Civilization: Beyond Two Worlds

440 Under the Earth

“I’m Kang De. The swarm has already calmed down. I’ll prepare to enter this city and search for survivors.”

The Hima Eagle was sent back to the white fog world. Kang De landed on the nearby beach and watched as the swarm turned from riot to silence and attached itself to the buildings, cars, and ground again. The roar of its wings was no longer there, and only the rustling sound of chewing was terrifying. Humans were creatures with imagination after all.

Looking at such an appetizing worm that even ate rocks,

It was very difficult not to think about what it would be like if they ate people.

!!

The liaison officer’s voice sounded from the phone. “Please be careful. What do you need us to do?”

Kang De said, “Give me a spacesuit.”

“…Ah? There are limited spacesuits outside the cabin. They’re expensive and rare and need a legitimate reason and application. There are relatively more spacesuits in the cabin. Which one do you want?”

The cost of the outer spacesuit was about 200 million yuan. It was much cheaper in the cabin. A few hundred thousand yuan was enough.

“I’m joking… If you wear that, don’t even think about walking normally.”

It was mainly protection.

He had already changed into the Shadow Solitary Set given by the Brotherhood. He put on his hood, tightened his collar, and put on his mask. He activated the key defense shield of the mask. His magic power was abundant and his entire body was airtight.

After all, there were insects everywhere.

In front of him was a city occupied by countless dense insects the size of his middle finger. If he was trypophobic, he would probably die on the spot when he saw the locusts buzzing in the sky.

Although Kang De was not that serious, looking at that scene still gave him goosebumps. Moreover, he was more afraid of insects… Therefore, he needed tighter protection.

In fact, before the cockroaches at home died, when he threw out the two-way foil, he had also put on his Bug Exterminator Set, a thick down jacket, a full motorcycle helmet, and thick gloves. After completing the dimensional reduction attack, he still had to take a shower… That was only the cockroaches at home.

Not only could these locusts fly like cockroaches, but they also seemed to like to jump on faces…

If he was suddenly discovered after entering and surrounded, if he was drilled into his collar or something before he activated his ability to leave… Ahhh, when he thought of this, goosebumps rose again.

On the other hand, when he first transmigrated to the Holy Seal Islands, he was most afraid of the insects of the other world. They were still f*cking on the island, and there was even a forest. It could be imagined how many evil and unknown insects there were.

Those days, he hid in the shelter at the top of the mountain and did not take a step out. Every day, he sprayed insecticide inside and hung five layers of mosquito nets. There was dew, wind oil essence, and other messy things. He burned the mosquito incense and wormwood like firewood, afraid that some strange species would crawl in.

Later on, when he encountered the gorilla, it was much better. He even lived with the magical animals and there were actually no insects beside him. Not to mention insects, it was difficult to see even an ordinary animal.

Previously, he felt that it was strange. Later on, he realized that the magical animals were extraordinary and understood.

The aura of these animals with mysterious and shocking backgrounds was enough to shock all insects, fish, birds, and beasts, so it made those living beings who acted according to their instincts retreat. Kang De ate and lived with them. They interacted day and night and were contaminated with the aura of countless magical animals. In other words, to ordinary animals, the current Kang De was simply a super ultimate fusion beast that was enough to scare everyone.

This ability was very useful. It was usually equivalent to a mobile insect repellent. No matter if you were a cunning German worm or an evil North American worm, you could not approach.

The only troublesome thing was that he had to pay attention to it at all times. Otherwise, it was very easy to scare the other party until he peed his pants when stroking dogs and cats… Yes, it was also effective on Earth.

Therefore…

Kang De narrowed his eyes as he tidied his wrist guard.

Previously, when he was chased by the locusts, he had tried to approach, but these aggressive insects were not deterred by the aura of the magical animals. What did this mean?

His heart skipped a beat. He said to the phone hanging on his shoulder, “Miss Qin.”

“Go ahead.”

“About the source and breed of this locust… Do the experts have anything to say now?”

The other party replied, “No. What we can know at the moment is that this is a new species that has never been discovered in the biological world and is not recorded. Its habits, causes, natural enemies, and weaknesses are unknown. All the current deductions about it are based on the overall characteristics of the orthopter family… However, among the more than 10,000 locusts in the world, there are no subspecies that feed on metal and cement.”

Kang De took a step and headed towards Banjul City.

“Feeding on metal and cement…” Kang De said. “Is that really the case?”

“What do you mean?”

