Chapter 329

"Crippled..."

Thump!

Boom!

Freeman's high-spirited voice was interrupted by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground and a strong gust of wind before it could finish.

A sudden gust of wind, accompanied by rain, swept down from the sky. The mouths of the Satina Church followers, already stuffed with wind, were torn apart by the wind, and insects and water droplets flying around in the wind splattered and hit their faces.

Insects were constantly being blown into the mouths of the Satina Church followers who were involuntarily opening their mouths. They subconsciously ducked and bent over to avoid them, reaching out to try to pull out the unknown insects from their throats. Chaos ensued inside the isolation layer, and many followers did not find them immediately.

This sudden turn of events completely destroyed the atmosphere of "sacredness mixed with tragedy" that Freeman had created through his "passionate" speech.

Outside the isolation layer, the sudden gust of wind carried no rain. In the blink of an eye, the instinctive reactions of the people inside the isolation layer were almost identical to those inside. To avoid being blown away or having something dirty blown into their eyes, they either quickly closed their eyes and hugged nearby objects welded to the ground or walls, or slipped into the open shops next door, or crouched down and tightly hugged their heads.

Temple managed to stay in place by relying on the Warship. As soon as the wind picked up, he lay down inside the Warship and raised the protective shield. The second after the shield was raised, Temple immediately crouched down and looked out through the shield.

Temple didn't care about the situation around him; he only cared about what was happening inside the isolation layer. The moment the wind picked up, the name 'Qin Su' flashed through his mind. He had a strong intuition that this matter was related to Qin Su.

Sure enough, the first thing Temple noticed when he looked over was a black figure that had appeared at some unknown time on the tip of the tallest black tower at the top center of the isolation layer. Temple's brow twitched; although he knew his 'premonition' had come true, the distance was too great for him to see the face clearly. Without hesitation, he immediately adjusted the viewing equipment on the Warship to a suitable distance, rubbed his eyes, and leaned closer, intending to confirm it through the Warship's properly adjusted camera lens...

Qin Su stepped on the pre-installed invisible platform, his gaze seemingly looking down at the scene below, but in reality, he was completely focused on watching the actions of everyone below through the several screens that were open in front of him and the divided layout.

Seeing that many people on the screen were looking in his direction through various devices, Qin Su chose Temple, which was closest to him, and looked over at the same time they looked at him...

Temple's eyes had just met the adjusted camera lens when she saw Qin Su suddenly tilt his head slightly, pinpointing his location precisely from a great distance.

"!"

Temple hadn't expected that, from such a distance, he could be looking at Qin Su... no, Qin Su was looking at him. Temple gasped and immediately tried to look away, but before he could even look away, he saw Qin Su withdraw his casual gaze from him.

"..."

The chilling pressure eased, Temple swallowed hard to calm his racing heart. Before the thought of 'Qin Su is indeed omniscient' could even settle in his mind, he saw Qin Su raise his hand.

The howling wind, accompanied by a crisp snap of fingers, vanished in the blink of an eye.

The noisy world seemed to have been muted in an instant. In such a quiet environment, the sounds of people being blown around by the wind and falling against the edge of the isolation layer became particularly clear.

Thump thump thump...

Hearing the thuds of heavy objects hitting the ground, Temple blinked his sore eyes, looked away from the Warship's equipment, and looked towards the source of the commotion. Several bodies of Satina Church followers lay sprawled on the ground, writhing and emitting painful howls. Insects that hadn't managed to escape burst open under the weight, releasing red, black, green, and yellow blood.

Temple: "..."

'I wonder how they'll feel if they knew they just killed their "master"?'

However... Temple looked at the believers on the ground, none of whom had broken apart, and a strange feeling stirred within him.

Even if he hadn't seen how high the group of people were lifted by the gale, he could deduce from their current state that they hadn't been lifted very high. Otherwise, based on what he had learned during his undercover work, given the amount of parasites in their bodies, their fragile skin would have cracked long ago if they had been lifted any higher and fallen more heavily.

