Imperial Crown.

Chapter 280 The terrifying locust plague
Many thanks to Qidian Dad [Book Friend 20231004145551785] for the 100 reward!

……

The day after the locusts appeared in Hampshire, Baroness Florence woke from a peaceful sleep and yawned.

His territory was located in the eastern part of Irene County, close to Feldoro County, which was once ruled by the Fox family.

So for the past hundred years, his family has been relying on the Fox family.

As a baron, he had to put on a gentle and obedient posture in front of the Fox family and act like a lackey beside the evil young man in the knight's story.

Once at Raven's press conference, Florence even acted as a pimp for Gul'dan.

Now that the Fox family has been destroyed, he must work hard to become a minion of the new Governor.

He stood in front of the Angel's Glory in a daze. The mirror was not large and could only reflect his slightly thin face with a goatee, but it was enough.

Trying hard to open her eyes, Florence smiled at the mirror, and tried hard to adjust her posture so that her exposed eight teeth would be reduced to six - the nobles from the royal capital didn't seem to like direct flattery.

Although she had no hat, Florence still took it off with a look of astonishment, her eyes showing three parts of surprise, three parts of admiration, and four parts of joy:

"Governor, why are you in such a remote place?"

He had received news that Marquis Anthony would go to inspect a town not far away today, and he had to create an "encounter" there.

Therefore, one must take good care of one’s image.

Putting away his smile, Florence picked up an ivory comb and trimmed his beard:

"Come here, change your clothes."

A well-trained maid came in and put on a decent outfit for Florence, but he was not very satisfied. He changed several pieces of clothing before he finally decided on his perfect outfit.

On his head was a tweed hat that had been stored at the bottom of a closet. It was gray and looked a little old. On his upper body was a black high-necked tuxedo made of cotton and silk. The wrists had been filed twice, as if it had been worn for many years. On his lower body were a pair of brown leather pants that did not match him very well, and on his feet were leather shoes that were in good condition but still had three rivets on them.

"Sir, I have to say that this outfit is not suitable for your noble status." Florence's wife frowned.

Florence shook her head and said, "You don't understand. Marquis Anthony called for strict frugality. If we don't dress like this, how can we show our intentions?"

Every noble has his own way of survival. Florence's way of survival is to cling to the thighs of the strong - no matter who the strong is.

Some people may think this is currying favor, but Florence prefers to call it "social skills."

After kissing his lady goodbye, Florence deliberately chose an old horse for spring outings, and headed eastward, escorted by knights wearing only leather armor.

On the way, he began to rehearse the scene of the meeting.

If we meet by the river, I will pretend not to see the Governor and drink the water from the river.

If you meet in a town, you should bargain loudly with the street vendors.

If we met in the village, if we met in the village...

Florence's train of thought was somewhat interrupted because he heard a dense buzzing sound.

These knights need to be properly disciplined. They are whispering to each other so blatantly. Are they treating me as if I don’t exist?
"Stop arguing." Florence waved her hand impatiently: "I'm thinking!"

"Sir, it's not us!" the knight next to him said aggrievedly.

"If it's not you, then who else could it be--" Florence turned around to continue scolding, but the second half of the sentence was stuck in her throat and she couldn't say it no matter what.

He saw a cloud, a dark cloud, a dark cloud that was bringing heavy rain.

It swept in from the west, blocking out the sky and making it impossible to see a single ray of sunlight.

Dense raindrops continued to fall from the sky, covering the fields and dyeing them black.

The buzzing sound was getting closer and closer with the arrival of the dark cloud!
Moreover, there was not only a buzzing vibration, but also a dense sound like the friction of gravel.

Florence's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open:

"what is that!?"

With a whoosh, a black shadow suddenly rushed over and was intercepted by the knight next to him. He opened his palm and handed it to Florence.

This was an insect, and perhaps because of the backlash of the impact, thick green liquid gushed out of its pincer-like mouthparts, with a grassy smell that almost made people want to vomit.

But it was not dead yet. Its six limbs, four short and two long, were struggling and its mouthparts were constantly wriggling. It tore off a strip from the knight's leather glove and began to swallow it.

"locust!!!?"

This endless cloud is actually made up of locusts! ?
Florence felt her mind go blank. She slapped the bug out of the knight's hand, tightened the reins, and squeezed the horse's belly with both legs:
“——Run!!!”

