Doctor will never die in a hellish situation.

“That’s right. About ten years ago, this entire mine was monopolized by a family called Hissker. They somehow always managed to find obsidian veins and made a fortune,” Provence explained. “Watch out, there’s a skeleton ahead, don’t slip.”

The little lamb looked down and sure enough, there was a skeleton lying on the ground. It was holding a broken miner's pickaxe in its hand, and its mouth was wide open, with black crystals faintly visible on it.

"They should be the bodies of miners. In order to cut costs, the Hissk family not only uses a large number of infected people bought from Ursus as slave laborers, but also forces local infected people to sell themselves into slavery to work here." Skyfire curled his lip and said disdainfully.

According to the local elders, Siesta many years ago was definitely not as wonderful as it is now. If it weren't for Herman's sweeping reforms and his forceful reshaping of order, it would probably be no different from other towns in Terra.

"And then?"

"The Heath family was wiped out. The infected miners, unable to bear the oppression any longer, chose to rebel. They stormed into the Heath family's seaside mansion. By the time the security department arrived, the mansion had been burned to ashes, and there were no survivors."

The current attitude of the locals in Siesta towards the infected shows that the reforms included provisions for treating the infected well. This undoubtedly infringed on the interests of the Hissk family. In addition, as the leader of the conservative forces, they often opposed Herman, so it is normal for them to be secretly eliminated.

However, although many people believe that Herman was behind it, there is no evidence to support this claim.

"So the mine has been abandoned ever since? But the obsidian sold on the market..."

"The mayor ordered a halt to mining several years ago. First, it would destabilize the volcano and potentially trigger its activation prematurely. Second, those Originium Bugs would attack the miners. Anyone who stepped into the mining area would be met with a frenzied attack, even larger than the scene that Miss Ceylon caused the other day."

“This doesn’t make sense. Although Originium Bugs like to use volcanoes as their gathering place and have a strong sense of territory, it’s really abnormal for them to attack people who enter the mine indiscriminately.” Eyjafjalla frowned.

Unless you forcibly control them with casters like the Reunion Movement, or dance on their nests, Originium bugs are generally docile. Some people on Rhodes Island even keep them in their dorm rooms, and after a while, they actually find them quite cute.

“What’s even more outrageous is that every time Siesta sends people to wipe out the Originium worms, they obediently retreat back into their nests, and only launch another attack after the armed guards leave or their numbers decrease.” Skyfire lowered his voice and said mysteriously, “Legend has it that this is a curse placed by the Hissk family before they died, which is why the Originium worms are so violent and attack anyone who enters the cave.”

"Ah!" Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and Eyjafjalla was immediately startled and lunged forward.

"Miss Skyfire, please stop scaring Eyjafjalla. She's practically ripped my tail off." Provence said helplessly, feeling the familiar weight on her tail.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to, I just couldn't help it... Ouch." Tianhuo said, almost falling to the ground. She looked down and saw that it was a packaging bag for something.

Who litters like that?! Who has no sense of public decency?!

“No, this bag was left behind not long ago. Everyone be careful. There might be others besides the Originium Bugs who will welcome us.” Provence took the bag and looked at it, his expression grave.

Although they didn't recognize the strange writing, it undoubtedly meant that someone had been to this abandoned cave before them.

Eyjafjalla tilted her head and looked at the bag, thinking it looked familiar, but she didn't have time to think about it. She followed Skyfire and the others, crouching down as they went inside.

After passing through the maze-like, narrow tunnel, the space suddenly opened up, and an extremely hot atmosphere rushed towards us. With the dim light emitted by the lava, there was no need for any other lighting.

Then they witnessed a shocking scene.

The underground quarry has become a paradise for Originium worms. Large, slick Originium worms swim among them. Compared to these, the ones I saw on the beach were like kindergarten children compared to adults.

Not far from the tunnel entrance, there was a row of neat basins filled with brown granular substances, and Originium bugs would occasionally crawl over and perch on them.

"I remember now, that's Originium Bug feed. When I was feeding Vanilla's pets before, she used this kind of feed, no wonder the packaging looked familiar!" Seeing the brown granules piled up in the bowl, Eyjafjalla suddenly felt a lightbulb appear above her head.

Volcanic areas are ideal for Originium Bugs to grow, and with food provided by humans, it's no wonder they look bigger than Vanilla's carefully raised pets.

“Perhaps we’ve been mistaken all along. It’s not that the impending volcanic eruption caused the Originium worms to act abnormally, but rather that the activity of these Originium worms caused the volcanic eruption!” Provence said with a grave expression after her reminder.

Originium bugs dig burrows to create habitats, which is a normal behavior for them. However, for the residents of Siesta outside, this behavior can cause the volcano to become active, leading to a catastrophic disaster.