Instead of falling like this... Temple wanted to say they were 'okay,' but seeing their pained expressions, she swallowed her words.

If they hadn't been abstaining from meat for years, they wouldn't be so fragile now. But Qin Su is really... merciful to them. This also proves that, at least for now, in front of everyone, Qin Su won't let them die. Isn't this a careful consideration for the reputation of Class 6)?

So...

Temple's gaze fell on a group of people who, as if by some unknown reason, were now standing upright on the ground.

Their heads were covered with black cloth, and they were wearing different clothes—pajamas, suits, military uniforms, and loungewear—clearly they had been abducted from different places. Despite being 'baptized' by the storm controlled by Qin Su, they remained standing motionless, their clothes disheveled by the wind, clearly indicating that they were being controlled by Qin Su and unable to move.

If he guessed correctly, the dead were not Satina Church, but this group of people, who were very likely the masterminds behind the riots instigated by the Satina Church in front of him.

'Who are they?'

Unable to focus on Qin Su, Temple chose to fix her gaze on the group of people forced to stand in a circle in the center. He Muzhi did not tell her more about this matter, although she guessed that they were most likely the ones behind the trouble, and she could not tell who they were from their clothes and figures.

Once the clamor of the wind subsided and the clanging and banging of objects ceased, the tense atmosphere among the people outside the isolation layer eased slightly. Some opened their eyes to check their surroundings. After a quick glance to confirm that nothing was amiss, their previously subsided gossip-filled thoughts rekindled, and they quickly looked inside the isolation layer, only to see the same situation as in Temple.

Among the pedestrians, many huddled together in small groups to resist the sudden gust of wind. Unlike Temple and others, they didn't hide what they were thinking as they watched the commotion unfold. They didn't care whether the people around them knew them or not, and started chirping loudly at whatever they saw.

"Holy crap, someone's standing on the top of the tower!! Look who's so amazing at climbing... Wait, quick, take a picture... Huh? Why can my Optical Brain only view but not take pictures? Why is the image blurry? I'm not thinking about it, it wasn't raining outside, am I out of my mind?!"

"Don't worry, you're not out of your mind. I started taking pictures the moment I saw it. It's hilarious, it's like it has a built-in high-powered blur filter, I can see it as clearly as I can with my own eyes... Ouch, are there some problems with your eyes? You can't even see this with the help of the Optical Brain? You need to adjust your eye usage data! That's Qin Su standing there, it's Qin Su!"

"Why didn't you just throw your name 'Qin Su' in my face earlier?! You're such a big shot, I could never see you again! You're just wasting my time!"

"Why don't you take a look down there? There are people down there too, and there's an extra group of people who aren't Satina Church. Aren't you curious?"

"Heh, if you're so capable, why don't you take your eyes off Qin Su? What level are these people below that they dare to compare themselves to Qin Su? Let them line up and wait for me to have time before I even give them a second glance."

"Exactly, you're dreaming if you think you can have Qin Su all to yourself."

"No, didn't you notice that the sacrificial rituals of the Satina Church were forced to stop... Well, there's nothing we can do, they're watching themselves too."

"Hey, do you guys think it's possible that Qin Su might suddenly fly right over my face and then the hem of his trench coat might flick across my face the next second?"

"I'd rather just step on your face."

"Really? That's amazing!"

"Get away from me, you pervert!"

"Damn it! If you're so capable, show me with your eyes! If you're so capable, let me Optical Brain to take pictures!"

At the same time, the Satina believers, who had recovered from their anger, were interrupted during their grand and sacred sacrificial ceremony. The next moment, as if they realized something, they looked up and saw the figure at the top of the tower. Forgetting what they had wanted to say before, they hurriedly adjusted the data on their Optical Brains, raised their heads, and stared unblinkingly in the direction where Qin Su was standing, muttering incantations.

