trouble

"May God forgive me, I have never given such dirty medicine to a patient."

Malcolm smiled bitterly. What happened today was completely beyond his imagination. He had imagined that humans would not live well under the rule of the Insect Queen, but this scene deeply hurt him. The Insect Queen not only wanted to plunder the bodies of these humans, but also completely destroy their hearts and souls.

Malcolm was born in the Holy City. His parents are devout believers of the Lord of All Power. He has listened to the Lord's teachings since he was a child and regards the believers as his brothers and sisters. Therefore, he was chosen by the Holy Priest and became his successor. If it weren't for the opening of the [Black Mist Counterattack Plan], he would definitely have a bright future.

But seeing the miserable state of the praying mantises, the young man felt heartbroken: "They are just ordinary people. I can tell at a glance that they are no different from ordinary people except for their abnormal bloodline."

"That's true, but there's nothing we can do about it. This is Bug City."

Rex sighed, turned around and warned Oreius seriously.

"Also, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not control the insects. Low-level insects are fine, but absolutely do not try to control mid- and high-level insects. The Queen can directly control all insects. Once we find that an insect is out of control, we will definitely become the first target of encirclement and suppression."

"Sorry, I was impulsive."

"I don't mean to blame you. I feel bad when I encounter this situation." The man said. "Low-level insects will use blood to please their superiors and make them feel happy. The blood of the kowtow insects is even more cruel. As long as they do something to please the superiors, they will make the superiors feel happy."

"The insect people call the place where the kowtow bugs live a barn, and treat them as livestock that they can choose at will. They must please them to get food and water. The better ones will be taken away from the barn and live as pets. In most cases, they must take the initiative to please the insect people in exchange for resources, including... sending themselves to the table and becoming edible meat for the insect people."

Flynn was horrified: "These people voluntarily put themselves on the table of insect people!?"

"The insects have a great demand for meat, so it is the easiest way to exchange for supplies. Didn't you hear what the woman just said? 'This child is still young, there is not much meat.' She wanted to use herself to die for the other party."

Ricks couldn't help but sigh: "This is the current situation of Bug City. There are several rules here. Listen carefully."

"First, the Queen is absolutely right and must not be insulted or disobeyed."

"Second, abuse and humiliation are worth promoting, encouraging livestock to live as human beings, and always giving them a glimmer of hope."

"Third, the black-robed man with the amulet is not a domestic animal and cannot be used at will."

"Fourth, except for the animal shed, no livestock led by insect people are allowed in the Insect City. Once discovered, they will be killed immediately."

"Fifth, except for high-ranking insects, other insects are not allowed to wander the streets at night."

After reciting all of them, Rex took out the ring with the aura. This was why he had tried to please the high-ranking insectoid before. This was equivalent to a pass.

"It's getting late now, and we need to find a place to stay before night falls. Come with me, the tavern is on another block."

Ricks showed extraordinary familiarity with the City of Insects. He skillfully led everyone around various dangers and passed a square on the way. Many insect people were resting here, and there were patrol teams on guard around. They held humans of various ages in their hands.

The insects in the city are divided into three categories. The lowest class is similar to Rex, with wings on the back and scales on the cheeks. The middle class has no wings, and the high class only retains insect characteristics on a few parts of their bodies.

These insects gathered together, chatting in a relaxed manner, giving people a strange feeling that their positions had been reversed.

There are beautiful fountains and sculptures in the center of the square. In the center is a beautiful woman with her arms outstretched to the sky, with butterfly-like wings spread out behind her. Around her are several high-ranking insect statues kneeling, wearing gauze crowns, symbolizing their status as priests.

Surprisingly, there was a human among these priests. He looked like a teenager, crawling on the ground, his face could not be seen clearly, and half of his veil fell to cover his eyes. The insects around would come and go and pay tribute to the queen's statue. Oreius only had time to take a few glances before he was forced to speed up and leave.

