Considering stealth, Li Jiayu temporarily recalled the Dark Octopus into the spatial rift. This fellow was bulky, and its writhing tentacles produced a faint "swish-swish" watery sound. Bringing it along would surely attract the insects' attention.
So, Li Jiayu left the school gate accompanied only by the mummy. Of course, before leaving, Li Jiayu specifically extracted the Flying Dragon Beetle's Insect Crystal and quickly fused it into his own body. His perceptive abilities immediately improved significantly; he seemed faintly able to predict fortune and misfortune. Especially his hearing ability improved by at least thirty percent!
Adding the three Red-Crested Beetle Insect Crystals Li Jiayu fused last night, he now possessed arm strength three times that of a normal person – though only limited to his left arm. His right hand still couldn't exert much force. But now, just his left hand alone was enough to severely injure an ordinary person with one punch.
He could have fused a few more Red-Crested Beetle crystals, but Li Jiayu felt excessive arm strength wasn't particularly useful to him. After all, the number of fusions was limited. It was better to save the slots for later, fusing mental-type crystals when he obtained them wouldn't be too late.
Leaving the school gate, Li Jiayu looked around and couldn't help but sigh.
Although Xijiang University was located on the edge of the northern part of the city, due to its prestigious reputation, the surrounding area was very prosperous. Just the internet cafes and cyber centers built on either side of the school numbered four or five. Often, groups of friends would go to the cyber centers to play competitive games. Even the cyber center owners occasionally held gaming competitions, attracting numerous gaming enthusiasts, making it extremely lively.
There was no shortage of restaurants, KFCs, and food stalls near the school, both high-end and low-end. Many students, tired of the cafeteria's mass-produced meals, would often go out to try something new. Therefore, walking down the street outside the school, one could often smell the aroma of cooking. Li Jiayu used to enjoy eating at a particular food stall; their stir-fried river snails, stir-fried rice noodles, and oil-braised chicken wings were exceptionally delicious. The mere memory made him involuntarily drool.
As for other basic infrastructure, it was all there. Mobile phone service halls, small computer malls, beauty salons, clothing stores, and the like were naturally numerous. Usually, they enjoyed abundant customers and excellent business. Unfortunately, after last night's insect disaster, not only were there no customers, but even the shops were ravaged beyond recognition by the insects. Doors and windows were smashed to pieces, and who knows how much blood was splattered on the white decorated facades.
Scattered along the street were overturned and wrecked cars. Occasionally, a few incomplete corpses could be seen. Of course, what was seen most were bloodstains mixed with flesh fragments – clearly the best proof that entire people had been devoured into insect bellies.
Carefully passing the entrance of an internet cafe, Li Jiayu inadvertently glanced inside, only to see numerous corpses with blackened skin lying haphazardly. Needless to guess, they were poisoned to death by the terrifying venom of Venomous Spiders. What a pity for the young female internet cafe attendant. Li Jiayu remembered her as a rather interesting non-mainstream girl. She didn't want to study after her first year of high school and spent all day playing games in the internet cafe, occasionally flirting with handsome guys from Xijiang University. When she saw Li Jiayu, she would sweetly call him "Little Brother Li" a few times.
The prosperity of the past had indeed vanished like smoke. All that remained was endless danger and the hardships of the apocalypse. The various modern conveniences of the past had likely waved goodbye to humanity forever.
Li Jiayu led the mummy quickly down the street outside the school gate, deliberately slowing his steps as much as possible, fearing he might disturb the lethargic insects. Although he wasn't particularly afraid of one or two Red-Crested Beetles, if he could avoid alerting them, it was best not to stir the hornet's nest. Li Jiayu wanted to use this precious half-hour to cover more ground.
Occasionally glancing into the KFC, he could still see several Red-Crested Beetles mating, busy having fun. Li Jiayu even spotted a Scythe Beetle aiming its tail at a corpse's head, laying eggs inside.
Looking up, he saw occasional figures moving on the second and third floors of the roadside buildings. A candle was lit on the sixth floor of a relatively tall building, hazy candlelight spilling from the window. Clearly, there were still quite a few survivors inside; it's just that the insects on the street, having eaten and played their fill, had temporarily spared them.