“My specialty is not living beings or experts, but I feel that as long as it’s a living being, its activities need energy. If this locust feeds on metal and cement, how can it squeeze energy from these cold inorganic things? Could it be that they all have miniature heavy nuclear fusion engines in their bodies?”

If that was the case, there was no need to resist. He could just kneel down and call them father.

There was a trace of seriousness in Qin Mengjin’s tone, “Then what do you think they eat?”

Kang De replied, “I don’t know. I’m about to take a look.”

There was silence on the phone.

In fact, if Kang De could think of such a problem, how could the biological experts of the emergency team not think of it?

There was an answer. He did not need to say it to guess.

They might be like other locusts who fed on various plants and preferred plants. Wherever they went, they devoured everything, leaving only bare ground. They fought with humans for rations and wreaked havoc everywhere. They swallowed food twice their weight in a day, developed crazily, and reproduced crazily. In the end, they died from the pesticide sprayed on a large scale by the plane, the prey of their natural enemies, and even the change in the weather.

However, he could not find anyone alive in Banjul City so far.

Such a huge number of locusts did not migrate and hunt for food like their own kind.

Kang De asked, “Locusts… the locusts we know. Do they eat meat?”

“They do.”

A trace of trembling appeared in Qin Mengjin’s voice, “The green grasshopper I saw in the fields and countryside when I was young is the same creature as the locusts that swept through the ground, but it has two forms.”

“Biologists have done experiments. They put green grasshoppers in a closed space. There are no changes. Their personalities are docile and timid. Add dozens of green grasshoppers of the same species. They’re locked in a small space and touch each other. When their legs are rubbed, they’ll slowly turn yellow, become restless, violent, and aggressive.”

“After a while, they’ll bite each other and eat their companions because of hunger.”

“The reason why the locust swarm migrated on a large scale is not only because they were hungry, but more importantly, they were afraid of being eaten by their own kind. This is because if a large number of locusts gather, it’s very easy to eat all the edible plants nearby. They’ll fly in a group in one direction because doing this won’t expose the fragile flank to their surrounding clansmen. All the locusts do this, and all the locusts are safe.”

“Until they find new food.”

“This is the great migration of the swarm.”

“Although I’ve never heard of locusts attacking humans or even other animals since ancient times, when they’re extremely hungry, they’ll attack and eat other insects of similar size. This is certain.”

“They actually eat meat too.”

...

Qin Mengjin’s words stopped here.

She was silent for a moment before saying softly, “No matter what… please try your best to let us see the evidence.”

Otherwise, before despair struck, politicians would not be able to remember the word responsibility.

“Okay.”

The breeze swept up. Kang De tore open the scroll and slowly floated in the air.

A simple floating spell was loved by explorers and pioneers. It was used to pass through dangerous special terrain. The flying height was very low and the speed was slow. If he went further, he would be disturbed by the natural wind. The spell itself could not provide enough strength and could only use higher-level flying spells.

However, in Banjul’s current situation, it was the most suitable.

Kang De closed the phone and flew into the coastal capital along the main road, Banjul Avenue.

The arched door on the 22nd day that was used to commemorate a coup more than 20 years ago was also silver with locust makeup. This was a landmark building in Gambia. The yellow sand color inherent in African cities had already disappeared. There were only silver-gray insects here and the blue sea and sky. The sound of waves slowly sounded from afar.

There was silence. Human activities had already stopped.

He floated in very slowly. Flames rose in his phoenix eyes, breaking through the illusion and pointing at the source. He paid attention to the movements of the surrounding insects and prepared to escape at any time.

...

Gambia was one of the least developed areas in the world. As the capital, a large seaport, and a tourist city, it was better, but it was still rare to see tall buildings more than six floors tall. Almost all the buildings were covered in locusts and gnawed. Many had already been bitten through the wall, revealing the rooms inside.

The cars on the street were the same. Some had already had their shells eaten, revealing their seats.

Kang De scanned with his Life Detection Vision and did not discover any signs of humans.

He observed his surroundings. The dense locusts devoured everything and covered everything. Many traces had been erased. He could not determine what had happened, nor could he find any traces of a human struggling. He did not even see blood and residue or other small and medium-sized creatures.

Cats and dogs, pets that almost always existed in human settlements, were not seen. There were no domesticated or wandering animals, birds, rats, or even flying insects.

Kang De tried to take a photo, but the moment he took out his phone, locusts buzzed and reacted nearby.

At this moment, it was calm because he had sent all the Earth’s technological products to the white fog world.

