Chapter 55: The Gap—It’s Just Too Unfair

Mutant bugs.

Of course, Bian Changxi wasn’t like those rookies who had no idea how to use their abilities, flailing around in a panic. Her eyes were locked on the flying creatures, their tiny fangs bared, and she gripped her knife tightly, slashing with quick, precise movements. The bugs were fast, but she was faster. In no time, a pile of bug corpses had accumulated at her feet.

But this kind of fighting drained her stamina rapidly. Soon, she was panting for breath, yet the number of flying insects didn’t seem to have decreased much. Still swinging her knife, she freed up her left hand and channeled her wood-type energy to her fingertips, splitting it into thin strands. With a flick of her five fingers, five vine-like tendrils shot out, wrapping around the five bugs at the front of the swarm.

Two of the vines managed to ensnare their targets, sending the bugs crashing to the ground with pitiful screeches. The other three missed. Unfazed, she spread her fingers again and sent out five more vines. The bugs that terrified everyone else had become her practice targets.

Gu Xu was the same.

When the bugs first appeared, he didn’t panic or rush to attack. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, fending off the insects while observing everyone’s reactions—especially Qu Nan and his group. Only then did he send out a fireball. Instantly, a clean, blazing line appeared in the air, leaving nothing but falling ashes in its wake.

Sensing something, he sent out two fireballs the second time. These fireballs morphed mid-air, spreading into a sheet of flames. Wherever the fire swept, there was a crackling sound and the stench of burning filled the air. Cockroaches and flies dropped to the ground in droves.

Bian Changxi happened to witness this scene and couldn’t help but twitch her lips. Did it really have to be this easy for him? This was just too unfair!

Gu Xu glanced up at her, his expression changing slightly as he reached out and pulled her behind him. “Watch out!”

Bian Changxi looked down to see a black tide surging toward them—it was the ants. Who knew how so many ants and bugs had been hiding in those tricycle carts? In an instant, several people near the carts were swarmed, knocked to the ground, and covered head to toe in ants, screaming in agony.

Gu Xu pulled her back, tossing two fireballs into the ant swarm. The ants were blasted into the air, but they didn’t burn as expected. Bian Changxi said, “Fire doesn’t work on them.”

Gu Xu nodded, then sent two more fireballs to help Qu Nan’s group clear out some flying insects. He shouted, “Ice ability! Freeze the ants!”

Qu Nan, about to thank him, saw the ants nearly at their feet and shouted anxiously, “Fall back! Fall back! A-Gang, do as the captain says!”

The ice-ability user quickly crouched down, pressing his palms to the ground. With a low shout, a thin layer of ice visibly spread across the floor. Unfortunately, his power was limited—the ice was thin and only covered a short distance, nowhere near enough to freeze the ant army.

A-Gang’s face turned red with effort, straining with all his might as the ants crawled closer to his hands. Gu Xu was a bit surprised; when he and his team first awakened their powers, they were already quite strong. He hadn’t expected the ice ability to be so weak, and he frowned.

Bian Changxi had already anticipated this. She broke free from Gu Xu’s grip, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from her own bag on his back, sliced off the top, and tossed it into the ant swarm. The water splashed over the ants, and that area instantly froze.

Qu Nan’s spirits lifted. He called to the water-ability woman, “A-Yue, help out!”

A-Yue responded, stretching out her hands as a stream of clear water sprayed onto the ants. A-Gang shouted again, his palms turning icy white as cold air billowed out. The water on the ground froze inch by inch, trapping a number of ants in solid ice.

Some bugs still slipped through, but the man with the hammer charged forward, smashing them one by one, shaking the ground with each blow.

Soon, the nearby flying insects and ants were dealt with, though many chased after other survivors, causing chaos throughout the first floor. Fortunately, the station’s migrant worker security team and the police soon arrived.

Seeing the situation under control, Gu Xu said to Qu Nan, “I’m afraid my teammates might have been attacked too. I need to get back.”

Qu Nan nodded quickly. “Go ahead, Captain Gu. Thank you so much for today.”