A sharp-eyed survivor resting on a fifth-floor balcony spotted Li Jiayu walking on the street even in the dim light. As if grasping a life-saving straw, he waved frantically at Li Jiayu, too preoccupied to be surprised why Li Jiayu was accompanied by a moving mummy. He hurriedly picked up a piece of cardboard and wrote three large letters on it with a marker – "SOS".
Li Jiayu sneered softly, continuing to walk as if he hadn't seen it. There were far too many survivors like this. Li Jiayu couldn't possibly act out of great kindness every time he saw one, disregarding the danger to rescue them, right? Setting aside whether he'd be exhausted to death, even if he rescued them, how would he arrange for those survivors? He couldn't delay his cousin and cousin-in-law's safety just to play savior. Moreover, those insects weren't herbivores; getting entangled with them too much was still extremely dangerous.
Seeing Li Jiayu ignore his distress signal, the person panicked. Although he didn't dare shout, he frantically flipped the cardboard over and quickly wrote, "It's okay if you don't save me, just go get help! Police or army, anyone!"
This person was truly naive, not looking at the current state of chaos. This was completely the most terrifying biological disaster humanity had ever experienced. The old ways of "call the police for help, soldiers are good brothers" no longer applied!
Now, the police could barely protect themselves, and the army was stationed in a remote area east of the city. Their total strength was roughly one division, about ten thousand plus soldiers. Their firearm equipment wasn't high-end. According to Li Jiayu, the army's ammunition depot was destroyed by numerous Flying Dragon Beetles the moment the cosmic storm arrived. The remaining guns and ammunition were scarce. Moreover, their location was a heavily affected zone for the Undead race. Even though the army had many naturally Awakened individuals, they could only barely survive, completely unable to come out and protect the citizens.
Therefore, this person probably wouldn't get any reinforcements. He would either be eaten by insects within the remaining two days or hold out until the insects retreated. In short, no one could save him.
Seeing Li Jiayu still ignore him, the person panicked again, quickly writing on the cardboard— "Fine, I won't force you. Can you please leave some food? Everything in this building is finished. Your backpack is full, what's the harm in giving me some? I can reel it up with a fishing rod."
Li Jiayu couldn't even be bothered to shake his head. Anyway, there were only two days left. Starving for two days wouldn't kill him. After the insects retreated, he could grab whatever food he wanted from the supermarket, assuming he could grab it faster than others.
The person watched helplessly as Li Jiayu walked further and further away, his eyes fixedly staring at Li Jiayu's backpack. Thinking about Li Jiayu disregarding him, showing no sympathy, he immediately became angry out of shame, instantly hating Li Jiayu. His face turned liver-colored. Gritting his teeth, he threw down the cardboard, lifted a potted plant from the balcony, and hurled it down towards Li Jiayu below.
"Bastard! We're both in trouble, why have no sympathy? Would leaving me a little food kill you? You don't care about me, so I won't let you off easy either! Smash you dead, you heartless student! After you die, I'll reel up the backpack!" the man cursed viciously, his voice echoing from the fifth-floor balcony throughout the entire street, waking up countless survivors from their nightmares, let alone startling who knows how many lethargic insects!
Li Jiayu's heart tightened. He whipped his head around, only to see the potted plant heading straight for his face! His pupils contracted. In a flash, the mummy, connected to him telepathically, instantly darted in front of him like a ghost, its sharp, blade-like claws lashing out lightning fast, smashing the potted plant to smithereens with a resonant "Clang!"
Although unharmed, Li Jiayu cursed inwardly. Killing intent erupted as he glared at the bastard on the fifth-floor balcony! That baleful aura was almost tangible, filled with endless violence and ferocity!
(Damn it! I was specifically taking advantage of the insects' resting period to sneak around the streets! Now you made such a loud noise, it'd be strange if the insects weren't alerted! It's all because of you! You bastard actually turned vicious, daring to attack me?)
Li Jiayu was a dark-aligned, unorthodox character. In his previous life, the people who died tragically at his hands could form queues several streets long. The enemies he refined into zombies were even more numerous. If it weren't for his relatively good mood after rebirth and his unwillingness to appear too violent in front of acquaintances, the aura of despair and darkness released by his true nature would be enough to make people freeze to the bone.
He didn't provoke others; others should burn incense and worship their ancestors for that! Now someone actually dared to attack him viciously? Truly courting death! People like this must all be ruthlessly suppressed, leaving none behind!
