Chapter 509: Chapter 497: Quanzhou Council

In the jungle, aside from wild beasts, the number of insects is equally formidable, and on a deep jungle path, countless scattered insects gathered around.

Giant Strength Grasshoppers, Corpse-eating Ladybugs, Scythe Spiders, Blue-spotted Beetles.

These bizarre-looking, vicious, and disgusting insects pervade the jungle, each being the most terrifying predator. Ordinary adults are no match for these insects; they love to feed on the living, slowly torturing and devouring, leaving the dead pitiful beyond description.

The most disgusting are undoubtedly some spider-like insects.

They like to wrap their prey in silk, storing them in dark corners. Perhaps, when wrapped, the person is still alive, and the feeling of slowly awaiting death is beyond words.

This place is simply a world of insects.

Not to mention ordinary people, even those at the Silver Peak have absolutely no chance of survival. Even if one could kill one or two, eventually, they would be overwhelmed by a swarm of insects.

Even, upon taking a few steps forward, a cluster of densely packed insect eggs is placed on the ground, stepping on them would burst out a large amount of disgusting goo.

These are some fully developed larvae.

One must know that the breeding ability of insects is notoriously terrifying, laying hundreds or thousands of eggs at once. It won’t be long before they form a terrifying insect tide.

Undoubtedly, aside from insects, this place may well be a life-forbidden zone.

But in the apocalypse, full of countless possibilities, who could have thought that following this path leads to the city’s only survivors?

All of this is credited to the leader of this force.

An Insect Speaker.

A professional with an affinity for the Insect Race, this awakened ability can appease insects, making them tranquil and calm.

The world is vast.

Every professional is a unique existence.

Insect Speakers are not Insect Control Masters; they cannot drive insects to fight, but during battles, they can temporarily soothe the insects’ restless minds. Some legendary Insect Speakers can even eradicate the malice in insects’ hearts entirely, transforming them into harmless herbivores that won’t actively attack humans unless provoked.

It’s due to their presence that survivors have found a home here. Though freedom is limited, as long as they’re alive, isn’t that enough?

The winding mountains finally came to an end, after traveling for about an hour, they reached the final base of humanity.

What appeared before them were a row of towering giant trees, due to energy reasons, many of the trees had also mutated. For example, the ones in the camp, towering at twenty meters high with extremely thick trunks, are quite majestic. The most astonishing thing is that there are windows in these trees.

It’s an exquisite construction technique. Upon closer inspection, the edges of the trees are even carved with some steps for walking, each section with a wooden door.

Is this the home of humanity?

The survivors actually live inside the tree trunks!

Who would have thought that the humans driven here have built such a beautiful home?

Human adaptability is truly terrifying. They will try their utmost to survive. Just like now, even when the surroundings are occupied, they have not given up on survival but have come here to build their own home on the trees.

This is quite similar to the elves, who, as a peaceful race, build houses on trees, only one does it for liking, and the other out of necessity for refuge.

Inside a very sturdy tree trunk, a meeting hall has been carved out, where many men and women are seated. They seem to have a disagreement over some issues and are arguing with each other.

And sitting in the main seat is a woman, appearing to be around thirty. Although her looks are ordinary, her eyes reveal a brilliant gaze, and her back is straight, with a relatively calm demeanor.

Li Linhua.

Ordinary appearance.

An ordinary woman.

But in this post-apocalyptic world, she leads an extraordinary life.

This survivor base consists of about eight thousand people, including many professionals. Standing out among them is already a symbol of strength.

Undoubtedly, she is the leader of this base and the Insect Speaker who protects everyone from being disturbed by insects.

Status changes a person.

In peacetime, even if she was just a small manager, overseeing only a few dozen people, her unique ability led her to organize survivors and hide deep in this dense forest. Thousands of lives are connected to her, and with her rising position, her approach to situations has already reached another level.

It’s not just his powerful strength, his means of dominating the survivors are also top-notch.

As proved by reality, under Li Linhua’s leadership, the quality of life at the base is not very high. After all, it’s located outside the jungle, and food is somewhat scarce. But other than that, survivors are relatively safe, and with the help of some plant specialists, everyone procured materials on-site, using trees to build houses, and managed to settle down.

