blogombal Chapter 78 Fire, fire, fire
Chapter 78 Fire, fire, fire
The most common tall grasslands in the border areas are home to many relatively harmless insects and unusual reptiles.
But this vibrant green tide is far less safe than it appears.
Because beneath the dense tall grass, in the damp and dark underground, there dwells a terrifying creature that strikes fear into the hearts of bounty hunters, security company field agents, and even the military.
Bloodworm, danger level B, can be upgraded to A under special circumstances.
The adult insect is generally between 1.5 and 2 meters long, with a maximum length of 3 meters, and a maximum diameter of only 10 centimeters. At first glance, it looks like a dark red hemp rope.
Despite its seemingly fragile appearance, it possesses extremely high offensive power. The penetrating force it can unleash upon ejection after compressing its body is comparable to that of a bullet. Furthermore, its body surface is covered with a thick, yellowish, viscous fluid that has the property of rapidly decaying most substances.
It's not corrosion, it's rotting. Because this is a scavenging organism.
What's most terrifying is that the Devouring Insects excel at teamwork.
Strictly speaking, it was a controlled hunt.
The survival characteristics of the Bloodworm are somewhat similar to those of an ant colony, with roles such as specialist worms and soldier worms. The queen worm is female and acts as the mastermind, controlling the swarm and conducting combat through unique pheromones.
Therefore, when you find a blood-devouring nematode in a tall grassy area, it means that there are countless thirsty worms in the surrounding ground, working hard to burrow upwards from the depths of the earth.
After killing you, foul-smelling bodily fluids quickly seep into your flesh. In less than 3 seconds, your corpse will rot and stink.
And this is precisely the aroma of the food that drives the Bloodworms mad.
"Fire! Light it!"
D3 roared and charged into the group of students.
Even if he didn't have much energy and couldn't sustain it for long, he would use his own flesh and blood to shield these young people from a fatal blow.
The members of the Blue Shield squad pulled out incendiary grenades from their tactical vests.
'Bang'
The first incendiary bomb was thrown at the front of the column.
To his surprise, Zite found that his visual perception was not greatly affected.
As Lin Jun, the leader of the counter-terrorism team, said, his ability is not infrared thermal imaging, but dynamic imaging of material analysis.
Qi Te keenly noticed that, amidst the flames, the thread-like objects that had just emerged from the small holes, like candles, were quickly melted away.
"Wade through the fire, hurry!"
D3 roared, and the terrified students and team members ran for their lives.
One incendiary bomb after another was thrown forward, as if lighting torches on the tall grass.
Unfortunately, this is not the wide-area incendiary bomb commonly used by the military. The diameter of the incendiary charge can only reach two meters, it can last for ten minutes, and the temperature is limited.
The buffer zone is 200 meters away.
The team advanced rapidly, but even faster than that, the incendiary bombs were being depleted.
Captain Xu Su, who was leading the charge, was caught in an endless swarm of insects. With a flash of his blade, he severed one Devouring Insect after another.
But the swarms of insects seem to be endless; one batch is cut down, and another batch comes.
The individual targets are extremely small, and there are simply too many of them, making it difficult even for a B-level strength-based ability user to fully utilize their advantages.
"If this fight continues, we'll run out of energy sooner or later."
Realizing this, Xu Su stomped his foot and leaped into the air, sheathing his twin swords mid-air. His burly figure crashed straight to the ground, but a pair of iron fists arrived first.
Bang!
bang, bang, bang
The ground trembled continuously under the force of the fist.
'Click'
At -30 degrees Celsius, the damp soil froze solid as a rock, but under heavy impact, it finally cracked with spiderweb-like patterns.
Xu Su took out a rotary bomb from his tactical vest and threw it into the crack.
"quick!"
"10, 9, 8..."
Xu Su fought while simultaneously counting down the days.
"Teacher, open the box!"
With a loud shout, Liu Baichuan, who was at the front of the group, quickly opened the collection box that Qi Te had given him earlier.
After the poison dart toad jumped out of the box, it seemed to sense the threat of the Devouring Insects and immediately sprayed out yellow smoke.
The highly toxic gas spread rapidly, and the Devouring Worms fell one after another like noodles being put into a pot.
Liu Baichuan was overjoyed: "Quick, run!"
Ji Chenyu protected Yue Wanwan at all times, while Qi Te kept giving hints to avoid the spots where the Devouring Worms would emerge.
Joey repeatedly used Blink to help the class monitor dodge the terrifying attacks of the "Man-Splitting Bugs".
Cao Yingchong created a whirlwind, maximizing the burning area, while simultaneously condensing wind blades that swept across the ground. Like a lawnmower, large swaths of tall grass were flattened, and countless Devouring Insects were severed in the process.