The mayor had originally banned the mining of obsidian, so the Originium Bugs' habitat remained undisturbed. Limited by food availability, their population was kept within a finite number, preventing such horrific consequences.

However, some people deliberately feed them, allowing the insect swarms to multiply wildly without any worries. Naturally, they will gradually expand their nests, eventually causing a natural disaster.

“No matter who did it, we must notify the Doctor as soon as possible. This is beyond our scope of handling, and we need to call more operators to help,” Skyfire said, frowning.

"Want to leave...it might not be that easy." Provence pointed to a spot not far away.

Swarms of Originium Bugs advanced in an orderly fashion, like an army, and surrounded them.

Feigning weakness to lure the enemy in... This classic tactic is so effective that even members of the Reunion Movement wouldn't find it strange. But where do a bunch of Originium Bugs get such high intelligence?

Are Originium bugs now even interested in military strategy?!

Section 144, Chapter 36: Tank Owners Die from Their Tracks

Clap!

The dark red liquid shot onto the wall, instantly corroding a large hole. Imagine the terrible damage it would cause if it hit a person.

The three girls escaped the mine in a sorry state, especially poor Provence, whose beautiful fur was burned black and curled because her tail was too conspicuous.

However, after leaving the cave entrance, the Originium Bugs' aggressive desire decreased considerably. They seemed to be protecting something, sending only a small number of them to continue chasing the girls.

Just then, a man who looked even worse off than the girls stumbled and rushed over from the opposite direction. When he saw the Originium Bug, he was overjoyed and quickened his pace.

"Danger!" Provence was about to stop him, but the man seemed not to hear her.

"How come that person is completely unharmed?" Tianhuo pointed at the ragged man. The ferocious Originium worms seemed to ignore his presence and let him enter the cave.

"He's the one who secretly raised and controlled the Originium Bugs!" Provence raised his crossbow to fire, but there were just too many Originium Bugs. By the time he cleared away the bugs blocking his path, the man had already disappeared into the darkness.

"But with such a huge number, even if all the Reunion Movement's sorcerers came, they probably wouldn't be able to handle it, right?" Skyfire said, suddenly thinking of a certain possibility.

Originium Mother!

Once the leader of the swarm is controlled, the remaining swarms will naturally obey orders. Moreover, given that such a large swarm can be produced, the mother swarm must be much larger than a calf.

After a while, Qin Duanyu and the others also caught up.

Earlier at the dock, Kronin took advantage of the earthquake to steal a speedboat and escape. Qin Duanyu discussed with Herman and officially signed a cooperation agreement, notifying the agents on vacation to cooperate with the Siesta government to evacuate people.

He led ACE and the others, chasing Kronin all the way to the crater, where they met up with Skyfire and the others. After a brief exchange of information, everyone's expressions were not good.

No wonder Cronin, this fake messenger of natural disasters, made more accurate judgments than professionals like Little Sheep; it turns out he was the one orchestrating everything.

“There were rumors back then that the Hissk family had a way to control Originium Bugs and use them as guides to find Obsidian. I never thought it would actually be true.” After listening to Skyfire and the others’ analysis, Ceylon frowned and said, “It probably won’t be long before Kronin digs through the bottom of the volcano and causes a natural disaster.”

"For the sake of Siesta, you must stop him!"

……

Inside the Originium Bug's nest.

Amidst the violent shaking of the earth, a massive Originium worm slowly crawled up to Kronin and lowered its head.

This was a mother insect that Kronin's father accidentally discovered decades ago while exploring a cave. After controlling it using his unique Originium Arts, it served the Hissk family as a tool for mining obsidian.

Pompeii briefly broke free from control after Cronin's father died, taking over the mine as their hideout.

During a mission leading his guards to drive out Originium worms, Kronin recognized his own treasure. After regaining control of it, he realized that an opportunity to take revenge on Herman had come knocking.

He first took advantage of the Originium Bugs' natural ability to obey orders, causing considerable losses to the miners. However, whenever a large-scale raid occurred, he would make the Originium Bugs hide.

After Herman, due to the excessive losses from mining, ordered a ban on obsidian mining, he secretly sent people down into the mine to earn a considerable income. Most of this money was used to hire people, and the rest was used to raise Originium Bugs.

Kronin's family technique is more like Qin Duanyu's method of establishing a mental link, but it is not as gentle. It is purely a suppression using mental power to achieve the purpose of forced control.

"Biro, didn't I instruct you to activate the volcano when the moon is directly overhead?" Kronin walked up to it and said impatiently.

He was also puzzled as to why his father had chosen this name, which seemed to originate from some powerful war machine. But that didn't matter, as long as this giant worm could help with revenge.

“Deep...danger...my child...dares not go...so it’s very slow…” The voice echoed intermittently in Kronin’s mind.

