Chapter 52 Rat Swarm
As dusk fell, the rooftops, baked by the sun all day, resembled giant steamers. More than fifty superhumans stood on the rooftops near the main square, wearing night-vision goggles and holding weapons, their eyes fixed on the trap in the center of the square.
Several mutated wild boars were placed in the trap; the stench of blood rose with the heat, making it nauseating. However, this was the best bait for dealing with the mutated rats; the more pungent the smell, the more it attracted the rats' attention.
Jiang Rong adjusted the buckles and straps of the night vision goggles, only feeling relieved after confirming they were secure. Rats are nocturnal animals, more active at night. Although the mutated rats are formidable, they have retained this trait. In a little while, they will have to fight the mutated rats to the death.
At this moment, Guan Shao nimbly flipped into cover, and Jiang Rong asked in a low voice, "Is everything ready?"
Guan Shao responded, "Alright." As he spoke, he casually picked up his sniper rifle and aimed it at the intersection. There was a three-way intersection in front of the square, and they were lying in ambush on the rooftop directly opposite the intersection, only a dozen meters away from the trap.
Jiang Rong looked at the rooftop diagonally opposite. There were four semi-circular bunkers made of steel and earth, each containing two or three teammates. Some were intently observing their surroundings, while others were making final preparations for battle.
The house where the superhumans are located has been initially cleaned, and all the climbable pipes on the walls have been removed. Rats are good climbers, and once they form a circle, the rats trying to escape will climb up the pipes, which will affect the superhumans' performance.
Besides the pipes, all the passageways in the roof were sealed off; no one wanted to be overrun by rats halfway through the extermination effort. The superhumans carefully sealed every hole in the roof to avoid any future trouble.
The buildings in the square are only three stories high, which is indeed not tall compared to big cities. However, for the mutant rats, without climbing points, they simply cannot scale the □□ meter high buildings.
The superhumans Guan Shao brought were all experts in both one-on-one combat and group battles, and Jiang Rong didn't need to worry about their ability to create cover.
Jiang Rong's gaze lingered on them for a moment before returning to the road they had come from. The dark road stretched out of the town, their cars parked far at the end. Each vehicle was heavily protected to ensure it wouldn't be eaten by the mutated rats.
Jiang Rong's gaze fell on the SUV behind the forklift. A layer of dusty gray cover appeared on the SUV's exterior; it was a protective casing made of steel and stone. Lei Lei was in this vehicle, and Jiang Rong was worried that the little girl would be scared being alone in the vehicle, so she couldn't help but take a few more glances.
Guan Shao said slowly, "Don't worry, Leilei is very brave."
Leilei was the only minor among the group who was capable but unable to protect herself. She originally wanted to go up to the roof with Wang Chunlan. However, fearing that she lacked experience and would hold everyone back, the girl decided to wait for everyone in the car after thinking for a long time.
After confirming that it was safe around the SUV, Jiang Rong looked away. This time, he looked at the cover next to him, where Chu Qiang was eager to try, Ruan Hanyu looked serious, and Wang Chunlan was carrying a medical kit and fumbling for weapons.
Feeling Jiang Rong's gaze, his teammates smiled and gave him a thumbs up, indicating that everything was alright.
Time passed slowly, the sky grew darker, and the entire town became eerily quiet. It turned out that without human activity, the world could be this quiet. Chu Qiang muttered in a low voice, "This is too quiet, it's kind of scary. Why aren't those beasts coming out yet? It's already dark, they should be out by now, right? Xiao Jiang, did our trap even work?"
Jiang Rong was about to speak when Guan Shao stopped him: "Listen!"
A rustling sound came from the darkness, as if thousands of animals were moving downstairs. Everyone stared intently, and saw pairs of blood-red eyes appear in the darkness.
The superhumans perked up: "They're here."
Countless mutated rats crawled out, some from the sewers, others from roadside houses, instantly filling the empty streets with their immense size. Most of these rats were larger than a house cat, and several were even comparable in size to Lele.
Apart from Jiang Rong, who had seen mutated rats in her past life, everyone else was dumbfounded: This is a rat? If this is a rat, then what chance does the cat have?