"He... Qin Su, it's him, it really is him!"

"He really showed up..."

"My God, it must be our sincerity that moved him! He's here all for Satina!"

"Outside, there's only wind, no rain; inside, it's a raging storm. Family, we are different..."

"Of course, how can a filthy body that hasn't offered its own flesh and blood as a sacrifice to the Insect Master compare to ours?"

[You can even cover this up? You're just brainwashing yourself.]

[After comparing the clothes of the group of people standing there, I recognized several people from Class 6. Could it really be what I'm thinking?]

Inside the isolation layer, Lawrence and the others had no idea where they were. They only knew that they had just regained consciousness when they were suddenly thrown into disarray by the wind, with the cold rain lashing their faces. Just as their heads were buzzing from the pounding, the wind and rain suddenly stopped, and then a cacophony of sounds began to penetrate their ears. Among the many sounds, the name 'Qin Su' seemed to trigger some kind of defense mechanism in their bodies. Recalling what they had done before, they easily guessed what fate awaited them. The darkness intensified their fear, and they struggled even more desperately.

The result was no different from before; the body was being squeezed from all directions by the cold aura controlled by Qin Su, and the facial features inside the black hood were distorted and deformed.

From the moment the wind rose until everything returned to calm, for a mere twenty seconds, many students in Class 6, including He Muzhi, did not take their eyes off the screen.

The live stream simultaneously broadcast the reactions of everyone except Qin Su. They could only judge Qin Su's location by the direction the Viewers was looking. They knew very well that the fact that their people hadn't sent back even a single frame proved that Qin Su hadn't released control of the scene.

' Qin Su probably did this because he didn't want them to see him.'

(Class 6 had similar thoughts, but no one spoke their minds while the video was still running. They forced themselves to remain rational and analyze the situation on the scene.

"I think we don't need to look for Lawrence and the others anymore."

"That's right, I saw a lot of familiar clothes and accessories. It's just a coincidence, but with so many coincidences coming together, it's almost certainly true."

At this point, no one in Class 6 spoke again, and they all remained silent, staring at the same scene.

Others might admit their mistakes, but they had spent every day together, shared countless secrets for a long time, and even after graduation, they basically knew each other and continued to morbidly spy on and monitor anyone who came out of the Fourth Military Academy Class of 26 Class 6, just like when they were in school.

Therefore, even now, many of them are very familiar with Lawrence and others' voices, physiques, food and clothing preferences, and even their weekly weight changes, making it difficult not to recognize them.

If they don't shut up and continue their discussion, it could easily escalate to speculation about whether Qin Su will kill Lawrence and the others.

No matter what, they came from the same (Class 6 as Lawrence and his group. Given their naturally suspicious nature, it was only a momentary thing for them to connect Lawrence and his group to themselves and have the thought that 'Qin Su can kill Lawrence now and they can do the same to him in the future'.

That would be impolite, so for their own mental well-being, they should know when to stop.

(Class 6 secretly glanced at Sophia and others in the video and Lawrence and others in the live broadcast, their minds replaying what they had just heard. They were shocked and fearful at the same time. They did not expect that after so long since graduation, some of them would still have the habits they had in school. Back then, everyone was honest with each other and did not think anything of it. Now... The thought that the other party was still doing it while they had long since stopped made them break out in a cold sweat.

Qin Su: "..."

While listening to the Viewers verbally dissing the Optical Brain and staring at him intently as if trying to bore a hole through him, Qin Su watched the scenes related to his classmates in Class 6), silently counting down the time in his mind, waiting for the medicine that had been carried away by the wind to take effect.

In order to ensure that the insects could devour the sacrificial offerings in front of countless people in a short time, the Satina Church followers brought with them a great many different kinds of insects. The research team tried their best to combine the medicines that could work on different insects into one, but the medicine had to take longer to take effect. From the time the medicine was applied to when it took effect, it took at least thirty seconds.

