Looking at the spatial rift, Qin Shilei felt a pang of bitterness.
This spatial rift was so large that not only ordinary bugs could pass through faster, but even golden armored beetles nearly five meters tall could easily traverse it.
Although the scythe beetles and silver beetles seemed to only offer them experience points, there were simply too many bugs for them to kill.
Moreover, who could guarantee that golden armored beetles were the peak combat power of the insect world?
If insects stronger than golden armored beetles, and of similar size, were to emerge from this spatial rift, it would be another major disaster for Blue Star.
Relying on the golden armored beetles, Qin Shilei and his companions approached the spatial rift.
Qin Shilei extended his left hand and gently touched the luminous gateway.
A tremor arose in his heart, but the Attribute Refresh System for All Things did not issue a danger warning.
He turned to the two women and said, "You two stay here, I'll go take a look."
The two women opened their mouths, wanting to persuade him not to take the risk, but in the end, they only said, "Be careful, and come back quickly if anything feels wrong."
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment, then took out the Concealment Formation, activated it, and stepped into the spatial rift.
Passing through the spatial rift, he found himself by the sea.
To his left were continuous mountains, and to his right was the vast ocean.
Bugs were constantly emerging from the direction of the mountains and running towards this spatial rift.
Qin Shilei broke into a run, heading towards the direction from which the bugs were coming.
After running for more than half an hour, he crossed a high mountain and entered a small basin.
However, the scene before him made his heart race and his hair stand on end.
This basin, spanning tens of square kilometers, was filled with bugs.
At a glance, he spotted eight golden armored beetles alone, their bodies gleaming with a golden light.
He also discovered several types of bugs he had never seen before.
There were pitch-black creatures, over twenty meters long and as thick as a bucket, capable of burrowing into the ground.
There were also plump, nearly two-meter-wide, but only seven or eight-meter-long fleshy worms.
And there was a queen insect, shaped like a beehive, continuously giving birth to smaller bugs.
Qin Shilei focused his gaze and continued to observe the insect valley below.
Suddenly, a purple figure appeared in his line of sight.
It was a bug, leaner and smaller than a golden armored beetle, but its entire carapace had turned purple.
The carapace was covered with sharp barbs, and its head bore a helmet-like keratinous layer.
Name: Purple Armored Beetle
Description: The ruler of the swarm, Platinum Realm, six stars. It excels in gold-elemental abilities and can command insect swarms. It fears fire-elemental attacks, and its head is its weak point.
Perhaps sensing Qin Shilei's gaze, the purple armored beetle looked up in his direction.
Instantly, Qin Shilei felt as if he were being stared at by a prehistoric predator. A chill ran down his spine, and his heartbeat seemed to stop for a second.
Even with the Concealment Formation, the creature should not have been able to see him, yet he felt as though he had been completely exposed to its gaze.
Qin Shilei bit his tongue hard, managing to regain his senses amidst the creature's oppressive aura.
He then used two consecutive blinks to leave his original position and ran back towards the spatial rift without looking back.
Shortly after Qin Shilei blinked away, a purple figure suddenly appeared on the mountaintop where he had just been.
The purple armored beetle twitched its nose in confusion, scanning its surroundings, but found no anomaly.
After Qin Shilei returned to Blue Star through the spatial rift, his heart was still pounding uncontrollably.
He looked up and smiled bitterly, "There's a Platinum Six-star Purple Armored Beetle on the other side. From now on, even if we have to kill bugs, we should try to stay away from this spatial rift."
Hearing this, the two women showed shocked expressions.
An Qian asked with some worry, "How big is that Purple Armored Beetle? Can it pass through the spatial rift?"
Qin Shilei frowned and said, "It's a bit smaller than a golden armored beetle. Based on its size, it should be able to pass through the spatial rift, but I don't know the specifics. In any case, we need to be prepared to face it."
He paused and added, "Before it comes to our Blue Star, we should speed up our leveling."
With heavy hearts, the three of them turned and left Liuhua County, continuing to kill bugs outside.
At dusk.
Qin Shilei finally gathered enough crystal cores to level up to the peak of Silver Nine Stars.
Just as he was returning to the City of Hope to absorb the crystal cores, Zhang Cheng found him.
"Shilei, there's something I think you should know. Something strange has been happening in the city for the past two or three days."
"Strange?" Qin Shilei asked in confusion, "What's strange?"
Zhang Cheng carefully chose his words, "Many bizarre cases have occurred in the city."
"Some people had their entire blood and flesh drained, and some even had large parts of their bodies gnawed away. We suspect they were attacked by zombies."
"However, despite our thorough searches, we haven't been able to find any hidden zombies within the city."
Hearing this, Qin Shilei's heart sank. The image of Duan Tianhe immediately flashed in his mind.
Had he misjudged him?
He said with a cold expression, "Are the bodies still there? Take me to see them."
Zhang Cheng quickly led Qin Shilei to a morgue.
Lifting the white cloth covering a body, a withered corpse appeared before the two of them.
The body had bite marks on its neck, presumably left by a zombie, and its blood was almost completely drained.
They then looked at the remaining few corpses, which indeed appeared to have been gnawed by zombies.
The only anomaly was the few corpses that had their blood drained but their bodies remained intact.
Zombies eat people; there's no such thing as a zombie that only drinks blood and doesn't eat flesh.
Zhang Cheng frowned and said, "Logically, if zombies had indeed infiltrated our City of Hope, they would have attacked everything around them without restraint and wouldn't be able to hide. Yet, apart from over a hundred murdered bodies, we haven't found any trace of those zombies."
Qin Shilei said in a deep voice, "If it was indeed the work of zombies, then this zombie must be an intelligent, self-controlled one."
"Are you talking about a Zombie King?" Zhang Cheng suddenly realized, "But why would a Zombie King hide in our City of Hope?"
Qin Shilei instructed, "Arrange for a thorough investigation of all suspicious areas in the city. I need to go out for a while."
The only suspect he could think of was Duan Tianhe, but without solid proof, he couldn't explain it to Zhang Cheng yet.
Emerging from the morgue, Qin Shilei headed straight for Duan Tianhe's residence.
Duan Tianhe lived in a residential complex not far from the City Lord's Mansion.
Room 2018, Building E.
When he knocked on the door, Duan Tianhe was having dinner with his girlfriend.
"Boss, have you eaten? Won't you have some more?" Duan Tianhe warmly invited Qin Shilei to sit at the dining table.
Yang Jie even went back to the kitchen to get a pair of chopsticks and a bowl.
Steamed rice, a dish of boiled fish, a soup made from an unknown mutated beast, and a plate of stir-fried vegetables.
Given Duan Tianhe's strength, obtaining these foods wasn't difficult. The only hard-to-get item was the stir-fried vegetables.
As Qin Shilei ate, he observed Duan Tianhe closely.
Duan Tianhe and his girlfriend were eating heartily, with no unusual behavior.
Qin Shilei suddenly asked, "Tianhe, you only eat these dishes and don't drink human blood. Doesn't it bother you at all?"