The first floor was where the casualties were the most severe.
All the students, teachers, and even the maintenance staff and security guards here, roughly three to four hundred people, bore the brunt of the Red-Crested Beetles' first wave of attacks. Unable to escape, they became the initial sacrifices, almost all ending up in the giant insects' stomachs. So when Li Jiayu and the others finished clearing out the insects, they looked around but could no longer find any relatively intact corpses. All they could see were lumps of minced meat and torn fabric.
Every classroom was the most horrifying human slaughterhouse!
Inside, pools of dark red bloodstains covered the floors, along with scattered internal organs, green and colorful, making it impossible to tell if they were intestines or kidneys. Even the professional lecture podiums were littered with segments of spinal bones, likely spat out by some picky Red-Crested Beetles that disliked chewing bones.
Especially the elevator on the first floor – inside was simply a large pool of meat paste!
One could imagine, a dozen or so students had just entered the elevator when the power cut out. Trapped inside, they wouldn't have felt panic or fear about the impending insect attack because when the insects pried open the elevator doors, they were instantly crushed into meat paste!
"This is..."
Ran Hongxia's expression flickered, her gaze falling upon a gorgeously designed watch.
The watch, naturally, was on a severed arm, though completely stained red by blood, making its precious value unrecognizable. But Ran Hongxia had a strong impression of this watch and recognized it nonetheless.
"Rolex... Asian limited collector's edition?"
Hearing Ran Hongxia say this, Xiao Wanqing also turned her attention over. After a brief thought, she sighed softly:
"This arm... probably belongs to Ding Cheng, the school director's son, right? Only he would ostentatiously wear a Rolex collector's watch worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars... Unexpectedly, this playboy actually met such an end..."
Speaking of Ding Cheng, several nearby male students also sighed ruefully.
That standard tall, rich, and handsome guy was not only young and promising but also a top student returned from overseas. Handsome, young, and rich, he drove expensive sports cars to Xijiang University every day to pick up girls. Many innocent girls fell for him, and it was rumored he even got several girls pregnant. Seeing all this, the male students at Xijiang University naturally felt sour.
What a pity, though. This top-tier playboy would never have the chance to seduce innocent young women again. Usually dressed immaculately, he died tragically in the mouths of insects, completely dismembered, a truly miserable death, forming a stark contrast with his life.
Perhaps this young master never dreamed he would bid farewell to the world in such a manner? His ambitions unfulfilled, he hadn't even bedded a thousand schoolgirls yet. In the afterlife, he must surely be weeping – I was rich, powerful, and handsome, a standard cool, rich, handsome guy, why did I die so miserably!
This is the apocalypse...
In this precarious environment where survival is uncertain day by day, who cares if you were previously wealthy beyond measure, held immense power, or were a star adored by millions? No one cares about these things! The insects care even less!
The world's laws became mere decorations, society regressed thousands of years, almost returning to a primitive state. People no longer followed morality, but the naked law of the jungle. You're handsome? Great, I'm jealous, I'll ruin your face!
You say you're a billionaire tycoon? Is your brain flooded? In this society, money is equivalent to waste paper! Too small even to wipe your ass with!
You say you used to be a department-level cadre? Want me to protect the leader? Want me to serve you tea and water, otherwise you'll make me suffer? Screw you! Go haul bricks obediently! If you don't finish moving the bricks before tonight, wash yourself clean and go feed the insects!
You say you're the popular female star So-and-So, the number one Asian beauty pageant winner? Want me to escort you to Modu City for protection, the price being sleeping with me for one night? Fool, why make it so complicated? Starting tonight, you are my slave forever!
You say you're a news reporter, willing to help me generate hype, make me a hero of the people? Go die! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!
You say you used to be a provincial Sanda champion, a current popular enforcer for some dark society, specialized in collecting protection fees? Did your head get caught in a door? If you mess with combat personnel, I don't care if you're a Sanda champion or special forces, you all have to kneel!
You say you used to be a highly respected educator, telling me to pay attention to manners and not bully the weak? Stinky old ghost, why don't I send you on your way, save you the trouble of suffering in your old age!
The ways of peaceful society are completely useless. Former power, influence, beauty, wealth, fame – none are capital for climbing the ladder anymore, none can exchange for special treatment. Even a roadside beggar or garbage collector might live longer than a pot-bellied official or businessman!