"He actually... smashed the ceramic pot with one claw? How hard must this person's hand be... Er, is he even human?"
Seeing his thrown pot shattered, the man finally focused his attention on the mummy wrapped in yellowish-white corpse bandages. This time he saw clearly – it wasn't some oddly dressed eccentric, but a truly non-human creature!
An ordinary person absolutely couldn't have such slender limbs, nor such a gaunt chest and abdomen. Even more incredibly, the creature was wrapped in bandages, only its hands exposed to the air. There wasn't a shred of flesh on them; they looked exactly like steel claws made of metal, reflecting a faint cold gleam in the dim light!
And when this man met Li Jiayu's icy blue, emotionless cold eyes, he felt as if struck by lightning! Goosebumps erupted all over his body in an instant! He could clearly feel Li Jiayu's hatred and killing intent towards him!
That feeling... was like being alone in a deep old forest, targeted by terrifying beasts like tigers, giant bears, or vicious pythons, plunging one into extreme unease!
"What are you glaring at me for? Come up and chop me if you have the guts! Let's see how you climb up to the fifth floor!"
Li Jiayu indeed couldn't climb to the fifth floor, nor was there a need to, nor enough time. Because from a nearby clothing store, a Venomous Spider quickly rushed out, shrieking as it pounced towards Li Jiayu! After a night of digestion, this Venomous Spider was hungry again. It eagerly wanted to taste Li Jiayu's snow-tender flesh!
"Mummy! Don't rush to kill! Capture it alive for me, send it to that bastard!"
"Oooo—"
The mummy's mouth, stitched shut with black thread, barely managed to emit a muffled howl. It instantly met the Venomous Spider, its claws darting out like lightning, grabbing one of the spider's legs! The mummy's skin, long withered and dehydrated, hardened like stone, completely impervious to the spider leg's hairs.
The Venomous Spider struggled frantically, biting down on the mummy's wrist, but almost shattered its own mandibles on the impact! The next moment, the mummy swung forcefully, tossing the Venomous Spider into the air! It traced a tragic arc, heading straight for the man's face!
The man was aghast, turning deathly pale as he tried to run back into the room. But the Venomous Spider's speed was extremely fast, landing squarely on the back of the man's neck!
"Ah!"
The man let out a pig-like squeal. He felt the spider's hairs pierce the blood vessels in the back of his neck, waves of pain washing over him. But pain wasn't the deadliest thing; the deadliest was knowing he was finished! Fear coiled around his heart like a venomous snake!
Indeed, the Venomous Spider quickly recovered from its discomfort. Its eight legs swiftly wrapped around the man's neck, sharp leg tips piercing his trachea, while its mandibles tore at his neck, quickly ripping off a large chunk of flesh, even exposing the neck bone!
The man stopped breathing in less than three seconds!
When he died, his eyes were wide open, showing the whites, filled with a mixture of terror, regret, and resentment!
He regretted provoking this heartless, seemingly weak student. He was terrified by the "non-human's" powerful strength. He resented that student, whose gender he couldn't even discern, for retaliating against him like this! He had merely harbored a slight evil thought, and ultimately didn't even injure the student, right? At most, it was attempted murder! Why would that student be so cruel as to throw an insect to bite him to death? Simply devoid of conscience!
"A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring; a hateful glance must be repaid with spilled blood! Since you dared to attack me, be prepared for my tenfold retaliation... You should be glad I haven't become a quasi-Legendary Dark Summoner yet, otherwise, I would definitely refine your corpse into a puppet!"
Li Jiayu's eyes were chillingly fierce and violent, like a goshawk choosing its prey, muttering to himself.
"Screech—"
Seconds later, more and more insects rushed out from various shops, one after another, looking aggressive. Clearly, the sound of the breaking pot earlier had disturbed their rest, throwing them into a rage, eager to come out and eat the human who disturbed their insect dreams!
"There are actually so many insects... No, absolutely cannot get entangled with them, otherwise, I'll be skinned alive even if I don't die!"
Li Jiayu complained, quickly signaling the mummy. They zig-zagged a couple of times and slipped into an alley. The path there was narrow, winding like the eighteen bends of the Yellow River, perfect for shaking off so many insects!