"You really are naive and innocent. Listen carefully: I said large insects, like Red-Crested Beetles and Flying Dragon Lice, will retreat. As for things like Venomous Spiders, Flame Crows, and Acid Bugs, a portion will still remain. They'll just have somewhat reduced combat effectiveness due to the sun, but for ordinary people, it doesn't matter how much a Venomous Spider's combat power drops, because they simply can't deal with them!"
This was indeed correct. Among the people in the city, how many had combat experience? Most lacked exercise, their reaction speeds far below par. Take college students for example: many only hid in dorms playing games and watching movies; very few maintained adequate exercise. At least eighty to ninety percent were in a sub-healthy state. Many high school and college students did nothing all day but jerk off!
Jerking off until they were about to spurt blood, their bodies nearly collapsing. To actually make these people fight Venomous Spiders, they would likely be instantly killed in the first encounter. Even if three or four people grouped together, they would only barely have the strength to contend with one.
Therefore, even if the large insects retreated, the thousands of Venomous Spiders remaining just in the North District were enough to shroud people under the shadow of death. The only difference was that it was slightly safer. After all, dealing with Venomous Spiders, despite heavy casualties, was still somewhat possible. But against "biological tanks" like the Red-Crested Beetles, ordinary people, even suffering casualties in the tens or hundreds, probably couldn't kill a single one. Because the Red-Crested Beetle's carapace was harder than copper plate, and its life force was terrifyingly strong. Even strafing with machine guns wouldn't kill one unless hit by dozens of bullets.
Ran Hongxia wasn't stupid either. Having fought insects, she naturally knew how terrifying they were. Fighting them required nerves stretched taut; a slight lapse in attention could result in being instantly killed. If Li Jiayu and the Dark Octopus hadn't handled most of the insects back then, at least half of the six Awakened would likely have died. If even Awakened fared so poorly, it was easy to imagine how miserably ordinary people would be slaughtered by insects!
She even thought of the residential areas, commercial districts, and large markets in the North District. These places were also full of people. Without someone like Li Jiayu to protect them, the casualties would likely be far heavier than at Xijiang University. Perhaps the tragic situation of nine out of ten households being empty would truly occur!
Who knew... after three days, how many people would still be left there...
Ran Hongxia fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly looked at Li Jiayu with fervent eyes, saying with a hint of hope:
"But... we don't need to worry too much about the small insects, right? With you here, and us having Insect Crystal enhancement... sooner or later we'll clear out all the weak insects like Venomous Spiders and Acid Bugs!"
Li Jiayu rolled his eyes, reached out his left hand, stroked the Red-Crested Beetle's head, feeling the cold texture, and sneered:
"Sooner or later? Ran Hongxia, aren't you thinking too idealistically? You can even use the phrase 'sooner or later'... The situation is quite the opposite. It's not that we will clear out the insects sooner or later, but rather, sooner or later, the insects might clear us out!"
Speaking here, Li Jiayu picked up a small knife, abruptly plunged it into the Red-Crested Beetle's eye, then carefully twisted it around, gouging out the entire green compound eye, which was as large as an infant's fist, dripping with blood. Held against the white light from the window, the layers of crystals on the compound eye refracted a glassy green halo.
"Did you see how I dug out the insect eye just now? Have the other boys do the same. Make sure not to damage the insect eye... For lunch today, let's have hot pot. Anyway, there are plenty of apples and corn. Simmering some insect meat in it will definitely taste delicious."
"What time is it for thinking about hot pot! Besides, we don't have nearly enough fuel for hot pot! Those alcohol lamps can't be wasted casually, otherwise, we won't have light at night!"
"Fuel? This is the best fuel." Li Jiayu pinched the insect eye between his index finger and thumb and tossed it towards Ran Hongxia. The bloody eye instantly made her face pale, but she reflexively caught it. It felt sticky and unpleasant in her hand, with a pungent bitter smell.
"Li Jiayu, please stop messing around, okay? This insect eye is so dirty!"
"Dirty? If you knew this one eye is equivalent to a large barrel of gasoline, let's see if you still call it dirty!"
