Cave Refuge-Chapter 261 - 257: The Case of Mass Disappearance of Survivors_1
The sewage system in Pengcheng was not complicated, especially after the flood. The Officials renovated it, enlarging the drainage channels again, and then let it dry up in the intense summer heat.
Although the survivors now use the sewage system again after returning to their homes, it was largely unobstructed overall.
Using his Divine Sense, Dong Tianyu quickly found the nests of these bugs in the sewage system.
The societal structure of these bugs was not dissimilar to ants. The bugs that go out to hunt belonged to the lowest level of the insect society, and there were larger and stronger ’soldier bugs’ in the Bug Nest.
Furthermore, Dong Tianyu also found an Incubation Room inhabited by the Queen Bug in the Bug Nest using his Divine Sense.
After confirming this information, Dong Tianyu withdrew his investigating Divine Sense and turned his attention to the glass bottle next to him.
There were only three bugs caught in the glass bottle. By now, the color of these three bugs had gradually changed from their original black to a transparent color, just like the bottle.
These bugs seemed to have the ability not only to paralyze their prey during an attack, but also to change color like chameleons. Besides this, if these bugs possessed any other abilities, Dong Tianyu was not yet aware.
Dong Tianyu casually shook the glass bottle, watching the small critters rolling about inside. He could hardly believe that he had died in his previous life due to these small creatures.
The live chicken on the street was once again devoured by the bugs. Spotting some bugs still wandering on the street, Dong Tianyu randomly grabbed some construction debris from the house and used his Art of Controlling Objects to smash it onto the bugs that hadn’t left the ground.
When the construction debris bounced up after hitting the ground, the bugs, which had been lying between the ground and the impact point of the debris, had now turned into a puddle of blood stains.
It seemed that despite their special abilities, these bugs didn’t have any defense mechanism different from ordinary bugs.
After confirming this, Dong Tianyu set up a bonfire in the room and made the glass bottle full of bugs float above the fire.
As the temperature inside the glass bottle increased, the bugs became agitated and began crawling wildly inside.
When the temperature in the bottle rose to a certain level, the bugs inside suddenly exploded like fireworks.
It appeared that these bugs could not withstand high temperatures. Identifying this weakness of the bugs, Dong Tianyu took two incendiary bombs from the Storage Space. After using his Art of Controlling Objects, he sent them into the location of the Queen Bug in the Bug Nest and the Incubation Room.
Upon detonating the incendiary bombs, a flame suddenly burst from the outlet of the sewage system. After the flames extinguished, Dong Tianyu used his Divine Sense to observe the situation of the Bug Nest in the sewage system.
He found that all the bugs in the Nest had been wholly consumed by the flame. Whether it was the Queen Bug, the adult bugs, or even the bug eggs, all were burned to ashes by the flame.
Seeing this result, Dong Tianyu, who initially planned to heave a sigh of relief, suddenly regretted his actions. He felt foolish for not capturing some bugs as samples to warn others to beware of these bugs that have appeared in Pengcheng.
After all, Dong Tianyu did not think that this was the only Bug Nest in Pengcheng at this time.
Subsequently, Dong Tianyu used his Divine Sense again to examine the street carefully, hoping to find some ’survivors’.
After careful inspection, Dong Tianyu found that although there were some bugs on the street that did not suffer from the fire attack, all these bugs had died after the Bug Nest was destroyed. Furthermore, the bodies of the bugs were gradually melting like ice blocks.
Dong Tianyu looked at the vanishing bugs, feeling both remorseful and somewhat glad.
He regretted that he could have captured the bugs had he known they were so weak. As for the Queen Bug in the underground nest, capturing it wouldn’t be a challenge for Dong Tianyu, albeit with some minor difficulties.
His joy came from the fact that although these bugs had a similar social structure to ants, the whole colony would die after eliminating the Queen, according to the testing. It would make future extermination much easier and prevent many bugs from escaping and forming new Nests.
Even though there was no evidence left, the issue still needed to be reported. After all, despite their weakness, these bugs were hard to notice at night. Even several people standing together would hardly notice these tiny bugs under the cover of darkness.
Even if these bugs attacked them, ordinary people would only realize they were under attack when they were killed by the bugs due to the neurological paralysis caused by the bugs’ toxins.
Dong Tianyu had a profound understanding of this, having experienced the whole process in his previous life.
