Chapter 298: Insect Plague

At the city gate, the panicked refugees saw the locusts coming, and everything had already descended into chaos.

Seeing the swarm of insects flying over, everyone swarmed toward the city gate in a rush.

"The insects are here, hurry and let us into the city."

"Let us in, we don't want to be outside."

"Help, let us into the city."

The garrison at the city gate fought desperately to hold them back.

"Everyone, don't crowd; the city has already taken in too many refugees and can hold no more."

"Hold them back, keep them outside," the commanding officer roared, "there are too many people in the city; if the locusts are drawn into the city, it will cause severe casualties."

But his roar was swallowed by the wails and cries of the refugees, becoming extremely faint.

Driven by the instinct to survive, the refugees rushed madly toward the city.

"Boom—"

The barricade outside the city gate was breached by the refugees.

"The gate is broken, everyone rush in, find a place to take shelter."

The garrison was in disarray too; they could not stop so many refugees.

The refugees rushed madly into the city.

They ran onto the streets, charging into the shops on both sides of the street, and some refugees even rushed into other people's homes.

The shopkeepers were startled and hurried to block them.

"What are you doing, don't come in..."

But before the words were finished, someone swung a wooden club and hit him on the head.

The shopkeeper fell to the ground, his head bloodied.

The refugees seized the opportunity to rush into the shops and hide everywhere.

Seeing this, the surrounding shops closed their doors in fear, but there were too many refugees; seeing them close the doors, they frantically tried to squeeze in.

"Open the door, the swarm is here, let us in to take shelter."

Some people broke into shops to take shelter, others seized the chance to smash and loot, and some fished in troubled waters, running into shops to commit open robbery.

The residential areas in the city were no better off.

Refugees climbed over walls and jumped into homes, hiding here and there, scaring the homeowners into screaming loudly.

"Get out, get out of my house."

But the refugees wouldn't listen at all; they just insisted on forcing their way into people's homes.

Some homeowners swung clubs and sticks, fighting with the refugees.

For a time, the once peaceful and quiet Shiya City fell into chaos.

The city was in total disorder, with screams, roars, and cries ringing out everywhere...

The garrison couldn't manage it at all; they could attend to one side but not the other.

Looking at the chaotic Shiya City, the commanding officer's face turned green.

But what other choice did he have?

The city was in chaos, and the locust swarm outside was being drawn in by the refugees, closing in like a dark cloud!

In the blink of an eye, the once clear sky rapidly turned dark.

The air was filled with flying locusts, blocking out the sunlight.

The finger-long locusts rushed madly at people, biting anyone they saw.

The garrison outside the gate held torches and Long Swords, swinging them desperately into the air.

But the number of insects was simply too great; torches and Long Swords were of no use against them.

The locusts crawled into the garrison's collars, biting their skin frantically.

Their sharp mouthparts caused the garrison unbearable pain, and they kept slapping their bodies and roaring.

"An insect, a locust crawled into my clothes, it hurts so much."

"It hurts to death, my face was bitten."

"Help, don't bite me."

The commanding officer, wearing an iron Helmet, had also been bitten several times by the locusts; he endured the pain and shouted orders to the soldiers.

"Hold the city gate for me, no one is allowed to retreat. Light up straw, dead trees, coal... anything that can catch fire! Light fires to destroy the insects."

Several piles of straw were lit, and billowing black smoke shot into the sky.

It was already evening, and the sun was sinking in the west.

The sky darkened, and the firelight attracted the locusts; they swarmed toward the fires one after another.

The scorching flames burned many locusts to death.

A foul, burnt stench permeated the air.

But the fires lit in haste had limited power; for the overwhelming locusts, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

Many locusts were burned to death, but new ones immediately flew up to take their place.

Some fires were even smothered by the dense pile of dead insect carcasses, extinguishing the flames.

"We, we can't hold it," someone screamed shrilly, "General Liu, there are too many insects, the soldiers are in unbearable pain from the bites; if we stay any longer, we'll lose our lives."

The general guarding the city was surnamed Liu; he looked up at the sky in the distance and saw more dark swarms of insects flying over, a look of despair appearing in his eyes.

There were too many people in the city, drawing all the nearby locust swarms over.

If these insects flew into the city, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He muttered, "I never imagined that after defeating the Yuan Clan Army and taking Shiya City, we would be destroyed today at the hands of a group of insects."

Just at this moment, a massive roaring sound arrived.

General Liu looked up and saw two enormous iron vehicles speeding out from the night.

Behind them followed five square white iron vehicles.

He was stunned, and then his eyes lit up, "This is..."

As he spoke, the two trucks had already sped over, coming to a sharp halt at the city gate.

Xiao Moting, dressed in armor, jumped down from the vehicle and asked in a deep voice.

"General Liu, how is the situation in the city?"

General Liu was so moved that his eyes welled up with tears; he was also part of the Northern Frontier Army, and after driving away the Yuan Clan Army last time, Xiao Moting had ordered him to lead a group of soldiers to guard the city here.

He hurriedly stepped forward and knelt on one knee.

"Shiya City garrison commander Liu Yong, greets the Prince!"

"The locust plague is too severe, and the disaster victims have all crowded into the city; I beg the Prince to forgive this humble general for his incompetence, as I fear the city can no longer be held."

Xiao Moting looked up and gazed into the distance.

In just this short amount of time, several locusts had already collided with his iron armor, making *pu-pu* sounds.

However, he was fully armed, wearing a Bulletproof Helmet with a transparent visor and clad in armor, so the locusts could not get inside his clothes for the time being.

Qin Zhan also jumped down from the vehicle with the soldiers.

He looked up and could not help but let out a series of exclamations.

"Good heavens, so many bugs!"

"It is truly a natural disaster; where on earth did so many locusts come from?"

Several locusts collided with the visor of his Bulletproof Helmet one after another and fell to the ground.

Qin Zhan looked down and discovered that these locusts were actually as big as a finger, yellowish-brown all over, with sharp mouthparts, looking exceptionally ferocious.

The soldiers following behind him could not help but get goosebumps and feel the hair on their backs stand up when they saw such large locusts.

"Mother, is this a locust? It's so big."

"If this thing bites you, wouldn't it tear off a chunk of flesh?"

"This is my first time seeing such a large locust; it really could bite a person to death."

It was the soldiers' first time seeing a locust plague, and they all felt their scalps tingle.

They were fully armed and wearing a Helmet, yet they still felt a lingering fear seeing these bugs, let alone the defenseless commoners.

Seeing the swarm of locusts blotting out the sky, Xiao Moting wrote a note to Bai Wei.

"Bai, the situation is urgent; please send the items over quickly."

Bai Wei replied immediately, "Alright, get ready, I will Teleport them over right away."