```
"Interesting, but they dare to challenge a Fourth Order with just Second Order strength? Are they even less afraid of death than the bug army?"
Zhu Xiong looked at Liu Rulong, whose voice was low and solemn: "They are trying to escape."
As the words fell, Zhao Yaqian’s gaze turned serious: "Brother Zhu, one kilometer away, a large number of monsters are coming, possibly Vine Demons."
A twitch of the flesh on Zhu Xiong’s face revealed a cold smile: "How many?"
"Around five hundred, driving and capturing other monsters, occupying water bodies."
Zhao Yaqian reported her psychic sensing of the situation to Zhu Xiong, feeling that the water bodies nearby, to lesser or greater extents, all had vines writhing within them.
The number of Vine Demons might be greater than they had anticipated.
"Send the bug army."
Zhu Xiong made a decisive call, and the group halted their steps. The bug army quickly arrived behind them and, upon Zhu Xiong’s command, headed straight for the Vine Demons about a kilometer away.
With Knife Insects as their main force, lacking Third Order units but extremely fast, they covered several hundred meters in just half a minute.
Some of them carried Lamp Tree Crystals, which dissipated the dense fog significantly as they advanced.
A mass of dark shadows appeared within the thinning fog, the vine-like tentacles rustling and whipping about, mixed with baby-like high-pitched wails.
"What eerie monsters."
Zhu Xiong’s eyes widened; among the tightly packed Vine Demons, the most numerous were those with four limbs on the ground, beast-like in shape, but covered entirely in vine tentacles.
They had no eyes, just bodies woven from vines, limbs with sharp Claws, and enormous maws concealed within the vines.
The baby cries were coming from them, non-stop and incredibly eerie and frightening.
"Vine Claw Beasts, mostly First Rank in strength, but very fast and reproduce at a terrifying rate," said Liu Rulong. No sooner had he finished speaking than the Knife Insects collided with the Vine Claw Beasts, their cries turning into piercing screams, like countless nails scraping across glass.
The Vine Claw Beasts lunged at the Knife Insects, their vines turning aggressive in an instant, lashing directly toward the insects’ eyes.
"Swoosh"
The Knife Insects’ forelimb scythes were equally savage, slicing through vines as they met them head-on.
Two torrents collided, and the Vine Claw Beasts and Knife Insects engaged in primitive combat.
The Knife Insects had harder exoskeletons, but the Vine Claw Beasts had many vines, affording them more ways to attack.
One after another, Vine Claw Beasts were killed and quickly torn to shreds by the Knife Insects, but the bugs also suffered, their exoskeletons breached by the Vine Claw Beasts.
The ground was littered with remains; the cries were shrill.
"The bug army is slowing down."
Zhao Yaqian’s eyes were heavy with concern. A thousand Knife Insects fought against five hundred Vine Claw Beasts; although the insects had the advantage in numbers and comparable strength,
after seven to eight minutes of fighting, Zhao Yaqian’s keen senses immediately detected something amiss. The fierce bug army was beginning to slow down.
"The toxins from the Vine Demons are taking effect."
Liu Rulong’s face was equally grave; he knew the Vine Demons better than anyone present.
"Vine Demons continuously release toxins, especially their blood, which is full of toxins. If you get too close in combat, it’s easy to get contaminated. It takes a lot of Spiritual Energy to neutralize the toxins. The bug army has held out for quite a long time... Besides, it seems like they can eat those things."
The Knife Insects bit off the Vine Claw Beasts’ vines and flesh, then chewed vigorously, seemingly indifferent to the toxin.
Though they were poisoned, it was not lethal; on the contrary, they were more eager to Devour the Vine Demons, sources of rich Spiritual Energy and flesh.
Zhu Xiong and his companions didn’t intervene, just watched for about ten more minutes, until, after sacrificing more than six hundred Knife Insects, they had wiped out all the Vine Claw Beasts.
The remaining Knife Insects instinctively began cleaning the battlefield, devouring the bodies of their own kind or those of the Vine Claw Beasts to replenish their Energy.
The toxins were still taking their toll, but as Spiritual Energy gradually recovered, their ability to neutralize the poisons was accelerating.
