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Just when Tao Guohuai was about to ask her more questions, the figure hanging above the water suddenly disappeared out of thin air.
He shook his head vigorously to confirm that there was nothing more around him except the flowing black swarm of insects.
Are you hallucinating?
But the current situation left Tao Guohuai no time to think. He stepped on the soft mud in the water to steady his body, and used all his strength to lift Cheng Cong up to the surface.
Cheng Cong was submerged in the water for two full minutes, and a large amount of water filled his lungs. He has now passed out due to lack of oxygen and suffocation.
"Congcong! Son! Wake up!"
Tao Guohuai shouted at the top of his lungs and shook his body hard, but the cold body in his arms did not respond at all.
The pool was only a dozen square meters, and villagers often found it too crowded to wash clothes there. Dense swarms of insects crawled along the banks, their shells scraping against each other, creating a piercing sound. The closest insect was less than two meters away, and he could even see the joints of its antennae and its mouthparts constantly opening and closing.
As the insect tide passed, the rocks loosened, houses began to collapse, and broken walls and ruins continued to roll into the pool, further shrinking the area of the pool.
Tao Guohuai dodged in panic the rocks and flying insects. His retreat was completely cut off, and he fell into infinite despair.
Just as he was reaching the point of despair, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted. The sound was not far away, and he was so startled by the noise that he stumbled and nearly fell into the water.
A few seconds later, explosions were heard again, and in other directions, the sounds became a series.
Tao Guohuai subconsciously looked up to find the source of the explosion, but the terrain on this side of the pool was too low and he could not see anything.
Immediately afterwards, Tao Guohuai suddenly discovered that the insect tide around the pool had changed. The insects seemed to have received some kind of command and moved quickly in the opposite direction. The insects on the southeast side of the pool dispersed in a very short time, exposing the entire ground.
There was a road on the southeast side leading to the river. Tao Guohuai did not dare to delay and made up his mind to stand up from the water holding his son.
He quickly climbed ashore. His clothes were soaked and stuck to his skin, making it difficult for him to move. He quickly tore off his vest and kicked off his shoes, then ran barefoot on the gravel path, completely ignoring the severe pain in his soles.
The moment he saw Tao Guohuai, Tao Sai finally remembered Yuquan Village. After his mother passed away, Tao Guohuai remarried and married into the family.
I can’t remember which summer vacation it was, but Tao Sai, who was a junior high school or elementary school student, was taken here by Tao Guohuai to play for a few days. At that time, he didn’t have a son.
In the few memories she had, Tao Guohuai and her stepmother quarreled every day. The reason might have been her, but she couldn't remember.
Tao Sai pulled the ring of the explosive bomb and threw it into the surging tide of insects. With a bang, fragments of insect corpses flew all over the sky.
She continued to pull another mine.
After a few explosive bombs, a large number of insects were instantly eliminated. Tao Sai successfully attracted the hatred of the insect tide, and they rushed towards her more and more violently.
While Tao Sai continued to throw grenades, she used the [Gravity Adaptation] skill to float in the air. The young and growing insects that could only crawl on the ground had little power over her.
The insects seemed to have a sense of intuition with each other. They knew clearly that this creature was the biggest threat, and they tried their best to move closer to the source of her scent, gathering into small hills.
But this actually gave Tao Sai more room to use the explosive bomb in his hand, and he could blow it up without any effort.
The only thing Tao Sai had to be wary of were the mature insects circling in the air. Flying insects would occasionally land on her head and back, and she would always be able to sense them immediately and then shake them off using her hands and feet.
Tao Sai thought about slapping the flying insects to death directly, just like slapping a mosquito. With her current strength, she was able to kill them with every slap.
But when she thought of the sticky green liquid in the insect's body, especially the large mature flying insect, she thought it would be too disgusting to have the broken remains and mucus stuck to her body, so she quickly suppressed the idea.
Fortunately, there are not too many mature insects at present, and they have not yet formed into a group, so they do not pose much threat to Tao Sai for the time being.
The insects in this area have attracted enough hatred, and most of the insects in the village are moving here, so the strategic goal has been achieved.
Tao Sai exerted force with his legs, stepped on the mountain behind him and jumped up, and [Gravity Adaptation] was activated.
Unconstrained by gravity, she leaped over ten meters. She found another rock to rest on, and with a push, she leaped further in a graceful parabola, like a dolphin diving from the water.
This was a trick Tao Sai had just discovered. Using [Gravity Adaptation] at the moment her legs exerted force, the power provided by her legs in low gravity wouldn't be offset by gravity, allowing her to leap over ten meters in a single leap. If there were no air resistance, the data would likely be even better.