He had no choice but to appear amidst the 'storm,' using the strong winds to spread the medicine to every corner without leaving any blind spots. However, this still didn't buy him enough time, so he had to make up the time by having himself and Lawrence and the others build a nest together, in order to attract the Viewers's attention and keep them from getting bored while waiting.

It was also thanks to his prior consideration of what it would be like for him to be in the shoes of the 'Viewers' below, and to his ability to 'look up and take pictures to document the event', that he was able to tamper with everyone's Optical Brain in advance by using a unified setting that automatically connects to the signal wherever the Optical Brain go so that they can be used anytime, Optical Brain. This ensured that not a single photo taken from a tricky angle was leaked.

After all, if he were to actually shoot, shooting at eye level would be fine, but shooting from such a tricky angle from below would result in a flood of unflattering photos due to varying shooting techniques. It would be better to let the Electronic Eye, whose angle he has already adjusted, capture the footage he has chosen and then release it.

He was completely unfazed by the criticism he received, as no unflattering photos had affected his image. He listened to the eavesdropping without a second thought.

"Exactly..." Qin Su withdrew his gaze from the other scenes before him and temporarily focused his attention on the image in the lower left corner.

In the video, the group of people with their heads covered had their limbs twisted and abnormally shaped. Although they maintained their standing posture and were clearly different from the group of Satina Church followers, the Viewers's attention rarely fell on them.

Although he was the focus of this performance, in his mind, Lawrence and others were equally important, and the Viewers should 'watch his and then theirs'.

The facts on the scene clearly told him that he had made a mistake once again. Fortunately, he was good at handling all unexpected situations and could put on a brave face for others.

As the thirty-second Countdown drew ever closer, Qin Su noticed that the insects, which had been crawling haphazardly on the ground, seemed to have gone mad and turned around, crawling back from all directions towards the center of the plaza where the isolation layer was located. Qin Su temporarily shut down Optical Brain in front of him, and before the Viewers noticed the insects' unusual behavior, he opened the bottom of the isolation layer without hesitation, creating the illusion that the insects had gathered at his command.

Temple was the closest, and although his eyes were fixed on Qin Su like everyone else's, as time went on, he also kept an eye on the surrounding situation out of the corner of his eye. Hearing the familiar soft 'hum' of the isolation layer closing, Temple quickly looked down and saw that the isolation layer had indeed closed up by about ten centimeters in an instant.

Temple: "?"

What does Qin Su mean by this?

Besides Temple, others also noticed the anomaly in the isolation layer.

"Why is there a ring of openings?"

"Should we let them out or keep us inside?"

As the thirty-second Countdown reached zero, Qin Su, maintaining his aloof demeanor, spoke in a low, flat voice, controlling his actions with his words as he stared at the invisible souls below, whom the people of this world perceived as invisible. "Now that everyone is here..."

The ghosts responsible for Lawrence and the others below heard Qin Su's word "finished." Having been practiced by Qin Su several times before, their actions were faster than their brains. By the time their brains and eyes reacted, their hands had already pulled down the black hoods covering Lawrence and the others' heads in less than a second of training time. Then they continued to maintain control over Lawrence and the others to prevent them from moving around.

The questions that had just arisen in everyone's minds were suddenly answered by Qin Su's voice from above. Before they could even process what Qin Su meant, they noticed that the black cloth bags that had been covering the heads of the group of people had fallen out of thin air.

"Lawrence?!"

"Fei Erde!"

"So many people from Class 6!"

"Qin Su arrested so many people from Class 6?! Do the other students from Class 6 who weren't arrested know that?"

Upon seeing those familiar faces, gasps of surprise erupted from the crowd watching outside the isolation layer. Among them were students from Class 6, making everyone else seem insignificant and failing to attract the attention of the onlookers.

The Satina Church, who were in the isolation layer preparing for the sacrifice, were just as puzzled as the people outside when they saw Qin Su bring over the people from Class 6. After a very short period of doubt, they were overjoyed.

