Chapter 45: Bait, Hiring, and the Lv14 Auto-Cannon

Chen Yanyan suddenly realized Lin Feng's strategy.

Indeed, Lin Feng was adept at such cunning tactics.

However, now that the Red Armored Beetle swarm had scattered, she had only managed to kill seven, leaving ten more to reach Lv9.

"What should we do, follow them?"

Chen Yanyan asked while skillfully stripping the carapaces from the beetles.

Seven carapaces were enough to upgrade the Red Armored Shield by another level.

Watching the bug hunters leave, Lin Feng shook his head:

"Those bugs are clever. Unless you get close to the queen's nest near the city, you won't encounter large swarms."

"Don't think you can just reap a lot of kills. Opportunities like the one at the university city are rare and risky."

"Let's hope these scattered hunting teams are lucky enough to lure out some small groups of Black Spinal Bugs."

With that, Lin Feng got out of the camper, took the Red Armored Beetle carapaces, and integrated them into Chen Yanyan's shield.

Upgrading it to Lv5, he kept a few carapaces in reserve.

Chen Yanyan pondered over the bug carcasses, saying:

"We need a way to draw the bugs out of the holes. How about these carcasses? Didn't you use them to feed the Red Armored Beetles before?"

Lin Feng shrugged:

"That's one way. But they're far more attracted to human flesh and blood than their own dead, probably due to moisture and nutrient content."

"Unless you're willing to bleed to lure them."

"Also, standing by the hole is highly uncertain, like fishing in a shrimp hole. There might be lobsters at the bottom, but there could also be a venomous snake."

"It's risky."

"If three or four Black Spinal Bugs suddenly appear, I won't have time to save you."

As they discussed over the bug carcasses, three more cars pulled up at the toll station, ordinary sedans.

A few young people, no older than twenty, some as young as sixteen or seventeen, all looking like students, got out.

Lin Feng recognized some of them as students who escaped Haicheng with them on the school bus.

They should have reached Jin City with the main refugee convoy by now.

Why were they back?

After getting out of the cars, the group of young people discussed for a while, then a boy and a girl approached Lin Feng.

Chen Yanyan's eyes lit up upon seeing them.

The two stopped a few meters away from Lin Feng, trying to appear as lively as they could despite their fatigue, speaking humbly:

"Hello, Mr. Lin."

"We're Liu Yueqi's classmates. I'm Shen Jie, and she's Zhang Liying."

Seeing their dirty appearance, Lin Feng frowned. Shen Jie and Zhang Liying were Lv2 and Lv1, respectively, not much in the hunter's world.

"You don't even have decent gear. What are you doing here, seeking death?"

Shen Jie looked helpless:

"We were at school during the insect invasion, barely escaping with the bus driver. Our families were lost in the insect sea... The federal institutions don't accept minors under sixteen, and the Bureau thinks we're too low level..."

"We have nowhere to go. We met Liu Yueqi on the road, and she gave us half a tank of gas, saying we could try our luck here."

Lin Feng sighed, shaking his head:

"Don't even think about it. This isn't a complex cityscape. In this open area, there's no chance to scavenge."

"Even your group together might not handle a small Red Armored Beetle swarm."

"Now that the beetles are hiding in the tunnels, we can't do anything unless you want to crawl into those narrow holes and fight them head-on."

Hearing Lin Feng's words, the two looked around at the desolate scene, turning away dejectedly.

"Wait!"

A female voice called from behind.

Chen Yanyan looked at the students, smiling as she spoke:

"If you have nowhere to go, why not work for us? Cleanup, material collection, things like that."

"Of course, if you're willing to act as bait, we might consider giving you enhanced bug-killing opportunities."

With a nod from Lin Feng, Chen Yanyan pointed to the bug tunnels in the roadside greenery.

Shen Jie and Zhang Liying exchanged glances and replied:

"We need to discuss it with the others. Please wait."

After consulting with their companions by the cars, they returned with three others, making five in total, each holding shields made from carapaces, armed with short knives, fire axes, and crowbars.

"We're willing to help lure out the Red Armored Beetles while the others clean the battlefield."

Lin Feng nodded:

"Find a few brave ones. We need to transport some live bugs back."

If they couldn't find Black Spinal Bugs, Lin Feng planned to capture some Red Armored Beetles as a temporary solution for Hu Fei.

The group took a deep breath, nodded, and followed Chen Yanyan to the roadside tunnel entrance.

The crawling tracks on the grass led into the over one-meter-wide tunnel, where antennae and feelers could be faintly seen twitching.