"Alright, stop arguing."

Li Linhua looked somewhat authoritative, after all, she manages thousands of people and naturally carries some authority. She gazed at the man standing before her with her black eyes, paused slightly, then said, "I disagree with your approach. It’s too risky, and for those people, it’s too unfair!"

The man’s expression was somewhat displeased; this practitioner named Xing Yong possessed Silver Peak strength. In the camp, he undertook the same work as Wei Xun, leading some people for resource scavenging and was responsible for camp security.

In this base, Li Linhua was undoubtedly the number one figure, while Xing Yong inadvertently established his own connections, making both his strength and influence considerable.

Perhaps because his wife, who was eight months pregnant, died before his eyes, his character became rather gloomy, often acting recklessly, and his actions were extremely ruthless.

Karma?

For one whose entire family perished in the apocalypse, this doesn’t hold any sway at all.

"Play it again, let them see!"

Xing Yong frowned, instructed a subordinate standing next to him, who then stood up, his eyes flashing with a green light, quickly projecting an image before everyone’s eyes.

A group of people were setting up camp and cooking, with weapons placed alongside. Besides that, the most shocking sight was the ship anchored behind them.

Nine whole ships.

And the ships were enormous. If they were really packed, one ship could accommodate more than four hundred people, which meant for a base that was already at a dead end, they could rely on these ships to leave this death zone!

"Such a good opportunity, are you just going to miss it in vain?"

Xing Yong glanced at the others present, clenched his fist tightly, and said vehemently: "With these ships, most of us can leave here. Do you really want to stay here forever?"

Quanzhou is already destroyed.

A city, ultimately leaving only thousands of people. This number clearly shows that it has completely turned into a wasteland.

Yearning.

This is perhaps the innate thought of humans.

In the event of an earthquake, even after being informed that the tremor has surpassed the ninth degree, whether inside or outside a house, the result is no different. But people, without hesitation, would rush outside in search of a chance to live.

For most people, compared to hiding inside, running outside has a better chance of survival, even if it’s just a one percent chance, it’s worth trying.

So, for Quanzhou’s survivors, it can’t get any worse than now. If possible, they are all willing to step out and seek the so-called "chance of survival" outside.

Most people fell silent.

But Li Linhua stood out at this moment, facing Xing Yong and questioned: "So, this is your reason to take their ships and become a robber?"

"Robber?"

Xing Yong was livid with anger yet chuckled, shouted loudly: "Wake up, what time is it now, stop using the past to glorify yourselves. This world is finished, if we don’t leave, we’ll end up like our families, all dying here!"

"According to Hawk Eye’s report, those monsters from the north are preparing for battle again. It seems it won’t take long before they start another attack. In the previous battles, the insects have suffered heavy losses. If we withstand the next, there will be another, and another. Eventually, all insects will be killed by those creatures; by then, there’s no escape!"

"In this situation, we have to escape to save our lives. If, as you say, negotiate and communicate, how many can they take at once, three hundred? Or five hundred?"

"It would be better for us to act first, seize the ships. By then, by squeezing onto a ship, more than four hundred of us can board, half of us can leave here, leaving this ruined land!"

Xing Yong spoke many words at once, the content provoking deep thought.

The monsters he spoke of are a group of creatures fond of devouring flesh, they have gray skin, roughly three meters tall, similar in size to humans, but with extremely ugly faces; some deformed giants’ faces have merely one eye.

They appeared on this land without warning, devouring everything in sight, beasts, insects, including humans.

Many have witnessed monsters grab people like eating candied fruit, with one bite, first the head, then the body, and finally swallowing whole.

These monsters have continuously harbored intentions of conquest against humans’ bases, if not for the countless insects occupying here, everyone in this camp might have long become their food.

But what truly sends shivers isn’t just this, Xing Yong mentioned that half of the population would leave here, so what about the remaining people?

Everyone gasped, no doubt, those people have been treated as trash, in Xing Yong’s mind, they are simply abandoned...