After emerging from underground, the rats looked around, straightened their upper bodies, sniffed the air, and then crawled towards the square. The gray-black swarm of rats, like a tide, took over the road, converging from all directions.
Those who witnessed this scene felt their scalp tingle and their hair stand on end. Chu Qiang's voice trembled as he exclaimed, "My God, I'm covered in goosebumps..."
Ruan Hanyu's face turned pale. From childhood, her greatest fear had been rats. If she didn't kill several rats today, she wouldn't be able to sleep.
Although Jiang Rong had warned everyone that there would be a large number of mutated rats this time, no one had ever dreamed there would be so many. If the rat swarm was this powerful now, wouldn't it become an infestation and spread everywhere in a while? Seeing the rats constantly crawling out, everyone made up their minds that no matter the cost, they would wipe out this swarm!
The rats, their eyes bloodshot, squeaked and squeaked. Soon, the fastest rat had climbed onto the wild boar's body. A chilling gnawing sound came from the trap as the black rats piled up, engulfing the boar.
The swarm of rats quickly gathered, piling up two to three meters high on the wild boar in an instant. The rats below squeaked in pain as they were crushed by their companions, while more rats climbed up by stepping on their bodies.
Rats kept crawling out from every corner of the town, but the rats that crawled out later were much smaller than the ones that had come out earlier, and they crawled out much slower.
When most of the rats gathered near the square, the pile of rats on the wild boar had already reached the height of a one-story building.
Guan Shao slowly raised his hand, and his low voice came through the earpiece: "Ready—to fight!"
At a command, over fifty hands and lightning bolts rained down from the surrounding rooftops onto the swarm of rats below. The moment the objects were thrown, Chu Qiang cursed, "Damn it, I forgot to remove the ring!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Ruan Hanyu added, "Oh no, I forgot too..."
Jiang Rong's vision went black; it was really too much to ask ordinary people and professionals to work together.
Lightning bolts struck with a crackling sound, making several rats squeak and squeal. Ruan Hanyu asked in confusion, "Why didn't it explode?"
The explosive device doesn't detonate the instant it's released; there's a delay of about ten seconds between pulling the pin and it actually detonating. Jiang Rong abruptly turned his head and shouted, "Get down!"
The moment he shouted those words, the grenade in the swarm of rats finally exploded. A towering flame shattered with a deafening roar, and windows throughout the town shattered amidst the explosions.
Hundreds of mutated rats were blown to pieces, their corpses flying everywhere amidst the flames. The screams of the rats mingled with the sounds of glass and walls falling, and countless rats were ignited, turning into wandering fireballs that plunged into their comrades. Many rats that managed to escape the explosion were set ablaze and scattered wildly across the area.
Just moments before the explosion, a wall five or six meters high appeared at the three-way intersection. The wall was firmly attached to the houses along the street, forming an encirclement with a diameter of one hundred meters.
The rats, who hadn't even reached the square, turned and ran in panic, only to find that they could never go back.
The surviving rats scurried frantically around, searching for an escape route. As native rats, they knew every path leading underground. When they tried to pry open the manhole covers on the sewers, the covers, which usually moved with a gentle nudge, wouldn't budge.
It's alright, although they can't go back through the sewers, they can still get back through the houses by the roadside. As they rush toward the open doors and windows of the houses, several blood-red vines quickly emerge from inside.
Using its advantages, the little rascal ventured deep into the house, quietly waiting for the mice to stumble upon it. With a casual flick of its thorny vines, the mice were strung together like candied hawthorns. How many mice could escape the trap set by the bloodthirsty vine?
Suckling sounds could be faintly heard from the houses along the street, along with the pitiful cries of rats.
The square became a hunting ground, with the larger rats being the primary targets of the superhumans. Guan Shao, with his sharp eyes, specifically targeted the largest rats. A barrage of gunfire erupted, and the ground was quickly covered with a thick layer of rat carcasses.
Not everyone has Guan Shao's precision. Although the mice were surrounded, they ran incredibly fast. Jiang Rong tried to aim at one mouse several times, but every time he aimed, the mouse seemed to have eyes and darted away.
At a critical moment, a huge mass of water appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the rat swarm. The water quickly froze in the places it passed through, and the frozen rats squeaked and screamed. However, all that awaited them was a merciless barrage of bullets.