Rex obviously understood the danger of this place and hurriedly led them away. Oleus glanced at him with a sense of realization, but the latter was so distracted that he didn't even notice his gaze.

Soon, the man found a tavern and successfully got a room with the help of the ring. The low-level insect who served as a waiter rubbed his wings flatteringly: "Sir, please come in and rest. We will take these livestock to the fence."

Rex glanced at the others covertly, and when he saw Oleus and the others nodded slightly to him, he said, "Let this one go in with me, and take the others to the fence."

Aga, who was pointed at by him, lowered his eyes and stood respectfully beside Rex. His identity was special, and he could not afford to make any mistakes before completing the positioning.

The waiter called out a sharp insect sound to his companions, and other low-level insect people came over, grabbed the remaining people and sent them to the fence behind the tavern.

"You three must have been eliminated by the higher-level insects. You smell so good."

Smelling the tempting blood from the three people, the low-level insect greedily took a few breaths, and couldn't help but drool. If he wasn't afraid of death, he really wanted to enjoy these three kowtow bugs. Their wails must be very pleasant to hear.

After looking at them with regret for a few times, the low-level insect people roughly threw the three people into the fence. The people inside were frightened and shrank deeper, staring at the three newcomers in fear.

The fence was similar to a stable, with dry grass inside, and a pungent stench hit his face. The red-haired young man got up from the ground and looked at the fearful faces around him.

The waiter closed the gate tightly, so he wasn't afraid of the beasts running around. The insects outside had the right to kill them directly after seeing them, and maybe they could even get a bite.

The humans in the fence were well aware of their situation. They waited until the noise outside died down before they calmed down again. They carefully looked at the three newcomers. The priest frowned as he observed the wounds on these people, with a hint of anger in his eyes.

This is naked abuse!

The two sides were in a stalemate for a while, and the atmosphere finally eased. An older Cangsang man spoke hoarsely: "You were just captured and brought to the Insect City, right? What's going on outside?"

The three of them looked at each other, and Flynn said cautiously, "Everything is fine outside."

"Don't be so scared." The man smiled bitterly and shook his head, "No one here is loyal to the Queen."

Seeing that the three did not answer, he sighed and whispered: "You probably don't understand the situation in the Insect City yet. I don't have much to say. Remember, whether it is to survive or to escape, never give in to the insect people."

Such realization should be extremely rare, but everyone present showed a firm expression. Oleus asked in surprise, "Why?"

The man looked at him deeply. "The Queen captures humans to enjoy the pain and despair we feel when we beg for mercy. She wants to trample on our dignity and distort our minds. Therefore, once we surrender to the insect people and become beasts for fun, humans will be useless in their eyes."

"The Zerg are sensitive to pain and despair. They will kill those who have surrendered and become numb, leaving only those who have hope and want to live. They feed on the resentment of these people. You must have been to the barn."

At this point, the man let out a sad laugh.

"Have you seen those people lying on the ground waiting to die? Their bodies just couldn't adapt to the changes in their blood, but their hearts never gave up. In the City of Insects, even the most incomplete human beings have an unyielding heart. Only in this way can you survive."

These words were like a bomb of fire that exploded in the red-haired young man's heart and made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

This is the saddest part. There is not a single animal in the so-called animal shed.

When humans are in despair, they become numb as a self-protection measure, but the people in the City of Insects do not even have this right. They must face the slaughter of the insect people soberly, and offer their despair and pain one after another.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the discomfort in his heart: "In this case, we saw statues in the square on the way here, and one of them was a human. Why did the queen make a statue of him?"

“.....”

After hearing his words, everyone in the fence suddenly became quiet. A teenage boy looked angry.

"He's the traitor who deceived everyone! He betrayed all of us! If it weren't for him, we would have left the City of Insects long ago!"

"Shrike, calm down."

The Cangsang man seemed to have some authority among the group. He sternly ordered the child to be quiet and then turned to Oreius.

