"The Insect Queen is the most treacherous and brutal SSS-level monster. She feeds on human humiliation, pain, and despair. The people living in the city are called Insect People, and there is a complete hierarchical system."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but the man’s tone revealed a terrible sadness.

"There are humans in that city. The Queen of Insects will occasionally send troops to plunder humans. Wherever her army passes, half of the humans will become food, and the other half will be taken away and become Kowtow Insects."

Aurelius heard the name for the first time: "Head-flicker?"

"Yes. That is a group blood mutation under the influence of the [Insect Queen], but don't think it is a good thing. The ability of the kowtow bugs is inferior to that of the low-level insects. They have no human rights in the city and are just vassals of the insects. Their only role is to entertain. Any insect can harm them."

"In the city of the Queen of Insects, humans are just livestock. Once our identities are exposed, the situation will become very dangerous. My blood comes from the insect people, and they will not attack me. I just need to prevent myself from being recognized as a human being."

Rex took out a bottle of medicine: "In order to deal with this situation, the Duke prepared a disguised medicine in advance. Since I need to show my ability, you can be my kowtow bugs. Don't worry, this is private property without the owner's permission and will not be used by other bugs."

The others nodded. Rex drank the potion, and gray scales grew on his cheeks, his bones twisted, and his appearance changed. He growled from his throat, and translucent insect wings fluttered behind him.

The wings were stained with blood and flesh, leaving two large holes on Rex's back. The priest rushed forward to treat the wounds. With the help of medicine, the man's condition quickly stabilized.

He took a breath weakly and took out a bag: "You guys just pretend to be yourselves and only take the necessary items. I can keep the rest for now."

S-level pollutant [Storage Bag], Canaan had borrowed it in the battle with [Mother of Stones], and its function was to store pollutants.

Under Ricks's instruction, the group made themselves look like refugees. Flynn was fine, but the other three were already very good-looking, so they had to add a few scars on their faces. Ricks also taught them a set of disguises, and they all looked hunched over and listless.

This was not a big injury in the Dark Mist Era, and when it was being treated, he had to worry whether it would heal due to the medicine. After finally completing the disguise, Rex looked up into the void: "Can you teleport directly to the place I said?"

The voice of the portal came from all directions: "Okay, you need to give me a detailed location."

"I know."

Compared to other teams, this team was lucky in that Ricks knew the coordinates of the city very well, unlike other teams who had to go to the corresponding location.

Without hesitation, he gave a series of precise numbers: "From the outermost town of Deding on the black fog border, eight kilometers west, twelve kilometers to the right, and continue west..."

The complex route map seemed to have been engraved in his mind long ago, without a single hesitation. The mist inside the portal flowed slowly, giving people a mysterious sense of life. The portal probed for a moment, and the black mist inside the door suddenly "exploded" and shrank back with lingering fear.

"The place you mentioned is very dangerous. There are terrifying beings there that are beyond imagination. If you go there, it will be difficult for me to get you out."

"I know. Can you get us in quietly?"

"Yes, there are many doors that can serve as carriers. But there is only one chance. I can send you in quietly, but I can't take you out again."

"Let's do it."

Aureus made the final decision. Black mist wrapped around his fingers, cleaning up the blood without leaving a drop. The portal expressed its loyalty in a tactful way: "Lord Aureus, it is really very dangerous there. Would you like to consider changing to another place?"

Rex shook his head at the red-haired young man. This was the best solution he could come up with. Oleus withdrew his gaze and chose to believe him: "Choose this."

"Alright, alright. Even if it's just for Lord Orelius, I will do my best to help you."

The portal muttered as the mist approached Oleus and tentatively licked the wound on his palm: "This is not easy. I need to draw more power to deceive his perception."

Seeing that the red-haired young man did not refuse, the black mist wrapped in red silk pierced his palm like a cone. Not a single drop of blood was spurted out. All the blood was swallowed by the black mist, which then ate away at his skin, flesh and bones.

The terrifying licking sounds continued. The red-haired young man's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he endured the pain as if it was normal.

The portal licked the other's flesh greedily and eagerly, wishing it could drill into this skin and suck everything out.

In the dark world, countless points of light are shining near and far. When you zoom in, you will find that they are countless illusory doors. They are connected to each other by black mist, and it seems that countless terrifying monsters are hidden behind the doors.

One of the doors was flashing, with a bright red pattern on the door panel, which seemed out of place in the world. It contained two opposite forces.

Whenever it tries to escape, a large amount of fog will surge around it, turning into a vortex that pulls it in. Fortunately, the black fog closest to the door has been wrapped in red silk, helping the portal to conceal its breath.

Every few seconds, the red pattern flashes quickly and appears on another door. In this way, the portal continues to jump deeper.

