In the southern region of Yunnan Province today, also known as the Myanmar border area, the sound of roaring engines can be heard all day long. Fighter jets can be seen flying in many parts of the sky. These jets have surpassed the speed of sound, and their flight often produces a tremendous noise that, if one is not careful, can even rupture human eardrums. Moreover, ordinary people dare not approach these areas because the regions traversed by these fighter jets are all occupied by giant hornets.
Fighter jets navigate the skies daily. These are third-generation fighter jets performing the final missions, as they need to operate deep within enemy territory. Many closer engagements are handled by older model fighter jets, specifically those capable of dropping bombs, which have no other advantages. Even their frames are hastily assembled.
However, since the enemy consists only of these insignificant insects, there is no need for particularly advanced fighter jets. Even older model fighter jets, fresh off the production line, can be deployed to the battlefield. After dropping numerous gas bombs, the giant hornets suffer heavy casualties.
"All personnel, please prepare drinking water and food, and take shelter in air-raid shelters or at home. Do not go out unnecessarily. The army will be advancing south to rescue you..." These words are continuously broadcast, ensuring that the people in the southern region can hear them. To ensure they understand Chinese, the message is also recited in the local language of the country.
This country was once a nation with a considerable population, but many people were trapped under warlord regimes, merely surviving precariously in poverty. In the apocalypse, their lives became even more miserable. Even after Yunnan Province resolved the crises of local mutated beasts and birds, these people could still not live affluent lives. Now, facing the "washing machine" of giant hornets, they can only hide at home and pray, managing their water and food supplies, resigned to fate.
"Can we really be rescued? These insects outside are too terrifying. Just one sting and you'll be poisoned to death. I doubt these armies can even return!" Some people harbored such thoughts, leading to extreme pessimism.
"I heard that the people from the north always try to attack the giant hornets with poison, but this way, we won't have any water or food. They've done nothing but bad deeds. Are we supposed to rely on ourselves to survive?" others began to complain.
While there were those with very negative emotions, there were also those who were very positive, people who wanted to fight for themselves in the apocalypse. Although their numbers were small, they did exist. While hiding at home, these individuals most enjoyed looking up at the planes flying overhead, as they were all contemplating.
They were counting the number of fighter jets flying past. Each passing fighter jet meant the northern army was getting closer to them, hence the continuous flight of fighter jets. If the distance were too great, the flight of the fighter jets would be affected.
"I heard that Lord Fengshen himself is coming to save us this time. We will be his subjects then and will surely live happy and prosperous lives, with three meals a day and no worries about food and clothing." These optimistic individuals continuously encouraged those around them.
As the fighter jets entered the depths of the rainforest, they began launching missiles filled with poison gas. After the gas bombs were launched, they would turn from liquid to gas upon hitting the ground and spread outwards. At this point, the giant hornets, sensing the danger around them, had no choice but to flee quickly. If they didn't escape, they would surely die if enveloped by this mist. The fleeing giant hornets could not even spare their larvae still in the nests.
This was the experience accumulated by countless giant hornets at the cost of their lives. As these giant hornets also evolved, they would record such situations when encountering danger and transmit this information to the entire swarm, allowing the entire species to understand the dangers they would face and how to deal with them. The simplest method was to escape, the farther the better.
Some also loaded the missiles with incendiary devices. When they reached the deep mountains and old forests, they would unhesitatingly drop these incendiary bombs. Upon landing, they would erupt in scorching flames and spread outwards. However, the terrain was still a tropical rainforest, and due to excessive humidity, they could only burn a small patch of forest, unable to cause greater damage. People had already discovered that gas bombs were the best weapon against these insects.
In even more southern areas, large swathes of mist were spreading through the forests. Within the mist, the sounds of giants walking could often be heard. Each step these giants took caused tremors and emitted loud noises.
Upon discovering the presence of the mist, the giant hornets would immediately retreat without hesitation. This was because many giant hornets that failed to retreat in time were captured. Many giant hornets had discovered very strange monsters within the mist. These monsters had no eyes and could move using numerous tentacles. As soon as they detected the sounds of insects, vines would extend to capture them.