"It happened a long time ago, and I heard it from the old people. It was probably 20 or 30 years ago. The queen led the army and left the City of Insects in person. After a while, she brought back a large number of humans. The expedition to the City of Insects is different from ordinary monster hunting. Every time, many people are brought back regardless of age or gender."

"That person came here with his parents. He was just a child at that time. After fusing with the blood of the praying mantis, he showed extraordinary talent. How should I put it... Even the queen couldn't resist his favor. Do you understand what this means?"

"Assuming that an ordinary person of the kowtow bug bloodline can make the opponent feel 10% of joy, the effect will be worse as the opponent's strength is higher. Then his ability will make the opponent feel this 10% of joy without distinction, or even more. When he becomes the leader, it is said that he can even force the opponent to agree to his request in this way."

"Under his leadership, the people of Bug City launched an uprising. With him, the uprising was unexpectedly successful. In the end, this team actually reached the palace of the Bug Queen."

"How is that possible?" Hearing this, Flynn couldn't help but interrupt. "The Queen of Insects is an SSS-level monster. How can a bloodline person... uh, defeat her?"

The young man who had just spoken suddenly became angry: "Don't underestimate us! There is basically no difference in physical quality between people who have trained well and low-level insects. There are many more of us than insects?"

Flynn was speechless for a moment: "Sorry, I didn't mean anything else..."

The man reached out to stop Shrike from refuting and explained to Flynn, "You are right. The people living in the City of Insects have been malnourished all year round and have poor physical fitness. They are a group of old, weak and sick people. They have not received any training before, but they succeeded with the help of the leader."

"That person stole supplies from the insect people and improved their physical fitness. Many of the captured people were warriors from the Black Mist Border, and he taught them combat techniques. Under the pressure of the Insect City, everyone united as one. He also deliberately launched an attack when the queen left, and thus won the victory."

Flynn reluctantly accepted this explanation, but the red-haired young man felt that there was more to it than that. He had actually fought against the [Blue Mist Tree], which was also an SSS-level monster.

Although the Oreus alias became weaker as the curse was used, it still recovered 70% of its original state after absorbing the power of the [Mother of Ten Thousand Stones]. Canaan tore apart the alien gods of the pre-Black Mist era with his own hands, and with the strengthening of the profiteers and the curse of the three major western family heads, he was able to kill the [Green Mist Tree].

This is in addition to the fact that [Qinglan Tree] is not a combat monster, otherwise it would be a tough fight. Who would believe that a young man could bring a city of old, weak and disabled people to destroy the other party's house?

Sure enough, the man continued in a low voice: "That man brought the best warriors into the queen's palace, and later people found out that it was a conspiracy. The queen's departure was just a disguise, and she caught all the rebels in one fell swoop. The saddest thing is that at this time, that man betrayed the rebels and joined the queen. When he appeared in front of the rebels with the queen's will and ordered them to surrender to the queen, everyone was excited."

"Faced with the people's questioning, the man... the former leader grabbed a sword and killed the loudest rebels. He also took away his deputy, a warrior who was equally determined to resist. The betrayer threatened the people to give up, saying that if they persisted, they would disappear like his deputy."

"After that, he stepped on the blood of the humans in the City of Insects and entered the Queen's palace, becoming her lackey. Priest, ah, priest... The Queen appointed him as a priest, erected a statue for him, and honored him. After that, the City of Insects had its first living human traitor."

Disgust rose on the faces of the other people in the fence. It seemed that this story had been passed down among the people of Worm City for so long that everyone knew it. The man who was speaking spoke with disgust, enunciating each word.

"He was once considered a hero by everyone in Worm City, but after that day, he only had one name."

"traitor!"

"Has anyone seen him and the people who were taken away since then?"

"Those who were taken away have disappeared. And that person is in the Queen's palace."

Another person whispered back, "Everyone knows that the traitor is in the Queen's palace. He is a warning to us."

Traitor, priest of the Queen of Insects, someone who was taken away... These words combined together, plus Ricks' unusual familiarity with this place...

