Chapter 718: Natural Order
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhong Yutang said, “An ant nest was found under an office building in the downtown region. The foundations of the building has already shown signs of collapse. Fortunately, we found it early and a tragedy has been averted.”
Lu Shu turned to look at the towering buildings across the cityscape of Luo City. This steel forest was no longer as safe as it appeared. Yet, few residents were aware of the brewing danger. Indeed, the urban landscape was a pleasant sight when viewed through a French window from a high-rise building.
But one day, fear would spread across the city when the buildings would start to collapse under the attack of mutated creatures. People would then have nowhere to hide.
What was so scary about these creatures was not just their deadliness, but the new social order they brought to the world.
Infrastructure, security, standards of living… They would change many aspects of life.
In the past, the magical era seemed irrelevant to the commoners. Besides having a new hot topic to gossip about, their work and lifestyle remained unchanged. It was still 9 to 5 work, with some slight entertainment afterwards. Nothing much had changed.
But now, danger was looming.
The only thing Lu Shu could do now was to order Little Fury to up the abilities of its rat minions as soon as possible. Not individual abilities, though, but to increase the number of Cla.s.s F rats to about 500.
After the ingestion of two refresher fruits, Little Fury had once again broken through the bottleneck of his ascension. Much to Lu Shu’s consternation, Little Fury’s energy waves at the moment were approaching Cla.s.s B.
At the current rate, it was not impossible for him to ascend to Cla.s.s B. Lu Shu was surprised by the rate of evolution for animals. Their physical apt.i.tude had even surpa.s.sed that of strength-type Metahumans, despite their lack of cultivation means as compared to humans.
Could there be animals plotting against humans in secret? Lu Shu was not sure.
When he asked You Mingyu for information about mutated creatures, You Mingyu slapped the same old reply back at him again. “Accessible only by Heavenly Kings.”
Lu Shu was not the ninth Heavenly King, even though its position was still empty.
Lu Shu messaged You Mingyu. “I’ve shed my blood for the Heavenly Network!”
“Accessible only by Heavenly Kings.”
“In Europe, I…”
“Accessible only by Heavenly Kings.”
Screw you, Nie Ting. Screw you too, You Mingyu.
“Xiaoyu, will Big Cat and Naughty Pig rebel?” Lu Shu asked. He trusted Little Fury, but reserved his judgment regarding Big Cat and Naughty Pig.
Lu Xiaoyu waved her little hand. “Everything’s under control.”
“… Why do I have a feeling that something big might happen every time you say this? If I remember correctly, it was at Pattaya the last time you said it. That time, you dismantled the entire casino palace and made the whole city get involved in a grand fight…” Lu Shu sighed.
Lu Xiaoyu interrupted, “No, you are wrong. Bad memory.”
Lu Shu was displeased. “My memory is perfect!”
“You forgot that you are a gay,” said Lu Xiaoyu.
“I’m NOT!” Lu Shu was shocked.
“See? You forgot you are,” replied Lu Xiaoyu calmly.
“From Lu Shu’s distress, +666!”
Lu Shu pondered. What a good way to earn distress points! He messaged You Mingyu again. “Your memory is bad.”
“How so?”
“You forgot that you are a gay.” Lu Shu was grinning behind the screen.
“I didn’t. I know I am.”
“From Lu Shu’s distress, +666!”
Lu Shu’s face darkened. This matter started with Lu Xiaoyu, so all the distress points were credited to her.
Meanwhile, You Mingyu was utterly confused. Why was he talking about such things late at night?!
At this moment, there was a loud crash, as though a giant structure was on the brink of collapse. The sound of breaking bricks and concrete bars could be heard from all corners of Luo City. All of a sudden, the night’s tranquility was destroyed, and anxiety swept across the whole city.
Following Lu Xiaoyu and Little Fury, Lu Shu leaped onto the rooftop of their house. In the west, all the lights were on, and a 14-storey old office building was tilted to one side.
All the residents were petrified by the sight. The disaster happened right in their neighborhood, and they were at a loss over what to do.
Lu Shu and Lu Xiaoyu dashed out at the same time. They darted about on the rooftops. Lu Shu said, “Save as many as you can.”
“Okay.” Lu Xiaoyu nodded. As a wisp of black smoke, Anthony emerged out of her body and disappeared into the ground. Under this situation, earth-type Metahumans would be a more efficient first-responder.
“Faster! Quick!” Lu Shu suddenly accelerated.
The building did not collapse at once, seemingly because its internal support structure was still just able to hold on. Lu Shu believed that they would be able to save a few hundred lives if they were fast enough!
When they arrived at the scene, the thick layer of dust swept up by the sinking building made it difficult to judge the number of casualties. Everyone in the vicinity, including the onlookers from a district away, were covered in dirt.
All of a sudden, all of the dust and dirt fell to the ground. Lu Xiaoyu was here!
“Sandification!” Lu Shu shouted.
With a nod, Lu Xiaoyu firmly extended her hand towards the collapsing building.
Under Anthony’s control, the hard cement and bricks in the structure suddenly softened into granules of sand. Then, cars and people buried underneath were pushed onto the surface, as if they were supported by countless pairs of giant hands under the sand.
Undeniably, sandification was the best strategy at the moment. Despite Lu Shu’s immense strength, it was impossible for him to push the building back into its original shape like Superman. He was not that strong, not even Li Xianyi or Nie Ting could.
Thus, converting hard bricks into sand and dust would significantly minimize the resulting damage. Lu Shu and Lu Xiaoyu were simply doing their best.
Then came the ambulances, transporting casualties away at once. Stunned, Lu Shu stared at the scene in front of him. It was disastrous. The cries and howls of survivors and concerned citizens filled the surroundings.
Regardless, the sensation of pain was a sign of consciousness, and consequently hope of survival. Some people had left the world before Lu Shu or Lu Xiaoyu could even reach them beneath the fallen concrete.
Only then did Zhong Yutang, Li Yixiao, You Mingyu and Nalan Que arrive at the scene. The Heavenly Network members conducted a check on the original foundation of the structure immediately. Soon, they came back with two transparent bottles, their expressions grave. “Termites.”
In the bottles, the termites had turned dark brown. There were even a pair of enormous wings on their back. The movement of their mandibles looked terrifying.
“Where is the ant queen?” Lu Shu asked.
“Not found,” replied the man, “But we suspect that they have evolved into individuals that can survive outside groups. Thus, they do not need an ant queen. In fact, there are male and female termites, but with the existence of an ant queen, the rest will not reproduce. They might have evolved powerful special termites that can live away from the ant queen and reproduce among themselves.”
Lu Shu exchanged a look of mixed feelings with Li Yixiao. It was not only humans who were breaching the original natural order, so were these creatures.
The delicate balance of Nature was about to be disrupted. A new natural order was coming.
This was the true new era.