Hearing the sensitive word "gasoline," Chu Xiang, who was diligently cutting the insect shell nearby, brightened up and quickly asked for details. Li Jiayu didn't keep him in suspense, briefly explaining the use of the insect eye.
Don't underestimate the insect eye just because its value is far less than an Insect Crystal. In fact, its uses are very extensive. For example, the Red-Crested Beetle's eye is highly flammable. One is enough to burn like a torch, staying lit continuously for dozens of nights. Moreover, that fire is a pale blue flame, carrying weak magic power, and its temperature is extremely high!
In the days to come, high-tech electrical appliances would basically be paralyzed, and the temperature would be terrifyingly cold. Ordinary people without sufficient fuel would live extremely harsh lives, unable to eat cooked food or resist the cold. Those with weak constitutions, even if not eaten by insects, would likely collapse physically within a few months!
But with insect eyes, everything would be much better. They could provide warmth for people on cold nights, and more importantly, act as primitive fuel like coal or firewood, allowing people to roast food. If it were the eye of a Tier 2 insect, it could even be used for simple metal forging. A Tier 3 insect eye would be even better, as fire mages could use them as catalysts for fire magic, casting even more powerful spells!
The light produced when an insect eye burns is also quite considerable. Even the eye of a Venomous Spider is enough to illuminate a classroom like a small light bulb. A Red-Crested Beetle's eye could light up half a large hall. If it were a Tier 2 or Tier 3 eye, it could even illuminate an entire street, or a whole school!
In the future, during wartime, insect eyes would have to be hung throughout the entire city. Otherwise, in the pitch-black night, humans would be like blind people in extreme danger, potentially being bitten to death by insects emerging from the darkness at any moment. Death itself wasn't the issue; the fear was the collapse of the entire city's defense line!
Clearly, the insect eye was already the new era's tool for lighting and heating, with extremely wide applications, its value no less than coal or oil in peaceful society!
However... developing the market for insect eyes was probably still far off. Because the most pressing issue now was still how to survive. Even Li Jiayu, a regressor, had to tread carefully. Although his strength was decent now, enough to face two or three Red-Crested Beetles simultaneously, there were so many insects outside. A slight carelessness, and he would definitely be in deep trouble! Moreover, Li Jiayu had to risk immense danger to go rescue his cousin and cousin-in-law, which was truly extremely perilous. How could he possibly have the mind to think about getting rich early?
"It really is good stuff! Must accumulate it properly! Damn it, many classmates couldn't stand the cold yesterday. Tonight, we'll light up the insect eyes and use them as heaters. That way, we won't have to worry about the cold!" Chu Xiang also took out an insect eye, looking at it with pleasant surprise, truly unable to comprehend why such a small green object contained so much energy.
"Mm, lighting insect eyes on the thirteenth floor as heaters is fine, anyway, it's enough to last dozens of nights... But later when we're in the wilderness, we must absolutely not light insect eyes, otherwise, it will attract a large swarm of insects hunting us down!"
Li Jiayu instructed a boy currently cutting a carapace with a saw to go fetch all the alcohol lamps. These insect eyes decomposed and spoiled very easily; only by soaking them in formalin or alcohol could they be preserved properly.
Then, Li Jiayu wiped his hands with a tissue, looked unhurriedly at Ran Hongxia, and asked:
"Back to the main topic, where were we just now?"
"You... how can your thinking jump around so much! Just now you said humans would sooner or later be exterminated by insects, that was just a joke, right?" Ran Hongxia paused, stunned, then quickly said.
"Mm, just a joke... a bit exaggerated. Anyway, humans won't go extinct. Still, one-tenth, maybe even one-hundredth will survive. Take Tiannan Province for example; after half a year, the number of survivors won't exceed one million. You know, Tiannan Province originally had a population of over fifty million, right? Calculating it, the survival rate is one-fiftieth. If it's plains regions like Lingnan Province, Dongwu Province, Xiangnan Province, Kowloon Island, or Modu, the survival rate will be even lower. Anyway, it's almost like extinction. Except for certain mega-cities where most survivors gather, other small towns and villages will be deserted, desolate for hundreds, even thousands of kilometers, because the wilderness will be completely occupied by insects and abyssal monsters!"
