I transformed into a cute girl and lived a carefree life in the apocalypse.

She clasped her hands together, and her body continuously released particles of light that penetrated the soil and disappeared into the ground. After a while, she suddenly opened her eyes, and a certain guess in her heart was finally confirmed.

These pits are the entrances, and inside there are thousands of passages, intricate and complex, resembling an underground labyrinth.

Yan Ziming lightly stomped his right foot, and amidst the burst of lightning, the ground completely collapsed.

The interior has been completely emptied.

18. Crushing defeat

Tens of thousands of moths fluttered their wings, forming a curtain of pink clouds in just a few seconds, resembling a dark cloud pressing down on a city, ready to crush it.

"Caution: Poisonous! Take precautions!!!"

The commander immediately realized that the thing was poisonous, and he screamed hysterically, grabbing a piece of cloth and covering his mouth and nose.

He was right; the scales were indeed poisonous.

The scales seemed to drift slowly in the air, but they were blown to the front lines by the wind before the torrent of moths could fly, and everyone was on high alert as if facing a formidable enemy.

"?! Uh?! Aaaaaaah!!!"

"Aaaaaah!!! My hand?!"

However, no matter how hard you try, you can't cover up every single corner of your body.

The skin that came into contact with the scales immediately began to ulcerate, as if it had been splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid, or as if it had been branded with a red-hot iron. The burning sensation made even these men, who had experienced countless battles, cry out in agony.

Covering your mouth and nose is the right choice; otherwise, if you inhale it, it will cause huge damage to your body, such as internal bleeding, organ corrosion, etc.

Skin problems are a minor issue; the most serious problem is the eyes.

When the scales were blown into their eyes, the soldiers saw sparks of electricity flash in their vision, and then they went completely blind. Their eyeballs suffered irreversible damage and were completely necrotic.

The eyeball is the part of the brain closest to the central nervous system, and the pain here is far greater than in other places. Many people lose their ability to fight directly, writhing and screaming on the ground, unable to get up.

"Quickly grab the goggles! If you have any, put them on right away! Call for backup! We need backup!"

The commander screamed hysterically, completely terrified by this offensive. What was this?

What exactly are they fighting against?

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!

The giant insectoid beasts began to charge the defensive line. Each of them was seven or eight meters tall, and many were over ten meters tall. Some were even over twenty meters tall, which was already at the S-level.

Their carapaces are extremely thick, and they have a pair of huge, scimitar-shaped forelimbs, or perhaps mouthparts? They have four legs and bodies as robust as water buffalo. Every step they take shakes the ground and leaves deep dents in the asphalt. Defenses are like wooden frames in front of them, collapsing at the slightest impact.

A tank was stomped down by a giant insect beast over ten meters tall, and the tank instantly turned into a flat iron disc, demonstrating just how heavy these giant insect beasts are.

These guys are the most solid siege machines. Not only are they larger and more robust than other mutant species of the same level, but their thick carapaces must be at least several meters thick.

Perhaps their only shortcoming is their agility.

"Tank units, open fire! Calling in fire support!"

Compared to those outside, those inside armored vehicles and tanks were undoubtedly in a much better position. While others were in disarray, they had already arrived at the front line, ready to defend their positions to the death.

Hundreds of tanks opened fire at the same time, their primary targets being the giant insectoid beasts.

Bang bang bang bang!

The explosions were deafening, and the shells in the cannons were fired at three to four times the speed of sound. There were armor-piercing shells, high-explosive anti-tank shells, and high-explosive fragmentation shells... they were all fired.

Crackling crackling crackling crackling crackling crackling!

Each giant insectoid beast was hit by at least several bullets, but most of them were deflected by the curve when they made contact with its carapace. Although they still hit, the penetration effect was undoubtedly greatly reduced.

After a round of attacks, they only trimmed the shape of their several-meter-thick carapaces. Less than half a meter of the several-meter-thick carapaces were shaved off, and none of them were breached.

Especially those over twenty meters tall, when hit by tank shells, are like ants trying to shake a tree, completely unmoved, truly only suffering a minor scratch!

"Use crystal bullets! Regular ammunition won't work!"

The tank driver reacted immediately, loaded the special crystal bullets, inserted them into the breech, and then pulled the trigger.

An even more ferocious explosion swept across the entire area in an instant, the tremors were continuous, and shockwaves rose from the ground in concentric circles.

boom!

The specially made crystal bullets landed on the giant insect beast in an instant, first bursting into a huge layer of flames that covered the entire beast, followed by a super-powerful shockwave. The surrounding houses were strangely dented as if they had been hammered by a giant sledgehammer, and the ordinary insect beasts around it were directly crushed under the pressure.