After several practice sessions, Tao Sai gradually mastered the timing of activating the skill. By treating [Gravity Adaptation] as an instinctive part of her body, combined with her leg tendons, she could now scale walls and jump without needing to install a motor in her butt.
Tao Sai had a hunch that once he became more familiar with the skills, practice would make perfect, and he might be able to develop even more functions.
After all, skills are dead, but people are alive. The key is how you use them.
Tao Guohuai's soles were pierced by sharp stones, leaving bloody footprints along the way. He ran desperately with Cheng Cong in his arms, completely oblivious to the pain, his legs swinging in circles, bursting out with unprecedented energy.
He slammed on the brakes. Just a dozen meters ahead, a swarm of insects came from another direction, cutting the path leading to the river in half.
Looking back, he saw the swarm of insects coming back behind him, and he was once again in a desperate situation of being surrounded.
Tao Guohuai turned his head and was suddenly startled. Tao Sai appeared in front of him without him knowing when.
"Saisai, it's really you!" Tao Guohuai exclaimed, "Why are you here?"
Tao Sai didn't even look at him. Without any hesitation, he raised his leg and kicked him out. Tao Guohuai rolled into the rushing stream along the edge of the insect swarm.
The next second, the place where Tao Guohuai had just stood was swept away by a black swarm of insects.
This stream flows directly into the Wolong River, and the point where it falls into the water is not far from the river mouth. The stream in this section is deep and turbulent.
Tao Guohuai struggled to tread water to surface for air, while his other hand tightly grasped his son's wrist, and he was soon washed into the river by the stream.
"My husband! It's my husband!" Cheng Lihua jumped up excitedly.
Everyone looked in the direction she pointed and saw a shirtless man paddling desperately at the river mouth.
Fishermen jumped into the water one after another to help Tao Guohuai lift Cheng Cong onto the deck.
Tao Guohuai collapsed on the deck exhausted, breathing heavily. He turned his head to look at the motionless Cheng Cong, feeling dizzy.
"Son!"
Cheng Lihua knelt beside him. She couldn't feel Cheng Cong's breathing. When she felt his cold hands and feet, she burst into tears.
"Get out of the way!" a voice shouted. Yu Wenfu quickly walked up to Cheng Cong and asked someone to pull Cheng Lihua away.
Fishing at sea is a high-risk occupation. The street offices and communities at the fishing boat docks organize fishermen to participate in first aid knowledge training every year, especially for drowning.
Yu Wenfu lay in front of Cheng Cong and first used his hands to pick away the mud from his nose and mouth to ensure his respiratory system was unobstructed. He then gave him three consecutive artificial respirations.
Then he pressed Cheng Cong's chest and began to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation regularly.
After that kick, Tao Sai quickly activated [Gravity Adaptation] and remained suspended in mid-air. In an instant, the area below her became a sea of insects. The cliffs collapsed, covering the stream. For dozens of meters around her, there was no landing point except for insects.
Gravity Adaptation can't sustain a suspended state for long, and its effect consumes a significant amount of energy. Once Tao Sai's energy is depleted and she's unable to sustain the skill, she'll fall to the ground and be devoured by insects.
Although the body's energy can be replenished by eating, even if she starts eating non-stop now, it takes a process for food to be converted into energy.
If a strong wind blew now, she could float to a safe area with the wind, but the problem was that there was no wind at all.
Tao Sai looked around and used [Gravity Adaptation] to reduce her gravity again, and she quickly rose up.
Rising to a height of about 500 meters, she headed towards the river, exerting strength from her core and torso, twisting her body with all her might, trying to throw herself away and then releasing the gravity of her body.
The whole person fell straight down, but the falling process had a slight angle compared to the vertical rise because of her twisting.
It was this tiny angle, when magnified to a sufficient scale, that caused Tao Sai to move forward about 100 meters from his original position.
After landing at a height of four or five meters from the ground, Tao Sai used the same trick to move again. The second time he moved farther than the first time, and the third time he landed directly on the surface of the river.
She controlled gravity and slowly landed on the deck.
Suddenly, the system prompt sound rang in my ears.
You successfully rescued [123 villagers from Yuquan Village] and completed Side Quest 2!
[You have obtained the mission rewards: [Gold Coins x2000], [Experience x2000], [Universal Materials x300], [Star Upgrade Card x1], [Skill Blind Box], [Early Warning Radar - Primary]]
Perhaps because she landed so lightly, no one on the ship noticed her.
Everyone was gathered on the deck at this time, and in the middle lay a little boy of about ten years old, his face purple and blue, and he was no longer breathing.
Yu Wenfu continued to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the little boy.
Everyone was worried.