"Nothing worth sighing about. Isn't he just the director's son... Maybe the director and the principal are lying dead in some corner of our school right now!"
Li Jiayu sneered mockingly, kicked the severed limb wearing the Rolex away, turned around, and said to everyone:
"Alright, the time for mourning is over! Listen to my command... Send a few people from the suicide squad to the thirteenth floor. Have the thirteenth floor pick out two or three hundred courageous male students to form a transport team. When our progress reaches the supermarket, the transport team will follow behind and move all the food back! Remember, strong, fast-running boys! Because there are still quite a few Red-Crested Beetles wandering around the school, and I can't guarantee safety during transport..."
"Yes!"
Immediately, several people obeyed Li Jiayu's words and went off to handle the task. Li Jiayu took a deep breath, looked at the corpses of the Red-Crested Beetles, and smiled coldly:
"Thirty-nine already... At this rate, perhaps we can eliminate most of the Red-Crested Beetles before dark tonight. Truly exhilarating!"
He clenched his fist, feeling the slight pain of fingernails digging into his palm, and shouted clearly:
"Octopus, stop sucking brain matter for now, hurry and follow me! You few, don't dawdle either!"
Saying this, Li Jiayu took the lead and walked out of the academic building's lobby. Drizzling rain, like fine ox hair, hit his face, cool. The raindrops were very fine, very soft, like willow catkins floating in the spring sky.
A cold wind blew, and Li Jiayu couldn't help but shiver. However, the Hyourinmaru in his hand emitted an even brighter light. All the raindrops landing on the sword body froze into white, fuzzy ice crystals, reflecting hazy, fragmented light.
Just as Li Jiayu expected, nearly a hundred corpses lay scattered in front of the academic building. Some bodies had smashed onto flowerbeds, dripping blood and brain matter painting the white roses everywhere, a mixture of red and white, indescribably eerie.
Many cars were parked in front of the academic building, various brands – BMW, Xiali, Dongfeng, Audi, Toyota – quite imposing. Unfortunately, at this moment, they had all become scrap metal due to the cosmic storm, unable to move anymore.
Many of the jumpers had also landed on car roofs, shattering the windows. Blood flowed from the roofs down the car bodies. Some who jumped from the eighth or ninth floor were naturally deader than dead. But a few who jumped from the fifth, sixth, or seventh floors seemed to still be trembling on the car roofs, struggling slowly, not yet dead. Seeing Li Jiayu walk out of the lobby, they convulsed their bodies, spitting out blood foam and internal organs from their mouths, pleading weakly:
"Save... save me..."
"What? Speak louder," Li Jiayu approached.
"Save... save me..."
"Not bothered with you. You're better off dying early and reincarnating sooner!"
Li Jiayu said faintly, walking past the BMW beneath the pleading person with an unfazed expression. Simultaneously, he patted the Sand Gourd at his waist, conjuring a patch of yellow sand, forming a rope. Ahead, a Red-Crested Beetle, having eaten its fill of human flesh, was pushing a car around for fun. It turned around somewhat sluggishly, noticed someone intruding on its territory, let out a displeased screech, and charged towards Li Jiayu.
"Seeking death! You dare trouble me? You should have called your companions over!"
Li Jiayu smiled slightly. With the Sand Gourd and Hyourinmaru, his strength could already suppress a Red-Crested Beetle head-on; there was no need to fear. His figure flashed, and Li Jiayu flickered behind the BMW. The high-speed charging Red-Crested Beetle couldn't stop its momentum. The ground was slippery marble. It crashed headfirst into the BMW, forcibly pushing the car half a meter across the ground!
Even the heavily injured person still lying on the car roof fell off due to the violent vibration. His ribs had already pierced his internal organs. After such a fall, his internal tissues completely collapsed. His eyes bulged, his neck stiffened, and he lay dead on the ground.
"Sand Binding!"
Having unintentionally accelerated the death of some innocent injured person, Li Jiayu showed no emotion. He controlled the sand rope to bind the Red-Crested Beetle's four legs, greatly reducing its movement speed. Then, he nimbly flickered behind it, stabbed his sword into its vulnerable tail section, twisted his wrist, shredding the muscles there, completely tearing open the wound!