Until the sun came out overhead, the door suddenly stopped where it was. All the red patterns were huddled together as much as possible, looking ordinary.

The light falling from the top of the head became the only source of light in the darkness. The black fog seemed to be afraid of the light and rushed to make way. The portal stood still in the same place, as if it was really a dead object.

If anyone dared to look up at this time, they would see that it was not the sun, but an eye.

The scale-covered eyes surveyed the world, with the pupils filled with chaos and madness. All the doors bathed in his gaze exploded and corrupted one by one, becoming groups of monsters swimming in the air.

One hundred... seventy-six... forty-two... thirty-nine...

The portal quietly gathered strength, silently counting how far away the other party was. As the sight got closer and closer, its nerves tensed up.

"Why did [Cursed Day] come here? Isn't it only interested in people who see itself?"

The portal was born with consciousness very early and knows many secrets. I once heard from the leader of the Craftsmen, the Wise Man, that the Cursed Day is alive.

He is an eye of the Sun God.

The Sun God is the incarnation of the sun. After the collapse, the world should have returned to darkness. But before the collapse, the Sun God poured the remaining power into his right eye. The mutated eyeball became the new sun.

What ordinary humans always see is the positive side of the Cursed Day, a warm sun that is no different from the era before the black fog.

However, some bloodline members may, by chance, glimpse the other side, which is the true appearance of the [Cursed Day]. As long as they look into its eyes, they will be locked in until they become mutated or go crazy.

Its main ability is teleportation, so it can't beat [Cursed Day]. If it is really seen, it can only run away. But this place is its own world, why would [Cursed Day] suddenly interfere?

Seeing the gaze approaching inch by inch, the portal was about to escape. Oleus inside the portal suddenly felt something in his heart.

The branches of the sleeping World Tree swayed, making a light rustling sound. The gaze of [Cursed Day] paused, and a door quickly transformed under his gaze, extending huge and ferocious tentacles and wandering away into the distance.

After a moment, the eyeball in the sky closed again. The World Tree became quiet again, and its leaves looked a little dimmer than before.

The next person in the teleportation gate breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately began to jump after confirming that the other party had left. He eagerly entered a certain door. After a long time, a low laugh suddenly came from the air.

Gorgeous, muted and extravagant, it evokes the grace of a cat's tail hooking across a plush rug.

The Monster Lord jokingly said, "You have been fooled by these two tricks, Cursed Day."

The eyes in the sky suddenly opened, and the bloodshot pupils were tinged with madness, but they suddenly retracted when the door was about to change.

Like a praying mantis waiting for its prey, He stared at the door intently.

Wait until something comes out of the door.

Deep in the black fog, there is a city of insects.

Looking down from the sky, if you didn't see it with your own eyes, it would be hard for anyone to believe that there was a human city in the black fog. Its prosperity was no less than that of the capital Partington, and it had all kinds of facilities.

People come and go on the road. If you look closely, you will find that they all have obvious insect characteristics. They are holding different humans on leashes like dogs. The latter are hunched, and the lower the blood level, the more mutated parts they have. Only those high-level insect people are qualified to hold normal humans, and the clothes they wear are also more decent.

A small door in the corner was covered with red lines and opened automatically without any sound. A lowly insect citizen came out with four kowtow bugs.

The extremely high concentration of black mist made the priest Malcolm pale, and the blessing of the Lord of All Power became active uncontrollably. As soon as he showed a sign of it, he was kicked to the ground by Rex. He held his stomach and couldn't get up.

"Are you still pretending to be good with me? If there wasn't a master who wanted to try out being a priest, do you think you have the qualifications to bargain with me?"

Flynn quickly pulled the other two to their knees. A voice came from behind, with clear human-like pronunciation.

"I was wondering who it was, it turns out it was the insect people training the kowtow bugs. You are really capable, getting such a good batch of goods. The bones and flesh are good, but it's a pity that the face and temperament are not good."

The man was wearing a thin shell armor and looked very human, except for a pair of insect tentacles on his forehead. His greedy eyes slid over everyone, like a long tongue licking a cheek, making people shudder.

Rex's wings fluttered and rubbed against each other, making a flattering buzzing sound: "You are joking, sir. This is the goods ordered by another high-level insect from the animal shed. It is not very obedient. I am training it for that sir."

Malcolm panted for a while, then struggled to get up and kneeled on the ground like the others. The high-level insectoid was obviously pleased by Rex, and nodded after savoring it for a moment: "It is indeed new, but the degree of mutation is not enough. Take them to the animal shed for a visit. You are very good, who is it?"

Rex nodded and bowed: "I have just evolved with the Queen's grace, and I haven't found my master yet. I rely on this little bit of intelligence to get things done."

"The most valuable thing about insects is that they have brains. You are much smarter than the average low-level insect citizen. I am optimistic about you."

