Yue Hengyi sat silently in Qin Kewei's room. After a night passed, as dawn broke on the second day, the city suddenly became noisy.
At the same time, Bai Fengying pushed open the door and walked in, then anxiously said, "Something terrible has happened! A vast swarm of locusts has suddenly appeared in the sky in the distance, flying towards our city."
Yue Hengyi was in a half-awake state. After sharing his troubles, he had leaned back in his chair and fallen asleep. However, a chair was not a bed, and it did not allow him to sleep soundly. He would often wake up, unable to sleep or stay awake. Now, upon hearing this dire news, he immediately got up.
"It seems that hiding in the mountains is no longer safe. Quickly take the two children and hide in the cellar. I will notify you when the fighting is over," Yue Hengyi said.
Bai Fengying then asked cautiously, "Should we also take my sister, who is frozen here, to the cellar? She doesn't seem very safe in this room."
Yue Hengyi glanced at the cryogenic chamber to the side and then said in a deep voice, "This cryogenic chamber cannot be moved from its power source. Let it stay here. Just make sure to close the doors and windows properly. I have already installed steel wire mesh around this room, so ordinary insects cannot get in."
Bai Fengying nodded, then quickly closed the doors and windows, and checked to ensure they could not be opened from the outside. Only then did she leave with peace of mind. After finding her son and daughter, she took them into the cellar to hide and covered the entrance. At this moment, they were very safe.
Yue Hengyi then found his subordinates and said to them, "These locusts are targeting us. Have everyone hide in the cellars. If there are no cellars, then hide in their homes and tightly close the doors. As long as the locusts cannot get in, everything will be fine. Have all the soldiers follow me to the battlefield to protect our city."
Upon hearing their leader's words, these people nodded and then went to carry out the orders. They had followed Yue Hengyi through thick and thin. In the past, they were merely bandits who robbed travelers on the roads. Now, they had become the administrators of the city. They cherished what they had hard-won, so when the locusts attacked their city, they stepped forward to resist their onslaught.
Countless soldiers ran to the high places of the city, carrying firearms and aiming at the locusts that appeared in the sky. They began firing continuously.
The number of locusts in the sky was incredibly dense, appearing as a thick, dark mass that could block out the faint light of the sky, making the ground appear incredibly dark. As the locusts flew, their wings flapped against each other, emitting a rustling sound.
The soldiers were seeing this situation for the first time. After all, they had been forced to flee to the mountains with their families because they could no longer survive outside. Seeing these enemies in the sky, they immediately opened fire. Each shot fired from the barrel of the gun quickly emptied a magazine.
Bullets were unparalleled in their ability to kill all sorts of creatures, especially the densely packed formations of locusts in the sky. As they flew, they overlapped each other. A single bullet could kill at least a dozen locusts.
When bullets were fired, they created a cavitation effect. This meant that even a graze could shatter a locust. If it hit a person, it would not only pass through the body but also create a fist-sized wound. Now, after the soldiers opened fire, the locusts in the sky began to fall like rain.
Unfortunately, the bullets were of little use against the insects in the sky. The formations of insects were too dense. Tens of thousands, even millions, of insects were flying in the sky, while the soldiers had limited ammunition and could not form a proper firing line to inflict effective damage on the locusts. Thus, the locusts in the sky continued to fall.
Once the locusts landed, they quickly found the surrounding crowds. Upon finding people, they would rush forward and bite. Soon, people's faces and hands were bleeding profusely, all bitten by the locusts.
The damage these locusts inflicted on humans was extremely severe. The boundless swarm of locusts, like a dark cloud, spread from the distance. Even though the ground was constantly flashing with fire and countless bullets were being fired, the damage the bullets could inflict on the locusts was limited. As countless locusts fell from the sky, the soldiers immediately realized that they were no match for these locusts. If they wanted to survive, they had to hide quickly.
Yue Hengyi leaped onto a stone lion and, stepping on the heavy stone lion, flew into the sky. This was because he had manipulated the gravity acting on the stone lion, allowing it to lift off the ground and soar into the sky.
"These soldiers have never received professional training. Now that they've encountered this slight danger, they're already scattering in panic!" Yue Hengyi shook his head as he observed the performance of his subordinates. He had witnessed powerful armies before. When he was in Yanjing, those soldiers were brave in battle and never retreated. However, these soldiers from the mountains were not as good. They had not received professional training, and once they encountered danger, they would prioritize their own safety.
However, this was unavoidable. Resources were scarce in the mountains. Having managed to acquire a thousand or so guns was already quite good, and it was sufficient for maintaining order within the city. But when it came to actual combat, they showed their weakness.
Yue Hengyi knew that he was the only one who could resolve the crisis they were facing in the mountains. He could not falter now; he had to charge forward and resolve the current situation. If he could not kill these locusts in the sky, and countless locusts fell into the city, the people in the city would suffer.