Pausing, Li Jiayu pursed his lips. Seeing Ran Hongxia's face grow increasingly unsightly, his tone couldn't help but become playful:
"What I'm talking about are things that will happen in the future, still somewhat distant from now. But as the rifts to the Insect Realm further expand, creatures like Floating Jellyfish, Thunder Flying Insects, Purple-Blood Centipedes, Corpse Toxin Spiders, Demon Blood Butterflies, Brood Mothers, Chainsaw Bugs, Armored Bugs, Soul-Devouring Bugs, Dream-Eating Bugs, even Insect Nests as massive as aircraft carriers will descend upon Earth! That will be the true apocalypse. The current Red-Crested Beetles and Venomous Spiders are merely appetizers."
"You... how do you know there will be so many insects later... You're just a prophet... Prophets can also predict wrongly..."
Ran Hongxia said bitterly, a trace of panic appearing in her clear, innocent starry eyes. Just hearing the names of those insects made her guess they were terrifying, at least a whole tier stronger than Red-Crested Beetles!
Red-Crested Beetles were already terrifying enough. If even more terrifying insects swarmed in later, wouldn't the human world truly be destroyed?
She was unwilling to believe Li Jiayu's "prophecy." She desperately hoped Li Jiayu would predict wrongly this time, just like the historical "Mayan prophecy," where other predictions came true, but only the "2012 Doomsday" prediction failed!
Besides... if insects as large as aircraft carriers really appeared, how could flesh-and-blood humans possibly deal with them? Without high-tech weapons, without high-explosive ammunition, it was fundamentally impossible to contend against such monsters!
Seeing Ran Hongxia knitting her willow-like brows, looking worried and frightened, Li Jiayu felt quite comfortable and said:
"Stop deceiving yourself. You know better than anyone else how numerous creatures like insects with extremely terrifying reproductive capabilities can become! Them swarming to Earth en masse shows their determination to seize Earth as a second breeding ground. The three days after are a buffer period for humanity. During this time, everyone in Xijiang City will get a chance to breathe. And Yang Souls, Yin Souls, and the like will officially appear on the human stage, unveiling the curtain of the supernatural magic era..."
Ran Hongxia listened, stunned, seemingly wanting to ask about "Yang Souls," "Yin Souls," and the "supernatural magic era." A faint smile touched Li Jiayu's lips. If it were his past self, he would appear quite sinister. But now, Li Jiayu's face was simply too handsome; this smile instead seemed very charming, like clouds clearing after snow. Ran Hongxia was momentarily lost in thought watching him.
"Alright, talking so much with you has made me a bit thirsty. Go to the thirteenth floor and get me a bottle of fruit juice... Mm, after drinking it, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up at noon. Arranging the hot pot is also up to you... Hey, why are you staring intently at my face! Turn your head away! Don't you know it's very impolite to keep staring at someone's face?"
"No... I wasn't! I just think your blue eyes are very unique, that's all! Looking won't cost you a piece of flesh!"
Ran Hongxia cried out like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, quickly averting her gaze. However, Li Jiayu could still see a blush on her beautiful profile – What the hell? We've only been cutting insects for a few minutes, is it tiring enough to make her blush? Girls are girls, indeed not cut out for manual labor!
"Mind your own business whether I have blue eyes or white hair; it's not like I chose to become like this... Anyway, don't stare at me again in the future! Otherwise, face the consequences!" Li Jiayu put on his classic icy expression again.
"Fine, I won't look! Who cares... Speaking of which, why are you so lazy? You almost slept to death last night, and now you want to sleep again? There are many things waiting for you to handle! Boosting morale, forming a hero squad, guiding us few in cultivation, these are all your responsibilities! Just don't sleep, okay?"
"Of course not. I need to rest well, recover as soon as possible, then take the Dark Octopus and go to Anning Residential Area in the south side to find my relatives... Compared to my relatives, a whole school of classmates met by chance is secondary..."
"Wait, did you say Anning Residential Area?"
Ran Hongxia was inexplicably overjoyed, a spark flashing in her clear eyes. She grabbed Li Jiayu's arm and said:
"My maternal grandfather is also in Anning Residential Area! If you're going to rescue people, take me with you! I also need to find my grandfather!"