"hold head high--"

The shattered carapace was blasted into the sky by the enormous force, and the giant insect beast was also overturned by this huge impact. Large cracks appeared on its carapace, and finally it peeled off like old wall plaster.

"It's working! Keep going! Aim for the big one!"

The tank's cannon was aimed at the largest creature on the field, which was over thirty meters tall and almost reached SS-class level.

boom!

More than ten tanks opened fire simultaneously, and they were all loaded with special crystal bullets, all of which hit it.

Click... Click...

More than ten huge bursts of flame erupted on its body. It was only slightly tilted by the impact before straightening itself and charging forward even more fearlessly.

"No way, this thing is too hard!"

"Then give me an even higher-grade crystal bullet!"

"That was an A-grade crystal bullet, the highest configuration available!"

While the crystal bullets did achieve some results, the battlefield remained one-sided. In the end, the giant insect beast, which was over thirty meters tall, was only barely stopped by two seventh-level ability users working together.

But their biggest trouble wasn't just these giant insect beasts, but also the dense swarms of insects and the moths that blotted out the sky, which had already reached the front lines.

Don't underestimate this swarm of moths; each one is over a meter long, and their forelimbs can easily penetrate a human body. When thousands or tens of thousands of them swarm down together, killing people is as easy as harvesting wheat!

And the scales and powder, even now, are still deeply troubling them; otherwise, they wouldn't have been defeated so quickly.

Less than three minutes into the battle, they were already on the verge of complete collapse.

Rumble——! ! !

Dozens of intense flashes suddenly lit up the sky, instantly transforming into beams of light several meters thick that struck the center of the insectoid beast.

As the light of death swept across, large swathes of insectoid beasts vanished, even the giant insectoid beasts that had caused the army so much trouble, their bodies torn to pieces or turned into sculptures under the intense heat.

Most of the beams of light targeted the moths in the sky, and within a few moments, countless moths were annihilated, and the obscured sky was once again illuminated.

"A bunch of dead bugs..."

Yan Ziming's face was extremely gloomy. She had received the intelligence from the beginning, and she originally wanted to test the army's level, but she never expected that her own people would be defeated so quickly! Nor did she expect that the insect beasts' offensive would be so diverse!

This scale powder directly caused the battle to become one-sided, and it cannot be ignored!

"Is that where it originates?"

Yan Ziming's gaze fell upon a skyscraper in the western district, the very spot where the moths had emerged.

With a wave of her hand, the sky above the skyscraper instantly changed, and a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. Almost in the next second, the skyscraper turned into a burning torch and exploded with a deafening roar.

7. After several twists and turns

Yan Ziming didn't use much energy; he only used a seventh-level attack, and the ground completely collapsed.

What lay before Yan Ziming was an empty, deep pit.

What about nuclear waste?

Nuclear waste buried underground is usually packaged in special containers before being buried, but Yan Zimo couldn't see it at all.

This place has been completely emptied out.

When she relayed the news back to Huang Tao, he jumped up, exclaiming, "How is this possible? Who did this?"

Nuclear waste is simply radioactive material, which can be used to make the most basic "dirty bomb." However, the major powers already possess very mature nuclear technology and have no reason to covet this "dregs."

So, who did this?

"Senior Huang Tao, do you still remember the news that just came back from Jiangning?" Yan Ziming asked quietly.

"I remember discovering a large number of unknown insect-type mutant species... but what does that have to do with this place?"

"I believe that the 'people' who wanted to destroy the evidence by disposing of the plane are them..."

After Yan Ziming shared her idea, Huang Tao thought she was crazy and retorted, "Although we discovered insects that had never been found before in Jiangning, your idea is too far-fetched."

"Is Mu Mu still in Jiangning? We could let her explore the underground."

"..."

Huang Tao hesitated for a moment. He wanted Mu Mu to also participate in the search and rescue operation for the Chinese leaders, but since that was already the case...

After sending the new order to Mu Mu, Huang Tao continued, "Provide me with any further clues."

Yan Ziming stared at the hollowed-out pit for a long time. Suddenly, her body blurred, fading away slowly like a ghost.

"Squeak, squeak squeak squeak—"

A kilometer away from where Yan Ziming disappeared, the Spear of Victory pierced a giant spider over ten meters long, emitting a sharp, piercing shriek.

Yan Ziming used lightning to completely destroy its mouthparts right in front of it before he was finally free from the noise.