Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 791 - 789 Desert
Before teleportation, Li Ang quickly glanced at the notification panel on the player interface. According to the rule explanation, the most significant feature of the second stage, the Realms Corridor, was a certain probability of interaction with the real world.
The concept of "interaction" here was very vague. It didn't seem to refer to events actually happening in the real world, nor did it seem like simply projecting images onto a part of the sky in the Mortal Realm.
Could it be that players in the arena can interfere with other entities in the real world? Li Ang pondered, his eyes narrowed. With five hundred players completing ten matches each, even if it occurred in the real world, the probability of appearing in the downtown area of Yin City was extremely low.
Moreover, with Chaichai outside, should any special situation arise, he could summon the Bug Nest Fleet to protect himself, Wang Congshan, and the experimental middle school.
Li Ang had granted Chaichai sufficient authority. The Behemoth Bug Nest Ship Fleet, camouflaged as whale pods, had already submerged into the seas off the coast of Yin City, while the other two even larger and more numerous Gorgon and Yamjad Bug Nest Fleets lay in wait in the distant seas, ready to provide support at any moment.
A typical Bug Nest Fleet possessed bio-ships equivalent to human civilization's destroyers, aircraft carriers, cruisers, torpedo boats, frigates, and landing ships—although, for the sake of combat efficiency and biomass considerations, the bio-ships were much smaller than human armored ships at the current stage. Each ship carried one or several Brain Worms, controlling tens of thousands of low-level units.
Whether it was the bio-warships or the lower-level bug troops, after countless improvements by Li Ang, the Abyssal Magic Mirror, and the Brain Worms, there were innumerable models and bizarre lifeforms.
Before an expedition, the Brain Worms would select the most suitable warships and soldier bug types to counter the enemy based on collected intelligence. The Brain Worm think tank would devise combat plans, which Li Ang would ultimately decide to execute.
In terms of Energy levels, the current Bug Nest Fleets were far from reaching the levels of hydrogen bombs, nuclear bombs, or even thermobaric weapons. Their range and accuracy of attack also fell far behind ballistic and cruise missiles.
However, viewed from their threat capabilities to human civilization, the Bug Nest Fleets were still terrifying—
High-flying cruiser bugs, shaped like birds, could patrol at altitudes exceeding the 352 km/h speed limit of the swift. When necessary, they could dive close to human flying vehicles or structures and detonate upon impact.
Bugs disguised as dolphins and octopuses could swiftly approach modern warships. They could bore into them with tentacles or corrode them with acid, silently sinking the vessels and blockading coastlines.
Infection bugs could thrust out neural parasitic needles. These needles could affect nerve impulses in different ways, capable of paralyzing, controlling, or directly killing humans. The parasites hidden within the needles could also release neurotransmitters such as dopamine and endorphins. These manipulated desires and emotions by regulating the physiological functions of the central nervous system.
Beyond that, there were mimetic worms, paired with highly intelligent Brain Worms, capable of perfectly replacing ordinary humans, with seamless fingerprints, irises, and DNA.
This was the infiltration aspect of the Bug Nest Fleet. As for their destructive capabilities:
Giant Ground-drilling Sandworms could burrow thousands of meters deep, easily causing geological collapses, ground subsidence, rock bursts, soil erosion, and other geological disasters.
The bio-ships were equipped with arrays of Acid Cannons and biological torpedoes. At medium and close ranges, they could inflict damage rivaling conventional shells.
Most critically, the Bug Nest Fleet had also inherited the fungal spore technology developed by Li Ang. The infectious capacity and activity of some of these fungi even frightened Li Ang.
If released recklessly, a Bug Nest Fleet could turn an entire island into a world of soft, downy growth.
Even just a modest targeted release could cause immense destruction to the ecological environment, especially human crops.
In the mid-nineteenth century, pathogenic blight led to the complete failure of potato crops, causing the Irish population to plummet by a quarter. The specialized Cuban strain of the Fusarium fungus ousted TYPE VII bananas entirely from the historical stage. The Coffee Rust and Coffee Berry Disease caused by rust fungi, the cucumber downy mildew and tomato late blight caused by the genus Phytophthora, the crop wilt disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani... Human crops tend to be monoculture, and once infected with disease, they are exceedingly difficult to eradicate.
Besides releasing fungi, the Bug Nest Fleet could also use pheromones to trigger biological disasters—for example, releasing 4-vinylanisole to artificially induce locust plagues.
The Trident combination of the Origin of Life, Swamp God Power, and the Abyssal Magic Mirror allowed all creatures bred by Li Ang to exhibit unprecedented mutation potential, coupled with the long-sealed "Virulent Poison" Short Dagger...
Li Ang and his swarm of insects were fully capable of "spreading life and death" at the same time, and their rate of mutation and evolution was likely to outpace the speed at which scientists could break the code.
Destruction is always simpler than creation.
In the words of the think tank, "Different civilizations taking the initiative when they come into contact will gain a huge advantage."
Although the followers that Li Ang led, which could be called intelligent creatures, numbered fewer than five hundred, they were already showing signs of the potential for civilization.
The condition was that Li Ang's own developmental pace could ensure perfect control over the Bug Nest's wild beast...
「Countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.」
「Now entering: Realms Corridor.」
The System's alert tone rang in his ears as Li Ang, dressed in the standard Dragon Head White Lab Coat, reached into the dragon's mouth, pushed his monocle, and vanished from the room.
「When he opened his eyes again, winds howled through the mountains, and the blazing sun hung high.」
Li Ang looked around. He was standing at the top of a hillside. The slopes were rugged and steep, with dark red rocks. Looking down, he could see some brick factory worksites, buildings, and other modern man-made structures, now quiet and still. These were set amidst a vast desert, dotted with palm plants, Wild Grass, and Cactus.
「Realms Corridor has generated a map: Mirama Desert.」
「Map Objective: Inflict damage on your opponent within a limited time, accumulating up to ten points.」
What a vast map.
Li Ang, already prepared for battle, narrowed his eyes, noting that the map objective stated "inflict damage on your opponent," not "cause harm to your opponent." This rule might be hinting that there could be map elements capable of inflicting injury on opponents.
Besides, the name Mirama Desert sounded somehow familiar...
While Li Ang looked around, alert to an opponent whose position he did not know, he took out an Automated Pet Box disguised as a coffin and released over a hundred Scout insects, sending them flying in all directions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BANG! BANG!
BUZZ! BUZZ!
Clear and distinct noises drifted from the distant desert—the sounds of modern firearms firing and vehicles moving.
WHOOSH—
A jet plane swept by overhead at high speed, and from its tail seemed to have dropped...
A supply drop box, blue on top and red on the bottom, secured with a parachute.