Startled and without the Black Spinal Bugs' command, the Red Armored Beetles hesitated to emerge for food.

Shen Jie and four young people cautiously approached the tunnel entrance, banging their fire axes on their shields while shouting to lure out the Red Armored Beetles.

Unfortunately, the beetles clung to the tunnel walls, showing no reaction.

Instead, due to the loud commotion, they retreated further into the tunnel.

The options were to enter the tunnels, risking the beetles' territory, or try another method to lure them out.

Following Chen Yanyan's instructions, some companions brought a few Red Armored Beetle carcasses from the armored camper and left them at the tunnel entrance before retreating.

However, after a while, nothing happened.

Seeing this, Chen Yanyan took a medical kit from the camper, pulling out a needle and tube, speaking calmly:

"Sound alone won't work. The bait's scent is too weak to attract the beetles."

"The last resort is blood."

"This is sterilized blood transfusion equipment. Who's willing?"

Shen Jie accepted the sterile pack, opened it, and looked at the four others, suggesting:

"There are only three sets of transfusion needles. I'll go first. Everyone will give about 300 milliliters; it should be enough."

Following the instructions, he tied a tourniquet, and with Zhang Liying's help, inserted the needle into his elbow vein.

Having strengthened twice, a bit of blood loss didn't affect him much, but due to a lack of food, he felt dizzy afterward.

Two more boys followed, drawing a total of 1,000 milliliters for Zhang Liying.

Carefully, she approached the tunnel entrance and poured the warm blood into the depths.

Rustling sounds followed as the hungry Red Armored Beetles, smelling the strong scent of blood, began to stir.

Zhang Liying seized the moment to pour the remaining blood at the entrance, then retreated to the road.

Everyone held their breath, like fishermen waiting for a bite, until two long antennae emerged from the tunnel, bringing smiles to their faces.

The Red Armored Beetles, drawn by the blood in the soil, forgot their fear and emerged one after another, following the trail.

Shen Jie and his group swallowed hard, slowly backing away at Chen Yanyan's signal.

As more beetles emerged, their growing numbers emboldened them, prompting further exploration.

Chen Yanyan counted seventeen or eighteen Red Armored Beetles, enough to upgrade to the ninth level.

She decisively raised her gun, targeting the beetles.

Using controlled shots, she disabled their legs, immobilizing them.

This method didn't alarm the swarm, preventing panic, and kept the beetles' aggression focused.

The death of one beetle alerted its kind, but its cries only incited nearby beetles' anger.

In their simple minds, they could only process one signal: Death meant danger, but injury meant a killable enemy.

Chen Yanyan moved with agility, making quick work of the low-level beetles.

Minutes later...

Seeing no more beetles emerge from the tunnel, she lowered her gun, observing the battlefield littered with around twenty-eight beetles.

After killing ten, she advanced to the ninth level.

With a Lv10 Black Spinal Bug kill, she'd reach Lv10 and awaken her superpower.

The remaining eighteen beetles were divided, giving Shen Jie and his group three, leaving fifteen for Lin Feng's team. They severed the legs and mandibles, loading them into the camper's trunk, collecting ten carapaces.

Afterward, Chen Yanyan handed compressed biscuits and instant noodles to Shen Jie and his group as rations.

"Alright, the bugs are cleared. If there's nothing else, head back. What's about to happen isn't for you."

Chen Yanyan kindly warned them. After drawing blood, their combat ability was nearly zero. If the Black Spinal Bug swarm attacked, they'd have no chance.

Supported by Zhang Liying, Shen Jie thanked her and left with their companions.

Once they were gone, Chen Yanyan checked her phone. It was near noon. Recalling the Bureau staff's reminder, she asked:

"Still waiting? We might run out of time."

Lin Feng lay back in the passenger seat, removing his sunglasses:

"Don't rush. Fishing requires patience, besides chumming."

"If we thought of luring bugs, wouldn't those fools?"

"They might use heavy bait, drawing bigger prey, and end up in trouble..."

As Lin Feng spoke, a distant explosion rang out. A kilometer away, an off-road vehicle was overturned by several Black Spinal Bugs.

People in the escaping cars fired rifles wildly, piercing the fuel tanks and igniting gasoline, causing a small explosion.

But this couldn't stop the pursuit of a small swarm of twenty Black Spinal Bugs.

They chased their quarry, heading fast toward the toll station behind Lin Feng's camper.

Lin Feng's lips curled slightly, pulling out his upgraded Lv14 Explosive Gun...

No, it was now a 30mm Auto-Cannon!

Rising from the passenger seat, he announced:

"Alright, time to get to work."