Qin Yun was too weak to fight. Qing Feng supported him with one hand and used the other to wield the short sword obtained from the dead Blue Shield team members. Together with Cao Yingchong's wind blade, they harvested the remaining enemies.
Several Devouring Insects swam quickly along the ground, and suddenly sprang up as they approached Qingfeng.
Qingfeng didn't have time to control the short sword. Knowing he was doomed, he tried to push Qin Yun away, but then heard a loud shout from behind him.
With her red hair, Maggie rushed to Qingfeng's side and threw out her fists.
Despite its seemingly slender arms, the punches it unleashed were incredibly powerful, causing several Devouring Insects to explode mid-air.
A foul, fishy odor instantly filled the air.
Just as Qingfeng was about to say thank you, he heard two screams from the two Blue Shield members at the very back of the team.
One person was cut in half at the waist by the Devouring Insect, and the other person's legs were severed.
Maggie turned pale and tried to help, but it was too late.
Dozens of Devouring Insects suddenly emerged from the ground where the two men had fallen. In the blink of an eye, the two Blue Shield team members were silent.
A swarm of insects surged forward and devoured the two rapidly decaying corpses.
"Take him away!"
Qin Yun forcefully pushed Qing Feng toward Maggie, then turned around and knelt on one knee with his hands on the ground.
The holes closed rapidly, forcibly cutting off the insects that kept crawling out.
The soil, in a manner invisible to the naked eye, coalesces, merges, and strengthens, becoming even harder in just two or three seconds.
"Damn it, Lao Qin!"
Qingfeng roared and tried to rush back to save his good brother, but was knocked unconscious by McGill with a karate chop.
Sorry, I can't let you go to your death.
Maggie hoisted Qingfeng onto her shoulder and ran forward without looking back.
Qin Yun, whose energy was already exhausted, burned all his life force to harden the soil a hundred meters behind him into a layer of hardness close to that of rock, effectively blocking the burrowing holes and the pursuing swarm of insects.
Boom!
The bomb that Xu Su threw into the underground crack exploded precisely on time.
The ground shook, and Qin Yun collapsed to the ground, exhausted, exhaling his last breath.
......................
Meanwhile, the rear compartment was burned, and the gray SUV, whose roof was still ablaze, roared through a patch of scorched earth, like a mad bull with its rear end on fire, speeding forward.
"Damn it, they're coming! They're coming! Hurry, hurry!"
While yelling, Wei Zai pulled the constant-temperature backpack containing the dragon egg off Uncle Gun.
Uncle Gun is dead; his upper body is hanging outside the back of the truck and is still on fire.
Perhaps the temperature was too high, and it became brittle. With a forceful tug, Uncle Gun's charred head shattered.
Driver Ada floored the accelerator and soon saw a group of people fleeing for their lives not far to his right.
"That's fucking awesome, they actually ran it."
Tony Leung's condition wasn't much better at this point. Most of his hair had been burned off, his scalp was covered in burn marks, his left eyeball had been pierced by shards of broken glass, and his face was covered in blood, yet he still couldn't resist making a sarcastic remark.
After saying that, Tony Leung's only remaining right eyeball darted around and he came up with a good idea.
"Drive towards those people. They can walk, but we have a car. Let those idiots help us block that monster."
At this point, Ada couldn't care less about moral principles; he didn't want to die, he had to get back alive.
......................
100 meters, 90 meters, 85 meters...
Hurry, just one more step, and we can escape the tall grass.
The next step is the buffer zone!
After encountering the swarm of Devouring Insects, less than half of the collection team members and Blue Shield field team members were left, and they ran for their lives.
The engine roared loudly, approaching rapidly from afar. Judging from the sound, it was easy to tell that a car was quickly getting closer from behind.
Along with it came an incomparably scorching pillar of fire.
The entire tall grassland seemed to have been soaked in lava, instantly melting and evaporating.
Everywhere you look, there is fire, fire, and more fire.
The dragon flapped its wings, and the air swirled and scattered like churned juice.
Fire, aided by the wind, spread like wildfire in an instant.
What was a life-saving flame just moments before has now become a death warrant.
Xu Su, who was at the forefront, suddenly leaped up and, taking advantage of the brief moment of airtime, turned his head to look behind him.
The Bloodworms were too densely packed and their destructive power upon ejection was extremely strong. His mask had already been torn and damaged during the battle with the swarm, making it impossible for him to monitor the ground situation in real time with the help of monitoring satellites.
That golden dragon is coming after us!
Given their movement speed, it's estimated they'll catch up with everyone in ten to fifteen seconds at most.
Xu Su made a decisive decision.
"D3, protect Professor Liu!"
Before the group, who were being chased by the flames, could react, they saw their valiant captain leap up and head in the opposite direction.
Even if you are no match for them, you must create opportunities for others to escape.
With his twin swords drawn, Xu Suyi went without hesitation!