Li Keyi was shocked to hear that the paralyzed Xiao Sheng had also flown into the sky. She found it hard to believe that someone who was paralyzed could fly.
However, seeing Shen Yu's melancholic gaze towards the sky, she realized it might be true. She quickly took out a mask from her side and put it on Shen Yu, then said seriously, "Since you want to watch the battle in the sky, don't wander around. I'll arrange for ten people to protect you immediately. Also, remember not to take off the mask, because the butterflies in the sky are constantly spreading poisonous powder. If you inhale it, you'll have hallucinations."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yu looked around and indeed saw people in a state of frenzy, running wildly in the streets and attacking passersby. The passersby kept their distance, knowing these people had inhaled poisonous powder and were experiencing hallucinations, their behavior completely chaotic. They knew that once the effects of the powder wore off, these people would return to normal, and it would be cruel to kill them now.
"The situation is very dangerous now. If you want to fight, hurry up and go!" Shen Yu said, not wanting to be a burden any longer.
Li Keyi nodded and set off. She went to a high point in the city and began to use her abilities. Countless beams of light converged and then erupted violently, blinding the surrounding butterflies. Butterflies' eyes are different from human eyes; these insects have compound eyes that can see from different angles. However, these insects also have corresponding weaknesses. As soon as they are exposed to strong light, they become blind. Once they lose their sight, the butterflies can only fall to the ground.
At this time, the remaining soldiers in Yuzhou City were also gathered. They began searching for and killing butterflies within the city.
"Everyone, wear your masks. When you find a butterfly, try to chop off its head directly, otherwise, it will still move! Do not touch the butterfly's wings directly, or you will easily have hallucinations," a military officer shouted to his subordinates.
The butterflies blinded in the sky, having lost their sight, fell to the ground. Although they were still flapping their wings, they could no longer discern direction or deal with the surrounding attacks. The soldiers seized this opportunity to rush forward and kill the butterflies.
Butterflies are insects, and these creatures have strong vitality. Generally, insects of this type have a nervous system, albeit a primitive one. Many insects can still move for a period even after losing their heads, relying on their rudimentary nervous systems, like flies and dragonflies. Fortunately, butterflies do not have the ability to move after decapitation. Once their heads are cut off, the butterflies are considered dead, no matter how strong they are.
The soldiers had undergone rigorous training, so they were able to remain calm in this dangerous situation. They then swung their long sabers, chopping off the butterflies' heads.
Unfortunately, the number of soldiers was too small compared to the countless butterflies in the sky. Even with tens of thousands of soldiers engaged in combat, the crisis of the butterflies could not be cleared up in a short period.
At this moment, Chang Jianyi realized that relying solely on the soldiers' combat capabilities might not be enough to overcome this crisis. A person with abilities that covered a wide area was needed to ultimately save the city from danger.
With this realization, Chang Jianyi made arrangements: "Immediately contact Chang Haojie and Chu Chaoyan, and tell them to hurry back to the city. Only these two can help solve the crisis in Yuzhou now!"
Upon hearing this order, everyone agreed and immediately went to make arrangements.
Both Chang Haojie and Chu Chaoyan had abilities with a very large range of influence. Not to mention Chu Chaoyan, even Chang Haojie, a sixth-tier ability user, could shroud the entire Yuzhou City in mist. With the addition of the chlorine gas released by Chu Chaoyan, dealing with the countless butterflies in the sky would become much easier.
Countless dead butterflies had been sent to the research institute. Deep within the institute, near the mountain, there was a cave where a demon was imprisoned. Although called a demon, it was actually Yuzhou's cash cow.
The Nine Deaths Returning Soul Tree had been imprisoned there for ten years. During this time, it absorbed various nutrients daily to produce evolution bases, substances that could allow ability users or ordinary humans to evolve. As long as this substance was available, Yuzhou would not lack bargaining chips for trading with other places.
However, today, Lin Qin敏锐ly discovered something: the nutrients it could absorb had become various strange things, seemingly the corpses of many insects. Its roots could also feel the constant vibration of the ground around it, indicating that many people were rushing around in the city.
Lin Qin then saw an opportunity for freedom and immediately spoke to the nearby monitoring device: "It seems you've encountered an unsolvable crisis. Do you want my help? If I act, any danger can be resolved instantly."
Although Lin Qin was just a plant, its intelligence was very high. It knew that someone would be monitoring it 24 hours a day, so whatever it said into the monitoring device would be heard immediately.
