Chapter 52: Devouring Like Locusts
On the road, Zhou Yan ran while furrowing his brow in thought. Unlike "Spider Order" and "Mantis Order," whose names easily correspond to their species, the final target, "Orthoptera," left him baffled as to what insect it referred to. After all, Zhou Yan had never seriously studied zoology or entomology. Thus, keeping alert, he pondered deeply as he sprinted. He exited the left side of the laboratory and headed toward the right. Soon, he halted before an imposing electronic door.
"This Orthoptera laboratory... occupies the entire right half of the main lab," Zhou Yan observed, standing before the tightly sealed door. The mist here was especially dense, as if the source lay behind the door, with fog constantly seeping through its seams. "This must be the final destination..." Zhou Yan mused, then pulled out his ID card and swiped it on the verification machine.
[Beep. Anomalous event detected. Laboratory lockdown in effect. Your clearance is insufficient to lift the lockdown.]
A series of synthetic electronic voices informed Zhou Yan of the situation. After listening to the prompt, he paused, then devised a less-than-perfect solution. He turned away to search for what he needed.
...
About twenty minutes later, he returned to the sealed laboratory door. This time, he tucked the Lotus Calamity Sword under his left arm and produced a dirty stack of metallic cards with his right hand. These ID cards had been scavenged from various corpses and clothing remnants throughout the lab. Since the lab coat researcher had insufficient clearance, Zhou Yan decided to try multiple cards to gain access...
He tested each card one by one. On the seventh attempt, he received a different response.
[Beep. Greetings, Dr. Browndo. The laboratory is experiencing an anomaly. Please ensure you are properly protected before entering.]
Zhou Yan drew the Calamity Sword from his side and, gripping it, pressed confirm on the verification machine. The next moment, accompanied by the sound of an electric motor, the laboratory door slowly opened to either side. Dense fog surged out like water, so tangible it brushed against Zhou Yan. Then, a terrifying sound erupted—an endless flurry of wings, reminiscent of swarms of drones.
From the fog, a vast black curtain took flight, blotting out the sky. Zhou Yan's expression changed dramatically.
He did not fear these insects—they posed no threat to him—but if they were allowed to escape... Without thinking, he rushed inside and quickly swiped a card to seal the door behind him. Then, he dashed to a corner and raised his left arm, aiming forward.
That enormous swarm of airborne insects seemed to catch Zhou Yan's scent. They dove upon him in a sandstorm-like torrent, surging toward his corner! As they drew near, Zhou Yan's extraordinary eyesight finally revealed their forms: each was the size of a football—black-brown locusts.
So this was the "Orthoptera"—locusts!
Without hesitation, Zhou Yan unleashed the black lotus at the tip of his left arm, concentrating destructive red light into a blast of black-red miasmic flame.
Black Lotus Blaze!
A terrifying burst of flame engulfed the locusts approaching him. Like a chain reaction, the miasmic blaze spread swiftly through the endless swarm, burning countless locusts before finally sputtering out as the wave was exhausted.
However, this was only the first swarm. The commotion soon stirred even more locusts into flight. The vast laboratory was filled with a black mass of flying locusts.
Facing this endless tide of demon insects, Zhou Yan remained calm. When the gap in quality is so great, numbers mean nothing... Especially for someone like him, whose talents fused to grant destructive power far above his peers, and who had reinforced his endurance through other means.
Whether he killed a thousand locusts or ten thousand—it made no difference. In fact, it was easier than slaughtering those human-shaped snow golems.
He repeatedly unleashed Black Lotus Blaze, each blast consuming his life-form armor's endurance, which was swiftly restored thanks to the runic circuit's "Absorption" effect during area attacks.
The few locusts that slipped through were swiftly dispatched by his sword, and barely one in a thousand managed to land a blow.
Those rare locusts able to attack Zhou Yan could hardly even tear his outer robe. No—strictly speaking, they did tear it, but due to Zhou Yan's formidable endurance replenishment, the holes in his life-form black robe were instantly repaired.
The pitiful insects never managed to breach his armor.
The battle erupted and ended as quickly as it began.
About a minute later.
Zhou Yan shook his black robe, dislodging the stubborn locusts still gnawing at his armor, then crushed them one by one.
He glanced at his information prompts.
[Slain "Corroding Locust" ×100. Gained 503 Spirit.]
[You have acquired "Rune Factor: Mind."]
[Slain more than 100 units of the same enemy. Additional reward bonus decreased.]
...
[Slain "Corroding Locust" ×16673. Gained 16673 Spirit.]
Zhou Yan smiled in satisfaction.
Wonderful!
Never mind the rune factor for now—this haul of Spirit was truly exhilarating! After this expedition, he would have enough Spirit to spend. And the "Mind" rune, once equipped, together with his existing runes, would activate the newly acquired "Secret" circuit.
He immediately swapped the runes, replacing "Shattering" with "Secret."
Upon activating the rune circuit, he felt his power diminish slightly, but in exchange, his bodily control improved markedly. Especially in restraining emotional fluctuations and regulating his breathing and footsteps, the difference was obvious.
He had little time to savor it.
With the locusts in the chamber slaughtered, Zhou Yan suddenly noticed the endless white mist thinning—not dispersing, but converging. The mist was gathering toward the far end of the room, spiraling rapidly like a vortex.
Soon, the entire chamber cleared, everything visible.
Zhou Yan lifted his gaze, his eyes sharpening.
At the center where all the fog had gathered, a strange creature stood erect like a human. Its body was gray-brown, with three pairs of hands and feet resembling a locust, its exoskeleton serving as armor across its form. Its purple-red eyes stared back at him.
Tangible malice, like a tidal wave, surged relentlessly toward him.
***