Gu Xu waved it off and strode out of the station with Bian Changxi. Outside, a cold wind blew under the murky twilight. The street was chaotic, with aimless wanderers everywhere—a bleak scene. In this powerless world, life vanished as soon as night fell, and danger lurked everywhere, whether from those ugly zombies or from other survivors.

And now, there was a new threat: mutant insects.

It was like a fuse had been lit. After the bugs appeared in the station, all sorts of mutated creatures—crawlers, animals—occasionally flashed across the road. Some people fleeing from the station were chased by flying cockroaches, finally managing to kill two by whipping and beating them with their clothes.

Gu Xu pressed his earpiece, contacting Qiu Feng and the others. “What’s with those ants?”

“Looks like they mutated,” Bian Changxi said. As they hurried along, a few clueless black beetles crawled out from a corner, too clumsy to fly. She killed them one by one, then tied one up with a vine to inspect it. “It’s definitely the same kind of bug as before.”

But now it was covered in slime and several times larger. This beetle was the size of a duck egg, with blood-red eyes—enough to give any normal person goosebumps.

Gu Xu commented, “Its teeth are pretty sharp, too.”

He thought of the people in the station rolling on the ground after being bitten by ants and felt a chill. If these things could infect people and turn them into zombies, there’d be no way to guard against it. Plus, after mutating, the bugs weren’t just bigger—their attack power and speed had increased dramatically. If it were already fierce animals like dogs or wolves...

“The people pushing the carts probably didn’t know those things were inside, or they would’ve run too. That means there really were supplies in the boxes. But where did so many bugs come from?” he wondered aloud.

Bian Changxi glanced at him—he was always quick on the uptake. She had a pretty good guess: there must’ve been an ant nest and some cockroaches, flies, or eggs among the supplies, and they mutated right as they entered the station, consuming the energy in the supplies and growing rapidly. That would also explain why she and Gu Xu sensed an energy fluctuation in the cart.

In a way, it was a good thing. She’d been wondering how to warn Gu Xu’s group to watch out for rats and such, but now there was no need.

As they spoke, the two of them quickly crossed a street. Gu Xu’s earpiece finally crackled to life. After listening, he said, “Qiu Feng’s group was attacked too—two rats the size of washbasins and a nest of cockroaches.”

“That’s bad. Let’s hurry!” Bian Changxi was about to pick up the pace when a black shadow suddenly leaped out from a corner, howling as it lunged at her. Startled, she stopped short and jumped back, lashing out with her vine.

But Gu Xu was even faster. He darted forward, and with a flash of cold light, a small knife shot out, striking the shadow and sending it tumbling back, skidding two meters across the ground.

*Whack!* Bian Changxi’s vine landed squarely on Gu Xu’s shoulder.

She’d acted on instinct, using her full strength. The blow tore through his clothes and skin, and blood gushed out.

She was shocked. “Are you okay? Why did you jump in like that?”

Gu Xu frowned, his face a bit pale, but he forced a wry smile. “That was quite a hit.”

Bian Changxi glared at him. “Why didn’t you look where you were going…” But since he’d done it to protect her, she bit back the rest of her words. Examining the wound, she could almost see the bone—it was a vicious strike. Muttering under her breath, she pressed her hand to the wound. “Don’t move.”

**Author’s Note:**

I was shocked to see a new rating vote—especially a perfect ten! Thank you so much, dear Spring Global Traveler! Big hugs! ~\(≧▽≦)/~

Now, onto less happy things. Since yesterday, my readership has been dropping. As both a reader and a writer, I get it—if you don’t like a story, you just drop it. But the reasons for dropping… Some readers told me the early chapters dragged a bit. I agreed, went back and reworked my drafts—out of just over twenty chapters, I cut more than half and am still revising, not even worrying about the upcoming release. But when I logged in and saw so many people had dropped the story, my heart just sank.

So little patience! Even if I’m revising, can’t you give me a bit more time? I just posted a chapter, and already people are giving up?

Alright, maybe I’m being too sensitive. I just needed to vent. If you want to drop it, go ahead—I’ve always gotten by like this. I’ve taken your feedback to heart. It’s my shortcoming, and I’ll go back and work on it. If fate allows, we’ll meet again in the world of fiction.

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