The Red-Crested Beetle struggled violently in pain, wanting to turn around and crush Li Jiayu, but couldn't turn because four of its legs were restrained. In less than two seconds, its lower body was completely necrotic. Its pained screeches finally attracted four companions.
However, by this time, the Dark Octopus, Chu Xiang, and Ran Hongxia had also arrived on the battlefield. The two sides engaged in fierce combat among the flowerbeds and parking spaces in front of the academic building. The final result was naturally without suspense: one killed by a Detonation Talisman explosion, one smashed by Chu Xiang, and three frozen to death by Li Jiayu's Hyourinmaru!
"So dangerous... In this open area, the giant insects' charging advantage is too obvious. If I didn't have cars for cover, I might have been injured just now..."
Ran Hongxia panted slightly, her full bosom thrusting forward, straining her clothes. The fine, cold drizzle wet her clothes and beautiful hair. Water droplets hung on her fair, snow-white face, making her look as pure and beautiful as a fairy. Several teammates stared blankly, but Li Jiayu ignored her completely, saying expressionlessly:
"If you're afraid of getting injured... you can go back and rest first. When I've almost finished clearing the insects, you can come back for some activity."
"I... I didn't say I was afraid! Li Jiayu, why do you talk so crudely?" The Kukri knife in Ran Hongxia's hand was still dripping insect blood. She glared angrily at Li Jiayu, feeling somewhat wronged. Why? She had performed so well, helped Li Jiayu quite a bit, why was he still so indifferent towards her, never showing a pleasant expression?
It wasn't that she needed Li Jiayu to care if she was injured or anything, but at least... at least treat her as nicely as he treated Xiao Wanqing, right?
The mist-like rain, the rain-like mist, lingered incessantly like threads, seemingly draping Ran Hongxia in a layer of light gauze.
"This is just how I am, straightforward and blunt, often offending people. If you can't stand me, you can discipline me. You're the honorable Student Union Vice President, from a prestigious family. Just a call, and your fans can besiege me, chase me to Shudu, chase me to Gusu City..."
Li Jiayu turned his head and glanced sideways at her... In fact, Li Jiayu knew inwardly that now wasn't the time for sulking and arguing. It was just that his subconscious psychological trauma regarding Ran Hongxia was too deep, causing him to find her particularly unpleasant every time, just like in his past life – the moment they met, they would curse each other out, followed immediately by a life-or-death battle, chasing each other for some kilometers.
"What are you talking about? It makes no sense. Li Jiayu, even if you are the leader of the team, please pay attention to your image, don't throw tantrums casually!"
Ran Hongxia's starry eyes widened, meeting Li Jiayu's gaze without backing down. Her previous reverence for Li Jiayu instantly diminished by half!
"Alright, you two stop arguing. There's still proper business to attend to..."
Seeing the atmosphere between the two becoming increasingly tense, Xiao Wanqing quickly stepped in to mediate. She glared reproachfully at Li Jiayu, seemingly blaming him for being tactless, provoking others at such a time. It seemed Li Jiayu was indeed young and reckless, his temperament not yet fully matured, not quite suitable to serve as a leader.
"Li Jiayu, it seems there are still some heavily injured people on the roofs of several cars... What should we do with them?" Lan Xiaoyue asked.
"Tell them, better to die early and reincarnate sooner, hope for the next life!" Li Jiayu said irritably.
"Uh..."
"Uh what? You think I lack sympathy? Silly girl, be realistic! In this situation, do you have the ability to send them to a major hospital for emergency treatment? Do you have the ability to get doctors, who have already started fleeing for their lives, to treat them? Don't be foolish, this is the apocalypse, insects are everywhere, ninety-nine percent of modern medical facilities have collapsed! These people suffered such crushing systemic fall injuries, it's impossible to save them, unless you're a Tier 2 Medic, or a Tier 3 Water Mage, or even a Tier 2 Light Priestess... Otherwise, please retract your cheap and useless pity!"
Li Jiayu shook his head, his expression turning serious:
"If you really want to help them, give them euthanasia, save them from suffering so much pain before death. One axe blow, and they'll be completely liberated... Hmph, looking at your expressions, you can't accept it right away, can you? You'll understand later."