With her head lowered, as if dodging arrows on a battlefield, Florence fled for her life, squeezing out all the horsepower she could.

But the buzzing sound was getting closer and louder.

Like thunder!

The knights' horses were similar to Florence's, or even inferior, and because they were wearing leather armor and carrying various weapons, they were heavier, so they inevitably fell behind Florence.

A horse neighed and Florence couldn't help but look back, her scalp suddenly felt like it was bursting.

The last horse had half its body covered with fist-sized locusts. Half of its buttocks and its entire right leg were covered in blood, with no trace of skin left.

"Get out of here, you damn bugs!" The fallen knight stood up, drew the long sword from his waist, wrapped it with azure-blue fighting spirit, and swung the sword wildly!
There were popping sounds, and the stomachs of several locusts were chopped into pieces, disintegrating in mid-air. However, before they hit the ground, they were swarmed over by a group of their own kind and eaten up completely in mid-air, leaving only a few tiny pieces of wing membranes falling to the ground.

One, two, or ten or eight locusts are nothing, but here, there are locusts all over the mountains!
The knight swung his sword, but could not stop more and more locusts from crawling on his body. They were so dense that they looked like a colorful armor made of locusts. Their sharp mouthparts tore open his leather armor and cotton lining and drilled deeper.

"Ah——" A heart-wrenching scream rang out, accompanied by extreme panic.

No one wants to be eaten alive by bugs.

"Save me, Lord Baron!"

In response to this cry for help, Florence gritted her teeth, turned her head, and whipped the horse's buttocks hard again.

The screams grew farther and farther away, fading away, inaudible to the ears but echoing in Florence's mind.

As he ran away, he heard more sounds of people falling to the ground and screaming. He knew that another knight had fallen off his horse and was in a dead end.

"Ah!!! Get away, you damn bugs!!"

"help me--"

"I curse you, Florence—"

But he didn't dare look back or stop, and could only run forward amid the wailing and curses of these people.

He felt his body getting heavier and the horse under him going slower and slower.

When she felt a sharp pain in her ears and blood flowed down her cheeks, Florence realized that she had been caught up by the swarm of insects.

Florence silently drew out her dagger for self-defense and secretly made up her mind that if she was caught, she would give herself a quick death!
As the horse turned the corner, Florence's eyes lit up because he saw a flag not far away. It had a blue flag, a green clover, and a golden cross star on the outside.

That's the flag of the Edwards family!
And under the flag, there was a group of people standing there, led by Marquis Anthony!
Florence, who had already fallen into despair, had a gleam of life in her eyes: "Governor, I am..."

Before he could finish his words, the horse under him let out a wail and fell to the ground.

Florence also rolled to the ground, with a few popping sounds as he crushed a few locusts that did not have time to escape. The fishy and sticky liquid mixed with dust stuck to his body, but Florence did not care about the nausea and rushed towards Anthony.

50 meters...

No, only 30 meters, and he could run to Anthony's team and escape!

Perhaps he was too excited, or perhaps it was the interference of the locusts, he suddenly stumbled to the ground. When he stood up again, he saw the backs of Anthony and his group, and the square flag that was flying further and further away.

"No, wait for me, save me! I am Baron Florence!"

A feeling of weakness came from her heels, and Florence fell to the ground again before she could stand firmly.

For many years, he has been focusing on flattery and scheming. His second-level fighting spirit has long been unable to exert its due power. In a hurry, he couldn't even condense his fighting spirit armor.

He looked back and saw that his pants were torn to pieces, and the flesh on the back of his heels looked like it had been rubbed by a file. A group of locusts landed on it, tearing at his pale yellow Achilles tendon with their sharp mouthparts.

It was just that in his excitement, his body consciously blocked the pain, so he didn't notice it.

Florence moaned meaninglessly and stopped looking. She used her hands and feet to chase Anthony's flag, but she could only watch it getting farther and farther away...

The swarm obscured his vision, but he continued to crawl forward until he touched a shallow U-shaped pit.

Florence knew that she was completely abandoned.

The locusts covered Florence like a blanket. At first she felt hot, then weak, and then the severe pain surged up like a tide.

He buried his head in the ground, tears streaming down his eyes. He wanted to end his life, but his mind ordered him to move his arm, and even though his arm was still in severe pain, there was no reaction at all.

Florence didn't know what was happening, but his increasingly cold body told him that he was going to die.

"Anthony..." Florence gritted her teeth:
"I curse you!!!"

