The attack by the earth bees was something no one had anticipated. Although many had heard that insects had begun to mutate, most couldn't imagine what small insects could eventually transform into. Now, the earth bees had completed their mutation and were attacking Rongcheng, which was completely unprepared.
Although the air raid sirens had sounded, the public's ability to take shelter was too slow. As people ran through the streets, a vast swarm of earth bees appeared in the sky.
Many people recognized these earth bees because, in the recent past, Rongcheng had been selling honey. This honey was dug up from underground, where these earth bees built their nests and produced their honey. No one had expected these earth bees to launch an attack on Rongcheng.
The earth bees were also not unfamiliar with humans. In recent times, humans had been excavating the earth bees' nests, not only stealing their honey but also cruelly taking the larvae to be fried. While the earth bees had not retaliated before, today, their largest nest was discovered, and the earth bees could no longer tolerate it. They pursued the fleeing bread vans all the way to the outskirts of Rongcheng.
"Why is this happening? We never heard of earth bees attacking Rongcheng before, so why are they suddenly attacking?" Xiao Sheng was shocked when he learned about the mobilization.
However, there was no time for shock. The earth bee attack had arrived, and the ability users could only go out and fight. These ability users had lived in Rongcheng for five or six years and had a deep affection for the city, considering it their new home. Now that their new home was under threat, they naturally had to fight back.
"No need to say more, let's quickly join the battle!" Jin Zijue urged.
Following this, a large number of ability users ascended to the high grounds of the city. Looking at the dense swarm of earth bees overhead, they couldn't help but feel a prickling sensation. So many insects flying in the sky seemed to have occupied the entire city's sky. At this moment, the earth bees were still attacking people on the streets.
When an earth bee landed on a person, it would use its long stinger to pierce the human body. These earth bees were ferocious; even through clothing, their stingers could penetrate the fabric's defense and directly pierce the skin. Many who were attacked immediately collapsed to the ground.
The earth bees' stingers were venomous. Once poisoned, swelling would quickly set in. For those with weaker constitutions, after being attacked a couple more times, they would perish.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..." Countless earth bees flew in the sky, emitting a piercing sound.
Xiao Sheng quickly unleashed his abilities. Instantly, flames erupted within a radius of tens of meters around him, burning the surrounding earth bees to ashes. For the earth bees to attempt to attack Xiao Sheng was a grave mistake.
However, the earth bees were not foolish. Upon discovering that the ability users were difficult to deal with, they turned their attention to attacking the people on the ground.
"Help us, we're going to be killed!"
"Lord of Fire, Lord of Thunder, please save us quickly."
Countless people inside were wailing, hoping to be rescued. Unfortunately, the ability users could not be effective against such a large-scale attack. In many past instances, dealing with mutated birds in the sky relied on the city's anti-aircraft systems. However, the current airborne threat was not giant mutated birds but relatively small earth bees. Neither bullets nor artillery posed a significant threat to these earth bees.
Instead, flamethrowers found their purpose. Within a range of twenty to thirty meters, a single burst from a flamethrower could incinerate a large number of earth bees. However, the number of earth bees in the sky was countless; for every swarm killed, others would continue to attack.
At the command center, everyone was in a frenzy. No one had expected a sudden attack from the earth bees, and now they needed to find a way for Rongcheng to achieve victory. Only by finding a path to victory could Rongcheng continue to exist.
"We must hurry and spray insecticide now. However, we don't have enough insecticide. A large amount of insecticide has been dispatched to the north because we need to defend against the locusts from the north. Therefore, the insecticide has been sent there." Someone proposed killing the earth bees with insecticide, but the problem was that Rongcheng did not have enough.
Rongcheng was aware of the power of mutated insects and absolutely could not allow mutated locusts to develop or move south. Otherwise, the entire agricultural system would be devastated. Thus, Rongcheng dispatched a large quantity of insecticide to the north, constantly spraying it along the northern border to prevent the locusts from moving south.
However, no one had expected that after blocking the locusts in the north, countless earth bees would suddenly appear in the south. Previously, earth bees were a delicacy on Rongcheng's tables, but now, with large numbers of earth bees gathering to attack, Rongcheng felt a sense of despair.
"It's too late to kill the earth bees with insecticide now because most of our helicopters have been dispatched to the north. Rongcheng does not have enough capacity to spread insecticide. I suggest we quickly request reinforcements!" another person offered their opinion.
Xie Bateng was also worried. He was currently trying to devise a way to deal with the earth bee attack but couldn't come up with anything. After much thought, requesting reinforcements seemed to be the most reliable method.
"Quickly invite Mr. Shen's family to come over and have them call Yuzhou. Currently, only Yuzhou can save us." Xie Bateng finally made this decision.
Shen Feng's parents had been living in Rongcheng all along, and everyone was used to it. Many knew that Shen Feng's home was in Rongcheng. However, at this critical juncture, when Rongcheng needed assistance, it was necessary for Shen Feng's parents to contact Yuzhou to secure support.