As expected, not long after, the laboratory door was opened, and Director Niu walked in, asking, "I heard you're willing to help us overcome the crisis. Is this true?"
Lin Qin looked at Director Niu with its only vertical eye and replied, "Of course, it's true. I'm willing to help you overcome this crisis, but you must allow me to produce tree people. You know, once I generate enough tree people, we will definitely have the power to fight back."
Director Niu immediately shook his head upon hearing this and said, "Even now, you still want to use the crisis to free yourself, right? If you were really allowed to produce tree people, you might gain the power to resist. Let me tell you, we will never let you have tree people!"
Professor Niu was well aware of the danger of tree people. Ordinary ability users were no match for tree people. Therefore, if this entity were allowed to generate enough tree people, its threat would be immense.
"You humans think too much and are always suspicious of everyone. I genuinely just want to help you!" Lin Qin continued.
"I'm sorry, but humans have survived to this day thanks to their wisdom. What you call cunning or slyness is actually a form of wisdom. Therefore, we will not fulfill your request!" Professor Niu said slowly.
Lin Qin gritted its teeth in anger upon hearing this response, as it couldn't believe its excellent proposal was instantly rejected.
After giving his answer, Professor Niu left the sealed room and notified those around him: "During this period, you must keep a close eye on the entity in the room. If it shows any abnormality, report it to me immediately. If there is an emergency, activate the ultraviolet light switch directly!"
"Understood, we will comply!" the people outside the room quickly replied.
Director Niu knew that he could not fulfill Lin Qin's request. Even though Lin Qin had not shown any harm during its ten years of imprisonment, that was only because it had not gained enough power and was merely pretending to be harmless. In reality, it had been waiting for its plan. If it gained power this time, it might escape successfully.
However, he could not handle this matter alone and reported it directly to Chang Jianyi.
After receiving the news from the research institute, Chang Jianyi was silent for a moment before saying, "Keep this matter confidential for now. If there is ultimately no solution, we will have to resort to this method."
Director Niu understood from this answer that the deputy city lord had considered using Lin Qin. This terrifying plant had killed countless people in the past. Was it really a good choice to use it to deal with countless mutated insects now?
But in the end, Niu Baiye had no right to object, so he could only nod and reply, "I understand. I will keep this matter confidential."
Meanwhile, Chang Jianyi had placed all her hopes of overcoming the danger on Chang Haojie and Chu Chaoyan. In her opinion, as long as these two people with widely influential abilities returned, Yuzhou would surely be saved. At worst, they could shroud the entire city in mist, and these butterflies would surely retreat.
"However, until they both return, everyone must hold on!" Chang Jianyi thought to herself.
Chang Jianyi knew that Yuzhou had to hold on long enough to wait for Chang Haojie and Chu Chaoyan to return. However, during this period, she wondered if the soldiers could withstand these terrifying butterflies.
The butterflies in the sky continued their attacks, and countless people were accidentally carried into the sky by them. Even if they narrowly dodged the butterflies' attacks, they might inhale poisonous powder. The most disgusting attack of these butterflies was not their aerial assault, as people had already experienced it during the era of mutated birds. What people hated most was the attack from the poisonous powder.
If one accidentally inhaled the poisonous powder, many people would fall into hallucinations and be unable to escape the illusions for a short period.
In this situation, no one knew when this dangerous attack would end, nor did they know the exact number of butterflies. They could only see that butterflies were continuously arriving from the west. The number of butterflies flying in the sky was at least several hundred thousand.
It seemed that the light in the sky had also dimmed. On one hand, Li Keyi was using her abilities, so countless photons had been gathered by her, making other areas appear much darker. On the other hand, there were simply too many butterflies, blocking the sunlight from the sky.
At this moment, a blue arc suddenly appeared in the sky. Survivors who had managed to hide behind windows cautiously looked outside. Butterflies generally could not pass through windows, so hiding by the windows allowed them to know the situation outside.
"Who is that person in the sky? Why can they release such intense flames?" someone asked.
Someone immediately answered, "Are you all senile? Who else could it be in the sky? It must be the City Lord's brother-in-law, Xiao Sheng. He was a genius back then, but he encountered setbacks and never recovered. Now it seems he can move freely!"
It had been a year since Xiao Sheng had been in seclusion. During this time, new talents emerged, and people were constantly paying attention to the latest powerhouses, not caring about a paralyzed person. Therefore, many people had gradually forgotten about Xiao Sheng. But now, as everyone looked up at the sky and saw the scorching blue flames, they realized that the powerful ability user Xiao Sheng was still alive.