Shen Feng's body had been completely cleared of radioactive elements. Modern instruments had confirmed his recovery, demonstrating that the seeds of the mutated Overlord Tree could indeed heal humans after radiation exposure. In fact, these seeds could also treat general injuries and were excellent for healing, but their yield was so low that they couldn't be sold in large quantities.
Shen Feng could have returned home, but his disciple's condition had not improved. Wang Feiying's recovery was extremely slow. Although he had suffered similar radiation exposure to Shen Feng, his body was much weaker, making his recovery sluggish. Shen Feng had already evolved seven times, reaching the peak of human physical condition and possessing high resistance to various injuries.
Therefore, Shen Feng had to wait for Wang Feiying to recover. He was his disciple, whom he had brought out for adventures. It would be unthinkable for him to return to Yuzhou alone now.
However, at this very moment, Shen Feng suddenly heard unexpected news: Rongcheng had been attacked by mutated earth bees. The attack was terrifying, and Rongcheng was on the verge of collapse, requesting aid from Yuzhou. Although Chang Jianyi had dispatched a force to help and was actively mobilizing insecticides, the outcome remained uncertain.
Upon hearing this news, Shen Feng could no longer sit still. He had initially believed there were no urgent matters at home, so waiting for his disciple's recovery elsewhere was acceptable. But now, learning of trouble at home and the threat to his parents' safety, he could not possibly remain inactive.
After careful consideration, Shen Feng found Wang Feiying and directly explained the situation: "I must return to Yuzhou immediately. Your body has not yet recovered, so you should stay here to recuperate. Once your health improves, I will arrange for someone to pick you up."
Hearing Shen Feng's words, Wang Feiying felt a sense of abandonment. However, he also knew that he could not be willful at this time. His master's need to return to Yuzhou must be due to something important, and he shouldn't burden his master.
"Master, please go with peace of mind. I will take good care of myself here," Wang Feiying quickly said to Shen Feng.
Upon learning of Shen Feng's departure, Long Qian immediately sought him out, holding a piece of glass meteorite. He said to Shen Feng, "Since you are returning, I will give you this meteorite. Your disciple will be well taken care of here, so rest assured. It will likely take Wang Feiying over a year to fully recover. If you wish to take him with you, you will have to wait a long time."
Shen Feng saw the meteorite presented to him and understood that the other party's generosity stemmed from the fact that the meteorite contained no extraterrestrial elements.
Shen Feng thought for a moment, placed the meteorite in his backpack, and then took out a red crystal, handing it over. "I am not someone who likes to take advantage. Since I'm taking this meteorite, allow me to offer some compensation. This is an evolution crystal from a sea beast. You must take good care of my disciple while he is with you!"
Long Qian saw the red crystal appear before him and quickly accepted it, saying, "Don't worry, your disciple is my disciple. He will be well cared for here. You can visit him anytime."
Long Qian knew Shen Feng's character well. He was someone who responded to kindness rather than coercion. If you tried to forcefully demand evolution crystals, Shen Feng would ignore you. However, if you used a gentle approach, Shen Feng was quite impulsive and would offer an evolution crystal himself.
It was precisely because he understood Shen Feng's personality that Long Qian had instructed the doctors to halve Wang Feiying's medication, slowing his recovery. This way, Shen Feng, concerned for his disciple's safety in a foreign land, would inevitably pay a price.
Long Qian thus obtained the evolution crystal, which would allow him to become a stronger esper. As for Wang Feiying, who remained there, Long Qian could find ways to keep him there forever. After enduring several days of starvation, A Tuya had become much more compliant. Hunger had shown her the truth of the world: without food, everything was false, including love. Therefore, A Tuya no longer spoke of love and patiently awaited the day of their actual marriage.
After arranging matters for his disciple, Shen Feng immediately took flight. Upon learning of the danger at home, he disregarded everything else, determined to return as quickly as possible to participate in the fight. On his journey back, he kept repeating in his mind, "Mom and Dad, please don't be harmed."
...
Rongcheng had now become a desolate city. On one street, countless corpses lay scattered. The survivors had fled into their homes or air-raid shelters. Many soldiers had also fallen to the stings of the earth bees. The soldiers had fought valiantly, but they lacked defensive equipment. The endless swarm of earth bees obscured the sky, descending from all directions. Anyone they stung, whether a civilian or a soldier, would be bitten.