Oreius narrowed his eyes, as if he had suddenly grasped something. It seemed that someone was calling his name anxiously. The red-haired young man paused for a few seconds before realizing that it was not his illusion. Someone was really calling his name.

The sound of the portal came and went, and someone cried out, "Lord Aureus! Help me, Lord Aureus!"

Oleuston was alert. The portal had said that it would cut off communication after entering the city. Now it came to find him regardless of everything. There must be something wrong: "What's wrong?"

"My Lord, I have been targeted by the Cursed Day, and I cannot be with you for the time being. These days, taboos are no longer justified, and they are actually squatting by the door to guard me. Fortunately, I ran fast, otherwise I would have turned into a monster!"

Aurelius frowned. He really didn't know what to do. He couldn't just reach out and grab the sun in the sky, could he?

"How can I help you?"

The blood control effect is as powerful as ever. The portal is deeply moved and vows: "Don't worry, sir! I can handle it. Just give me more blood later. I will be out of contact for a while, but I will definitely come back later!"

Its voice was intermittent, as if it was communicating with Oreus from a long distance.

The red-haired young man was deeply moved by this loyalty, and thought to himself that he must add more food to the portal next time. Then he heard the other party suddenly remind him: "By the way, sir, this communication will attract attention, remember to change your seat!"

Oreius: "......"

The oblique light shines outside the gate, dimly reflecting a certain beauty. There is no distinction between day and night in the City of Insects. The street lights that imitate human society are the standard for distinction. White is daytime, and yellow is night.

He looked silently at the extremely dim white light and the closed gate, not knowing how to inform his companions. The shelter he had just obtained was no longer safe. The red-haired young man sighed deeply and suddenly stood up.

Flynn and the priest turned to look at him, only to see the red-haired young man reach out and forcefully pry the door open, saying helplessly, "The plan has changed. Tell them to run."

Flynn was a little confused: "This is different from the plan."

The red-haired young man pointed at the junior insect people coming in from the back door and said, "What can we do? If we don't run, we'll be doomed."

The priest hissed, thanked the Cangsang man, stood up and rushed out with the two men. The people in the fence looked at each other, not understanding what was going on. The Cangsang man hesitated for a while, but still sat down cautiously. Seeing his action, the others also sat down.

The low-level insect citizen, startled by the contact, discovered the three people and immediately opened his mouth to call his companions. The red-haired young man quickly punched him in the mouth, and fiercely stuffed back the sharp insect sound.

The priest took a sharp breath, and Flynn was about to comfort him and tell him not to be nervous, when he heard him quietly but firmly remind him, "Don't hit his mouth! If you break your hand, I'll have to give you medicine, and we don't have much medicine left!"

Flynn opened his mouth and closed it in silence.

…

The second floor of the tavern.

The decoration of the guest room is similar to human aesthetics, with only slight differences in details. Ricks first closed the doors and windows, checked the furniture in the room, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there was no problem. He nodded to Aga and said, "It's safe here for the time being, take a rest."

Aga did not refuse and sat down at the table: "You are very familiar with this place."

Rex was silent for a while. "I used to be here. There was a rebellion a long time ago. The leader at that time surrendered to the queen. I was captured by him, but later I found an opportunity to escape. My bloodline was upgraded because of this misfortune. I fainted in the wasteland, but fortunately I was rescued by the Duke, and then I became his subordinate."

"I see. No wonder the Duke said he must bring you here."

"That's a long time ago. Let's focus on the work at hand. You should know why I chose you."

"I did some research on the way." Aga pointed to his head. "The researchers in the Mechanical City have modified their brains so that they can perform high-precision calculations. I have memorized the route I took. The overall layout of this city is similar to Partington. If I am not mistaken, the Queen's Palace is in the center of the city, which is the location corresponding to the central building of the original Partington City."

Ricks nodded slightly: "Yes."

"Considering the movement, number of people and scale of the transmission, it is best for us to complete the transmission in the central area and hit the opponent's heart directly."