Seeing everyone remain silent, Li Jiayu didn't bother saying more. Some things didn't need elaboration; give them some time, and they would naturally understand. After all, the apocalypse was a great dyeing vat that exposed human nature. Under pressure, people revealed their true selves, good and evil forming an extremely sharp contrast!
Fine drizzle fell quietly, silently, like countless silver threads spun by silkworms. Tens of thousands of fine threads swayed in the air, a hazy light gauze draping over the dark, vast expanse.
Drawing his sword along the way, crushing everything in their path, over the short distance of a hundred meters or so, Li Jiayu's team encountered several waves of insects. Not only Red-Crested Beetles, but even two maggot-like, pale white, fat insects emitting a thick stench, the size of calves – these were Amoeboids!
Also high-Tier 1 insects!
Don't be fooled by their white, plump appearance without carapace protection. In fact, their aggressiveness was even higher than Red-Crested Beetles. Amoeboids, as the name suggests, their bodies could rapidly deform. For example, when moving, they could extend over a dozen legs from their ribs; when attacking, split into over a dozen mantis arms; when biting, split into several heads full of sharp teeth; when spraying poison mist, form over a dozen nostrils!
In short, they usually maintained a maggot-like form, but during battle, they changed constantly, taking myriad forms, adapting their bodies to the situation. Truly exceptionally dangerous. Their only weakness was their low defense.
As long as one dodged their attacks, a single slash could penetrate their bodies, directly destroying the brain tissue for a fatal blow!
Much easier to deal with than the ridiculously defensive Red-Crested Beetles!
However, this was relative to Li Jiayu. After all, Li Jiayu had the Sand Gourd and Hyourinmaru, completely suppressing the Amoeboids. But for Chu Xiang and the Dark Octopus, the Amoeboids were very tricky.
The Dark Octopus was primarily control-type, but how could it control an Amoeboid? As soon as it got close, the Amoeboid would sprout numerous sharp spikes all over its body, leaving the Dark Octopus helpless!
Fortunately, Amoeboids didn't appear frequently; otherwise, the team might have been in real danger. However, the continuous battles yielded significant rewards. They obtained over ten more Red-Crested Beetle Insect Crystals, as well as two Amoeboid Insect Crystals. This way, the Shapeshifter Lan Xiaoyue's upgrade was also secured.
"Phew... finally crushed our way to the supermarket!"
Standing at the entrance of Xijiang University's largest student supermarket, Li Jiayu couldn't help but let out a long sigh. However, he still smelled the thick scent of blood with each breath. Without thinking much, he could guess that the staff and student workers inside the supermarket were all dead.
The layout inside the supermarket was too complex, full of shelves, racks, and bends. Fighting in such terrain was very disadvantageous. If ambushed by a Venomous Spider popping out from somewhere, they would be completely finished.
"Chen Kun, use your sound waves to lure all the insects inside over here."
Li Jiayu ordered. Chen Kun had also been enhanced by Red-Crested Beetle Insect Crystals. Although this type of crystal wasn't ideal for a Sonic Warrior's growth, four crystals had still doubled the power of his voice. A single roar was practically like thunder!
In less than five seconds, various insects hiding inside the supermarket rushed out: five Venomous Spiders, five Red-Crested Beetles, ten Acid Bugs, three Scythe Beetles, and one Amoeboid, swarming towards Chen Kun at the entrance like a tide!
Seeing these dozens of insects surging forward, everyone's faces changed drastically, almost wanting to turn and run. But Li Jiayu remained unfazed. Controlling the yellow sand, he sent four Detonation Talismans flying into the center of the insect swarm and detonated them!
"BOOM!"
Four deafening explosions shook the supermarket, shattering nearly half its glass windows. Amidst the black and red blasts, three Red-Crested Beetles and eight Acid Bugs were completely killed or injured, unable to pose a threat. The insect swarm's formation was disrupted. Li Jiayu led the team in a head-on clash, brutally slaughtering them!
Thus, all the insects in the entire supermarket were wiped out. Everything inside now belonged to Li Jiayu. He casually picked up a bottle of coffee, took a satisfying sip, and then said to Chen Kun:
"Give a shout. Tell the transport team waiting at the academic building they can come over and move things now."