If a child of ten years old were to die like this, the parents' world would collapse.
Tao Sai on the other end seemed to be in another world. He was not affected by other people's emotions at all. He calmly unscrewed the mineral water bottle and drank water, then ate compressed biscuits one bite at a time to restore his energy.
She had used [Gravity Adaptation] too much and her energy had already been exhausted.
The child must not be dead, otherwise the system would not have considered her side quest completed.
After pressing continuously for several minutes, Cheng Cong choked on the water, and his breathing became smooth and his consciousness was restored.
Cheng Lihua had already collapsed in tears, but when she heard her son cough, she instantly stood up and wanted to hug her darling.
Yu Wenfu signaled to the people around him to pull her away, as the first aid was not over yet.
In short, the man survived the brink of death, and everyone on the deck breathed a sigh of relief for rescuing Cheng Cong.
Tao Sai quickly finished two compressed biscuits, opened a bottle of mineral water and drank it all. Then she bought two bottles of [Stamina Potion] from the [Mall] and drank them. Only then did the dizziness completely disappear.
She found a small stool to sit down and sort out the mission rewards she had just received.
[Early Warning Radar·Primary], the lowest level defense system of the refuge ship, can warn of dangers within a radius of 5 kilometers.
When playing the game "Insect Tide," the "danger" was clearly defined: insects and insect blood, so it overlapped with the built-in buff of the refuge ship. Therefore, Tao Sai had always regarded it as useless and never considered purchasing it from the [Mall].
But now, she suddenly had an idea while looking at the item description: could the [Early Warning Radar·Primary] also warn of another kind of danger - hostile players?
However, she is currently too far away from the Deep Sea Fish to install the defense system, so she has no way to verify this for the time being.
Tao Sait's eyes fell on another small compartment in the [backpack]. It was the exciting moment of opening the blind box again!
Ever since she activated the A-level skill [Gravity Adaptation] last time, Tao Sai felt that her skin was gradually getting whiter, and she was no longer a non-Western person, but a European one.
Tao Sai fixed his eyes on the icon in the small grid.
【You opened the [Skill Blind Box]. 】
[You have acquired the skill [Tempering·D-level]: After using this skill, your body will become extremely strong, lasting for 1 second (upgradeable).]
One second?
One second!!
Haha, it’s worthy of being a D-level skill. If she dares to be any weaker, what’s the point of her using this second!
Tao Sai took a deep breath, forced himself to suppress his anger, and recalled the truth he had summarized not long ago.
Skills are dead, but people are alive. The key lies in how to use the skills.
Tao Sai fell into deep thought.
If she was shot by someone, and the moment the bullet flew towards her, she activated the skill [Hardening], making her body extremely strong and able to block the bullet, it might work.
But how fast was the bullet? Could she react in time?
If you are attacked by surprise, you will have absolutely no time to react. Even if you are looking at the black hole of someone's gun emitting flames face to face and luckily activate a skill, will the other person really be so stupid as to only shoot one bullet, or only use a pistol?
Another very important point is how strong this "extremely strong" in the skill description is.
It is very important that Tao Sai confirms this.
She quickly equipped the skill [Tempering], then took out a knife from her overalls pocket and cut her fingers.
At the moment when she cut hard, Tao Sai used her skills and blinked to make sure she was not dizzy. The sharp blade cut through the skin but did not leave even the slightest mark on her finger.
She was holding a military knife with a sharp edge. Even a light scratch on the steel plate would leave a mark.
This is enough to show that when [Tempering] is activated, the body's toughness exceeds that of steel.
Tao Sai thought subconsciously, what about the bugs?
An idea immediately popped up in her mind, but it was too dangerous to verify. If it was successful, the effect would be huge, so the risk was worth taking.
Tao Sai stood up. The fishing boat was not far from the shore. A swarm of insects was crawling along the river bank, and mature flying insects were circling in the air.
Tao Sai jumped off the boat again and walked towards the shore on the shallows. A flying insect flew past her eyes quickly. She caught the insect with her bare hands and spread it out in her palm.
She stood there, quietly looking at the mature flying insect in her palm. After waiting for more than ten seconds, the flying insect opened its sharp and hard mouthparts and bit Tao Sai's fingers.
The moment the insect bit her, Tao Sai activated [Tempering]. The moment her mouthparts collided with the skin of her fingers, there was a sharp sound, like a shovel hitting an iron pot, and her entire scalp went numb.
Before she could recover from the tingling sensation on her scalp, she suddenly discovered that one of the insect's mouthparts was broken off, and the other half was also cracked.
Tao Sai's eyes widened, the corners of his mouth curved slightly, and then continued to rise, he couldn't control his joy.
It works!
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