Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Arctic Circle, Chinese military command center.
“You should take a break. You can’t afford to fall sick,” Li Mingzhi said with some concern.
Ever since he flew here, Yao Zhenguo hadn’t closed his eyes. Even though it was already 2 a.m., he still hadn’t left the command center.
Upon hearing Li Mingzhi’s concern, Yao Zhenguo slowly shook his head and said: “The world is suffering. The people of China are under attack by otherworldly creatures. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line. My health means nothing compared to them. Don’t bother convincing me; report any news you receive!”
Seeing his firm attitude, Li Mingzhi sighed. He gave up persuading and reported: “There’s a new situation. In the Western Hemisphere, a new species of insects was seen crawling out of a dozen spatial channels!”
“New species?” Yao Zhenguo’s pupils shrank as an ominous feeling arose inside him.
Li Mingzhi nodded with a gloomy expression and handed Yao Zhenguo a picture.
“It is a flying insect shaped like a hybrid of the praying mantis, dragonfly, and mosquito species. It has wings that can vibrate at high frequencies, allowing it to reach the speed of sound in a short-range flight. It has a pair of exceptionally-sharp forelimbs that can easily slice through the toughest human skull. Its tail has a razor-sharp tip that can penetrate 2-centimeter-thick steel plates… It is fond of sucking the brain tissues of humans and the Ministry of Scientific Research has tentatively named it ‘Flying Mantis’.”
Yao Zhenguo let out a deep breath. His expression turned ugly as he continued to ask: “What about the height of its flight?”
“Experts deduced that this insect can fly up to 1,000 meters high, but its active flying height is no more than 500 meters.”
“Have they appeared from the spatial channels in China?”
“Not yet!”
“Got it. Inform the front line about this as soon as possible so the military can make early preparations!”
“I’m on it now!”
***
Bang!
The moment the students in the boys’ dormitory blocked the door entirely, they heard a loud bang from the other building.
At the same time, there came a series of high-pitched screams.
“They’re from the girls’ dormitory!”
Someone judged the source of the loud sound and exclaimed.
Du Gang didn’t hesitate this time. He ran upstairs and shouted: “I’ll go check it out. You guys keep watch over here!”
Soon, after reaching the third floor, he jumped out of the window.
Sure enough, the entrance of the girls’ dormitory at the next building had been slammed open by the black beetles and the black beetles were trying to squeeze through it.
Right before Du Gang landed on the ground, he transformed and his enlarged body instantly ripped apart his shirt. He quickly leaped into the third floor of the girls’ dormitory, dashing to the stairway and instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
The insects’ bodies were too long and the shells on their backs were overly hard so they were stuck in the stairwell of the second floor.
He gauged the situation and realized that if the insects were smarter, they would be able to access the higher floors by wrapping the walls.
This instantly made him nervous. He didn’t have a weapon with him in this building. Even with his ability to transform, there was no way for him to kill them.
Without wasting much time, he climbed up to the fifth floor and saw no one along the corridor. At that moment, he heard the same scream from before.
He leaped to the sixth floor in a few steps. After looking left and right, he still found no one along the corridor, which made him realize that they must be hiding in the room.
What should I do… Oh, right!
Du Gang quickly came up with a plan. He could run to the laboratory building, grab the steel column, and find a way to force the insects out of the girls’ dormitory.
However, he certainly couldn’t fight in the corridor as it was too narrow for him to swing the steel column.
This plan was ruled out as soon as he came up with it. He was here to save people, not kill the insects. Even if he had to kill them, he didn’t have an advantage here.
At this thought, Du Gang yelled out: “I’m Du Gang, from the sports committee of class 1-8. I’m here to save you. Hurry up and come out!”
After shouting once, no one responded except the sound of insects grazing against the wall on the second floor.
He knitted his brows. After a little thinking, he quickly shouted again: “I’m that giant from before and I’m here to save you. I’ll be leaving in a minute!”
After a short while, one of the doors opened and a voice sounded: “D-Du… Gang?!”
He turned around and saw that it was Wang Yixuan, from the student committee of his class.
He hurriedly beckoned: “Hurry up and come here!”
Earlier, Wang Yixuan thought that the giant looked rather familiar. But now, after hearing his words, she was finally convinced and hurried over to his side.
Du Gang quickly pointed to the steel ladder hanging on the wall in the middle of the stairs and said, “Climb to the top of the building!”
“Huh?!”
“Trust me, you’ll be safe up there!”
Du Gang was ready to let these young ladies head up to the roof first and later, be it sending them to the boys’ dormitory or him going downstairs to fight the insects, he would have no reason to fear anymore.
“I can’t get up there!”
Wang Yixuan looked at him with a helpless expression. There was still a distance between the ladder and her outstretched arm.
This steel ladder was there for workers to install network cables and solar panels on the roof, which was why it was very high off the ground.
Without any hesitation, Du Gang took a step forward, squatted down, and wrapped his arms around Wang Yixuan’s legs. Then, he stood to his feet and lifted her up: “Go up! Hurry!”
Although Wang Yixuan was bewildered, she knew the severity of the situation and couldn’t care any longer. She hastily grabbed the ladder and climbed up using her hands and legs.
At that moment, other students opened their doors and stepped out of their rooms.
Du Gang shouted: “The insects are stuck on the second floor. Hurry up and climb to the roof!”
Upon hearing the anxious tone of his voice, several of them immediately ran toward him.
Without saying a word, he squatted down and stood up again, sending them up the ladder, one by one.
When the last girl climbed up the ladder, Du Gang asked, “How many girls are there in the girls’ dormitory?”
About four or five of them had gone up the ladder, but there must be more than this.
“I don’t know. There are still some of them in the rooms…”
The girl on the ladder was like a professional climber. Before she finished her sentence, she had already leapt up onto the roof.
Bang!
At the same time, a loud bang sounded from the bottom of the building.
Du Gang took two steps back and looked down. His pupils immediately shrank.
The black beetles that were stuck in the second floor were as if enlightened. One by one, they crawled up the stairs diagonally. Du Gang watched as they passed the third floor and went toward the fourth.
We’re running out of time!
“The insects are coming! Watch out for yourselves!”
At that moment, it was too late for the rest of the students to come out of their rooms.
No one responded to him, but he didn’t care anymore. The people who trusted him had already gone up, and the rest were left to fend for themselves. He jumped in place, grabbed the ladder above, and climbed up swiftly.
When he reached the roof of the building and looked down, he realized that there were already black beetles crawling around the corner from the fifth to the sixth floor. However, he didn’t hear any sound from the corridor as if there really was no one in the rooms.