"Why did you save us just now?" Su Tang asked curiously.
Shi Ying's gaze fell on Wu Bao beside her.
Wu Bao is now a huge cat, a real big cat. With just a couple of digs, it can create two small dents in a solid wall.
It was the strongest and healthiest cub she had ever seen.
“Your cubs are growing very well and are very strong.” She looked away, her tone devoid of emotion. “If our cubs were still alive, they would be just as lively and active as yours.”
Upon hearing this, Su Tang had a vague idea in her mind.
It seems that their offspring were all killed by this group of insectoid orcs.
Looking at the group of delicate-looking females before her, who were exaggeratedly thin due to prolonged hunger and lack of sunlight, a thought surged into her mind.
"What are these parasites they're talking about? Why are they capturing the cubs and females?" Su Tang continued to ask.
"The leader of this group of insectoid orcs is a bee-like orc. The way bee-like orcs raise their offspring is by laying their eggs on other orcs, absorbing their life force, and growing up quickly to emerge from their cocoons."
"The eggs of the bee-like orcs are very weak. If the orcs are too strong, they will not survive. If the orcs are too weak, they will die along with the eggs. The best host is the young, followed by the female."
Quartz is no longer to be kept; tell Su Tang about the situation here.
Su Tang was taken aback. Parasites lay eggs? Isn't that a parasitic wasp?
She thought of the pesticides on the farm, which seemed to be effective not only against pests that damage crops, but also against all kinds of insects.
Parasitic wasps should also work, right?
"Don't worry, you two just arrived. If you keep pretending to be unconscious, you should be able to fool them a few more times. But we won't be able to do anything about it after that."
When Shi Ying saw that she didn't speak, he thought she was frightened, and his voice wasn't so cold anymore.
Having failed to protect their own cubs, they wanted to do everything in their power to protect other cubs in danger.
"Meow~" Wu Bao couldn't understand what the two were saying, but it knew how to pretend to be dizzy, which was quite amusing.
He nudged Su Tang's hand, turned around and went to the middle of the cave, where he put on another fancy act of playing dead.
Lying face down, sprawled out, twisted into a pretzel...
Su Tang's lips twitched as she watched, and she grabbed Wu Bao's hind legs and dragged him back, saying, "Sorry, my little one is a bit naughty."
When the female stone moths saw the Five Treasures, their lifeless faces finally showed some expression.
The atmosphere inside the cave had also eased considerably.
"How was your tribe captured?" Su Tang asked, stroking Wu Bao's restless head.
The mention of this brought up a hint of anger on the faces of Quartz and the other females.
“Our tribe saved a male, intending to save his life, but we never expected that he would collude with the insectoid orcs, attracting them to attack our tribe while all the males in our tribe were out hunting.”
"That despicable male! He's clearly a canine orc, yet he acts like a lackey of the insectoid orcs!"
Quartz said through gritted teeth.
Su Tang had a sudden thought and asked, "Was the male you rescued named Haji?"
"How did you know?" Quartz looked at her in astonishment.
"That's how we were captured too..."
Su Tang didn't expect that Haji was a repeat offender.
Most tribes on the ancient continent were peaceful and untroubled by disasters or conflicts. They were kind-hearted and simple-minded.
I never imagined that Haji was a repeat offender who specialized in gathering intelligence for the Zerg orcs.
Unfortunately, Haji wasn't a Zerg orc, so he pretended to be pitiful and had a blood feud with the Zerg orcs, and almost no orcs would suspect him.
Su Tang recalled Haji's injuries, which were not faked.
Haji really went to great lengths to infiltrate the enemy.
Right now, it seems only she and Wu Bao have been captured. Their parents may have discovered they are missing, but they don't know what happened yet.
Even if they knew they were insectoid orcs, they wouldn't be able to find this place in a short time.
Rather than sitting idly by and waiting for your family to risk their lives to rescue you, it's better to save yourself first.
How many Zerg orcs are there in total?
Su Tang continued to ask.
“There are many. The Zerg orcs reproduce very quickly. They can raise countless offspring from a single host. There are at least a thousand adult Zerg orcs here, and tens of thousands of offspring. It’s impossible for you to escape.”
Quartz saw through Su Tang's thoughts.
It wasn't that she was being discouraging, but rather that they had tried to escape before, and in the end, even more of their people died.
Su Tang had a general understanding of the situation.
More than a thousand orcs was indeed a lot for her.
Fortunately, she's recently swallowed a lot of gold coins, so she has plenty of insecticide.
"By the way, did you see the two orcs I captured with me? One male and one female."
Su Tang suddenly remembered Mao Jiu and Shi Ling, who had been unconscious with her.
Both being felines, they are influenced by catnip.
It has to be said that the catnip grown on the farm is even more effective for felines than any drug or narcotic.
“I didn’t see you. Only the two of you have entered this cave.” Quartz shook his head.
"This cave is only for females and cubs. Your people must be being kept with other orcs."
The Zerg orcs, relying on Haji, attacked many tribes and also captured many orcs to use as parasites.
Upon hearing this, Su Tang decided not to interfere with them.
One was a plague god, and the other was someone she didn't know well. She was even glad that they weren't locked up together.
"Have you been taken out since you were locked up here?"
"You can't even protect yourself, so don't even think about other orcs," Shi Ying kindly reminded Su Tang.
Su Tang raised an eyebrow; of course, she wouldn't care about those two.
“I have a way to get you all out of here, but you need to find a water source for the insectoid orcs, or a place to store their food,” she said confidently.
So many Zerg orcs must be dealt with all at once to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.
A glint of light flashed in Shi Ying's eyes, but it quickly dimmed again.
She didn't try to discourage Su Tang any further.
“Our people are all dead. Not a single male survived. All that is left are weak females and unhatched cubs.”
"Even if we escape, we can't protect the cubs on our own. Rather than letting them hatch and suffer, we might as well end it all here."
After the windy season comes the snowy season.
When the males were still around, they could still get by peacefully, but now not only is the tribe gone, but there are no males left either.
The demise of the Stone Moth tribe was unstoppable.
Su Tang curled her lips into a smile; this was the moment she had been waiting for.
“If you can get out of here alive, you can come back with me. Where we live, the females can support themselves and raise their young.”
“Each female can feed herself with her own hands, and there are many males there to protect your safety.”
The female stone moths in the cave all turned to look at Su Tang.
Quartz asked incredulously, "Can we do it on our own?"
There are such amazing places on this continent!
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