The high-ranking insect man casually took off the ring on his right hand and threw it to him: "You can come work for me."

There is no need for the insects to introduce each other's names when communicating. They rely on scent to distinguish each other's identities. The higher insects give the lower insects things with scent as a sign of recruitment. Rex respectfully took the ring with both hands: "It's my honor."

"Okay, I'm going to continue my patrol. You should also bring me some good stuff later."

The high-ranking insect waved his hand and turned to leave. When he was far away, Rex wiped the sweat off his hands and quickly led the others to move.

His goal was clear, heading straight for the dirtiest and messiest area. After crossing a certain line, the scenery in front of him changed dramatically.

The indescribable stench of excrement hit them in the face, and the sewage was so abundant that there was no place to step. Many people were lying on the ground with their bodies broken, their chests rising and falling weakly. More people were hiding in the corners, looking at them with fear or panic. Everyone had obvious signs of insect infestation, and many people stood with the insect people, who might be more human.

The red-haired young man thought that his attire was shabby enough. Compared with the humans here, he now looked like a well-dressed gentleman.

It's like a nightmare here, a sickening nightmare.

After reaching a safe location, Rex finally stopped and said to the priest with a guilty look on his face: "I'm sorry, I didn't have time to explain just now. Your reaction was a little too strong. The breath of the Lord of All Things and All Power will attract the patrol team. I can only do this for now."

"It's okay. Everything is for the mission." Malcolm shook his head and looked at the miserable scene seriously. "This is worse than I thought. How did these people survive here?"

This is also a question that others want to ask.

Ricks smiled bitterly: "This place is called the Animal Shed, where the insect people select humans. The [Insect Queen] plunders humans from different places and causes the group to mutate through high-concentration black mist and her own breath. They are all kowtow insects. Every once in a while, insect people will come and take away some of the kowtow insects."

As they were talking, a little girl suddenly rushed in front of them. She was dirty, her arms had been transformed into insect limbs, and she knelt on the ground and begged, "Master Insect, please take me away! I just need a little food and medicine. My blood is very strong! Although I don't have much meat on my body, it will definitely be useful!"

As she said this, she immediately kowtowed to the ground. Her forehead hit the ground hard and soon blood started to flow out.

A woman staggered out, her face was sick, she hugged the girl in panic and begged: "No, sir, she was joking. She is still a child and doesn't know anything. Please let her go. If you want to take her away, take me. She can still grow. She is still a cub. Even if you want to eat, there is not much meat. Please let her go and take me away."

The girl cried out, "Mom!"

The mother held her tightly in her arms, as hard as if she wanted to rub her back into her body.

What a tragic scene, yet a sudden surge of joy fills the heart, as if seeing the most wonderful thing in the world, tempting the viewer to grin and laugh.

Play with her, use her for fun! Look at her stupid look, she deserves to be bullied and beaten, do more things to enjoy her ugliness? How fun, how happy!

Come and laugh at her! Let those who hold their heads high be forced to bow their heads, let the holy ones fall in pain, let the mothers give their own flesh and blood for their children, and let the children watch their family members being eaten for themselves!

Pain, despair, crying, madness!

The City of Insects tears off its disguise and bares its terrifying fangs to newcomers.

The sweet temptation of the insects echoed in their ears, and the bloodline people were trembling. The [Queen of Insects] wanted to build more than just a city. She wanted humans and insects to switch places, and humans to become vassals of monsters. Their bodies were more like monsters than monsters, but they still retained the hearts of humans.

Malcolm tried to help them up in an unbearable manner, but the sound of flapping wings forced him to stay where he was.

"New here? You're quite good at eating."

This sound was superimposed with the obvious insect sounds, and a low-level insect citizen landed beside Rex, looked at the shivering mother and daughter, and licked his lips greedily.

"What a wonderful despair! I never thought there would be such high-quality goods in the barn. How about giving me one?"

Rex's expression was stiff. As a low-level insect, his intelligence had not yet completely separated from that of a monster. Seeing that he did not say anything, he reached out his hand to the mother and daughter in front of him. The two of them closed their eyes in fear, and after waiting for a long time, they still did not feel the pain.

The girl hid in her mother's arms and timidly opened one eye. She saw the hunched red-haired young man standing behind the insect dweller and putting his hand on his shoulder.

Livestock were not allowed to touch insect people, so he should have been killed at that moment. But the low-level insect person with a ferocious face stood there for a while, actually withdrew his hand, turned around and left.

Ricks got a start, grabbed the team members and ran away. In a blink of an eye, there was nothing in front of the mother and daughter. The little girl blinked blankly and saw a white object rolling towards them.

It was stained with dirty water and became spherical. It looked dirty, but the little girl knew that it could cure her mother's illness.

She swallowed and crawled towards the pill tremblingly.