Consequently, the soldiers suffered heavy losses. The clothing they wore could not prevent the stings from penetrating. An ordinary-sized earth bee could sting a person to death, let alone the mutated earth bees filling the sky, any one of which could kill a human.
However, after stinging humans, many earth bees succumbed to death. The reason was simple: the earth bees' stingers were connected to their hearts. A stinger could only be used once. After stinging a human, the earth bee would die shortly thereafter. Most of the earth bees on the ground had died in this manner.
The surviving people had now taken refuge in air-raid shelters or their homes, sealing their windows and doors. At this point, they could do nothing but pray for the earth bees to leave quickly. Unfortunately, human greed had invited the earth bees' retaliation.
Countless earth bees had witnessed their nests being taken by humans, their honey bottled and served as delicacies. Their larvae were also served on tables, fried into a delicious meal. Now, the earth bees were directly retaliating against humanity.
Earth bees were a native species of Chinese honeybees, and their honey was considered a premium product with various miraculous effects, always sought after as a delicacy. However, in the past, the earth bees' resistance to humans had not been particularly strong, and even if they wanted to resist, they lacked the ability to cause significant harm to humans.
But the times had changed rapidly. Earth bees, previously lacking in power, had suddenly gained mutations. After mutating, they possessed the ability to easily kill humans. The earth bees were now constantly attacking humans, and some had even learned to build nests on the tall buildings of the city.
The resistance forces in the city had weakened, with most people moving to underground operations. Fortunately, over the years, Rongcheng had excavated numerous interconnected air-raid shelters, capable of housing most of the citizens.
Under the direction of the command center, soldiers had also moved into the air-raid shelters. To kill the earth bees quickly and accurately, insecticides were essential. However, a large quantity of insecticides had already been dispatched to the north. Although Yuzhou was mobilizing insecticides, they could not be delivered in a short period.
"We must find a way to resist the earth bees. We cannot let these earth bees truly establish nests in the city. If they succeed, it will be difficult for us to even go outside," someone in the command center shouted.
Everyone understood this principle, as the city was human territory. If the city were also occupied by earth bees, humanity would truly have no space left to survive.
However, expelling the earth bees from the city was not a simple matter. The soldiers had suffered heavy casualties, and the effectiveness of espers against the earth bees was limited. At this juncture, going out to fight would inevitably result in an attack from the earth bees in the sky.
"We want to go out and resist the earth bees' attack, but we simply don't have enough strength to drive them out. Bullets and artillery fire are useless, and the flamethrowers have run out of fuel. How can we fight now?" someone immediately questioned.
"I heard that these earth bees have a queen bee, also known as the bee king. As long as the queen bee is killed, the other earth bees will lose their leadership, and dealing with them will be much simpler," someone offered their opinion, suggesting the killing of the queen bee.
"That's pure fantasy! Any wild idea can appear here! The sky is densely packed with earth bees. Who can distinguish the queen bee?" someone immediately scoffed at the suggestion of killing the queen bee.
Insects like bees actually exhibit social behavior, with the queen bee holding the highest status. All other bees follow the queen bee's instructions. The queen bee and ordinary worker bees are not significantly different. The only distinction is that the queen bee is fed royal jelly from birth, while ordinary worker bees eat honey. The difference in resources received from birth leads to a difference in status upon maturity.
Xiao Sheng also felt a sense of frustration. He hadn't expected his current failure to be at the hands of mere insects. Although the enemy was just earth bees flying in the sky, they had ultimately forced most people to hide underground. This feeling of helplessness was truly disheartening.
"If only my esper abilities had a larger range. If I could fly into the sky, I could kill most of the earth bees," Xiao Sheng thought to himself.
Xiao Sheng had been a sixth-tier esper for a long time. He wished to become a seventh-tier esper, at which point he might rival Shen Feng. Unfortunately, he lacked evolution crystals, and becoming a seventh-tier esper was a complete fantasy. Thus, he remained stuck at the sixth-tier. His esper abilities could only project tens of meters, far from Shen Feng's vast range.