"This casualty rate is much better than simply suppressing with firepower," remarked Liu Rulong as he watched the battle unfold. Six hundred insect corpses might seem insignificant, but if a human army had to deal with it, they would have to resort to carpet bombing.
But Vine Demons wouldn’t die just from a few injuries."
```
Therefore, every battle would be a massive consumption of resources, and even at the cost of human lives. Afterwards, when cleaning the battlefield, their utilization of Vine Demon corpses was very limited, and incineration was the norm.
But now, things had changed.
The insect swarm was the new solution.
The team took a brief rest, and Kou Wenji and his men caught up, everyone moving steadily towards Haibo Town.
This time, just as Liu Rulong had mentioned not long before, a large number of monsters started to appear.
Mutant kinds kept attacking, Fishmen roamed the wilderness and bodies of water, preying on any passing creatures.
The entire path near Haibo Town, including the barren hills and so on, had become a playground for monsters, with the most terrifying being the Vine Demons rooted on the mountaintops.
The already desolate land was gradually losing its vitality, a great amount of Spiritual Energy was being plundered, and the land turned pitch black and arid due to the toxicity.
After about half an hour of walking, Liu Rulong stopped moving and then said, "Kou Wenji, you and the remaining insect swarm stay here. There are more and more Vine Demons, and more watery areas have emerged, with quite a few Fishmen around; you won’t be of help if we all go in."
"Understood."
As a military man, Kou Wenji did not argue but simply followed orders.
"Take the highway section as the core, armored cars on alert before and after, Zhou Quanfeng, Du Suhang release your Angel Envoys, and guard the surrounding environment."
"Yes."
"Qin Guangli, have your Angel Envoy carry the Lamp Tree Crystals, to disperse the fog around us."
"Yes."
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Kou Wenji quickly set up a simple defensive position. Liu Rulong and Zhu Xiong exchanged glances and then said, "We’re going straight for the jugular."
Their current position was only about twenty kilometers from Haibo Town, a very short distance, which would be just a few minutes away for Fourth Grade powerhouses.
The four of them made up their minds and dashed along the highway at high speed towards Haibo Town.
They were very fast, and although monsters discovered them along the way, ordinary monsters could not respond in time before they were already drawing near.
"This... is this Haibo Town?"
However, minutes later, Ye Kailing was the first to stop in her tracks, and Zhao Yaqian showed a look of astonishment.
The highway ended abruptly, like a cliff that had suddenly appeared.
In front of them lay a vast lake shrouded in a light mist, where blue waters churned, emanating Psychic Fluctuation.
Ye Kailing’s Fourth Order Apostle dropped a vast number of Lamp Tree Crystals, whose glow dispersed the fog, revealing a large part of the lake surface.
Half-submerged skyscrapers, rooftops of tall buildings with their helipads exposed, stood lonely upon the surface of the sea, gazing distantly at each other. Through the water, one could vaguely see the submerged halves of the buildings below.
This was the ruin of a town once submerged by the sea, a town that had once supported numerous lives.
"Whoosh"
The sound of water rolling filled the air as numerous seven to eight-meter-tall Poison Stinger Giant Cuttlefish surfaced, with their huge tentacles continuously spewing fog and their fierce eyes fixed on Zhu Xiong and the others.
"We’ve been spotted."
Zhu Xiong just raised his eyebrows slightly, showing no surprise. In another creature’s domain, how could one easily evade detection?
"Let’s start."
His eyes flickered. "I’ll take the lead, Kailing, General Liu cover the skies and help me share the burden, Yaqian go for that Blood Touch Giant Demon."
"Right."
Everyone agreed. The Poison Stinger Giant Cuttlefish in the water had already raised their thick tentacles and shot venom at Zhu Xiong like lethal arrows.
Spiritual Energy Shield!
Zhu Xiong raised his hand and a Spiritual Energy Shield appeared in front of him, Solitary Star surged forward, his arms writhing and revealing several holes connected to Spiritual Energy conduits.
"Bang"
A Psychic Fluctuation bullet fired from within, piercing through the body of the Poison Stinger Giant Cuttlefish, contaminating the waters.
However, no one cared what became of the waters. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Poison Stinger Giant Cuttlefish surfaced, all wanting to taste the power of this Fourth Order Monster.