"It's not easy. The central area is heavily guarded, with a large number of high-level insects patrolling. If you want to get in, you have to transfer those guards."

Under Aga's gaze, Ricks' voice became lower and lower. Finally, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"The best way is of course to have nearby cover teams attract attention. The target locations of these teams are linked together in order to attract the monsters' attention to the greatest extent. The Duke gave me the contact information, but it's too early, Aga. Not everyone can reach the destination directly like us."

Aga replied calmly: "This time, the team is composed of elites, so two days is enough. Right now, the transmission array in Partington is maintained by Mr. Hesitz alone, so we can't delay for too long."

"...I understand. I will inform them as soon as possible."

Ricks hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement. He didn't really want to discuss this topic, so he talked about other things.

"Come to think of it, what is the principle of the teleportation array used this time? I have never seen this type before."

As the Duke's confidant, Rex has used a large number of teleportation arrays. Most of them are derived from the rune technology of the Mechanical City and use energy liquid as the source of power.

This energy source is naturally incompatible with the Black Mist and is easily interfered with. If this technology can be widely used, it will be great news for the warriors on the Black Mist Border.

Ajia said calmly: "It's very simple, just use materials that will not be repelled by the black mist."

"Material that won't be repelled by the black mist?"

"This is the confidential technology of the Mechanical City. It is forbidden to disclose it to the outside world."

Rex was bored and touched his nose awkwardly. He began to regret it. Instead of staying in the same room with Aga, he should go to find Oleus, who could at least chat with him. Unfortunately, in this damn place, their every move was monitored by the queen's eyes.

The two of them sat facing each other for a while, and Ricks couldn't stand the loneliness anymore, so he said dryly, "I don't know what's happened to Oreus and the others. The food given to the crickets is not very tasty."

Aga politely suggested: "You can go and have a look."

The other party shook his head like a wave drum: "No, no, low-level insects are the most proud of their status, why would they care about how the kowtow bugs are doing."

Aga looked at him politely, his eyes full of "Why are you talking to me here?" Ricks laughed dryly: "This is to ease the atmosphere. When it gets dark, you won't have a chance to chat with me."

"You don't have to wait until dark," Aga said. "You can look out the window."

"ah?"

Rex looked out the window blankly, and saw three people running downstairs, each of them looked familiar. Behind them were several low-level insects, spitting dirt.

Flynn passed the ball to Oleus while running, and the latter accurately hit the mouth of each insect to prevent the other from making a sound. Malcolm ran in the front, with his head held high, as if constantly searching for something.

Seeing Rex, Malcolm's eyes lit up and he waved his arms as if to express something.

Before the man could respond, the window of the next room opened with a click, and a low-level insect flew out and rushed towards the priest. Malcolm was shocked and punched him in the nose, knocking him away.

Rex opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment. He asked numbly, "Am I hallucinating? Why do I see Oleus and the others running?"

Aga: “This is not an illusion.”

Ricks: "But shouldn't they be inside the fence? I know the environment is bad, but there's no need to rush out and beat all the bugs. We're still hiding!"

The Mechanical City staff glanced at him and said calmly, "My condolences."

Okay, okay, it’s just a small problem. They are my teammates. What can I do? Can I strangle them to death?

Rex grabbed a handful of hair in despair, opened the window and flew down with him. Malcolm said in surprise: "You are finally here, there are insects behind us, let's run!"

"What the hell is going on with you guys... Never mind, just follow me!"

Rex made a quick decision and rushed out with a few people. After they left the tavern, the low-level insects did not follow them. They seemed to be afraid and hid in the building and did not dare to leave.

The white street lights above my head flickered for a while, then suddenly turned yellow. It was as if a pair of hazy yellow eyes lit up in the darkness, and the entire city of insects suddenly became quiet.

The five of them stood alone at the intersection, staring at the vague shadow at the end of the road. Ricks looked helpless: "We are really in trouble this time."