The next moment, he felt an itch in his throat, and then a locust covered in mucus and blood crawled out of his mouth.

This was the last scene Florence saw.

His body was covered by the swarm of insects, leaving a long bloody trail behind him. Locusts crowded on it and gnawed the soil mixed with blood.

After an unknown amount of time, the locusts went to look for food elsewhere, leaving only broken bones on the ground.

Florence's bones can be seen scattered on the road, starting with the horse's skeleton, from ankle to calf, and from calf to thigh.

At his body, all that was left was a head, a right arm separated from the body, and most of his ribs.

If you raise your vision further, you can see that there are only swarms of insects between heaven and earth!

……

Anthony hardly slept a wink and rode back to Hovi City in two days.

But he did not rest. Instead, he immediately went to the conference room and unfolded the newly drawn map of the Nord Province.

"This locust plague is more serious than we expected." Anthony did not shy away from his own mistakes: "Traditional response methods alone are useless. We must deal with it seriously."

"Treat this locust plague as a war!"

Anthony's personal guards, including Acorri, all nodded in unison. The overwhelming swarm of insects and Florence's tragic death left a deep impression on them.

"I've never seen locusts that big before." Akori was also terrified: "What's going on?"

"Perhaps they grew in an environment rich in magical elements, or perhaps they are ancient species that suddenly revived. The Church of Light would say that this is divine punishment from the Lord of Light," said Pence, Anthony's personal alchemist and aide. "But none of this matters. What matters is how we deal with this locust plague."

Anthony, who was staring at the map, suddenly asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Pence was a middle-aged man with a well-dressed face and no beard. After hearing Anthony's question, he thought for a while and said, "These extraordinary sizes and physiques can be called monsters. Given their size, there must be at least one insect king commanding and dispatching them."

Anthony looked up and asked, "You mean, kill the insect king?"

"This..." Pence looked troubled. "I'm afraid it's difficult. Just how to locate it in the insect swarm is a problem. Killing the insect king will only cause them to fall into temporary chaos. If we can't cause large-scale casualties to the insect swarm, a new insect king will be born soon."

After these words were spoken, the conference room fell silent again. This method was no different from having no method at all.

After a long time, Anthony sighed and said, "Akori, record it."

"Yes, Governor!" Akori immediately picked up the pen and paper.

Anthony cleared his throat and said, "Now I am ordering in the name of the Governor to fight against this rare locust plague in the form of 'warning zones'."

"The four southern counties of Seaside, Bell, Irene, and Feldoro, and the three eastern counties of Arag, Bili, and Cambry are designated as the No. 1 alert zone and are under my personal jurisdiction."

"The three central counties of Hodges, Mansa, and Wiltshire, as well as the two northern counties of Derby and Lanshire, are designated as the Second Alert Zone and are managed by Earl Tyrone."

"The five northwestern counties of Snow Maple, Savery, Hippocrates, Essex, and Hampshire are designated as the No. 3 alert zone, presided over by Baron Raven."

"On the day the order arrives, all nobles must obey all requests from the supervisor of their respective security zones, automatically hand over military command, and are obliged to keep communication channels with the supervisor open."

"Any noble who disobeys my order will be charged with treason!"

Akori wrote them down one by one. At first, it seemed nothing, but at the end, his brows couldn't help but furrowed tightly.

Burns also noticed something was wrong: "Governor, is it really a good idea to give such great power to a baron like Raven?"

Anthony smiled bitterly: "If there is any other candidate, I won't choose him."

Seeing that Anthony hadn't looked up yet, Pence followed his gaze to the map, and gradually understood Anthony's approach.

The reason why the five northwestern counties were handed over to Raven was probably because they did not want the Slater family to take this opportunity to expand their influence.

After all, power is something that is easy to give away but difficult to take back.

Moreover, at present, Anthony controls 7 counties, Tyrone controls 5 counties, and Raven also controls 5 counties. This undoubtedly reflects Anthony's responsibility, and no one can find any fault with it.

"Okay, it's decided." Anthony slammed the table and said, "Akori, immediately copy and issue this order and take the air route."

"No matter what, I want it to be delivered to every corner of Nord Province before the locust plague covers the entire territory!"

Just as he finished speaking, there was a snap and a lost locust hit the window. Perhaps because the force was too great, it exploded into a ball of black and green paste and slowly slid down the window.

It was like the death knell.

……

(End of this chapter)