As Yue Hengyi flew into the sky, he was instantly attacked from all directions. Although he was standing on the stone lion, flying in the sky, which looked very imposing, the locusts did not care. In the eyes of the locusts, all humans were their food. As long as they could eat, they would pounce and tear.
Yue Hengyi was immediately attacked. Countless locusts surrounded him, preparing to bite him. While the taste of humans was not as good as plants, they were still edible and could sustain life.
However, Yue Hengyi also unleashed his abilities at this moment. The gravity in the sky instantly became chaotic. A massive gravitational field appeared around him. Countless locusts instantly burst open. It turned out that a twenty-times gravitational field had formed around him. Within this gravitational field, no living creature other than himself could survive.
The reason insects could withstand stronger gravity was mainly due to their small size. Therefore, their strength seemed much greater compared to ordinary creatures. However, when these insects grew larger, their strength relative to their weight actually decreased. Now, upon entering the twenty-times gravitational field, the locusts instantly felt immense pressure. The enormous pressure forced them to continuously contract their bodies, ultimately causing them to explode.
Yue Hengyi, riding the stone lion, patrolled the sky. Wherever he went, the powerful gravitational field around him would kill the surrounding insects. The locusts exploded in the sky and fell to the ground. On the ground, one could find the wings and legs of these insects, indicating that these insects had died miserably, unable to even leave a complete corpse.
"The boss is still amazing! As long as he can kill all these insects in the sky, we'll be safe," many soldiers who had hidden on the ground saw this scene in the sky and couldn't help but praise.
"Don't talk nonsense. If the boss accidentally falls from the sky, we'll be doomed. He's a demon who accidentally killed thousands of people back then!" Someone then refuted this statement. If Yue Hengyi accidentally fell from the sky, the powerful gravitational field he carried would instantly kill everyone.
"It was clarified back then, wasn't it? It was an accidental killing, and it was the result of being framed by some scoundrels from Mount Lüliang. He's very clear-headed now, how could he accidentally kill us?" someone retorted.
"Let's stop talking about this now. Let's quickly cheer for the boss. If he can't win, we're all finished. With so many locusts, even if we try to drive them away, they won't leave until they're full. This means we don't know how many people we'll lose."
The people in the city looked up at the sky, eagerly awaiting the end of the battle. After all, Yue Hengyi was the only one who could fight in the sky at this moment. If he were defeated, everyone below would be finished.
The people could only cheer for Yue Hengyi in their hearts, hoping he could achieve victory as soon as possible.
Yue Hengyi dared not unleash his abilities too recklessly. He had not forgotten the time he accidentally killed people. If he unleashed his abilities with full force, everyone on the mountain would die. Therefore, he could only control the gravitational field within a radius of a few dozen meters around him, preventing it from spreading further. Within this range, the gravitational field was constantly changing, sometimes downwards, sometimes upwards. The gravity was twenty times that of Earth's. The greater the creature, the more it would be oppressed by such powerful gravity, leading to the compression of its internal organs and death.
Wherever Yue Hengyi passed, countless locusts would fall. The bodies of these locusts had already exploded under the effect of the powerful gravity. Their bodies could not withstand the tearing force of gravity, so they had no other fate but to explode. Even locusts as large as a human head were no match for Yue Hengyi.
Unfortunately, the locusts in the sky were easy to deal with. Wherever the number of locusts was too large, he would go there. In these locust swarms, as long as a powerful gravitational field appeared, thousands of locusts would die instantly. As he moved through the sky, the locusts in the sky could only perish.
However, a large number of locusts had already fallen from the sky to the ground. Many houses in the city were made of wood, as wood was easily found in the mountains. Many people's houses were built with wooden fences, plastered with some mud, forming adobe walls. The locusts had already learned to build nests in the soil. Upon seeing these adobe walls, they immediately launched their attack, continuously gnawing at the walls and wood.
Soon, screams echoed through the city. People were defending against the locusts, appearing from doorways or windows, so they had tightly sealed the doors and windows. They had not expected these locusts to be so aggressive towards houses made of mud. These locusts were actually gnawing large holes in the walls. As soon as a gap appeared, countless locusts would enter the room through the gap.
Instantly, screams erupted in the city. Countless people were bitten to death by the locusts. Both the elderly and children, wearing layers of clothing, ran out, all fleeing towards the outskirts of the city.
Bai Fengying was constantly monitoring the situation outside. She and her two children were hiding in the cellar. The cellar also had electrical wires, which allowed electric lights to emit light, so they could see their surroundings clearly while hiding in the cellar. However, the cellar was too humid and hot, especially in the summer. It was unbearable to stay in the cellar.
Upon discovering the danger outside, Bai Fengying realized that the city was no longer safe. At this moment, there was only one path left: escape.
"Mom, what should we do now?" Yue Bitiao asked softly. Worry was evident on her face. Clearly, she had never experienced such a dangerous situation since childhood. For her, the locust attack on the city was the most dangerous event, as if the end of the world had arrived. She did not know that she had actually been living in the apocalypse for a long time.