With Ruan Hanyu's help, Jiang Rong and Chu Qiang finally hit their first mutated rat of the day. The two praised, "Thanks, sister!"
The superhumans on the rooftop ruthlessly reaped the lives of the mutated rats, switching to their powers when their bullets ran out. Ice balls, fireballs, metal spikes, clods of earth, and even wooden sticks rained down from the sky, leaving the mutated rats utterly defenseless.
Although mutated animals have awakened superpowers, there are probably not many animals that can use them as skillfully as humans. After an hour of being surrounded by superpowered individuals, the mutated rats in the encirclement completely fell silent.
Looking at the pile of rat carcasses, Jiang Rong was somewhat dazed. Had they won? The mutated rats that had devoured him and his son in his past life had been defeated so easily?
I remember in my second year at the Peace Base in my previous life, the northern area of the base was overrun by mutated rats, and hundreds of people were bitten to death by them. The base sent out hundreds of superhumans to besiege and exterminate the mutated rats for a whole week, but they also lost dozens of superhumans in the process.
That's why Jiang Rong told her teammates: "There might be casualties today." But in reality, they were all unharmed and had completely routed this bunch of rats.
Isn't everything going too smoothly?
After a moment's thought, Jiang Rong understood the reason. The reason they won so easily this time was because they were well-prepared. The perfectly coordinated abilities of the superhumans, coupled with a sound tactical plan, left the rat completely bewildered.
This rat colony is just starting out and isn't very large yet. In another year or two, the rat population in the town will increase many times over, and even if you add many times more people, they might not be a match for them.
Most importantly, although many rats have mutated, they still retain their original habits and don't know how to use their superpowers. Once they've figured things out and are able to walk during the day, dealing with them will be even more difficult.
After figuring it out, Jiang Rong wiped away a cold sweat. This victory was truly a stroke of luck; if they encountered a mutated rat swarm again, they might not be so fortunate.
The superhumans emerged from their shelter, their heads held high, looking down at the pile of rat carcasses below, a sense of immense satisfaction washing over them. Ruan Hanyu's eyes reddened: "Did everyone see that? The mutated rats that harmed you are dead. You can finally rest in peace..."
The reason the group chose this location for the raid was to let the townspeople, ravaged by the mutated rats, witness their fate. If they knew this in the afterlife, they could rest in peace.
The traps only trapped most of the mutated rats; countless others lurked deep beneath the town. To completely eradicate them, the entire town would have to be surrounded and the ground dug deep.
Digging three feet into the ground isn't that easy. Even with so many superhumans, they couldn't turn the town upside down in a short time. Besides, while they were searching, the clever rats would have already escaped.
Fire-type ability user Jiang Jinhu cursed angrily, "Damn beast, what's the point of hiding underground? Come up here if you dare!"
Jiang Jinhu's superpower is very strong; a single fireball from him can incinerate at least a dozen rats on the spot. However, his superpower cannot penetrate deep underground. The underground passages are twisted and complex, and a fire would probably not even produce smoke.
But if the rats aren't eradicated completely, they'll grow back in no time and wreak havoc on the surrounding area. Are we just supposed to watch them run rampant?
Just then, everyone heard a cheerful humming sound coming from behind them. Listening closely, wasn't that... the Meow Meow Team's theme song?
Having consumed a considerable amount of mutated rat flesh and blood tonight, Little Darling has grown quite a bit. In a very good mood, it twisted its vines and crawled along the base of the wall and the ground. When it saw a rat still twitching in the pile of corpses, it rolled up the rat and took a couple more sucks.
As a noble mutated plant, Little Darling has very principles. It never feeds on the flesh and blood of dead things; it only eats the freshest. Of course, half-dead things are not unacceptable.
As Little Darling was sifting through the pile of corpses, it suddenly noticed everyone staring at it. Little Darling's vines twitched, and its song abruptly stopped. It put the half-eaten mouse back where it had been. It rubbed its vines and whispered, "Be good..."