After using his Divine Sense to examine the street carefully again, confirming that there were no living bugs anywhere, Dong Tianyu left and went straight to the office building to find Robinson William.
Although the matter was serious, Dong Tianyu had no evidence in hand, not even the bugs that exploded in the glass bottle.
When Dong Tianyu picked up the glass bottle again as he was leaving, the originally shattered bugs inside had turned into an unidentified liquid. Although the liquid was very clear and transparent, it was slightly viscous upon shaking.
So, now all Dong Tianyu could do was to seek Robinson William and relay the situation to him first. He was curious to witness Robinson’s reaction to the news and whether he would believe him or not.
When Dong Tianyu found Robinson William in his office, he noticed Robinson scratching his head while pouring over a pile of papers.
Not putting away the documents on his desk, Robinson, slightly troubled, addressed Tianyu, "Zachary, what brings you here?" upon his entry.
Deciding not to disclose the purpose of his visit immediately, Dong Tianyu inquired, "What’s bothering you? You seem quite upset."
Accepting Dong Tianyu’s question, Robinson picked up a document from his desk and handed it to him without any reluctance. "All the survivors living in the apartments across from University Town have suddenly disappeared. Although there were not many of them, the abrupt disappearance without a trace has caused panic among the survivors there.
The Patrol Office has sent people to investigate the scene, but have not found any useful clues."
"The residences of the missing survivors show clear signs of habitation. There are no signs of struggle or fight. It’s as if these survivors were summoned from their homes and then simply vanished."
The Patrol Office inferred that this was an inside job, with a Martial Artist involved.
They hypothesized that the process involved a familiar person first knocking on the door to trick the survivor into opening it. That person was then followed by a Martial Artist who would ambush and knock out the survivor before abducting them. Only in this way could all these survivors vanish without a trace."
"However, the number of missing survivors isn’t insignificant. Their quiet disappearance suggests a large group of people involved in the crime and a concealed place to imprison many people."
Upon hearing Robinson’s account, Dong Tianyu couldn’t help but feel that this occurrence was rather coincidental.
Firstly, he could ascertain that it was very likely that the missing survivors had been devoured by the bugs he had encountered today.
What baffled Dong Tianyu was whether such incidents had happened in the past, but he remained oblivious, or if this was a new occurrence.
To verify his suspicions, Dong Tianyu directly asked Robinson, "Have survivors gone missing in the past?"
In response to Dong Tianyu’s question, Robinson had also considered this perspective, "I’m part of the special battle team; our main responsibility is to suppress riots and engage in battles.
Under normal circumstances, I would have to ask the Patrol Office to answer your question since this matter usually falls under their jurisdiction.
However, I had previously considered seeking clues from this angle. You know just as well that although the current situation doesn’t have as much impact on the survivors as the previous natural disasters did, 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
the persistent darkness has made the survivors very fearful. We do have cases of survivors disappearing; usually, these are the wealthier or better-looking survivors."
"The number of missing people usually ranges from one to two but this time hundreds have disappeared. Odds are that these incidents aren’t related."
Hearing Robinson’s words, Dong Tianyu wasn’t sure if the previous disappearances were related to the bugs. After all, the bugs couldn’t possibly know who was wealthy and who was attractive to selectively prey upon such survivors.
Seeing Dong Tianyu contemplating, Robinson became slightly excited. It seemed to him that Tianyu might have some information, but he wasn’t speaking up.
Impatient, he urged, "Zachary, if you know something, just say it, even if it’s mere speculation or a rumor.
Tell me everything. Even if we can’t confirm the authenticity of this information, it will at least provide a new direction for investigation.
Right now, we’re like a headless fly, bumping everywhere and without any lead. It’s frustrating. I shouldn’t have agreed to assist the Patrol Office in this case for some spare change."
Once Robinson said that, Dong Tianyu took out a glass bottle from his hand and placed it in front of Robinson.
Robinson accepted the glass bottle from Dong Tianyu. Inside was a transparent liquid. Upon shaking, he observed a certain viscosity.
He looked at Dong Tianyu with confusion, unsure why he was showing him this.
Dong Tianyu cut to the chase and shared his encounter with the bugs. Despite minor changes, all the information about the bugs was true.
Upon hearing Dong Tianyu’s account, Robinson understood why he had come to see him at this time.
What a coincidence!
Dong Tianyu’s experience was eerily similar to the survivors’ disappearances, and with little effort, Robinson logically connected the two incidents.
