"What about ordinary people?"
Wang Duli opened his mouth, sighed, and shook his head without saying anything.
Even the most insignificant Insect Clan, once they invade human society on a large scale, would result in a massacre.
"Let’s not talk about this."
Having ended that topic, Wang Duli walked toward the first floor: "The urgent task now is to find the tunnel dug by the Channel Worm and prevent the Tunnel King Worm from directly assaulting the mall."
The first floor hall of Yangming Mall, as the place with the highest foot traffic, had no fewer than thirty stores inside.
The two men and one cat began a very physically demanding search operation.
"Shops like these have this kind of thing?"
In an antique shop, Lu Zixun surprisingly found a Spiritual Artifact and looked incredulously at Xiong Kang.
Coming over to glance at the Spiritual Artifact, Xiong Kang, looking both surprised and incredulous, rolled his eyes at Lu Zixun: "What’s so strange about that? You can find as many Spiritual Artifacts as you want in the store. Hurry up and search for the Channel Worm."
As Lu Zixun, who was about to follow Xiong Kang out of the antique shop, thought for a moment, he sent a wisp of Spiritual Energy to attach to the Spiritual Artifact before slowly running out.
After searching more than a dozen stores, they still hadn’t spotted any trace of the Channel Worm.
At that moment, feeling that something was amiss, Lu Zixun stopped and said: "The Insect Clan uses Blood Energy. According to what Elder Wang said, a tunnel for the Tunnel King Worm would need quite a lot of Blood Energy to stabilize the soil and prevent it from collapsing, right?"
Halting his steps to listen to Lu Zixun, Xiong Kang nodded: "Is there a problem?"
After thinking a moment, Lu Zixun continued: "We’ve searched so many stores, and I haven’t felt any trace of Blood Energy. That reminds me of the last time, the electromagnetic insect that blocked the signal."
At Lu Zixun’s mention, Xiong Kang also recalled and asked with furrowed brows: "Do you mean that there’s a member of the Insect Clan capable of blocking the fluctuations of Blood Energy hiding in Yangming Mall, aiding the Channel Worm in concealing its tracks?"
"Yes, that’s what I’m thinking."
Nodding his head, Lu Zixun said: "Continuing at this pace, we won’t just fail to find the Channel Worm’s tracks, but we might even give it more time to dig tunnels."
"I had thought of that before as well."
Wang Duli raised his hand to his chin and said: "The Hidden Blood Worm indeed has such a capability, but the thing is, this mall is too large. Even a King-level Hidden Blood Worm might not be able to completely obscure the Channel Worm’s tracks."
"So, is it possible that..."
While the two men and one cat were discussing how to capture the Channel Worm,
a maintenance worker cursing and mumbling walked out with a toolbox: "Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t have come here. They said to turn off the water, turn off the water. It sprayed right in my face, and there was even a bloody scent, freaking disgusting."
Finding the worker’s accent amusing, Lu Zixun chuckled twice, but then his expression turned serious.
The words he had just heard sparked an idea in Lu Zixun’s mind.
If Wang Duli could use etched engravings to channel Spiritual Energy for creating talismans,
could the Hidden Blood Worm also use such a method to cover the fluctuations of Blood Energy?
He discussed this idea with Wang Duli.
Wang Duli furrowed his brows, somewhat unsure as he said: "Theoretically, it shouldn’t be possible. The engravings need to be drawn in a special way to channel Spiritual Energy, but..."
Pausing for a moment, Wang Duli narrowed his eyes: "The Blood Energy of the Insect Clan has a wide range of uses, and if a special method is found, it might not be impossible."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zixun, without turning his head, dashed toward the nineteenth floor.
Repairing the water and power systems seemed like a diversion tactic used by the Insect Clan during their invasion of Yangming Mall, but in reality, it was an indispensable part of the process.
Yangming Mall’s water system not only supplied each vendor but also stored water in the nineteenth-floor water tower, which was later transferred to the reservoir.
The entire process was a cycle; when the water system could not supply water, it would draw water from the reservoir to provide.
Connecting the pieces about the bloody smell mentioned by the maintenance staff and the red light seen at dawn yesterday, Lu Zixun was very confident about one thing; the Hidden Blood Worm was definitely hidden inside the water tower.
Upon reaching the nineteenth floor and seeing the towering water tanks, Lu Zixun didn’t think twice before activating the Frost Control, freezing them all.
"Ding—Smile value from Mingfei +12000 detected."
The moment the System Prompt Sound rang, Lu Zixun’s pupils contracted, and he activated the Spiritual Power Shield.
The shield had just deployed when it was fiercely shattered by a blood-colored spear.
The spear that had penetrated the shield showed no signs of slowing down as it rapidly flew towards Lu Zixun’s heart.
Feeling the bone-chilling killing intent emanating from the blood-colored spear, Lu Zixun immediately erected a thick Ice Wall in front of him.
The Ice Wall didn’t stop the blood-colored spear, which transformed into a stream of blood, moving through the ice and reconverging into a spear in front of Lu Zixun, piercing through his body.
Pulling out the spear that had pierced through his body, Lu Zixun’s vision darkened, and he collapsed to the ground.
Mentally lamenting, Lu Zixun felt extremely unlucky.
Last time, the Magnetic Field Worm barely had Level-C strength.
This time, the Hidden Blood Worm he encountered had Queen-level strength.
Amidst rising blood mist, a scantily clad woman appeared in front of Lu Zixun, wearing a smile.
With hands behind her back, Mingfei twirled around like a little girl, "Your strength doesn’t quite match what Lord Tan Ye described, and moreover..."
With a light laugh covering her mouth, a killing intent flickered in Mingfei’s eyes: "With such strength, you wish to be our clan’s Mutant Beast, I, Mingfei, am the first to disagree."
Raising her leg to perform a front split kick, Mingfei’s leg swept down fiercely towards Lu Zixun.
It was then that Lu Zixun realized the heels on Mingfei’s feet were made of Blood Energy.
As the blood blade appeared before his eyes, Lu Zixun exerted all his strength to roll, dodging the lethal move.
Rolling aggravated his wound, causing Lu Zixun to grimace in pain; the Undying ability was unexpectedly unable to heal the damage caused by the blood-colored spear.
With a cold laugh, Mingfei shook her head, "Cats really do have an intuitive sixth sense, but I’ve also heard something else—that cats have nine lives. I’m here to check if that’s really true."
Before she finished speaking, Mingfei transformed into a shadow and closed in on Lu Zixun.
The extreme speed and the killing intent coming from her left Lu Zixun in agony.
Seeing the shadow nearing, Lu Zixun, left with no choice, had to activate a life-saving magic.
He needed to buy time for Wang Duli and the others to arrive.