Jiang Rong's eyes lit up. It was him! Everyone else's abilities couldn't penetrate deep underground. But Little Darling could! Little Darling was a mutated plant; a single vine as thick as a thumb could coil around a large rat. And while it was coiled around the rat, it would start sucking its blood.
Normally at the base, Jiang Rong never lets Xiao Guai Guai run wild, but isn't today the perfect opportunity for Xiao Guai Guai to show off her skills?
Jiang Rong cleared her throat: "My little darling."
The little darling twisted the vine and made a heart shape: "Good girl~"
Jiang Rong pointed to the ground: "You can eat any kind of rat underground, regardless of size. As long as you can catch them, they are all your prey. Would you like to go hunting?"
The little darling vines twisted wildly: "There's a problem! There's a problem!" Since hanging out with the fairy, the little darling has successfully learned a few of the fairy's words.
Jiang Rong nodded slowly: "Okay, let's go!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the red vines suddenly spread out. If the previous mutated rats were a black tide, then the red bloodthirsty vines were the messengers of death. The little vines were of varying thickness, and as soon as they burrowed into the ground, heart-wrenching screams of the rats echoed from below.
The superhumans who witnessed all this were filled with awe for Jiang Rong. Wang Chenggang exclaimed, "Even if Jiang Rong does nothing, he can become a strongman just by relying on his little darling." With such a bloodthirsty vine around, who would dare to disrespect Jiang Rong? Don't be fooled by how enthusiastically they used their various superhuman abilities tonight; when they encounter their little darling, they can only kneel down.
Zheng Zhanqing was puzzled: "If we had known that the Bloodthirsty Vine was so powerful, why did we bother with all this work for so long? Wouldn't it have been better to just let the Bloodthirsty Vine burrow into the ground?"
Wang Ting said leisurely, "Many ants can kill an elephant, and many rats can also gnaw through the vines of the Bloodthirsty Vine. If we kill most of the rats first, the Bloodthirsty Vine will be able to play a greater role."
Meng Weixian analyzed, "From my observation, Little Guaiguai has grown quite a bit in this war. If it were the previous version, it probably wouldn't have been able to handle so many mutated rats."
After looking around, Jiang Rong selected a few superhumans to help clean up the battlefield, while the rest headed towards the grain processing plant.
When they were clearing away the remains, they had already toured the factory area. Besides the processing workshops, the grain processing plant also had three large warehouses. The warehouses did contain a considerable amount of grain, but it had been ravaged by rats, covered in chaff and rat droppings.
However, the group's target wasn't the three warehouses, but rather the two tall stainless steel grain storage tanks behind them. These tanks were windproof and rainproof, and had thick steel plates on the outside, preventing rats from gnawing through them, thus preserving the grain inside intact.
These two grain storage tanks are over 20 meters high and 8 meters in diameter, each capable of holding 400 tons of grain. Of course, the tanks are not completely full; according to the labels on them, they contain 500 tons of grain.
With these 500 tons of grain, it would be enough to sustain the entire Xinghuo Base until the spring harvest next year. Looking at the two towering storage tanks, everyone was overjoyed; this trip had been worthwhile!
Chu Qiang chuckled, hands clasped behind his back. "This grain station is so thoughtful; they even prepared grain storage tanks. These are good things; we have to take them back to the base." If the base had a few more of these grain storage tanks, filled to the brim with grain, it would be so reassuring!
Before setting off, Leilei made sure to clear out the storage space. With her help, the two large food storage jars were quickly put away. Even the grain that had been damaged by rats in the warehouse was carefully salvaged. Even if it was inedible for humans, it could be used to feed the animals at the base!
Actually, the mission was already completed here, but in order to wait for Little Darling to finish hunting the rats, and also to give everyone time to clean up the battlefield, everyone lit a campfire in the factory area and waited patiently.
At this moment, Jiang Jinhu walked in carrying a cloth bag. He handed the bag to Jiang Rong with both hands: "Boss Jiang, this is the crystal core we found in the head of the mutated rat."
They learned about the wonders of the crystal core on their very first day at the base, and everyone was stunned when the superhumans first pried the crystal core out of the mutated rat's head.
Everyone already knew how the Starfire Base distributed crystal cores. Jiang Rong smiled as she took the cloth bag and poured the crystal cores inside onto the ground. There were over five hundred crystal cores in total, enough for each person to receive a dozen or so.