The giant hornets continued to breed, but their reproduction rate was gradually falling behind. They eventually had to sadly realize that they were no match for humans. Humans, whom they had previously considered food, were now fighting back with various strange weapons, which they could no longer resist.
In fact, these insects should be fortunate that humans had not yet used nuclear bombs. If humans had used nuclear bombs, many of these insects would have turned to ashes by now, unable to survive.
Unfortunately, the intelligence of these insects was too low. With their limited intelligence, they were utterly incapable of understanding this.
Taking advantage of this time, Shen Feng seized the opportunity to lead the northern army southward. With aerial fire support, hundreds of fighter jets could fly to the front lines during their advance, dropping numerous gas bombs from the sky before quickly retreating. The flight speed of the giant hornets was simply no match for that of the fighter jets. Their speed was even slower than that of birds, so how could they possibly compete with these rapidly flying fighter jets?
Then, the northern armies took the opportunity to light many damp branches to create smoke. Shen Feng then used his special ability to mix this smoke with poison gas and drift it southward, effectively blocking the giant hornets. Notably, during this process, a mercenary group discovered something unexpected.
Previously, when people attacked insects using smoke, they typically used pine or cypress branches. These damp branches contained many volatile substances. When thrown into a fire and doused with water, they would immediately produce a large amount of smoke and could poison the giant hornets. However, someone later accidentally added oleander to these branches. This smoke immediately became highly toxic, and even humans would react if they inhaled it.
With the addition of oleander, the smoke became highly poisonous, further intensifying its toxicity for the giant hornets. Just a couple of inhalations and they would fall to the ground.
"I had heard before that many people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom used this poisonous smoke for attacks. When oleander was thrown into a fire, the resulting smoke was highly toxic. Thus, by placing the poisonous smoke upwind, cities could be quickly captured. I have now witnessed it," Shen Feng recalled a curious anecdote at this moment and immediately spoke it aloud.
Oleander, in fact, is an invasive species in China, often planted along roadsides as ornamental plants. Therefore, few people paid attention to it. Moreover, this plant is highly toxic to humans, so generally, no one would use oleander as medicine.
Many quacks would claim that boiling oleander leaves in water could cure diseases and save lives, but such claims were utter nonsense. In reality, those who drank water boiled with oleander leaves often died shortly thereafter, and it had no healing effect whatsoever.
Thus, many people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, having discovered the high toxicity of oleander, used it as a formidable weapon. By attacking upwind with poisonous smoke, and throwing oleander into the smoke, it seemed the smoke itself became highly toxic. If the opposing side was not careful, their eyes would soon be blinded, and their lungs would be affected.
Upon seeing this situation, Chu Chaoyan immediately recorded it in her notebook. She felt it was a novel event she had witnessed and must be recorded in her book to allow more people to understand the relationship between oleander and combat.
"Speaking of which, you've already written several notebooks. When will your book be finished? I'm already eager to read it. Why haven't you given me any updates?" Shen Feng couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry. I've finished the first volume, which covers the events within five years of the apocalypse. The second volume is also in progress, and the third volume is still collecting material. I don't know if the apocalypse can be ended quickly!" Chu Chaoyan replied.
Upon hearing this answer, Shen Feng couldn't help but shake his head. Although he also enjoyed reading online novels, he later learned from a conversation with Feng Shicheng that many online writers struggled to make a living. To gain traffic, they wrote whatever readers wanted to see, leading to a decline in writing quality and a move towards simplistic styles.
Feng Shicheng also said something like this: "If you killed pigs in your past life, you write books in this life. If you killed people in your past life, you write online novels in this life. If you killed people in your past life and didn't admit it, no one will ask about your writing in this life. If you killed a thousand people in your past life, you'll starve writing books in this life! If you committed eight hundred sins in your past life, your writing will be found on cloud storage in this life!"
Upon hearing these words, Shen Feng couldn't help but say, "You're spouting rhymes. Are you trying to get into graduate school?"