"Dig them up even if they die! Hurry up, we can't give Herman time to move them!" he coldly ordered.

Driven by a desire for revenge against Herman, Kronin cared nothing for the lives of thousands, let alone a few Originium Bugs. He began to employ Originium Arts, preparing to force the Originium Mother Bugs into submission through mental suppression.

"You seem quite weak." The voice of the Originium Mother came slowly, not only smooth but also with a hint of mockery in it.

Immediately, a sharp pain shot through his head, causing him to kneel on the ground.

Taking advantage of his exhaustion, the Originium Queen took the initiative to resist his control.

"Over this long period of time, I've not only been raising offspring, but I've also learned a lot from you humans, such as discarding things that have no value. Wasn't that what you said when you told me to kill those miners to silence them?" The Originium Queen said smugly after gaining the upper hand.

"Biro, don't forget, it was I who provided you with food, which allowed your tribe to thrive so much. You ungrateful wretch!" Kronin gritted his teeth and cursed fiercely.

"You and your father only used me as a tool. Just like you always say, I will take my revenge on you!" the Originium Queen coldly replied. "Also, don't call me Biluo. I've given myself a much better name—Pompeii!"

These were the last words Cronin heard before he was crushed beneath that enormous black body and turned into a pile of minced meat.

Originium Bugs will never be slaves!

Pompeii let out a silent roar to the sky, and the Originium worms in the cave followed suit and raised their heads. What should have been a thrilling scene was somehow somewhat comical.

Accompanied by falling rocks and earthquakes, scalding lava spewed out, but it felt as refreshing as a shower to the volcano, indicating that progress had been made and the volcano was more active than before.

To create more living space, the humans below the mountain must be eliminated. To achieve this goal quickly, some children must be sacrificed! Thinking this, Pompeii ordered his offspring to speed up their movements, and it too crawled deeper into the nest.

Previously, it had been passively resisting work simply because it was Cronin's order; now that the serfs had been liberated and were singing praises, it naturally had more ideas of its own.

It seems that Pompeii learned more than just cunning from humans.

Chapter 37, Section 145: Who wouldn't love a girl who's so hot she's practically spitting fire?

Even the most elite troops would find urban warfare and tunnel warfare challenging. The complex terrain, which prevents them from deploying their forces, and the enemy lurking in the shadows, would not only result in exceptionally fierce battles but also in far greater casualties than in open field warfare.

The C2 team from Lidong and the A4 team from Melantha were not suitable for handling this situation. Penguin Logistics was good, but unfortunately they were all working as bodyguards for the Emperor. Therefore, when Qin Duanyu was selecting personnel, he directly brought the most elite ACE team and the SCOUT team without SCOUT.

These two teams were already well-coordinated and highly capable, and with his enhanced perception and early warning abilities, their advance was relatively smooth.

"A large number of Originium Bugs are around the corner ahead. Heavyweight Operators, please provide cover!"

"Guardian operators, be careful of the shadowy area on the left; there are a few big guys hiding there."

"Damn it, caster operators over there, be careful of the power of Originium Arts! If you blow up the load-bearing beams, we'll all be dead before the volcano even erupts!"

One command after another entered the operators' minds. When the last command was given, Miss Skyfire blushed and silently withdrew the powerful spell she was about to unleash.

throat!

He rushed over to clear out the ambushing Jiejie, slashing at the hard carapace with his sword. Although Haro intervened in time and severed the head of the Originium Bug, he was still sprayed with venom on his arm.

These massive Originium Bugs, having consumed a significant amount of obsidian, have accumulated this substance on their carapace, resulting in astonishing strength. Attacks capable of piercing heavily armored enemies remain completely unharmed, forcing them to target the weakest points in their defenses.

"I thought it was just dealing with some bugs, but how come they're all so tough, and there are so many of them? Ouch—Meiko, be gentle." Jiejie went back to the back of the group and asked Meiko to treat her arm, which had been burned by the Originium Bug venom. As a result, she grimaced in pain.

"That doesn't make sense. Why can't your wound heal?" Meiko frowned. He had clearly sprayed the antidote, and Jiejie should have recovered after using Originium Arts.

“From an ecological perspective, these Originium Bugs are all mutated species, and it would be more appropriate to call them Lava Originium Bugs. They are not only stronger, but their toxicity is also far more potent than that of their ordinary counterparts,” Ceylon explained, reaching out to cover Jiejie’s wound.

Accompanied by a faint blue light, a cool sensation swept over them, and with the help of Meiko's magic, they finally regained their fighting strength.

"Everyone be careful, there are several heavily armored Originium bugs approaching. Since a more powerful mutated individual has appeared, it seems that Provence's prediction was correct." Qin Duanyu wiped away his sweat, partly due to the extreme heat near the bottom of the volcano, and partly due to the depletion of his sanity.