Jiang Rong waved to everyone: "Come and get your crystal cores. Remember to choose the one you like first."
Seeing Jiang Rong so generously share the crystal cores, Wang Chenggang whispered to Wang Ting beside him, "Now I understand why Guan Tou'er led us to the Starfire Base without hesitation." Like Guan Tou, Jiang Tou'er was a leader who didn't hold back and was willing to consider his subordinates' needs. Following a leader like that, everyone had the motivation and could work together towards a common goal.
Fearing that everyone might not know how to absorb supernatural abilities, Jiang Rong even absorbed a crystal on the spot to show everyone. He encouraged them, saying, "Anyway, you have some free time now, so you can give it a try."
Perhaps because soldiers are more reserved, everyone just smiled and carefully kept the crystal core safe.
Perhaps because its underground nest was quite complex, the little creature didn't emerge until 3 a.m. Its vines had thickened again, and as it rolled, the thorns made a solid rustling sound against the ground.
Little Guai Guai didn't emerge alone; it brought hundreds of mutated rats with it. Each rat was about half the size of a palm, entirely pink, and their eyes were still closed. The baby rats made soft squeaking sounds on the vines, attracting everyone's attention.
Jiang Rong guessed, "Little darling, are you planning to save them for the next meal?" Who said Bloodthirsty Vine doesn't keep food for the next day? Little darling has saved quite a lot, hasn't she?
The little darling twisted the vine and whispered, "Little fairy~"
Jiang Rong understood. It turned out that Little Darling wanted to catch the mutated mouse and bring it back to the fairy who couldn't go out. Unlike Little Darling, the fairy couldn't run around freely; after taking root, she could only stand guard outside the yard and must be very curious about what the outside world was like.
Jiang Rong's heart softened. "Alright, but you have to promise me that after you show them to the little fairy, you have to eat them." There are too many rats in the base to count, and it's not appropriate for the little darling to take the mutated rats back.
The little darling replied, "Okay~"
By the time everyone returned to the base, dawn was almost breaking. Exhausted from a whole night's work, Jiang Rong rubbed his sore neck and headed home. However, he and Guan Shao had only taken a few steps when they were stopped by a red vine.
Seeing the little darling's hesitant expression, Jiang Rong was puzzled: "What's wrong? Didn't I give you the little mouse?"
The little darling stretched out its red vines toward Jiang Rong: "Here, here..."
Jiang Rong raised an eyebrow: "You mean, you have something to give me?" That was unusual; he was curious to see what Little Darling could give him. Little Darling only had a few hundred little mice left, right? Perhaps Little Darling would give him one?
Even though there was a chance of receiving a baby mouse, Jiang Rong still reached out his hand. In his eyes, the little darlings were no different from small animals; when small animals gave their owners prey, it represented love.
As soon as Jiang Rong stretched out her hand, Little Darling extended its vines and wrapped them tightly around her arm. Jiang Rong felt hard, heavy objects fall into her palm.
The contents piled up rapidly in his palm, far too much to hold in one hand.
"clatter"
Something fell through the gaps in the vines onto the concrete floor.
"Da da da" "Pitter-patter"
More and more things fell, reflecting the colors of the morning glow, bouncing around on the ground like beans.
Jiang Rong and Guan Shao were stunned by what they saw: countless crystal cores rolled down from the little darling's vines. The multicolored crystal cores piled up in front of Jiang Rong, covering his feet, a dazzling sight.
Even after Xiao Guaiguai retracted the vines, Jiang Rong and the other person were still too shocked to speak.
Little Darling twisted the vines and whispered, "Good stuff, for Engineer Jiang..."
On its way back, it saw people in the car playing with these shiny stones. Those people said that Jiang Gong was very kind. They said that Jiang Gong could have kept all these stones, but he shared them equally with everyone.
It has many of these stones, and it can find one or two after each time it has strangled plants and animals. They are very pretty, and it likes to use them to build its nest.
The question is, if Jiang Gong were given stones like these, would he also feel that he is very good?
Author's Note:
Xiao Heng: Sweetie, what is 3+3?
Little Darling: 33!
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