Does Qin Su's action mean that Qin Su also believes they are guilty?

"I understand, Qin Su is on our side! We are right!"

Lawrence and the others regained their sight, but their mood was far from good. Especially when they saw the Satina Church staring at them with increasingly fierce and malevolent eyes, and thought of the Satina Church sacrificial rituals, they immediately thought of something terrible. They also noticed that the eyes of the crowd around them were always looking upwards, and they were constantly under a powerful pressure from above. Although they couldn't lift their heads, they clearly realized that the people they least wanted to see were right above them. Their faces turned pale, and they wished they could faint on the spot.

Temple, like the others below, kept glancing at Lawrence's group and Qin Su, before belatedly realizing that Qin Su's "everyone is here" referred to Lawrence and his group.

Two seconds had passed since his last sentence, and everyone had realized what had happened. Qin Su then continued, "Let's begin."

Upon hearing Qin Su's word "ba," the souls surrounding Lawrence and the others responded swiftly, instantly rising into the sky.

In the blink of an eye after they left Lawrence and the others, Qin Su clearly saw various insects instinctively gathering inside the isolation layer, searching for the place with the strongest medicinal smell, and they swarmed towards Lawrence and the others as if possessed.

Seeing that the matter had come to a temporary end, Qin Su breathed a sigh of relief. He shut his mouth, remained expressionless, and lowered his eyes, watching everything that was happening below without blinking.

Thanks to the fact that the Satina Church had gained power by controlling insects to 'become close' to them through various drugs, he didn't need to painstakingly research insect control drugs from scratch. He only needed to obtain all the powders and data that could control different insects based on the Satina Church's management, and hand them over to a special research team for emergency mixing. This would enhance the drug's efficacy several times over, increasing its attractiveness, while ensuring it was colorless, odorless, and could be dispersed by the wind.

During this period, Lawrence and his companions were continuously injected and permeated by the ghosts for hours on end, their skin becoming filled with a drug that strongly attracted insects and an odor that only insects could smell. The ghosts, on the other hand, carried an odor that temporarily repelled the insects. As soon as they left, the insects, under the influence of the drug in the wind, would uncontrollably approach Lawrence and his companions until they were completely devoured...

Freeman and the others were merely sacrifices. Unaware of the secrets of the Satina Church, they were unable to perceive the truth even when they were with Lawrence and the others. Temple, who had some understanding of the Satina Church's control, was isolated on the outer layer and could not get close to Lawrence and the others, nor could he see the tiny pinholes hidden under their clothes.

Temple glanced at it for less than a second, and along with Qin Su's icy tone, her sharp ears also picked up a familiar rustling sound from all around.

'That voice... it sounds so much like...'

As if remembering something, Temple quickly moved toward the ground inside the isolation layer that had been blasted open by the Satina Church followers, staring wide-eyed at the various insects crawling out from inside, densely packed and overlapping each other.

At the same time, outside the bottom isolation layer that Qin Su had opened, the insects that had previously fled all crawled back into the isolation layer through the opening.

"Holy crap, holy crap, are they crazy?!"

"Ahhh, don't come any closer!"

"What are you yelling about? Don't move! Can't you see they have absolutely no interest in us right now?"

The insects' collective movement caused only a brief moment of panic among the startled pedestrians. After realizing the insects had no interest in them, they quickly recalled Qin Su's words, and while feeling slightly relieved, they looked in the direction the insects were crawling.

"..."

Temple was breathing rapidly; it was clear that all the insects had returned because of Qin Su's words.

Having infiltrated the Satina Church for so long, he knew more or less that the Satina Church controlled insects with all sorts of drugs, making them appear to have a close relationship with the insects. These were secrets of the upper echelons. The lower-class believers who had been tricked and brainwashed into becoming sacrifices and propagators of the Satina Church were obviously unaware of these secrets. They firmly believed that the insects were close to people because they were devout enough and gradually became pure through repeated sacrifices of flesh and blood, thus being accepted by the insects. They were completely unaware that it was because the Satina Church's regional administrators sprinkled some insect-attracting powder on their clothes when they came into contact with them.