These gadgets actually reacted to technological products without any delay. It could be seen that it was instinct or program settings, not someone controlling them… However, why?

Kang De sighed silently. He looked down at the city of Banjul. The emergency team had already translated the important places in Gambia into Chinese and marked the exploration suggestions.

He drove the breeze and slowly flew towards the Chinese Embassy in Gambia. The three-story white building was also painted silver by the locusts. Kang De flew in through the open main door. Inside and out, it was also covered in insects. There was no sign of humans or traces of a struggle. Or rather, the traces had been eaten.

It flew towards the kitchen on the first floor. It was empty. The sound of cracking continuously sounded. Five to six locusts were nibbling out the iron cover of the cabinet.

As for the body of the bottle and the hot sauce inside, they were all gone.

They even ate glass.

Apart from that, the pots, pans, and even the seasoning box, the empty refrigerator, and the kitchen that was filled with the aura of life had been searched cleanly. The ingredients were empty. Even the oil smoke contaminated on the wall and kitchenware had not been let go. If Big Bob went to be a cleaner, he would definitely make a fortune.

The omnivorous nature displayed by this locust was too ridiculous.

Kang De searched up and down and found nothing. The embassy’s computer and fax machine had been eaten clean, and he did not discover any information left behind. He flew outside and arrived at a nearby supermarket. As expected, all the food on the shelves and in the refrigerator was gone.

“Locusts eat cement, phones, cars, and technological creations.”

“But the humans are gone. The living things are gone. The food is gone.”

“Moreover, it’s already gone, but the locusts are still nibbling on cement, cars, and technology.”

Kang De hung in the air and touched his chin in deep thought. There was no need to find anywhere else. This was an inside and out looting. All the organic things, including the greenery of the city, disappeared first, leaving only locusts holding a large number of inorganic things in the city and chewing crazily. Were they hungry, or…

He thought for a moment and opened the spatial door. As black light flashed, Kang De returned a moment later with a piece of pork he had found in the underground supermarket beside the district.

Let’s see.

He exerted strength with his right hand and threw the pork to the ground.

With a bang, a muffled sound sounded. The pork smashed into a cluster of locusts on the ground. Kang De could see the silver-gray juice splashing to the side. He watched coldly and was prepared to escape.

Clearly, the locusts did not treat the pork falling from the sky as a mass projection attack.

They turned a blind eye to Kang De in the sky. Perhaps the enchanted equipment and invisibility scroll from the other world was useful, or they were far more interested in organic things than Kang De.

—Let me see if you eat meat or not.

Kang De floated in the air and watched coldly. On the ground, the surrounding locusts buzzed and flew up, as if they had received an order. They surrounded the pork and attached it.

Crack. Crack.

Kang De’s heart turned cold.

Unfortunately, the mercenary war criminals who had committed the crime of slaughter against Moroni had basically been killed by him.

The country was too far away. Otherwise, capturing a criminal who was not enough to appease the anger of human civilization could be considered making full use of waste… Now, he could only use pork to observe.

They were… eating.

Could this mean that his guess was correct?

Otherwise, so many humans and even living things would disappear without a trace as if they had evaporated into thin air. Where had they gone? What was the purpose of such a thorough kidnapping?

Wait!

Kang De’s gaze focused and he saw that the pork below was emitting a muffled sound. It had actually already split into two. Another batch of locusts flew over and joined the exposed gap.

Then, the two halves became four.

Four portions became eight.

They separated, separated, separated, and separated.

The overall size did not decrease.

Kang De perked up. They were not eating, but separating the heavy pork!

Why did they have to separate it?

For the convenience of transportation!

As expected, when the pork was divided into enough small portions, the locusts gathered and separated on their own. Then, they flapped their wings at the same time and pieces of raw pork were hung up and flew into the distance.

He hurriedly caught up, but he saw the locusts disturbing him. They gathered together, and the locusts transporting the pork were covered by the silver-gray group. They drilled into the interior of a building and disappeared.

Flying in, his Phoenix Vision looked around. This was only an ordinary house. There was nothing special inside or out. From the size, it could not hide anyone, let alone find where the pork was hidden. He walked around a few times and found nothing.

Then, there was only one answer.

Kang De looked down at the ground under his feet.

It was covered in crawling locusts. A trace of darkness that had yet to close revealed a deep light. He could even hear rustling as some holes were being filled.

The firm and thick soil, rocks, and even other bunkers under it blocked the X-ray vision of the Phoenix Vision. Perhaps all the secret answers were buried below.

Then, how should he go down?

…