Shen Feng had long ago proposed bringing his parents and sister to live in Yuzhou, but they had not agreed. Therefore, Shen Feng allowed his family to continue living in Rongcheng, believing they would be well-treated there, as Shen Feng was currently the strongest person in China. Who would dare harm his family?
However, things had progressed to this point, and Rongcheng could no longer deal with the sudden appearance of earth bees in the south. No one had expected that the human act of excavating earth bee nests would provoke retaliation. Now, they could only place their hopes on Yuzhou. Yuzhou had fifty to sixty ability users, and with their support, Yuzhou would surely be safe.
"Bad news, Rongcheng is under attack and is requesting reinforcements from us!" Chu Chaoyan immediately found Chang Jianyi upon receiving the news.
Chang Jianyi hurried to the communications office and, upon learning that the caller was Shen Feng's parents, became very anxious. It would be terrible if Shen Feng's family were to be harmed in Rongcheng. Moreover, Chang Jianyi had been well-treated when she visited Rongcheng previously, so she couldn't stand by and do nothing, both morally and logically.
Therefore, Chang Jianyi immediately replied to the other side, "Don't worry, find a safe place to hide. I will send people to rescue you immediately. We will arrive in Rongcheng in at most two days."
The situation was too urgent for Chang Jianyi to think for too long. She could only issue all the instructions she could think of: "Chaoyan, go find Li Keyi and have her accompany you with people to rescue Rongcheng. Also, quickly call Shen Feng and tell him to return immediately!"
Chang Jianyi considered having her brother at Dabashan participate in the rescue as well, but at this moment, Chang Haojie sent back a message: large numbers of mutated locusts had been discovered at the front line and were preparing to cross the mountain range. He and the ability users were blocking the locusts from moving south.
"Quickly prepare a large amount of insecticide and dispatch it towards Rongcheng!" In her haste, Chang Jianyi could only think of these things.
Li Keyi and Chu Chaoyan immediately led three thousand soldiers towards Rongcheng. Both Li Keyi and Chu Chaoyan possessed area-of-effect attacks, while the soldiers' equipment was more specialized, including goggles, gas masks, and large high-pressure gas cylinders.
The soldiers of Yuzhou were different from those of other places because the soldiers here were often required to wear gas masks and goggles. The reason was simple: whenever their city lord Shen Feng unleashed his abilities, the ground would be filled with flying sand and stones, severely reducing visibility. Soldiers could only fight normally while wearing goggles. As for Chu Chaoyan, she herself carried poisonous gas, so wearing a gas mask was crucial to prevent being poisoned at critical moments.
In fact, according to Li Keyi's idea, the soldiers of Yuzhou should also wear sunglasses because when she unleashed her abilities, the intense light would damage human eyes. Unfortunately, this suggestion was not particularly important. The soldiers were already carrying a lot of equipment, and adding sunglasses would mean carrying a lot of small items, making it inconvenient.
"You can see a lot of farmland in these areas. It seems that Sichuan Province did not suffer from a large-scale drought," Chu Chaoyan couldn't help but say on the way.
"I don't think it's that there was no drought, but rather that the people here have a way to deal with it. Look at the many deep wells nearby; they can directly extract deep groundwater for irrigation. With the presence of groundwater, Sichuan Province has successfully overcome droughts in recent years," Li Keyi reminded Chu Chaoyan.
Chu Chaoyan carefully observed the roadside and indeed found many water towers, which were used to extract deep groundwater directly. With sufficient water sources, modern agriculture could continue to achieve bumper harvests.
"These are minor details and not important. Let's focus on getting to Rongcheng as quickly as possible. It would have taken only a day to reach Rongcheng by train, but unfortunately, there are problems along the railway line, so we can only drive there now." Chu Chaoyan knew that the most important thing now was to reach Rongcheng.
If there were trains available during normal times, it would only take a day to reach Rongcheng. However, the trains could not operate normally. There were many mutated beasts along the railway lines. These mutated beasts were very cunning; after destroying the railway, they would flee without engaging in combat with humans.
In fact, the choices of these mutated beasts were the result of years of combat experience. If they directly confronted humans, under the firepower of modern human weaponry, the mutated beasts would inevitably suffer heavy casualties and be routed. Every year, the people of Sichuan Province would encircle these mutated beasts. To avoid human attacks, the mutated beasts could only resort to sneak attacks.
Among them, some cunning mutated beasts learned a method: destroying human railways. As long as human railways were destroyed, humans would not launch attacks for a period of time. Thus, these mutated beasts would often pry up the rails, putting immense pressure on the railway lines between Rongcheng and Yuzhou.
Ten years had passed since the apocalypse, and the original infrastructure roads had become unrecognizable. Many roads had cracked and collapsed, making it difficult to travel to a certain area by car, and the speed would become very slow.
Chu Chaoyan and Li Keyi could only try to reach Rongcheng as quickly as possible. After all, Shen Feng's parents were in Rongcheng, and if anything happened to them, it would be a great disservice to Shen Feng.
Chu Chaoyan looked at the large high-pressure gas cylinders carried in the car. These cylinders were filled with poison gas, which could cause casualties when released. Moreover, this poison gas was under her control, making it a good choice for killing earth bees.