The Satina Church reveres 'nature' and preaches the idea of using the body as soil to nourish the Zerg. The clothes they wear are basically unwashed and reek of a foul stench. Even if some medicinal powders have an odor, it can be masked by the strong stench on their bodies.

He took advantage of this to quickly integrate.

Now, Qin Su didn't need to resort to such tricks. From a distance, without any close contact, he made these insects go berserk, gathering wherever he wanted them to be. Even the insects on Qin Su and his group, Freeman clothes had been secretly tainted with a drug to aid the 'sacrifice ritual,' resisted the drug's attraction and relentlessly crawled in the same direction—towards Freeman and Lawrence group. It was simply...

"A miracle... it's a miracle!"

Freeman watched the insects leave his body. Because the person who made the insects react this way was Qin Su, he felt no fear of being abandoned by his 'master'. Instead, his trembling voice was filled with indescribable excitement. He had been lying on the ground, unable to get up after being thrown down, but thinking that Qin Su might be leading this sacrifice, he hurriedly got up and knelt on the ground, devoutly worshipping the direction in which the insects were gradually enveloping Lawrence and the others like a wall.

"..."

Temple glanced silently at Freeman was now revealing his innermost thoughts.

The other believers reacted almost identically to Freeman, their eyes growing increasingly fervent as they looked up at Qin Su, then at Lawrence and the others who had become sacrifices.

'Among them are people from Class 6. They know that Class 6 cannot keep deceiving Qin Su forever. Now Qin Su, like them, believes that Class 6 is guilty! Although there are a few people from Class 6 among them, once this begins, they believe that Qin Su will not stop punishing Class 6. '

Freeman and the others were delighted, while Lawrence and the others, who were in the same space surrounded by insects, watched helplessly as countless ugly insects crawled up their shoes at an incredible speed, gradually enveloping their bodies. Their pupils suddenly contracted, their eyes filled with terror, and they let out cries of resistance and pleas for help.

"No, no!"

"Class Monitor, I know I was wrong..."

"Ahhh, don't come any closer! Ahhh--"

"Help!!"

"Waaaaah, I was wrong! Please, please forgive me! I promise I'll never do it again, no..."

Hearing the cries for help from below, Qin God Su remained unchanged. Whether Lawrence and the others truly regretted their actions or were simply forced to beg for mercy due to the current situation, it didn't matter anymore. From the moment they planned all of this, instigated these people to use death to try to cover many people in Class 6 with a layer of 'filth' that could never be washed away, hoping to cause a large-scale imitation and strangle the future of most of the people in Class 6, dragging them all into the quagmire they were in, their fate was already sealed. They had to pay the price for their choices and actions.

More importantly, between Lawrence and his group and He Muzhi and his group, He Muzhi's group brought him significantly more benefits. Whether based on reason or reality, he could only choose He Muzhi and his group. When it came to his own interests, he would not be soft-hearted, nor could he be soft-hearted.

There were so many insects that within seconds, Lawrence and the others were completely enveloped by them. Their open mouths became easy targets, and the insects quickly took over their bodies.

Lawrence and the others were acutely aware of the agonizing pain of sharp, biting bites on every inch of their skin, their wide eyes filled with despair. But soon, their eyes were also filled with insects, and darkness enveloped them.

The bodies, covered and gnawed, gradually shrank and collapsed. The moment they hit the ground, the dense swarm of insects was briefly scattered, revealing the skeletons inside, skin and bones still attached. Within two seconds, the insects quickly swarmed back together, once again covering the skeletons...

At some point, the voices of the onlookers gradually subsided until they disappeared completely, leaving only the sizzling sound of insects gnawing at each other. The atmosphere was eerily quiet, and countless people looked at Qin Su with deep fear in their eyes.