Lu Xiaobei's Half-Hometown

It was around nine o'clock at night.

Helicopters patrolled back and forth over Donghu District, their pods constantly flashing insect swarm detectors, leaving no insect undetected and wiping out the swarms emerging from the lakebed.

Ruolin and I sat in a helicopter, holding the Conqueror in our arms, looking out at the Cheng Group building not far away, where many people were standing by the windows looking outside.

"Drop!"

A message came from Cheng Shuang: "Ding Han, I think I saw you on a helicopter. Was that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

I replied, "It's basically confirmed that the swarm has been wiped out, so don't worry too much. You can go home and rest in a bit."

"That's good. You've worked hard too."

She sent a sighing emoji, "Most of what happened today will be unforgettable. I feel like everything is unreal. Only when I saw the many bullet casings you left in the car did I realize that it was all real."

I sent an awkward emoji.

The 25mm bullets from the Explosive Gun have unusually large cartridge cases. I used more than a dozen magazines in Cheng Shuang's car, so you can imagine how many cartridge cases were left behind.

"I'm so sorry, the leather seats in your car are probably burned by the heat..."

"It's okay, I can get a new one; it won't cost much."

"That's good. Get some rest; I should head back too."

"Okay, you should get some rest too."

So I patted the pilot on the shoulder, signaling him to let me and Zhang Ruolin off, then took out the Off-road Motorcycle, went straight onto the elevated road, and took Cai Cai, Ruolin and the others back to the South City District.

The residential area was completely silent.

Such a big thing happened today; all the aunties dancing in the square have disappeared, and the doors of every building are tightly locked, as if afraid that insects might get in.

"Holy crap, it's so quiet..."

The fat man rubbed his nose, put away the motorcycle, and asked, "Ding Han, when are you back?"

"Let's go back."

I nodded, parted ways with the fat man, took out my keys, opened the door, went upstairs, and then opened the living room door.

In the living room, Lin Qingying sat quietly, and when she stood up, her eyes were noticeably red.

"Xiao Ying, I'm back."

"Um."

She nodded slightly. "Have you eaten?"

"I had a hamburger for dinner, but I was too busy to go eat anything else."

"That..."

"Stop with the 'that' and 'that', come downstairs with me and let's have some hot pot!"

Immediately, she smiled and said, "Okay, I'll change my clothes!"

A few minutes later, Lin Qingying changed into a black trench coat over a white shirt. With her long hair flowing, she looked cool and said, "Shall we go?"

"Walk!"

Once outside the residential area, the streets were mostly deserted. Fortunately, the Hot Pot Restaurant across the street was still open, so I went straight in and ordered a lot of delicious food.

Lin Qingying clearly didn't eat much that evening, but she ate quite a lot, just like me.

"Today, the news on Huaining City TV was almost entirely about the insect nest appearing in Donghu District."

She looked at me tenderly. "Ding Han, is the situation very serious?"

Not necessarily.

I shook my head. "The reason why an insect nest appeared underground in Huaining City this time is mostly because of the Great Devourer in the Northern Region. The insect swarm is a strictly hierarchical group. As a tenth-tier insect king, the Great Devourer can emit a kind of highest-level command biological signal, which is why the insect swarm dared to infiltrate the Wall of Life."

Looking into Lin Qingying's gentle gaze, I continued, "I heard from senior officers of the Crimson Dragon Legion that the military is about to send a large number of Psionicist to various places to investigate the swarm's information. In addition, they will deploy a large amount of detection equipment and troops to completely stop the swarm outside the territory of the Crimson Dragon Country."

That high-ranking officer was none other than Su Wei, and she didn't hide some rather confidential information from the players.

"That's good."

Lin Qingying didn't say anything more, but just put some food on my plate and urged me to eat more.

Around 11 o'clock, I returned to the community, feeling extremely tired. After washing up, I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up early the next morning.

Lying in bed, I glanced at my accumulated Experience Points, which were just enough to reach level 54. Without hesitation, I confirmed the upgrade and then found Applied Mathematics in the pre-selected skills. After learning it, I upgraded it to level 10 Applied Mathematics Master in one go, which immediately increased my Spirit by 30 points.

At this point, as a sword-wielding super weapon user, my Mental Power has reached a staggering 777 points, which is quite extraordinary. This Mental Power is almost as high as my second attribute, agility!

Of course, all of this is thanks to Practice Makes Perfect and skills such as applied mathematics, algorithmic fundamentals, and programming fundamentals. Such a high level of mental strength is itself a kind of foundation, and when facing Psionicist and Star Speaker, the Psionic Resistance will be exceptionally high!

Furthermore, with the knowledge of fifth-order max-level applied mathematics, I felt as if I had instantly transformed into a mathematician. Many unsolved mysteries in my mind suddenly became clear. Mathematics is the foundation of science. Physics, chemistry, biology, and so on, are all ultimately related to mathematics. So at this moment, I feel that I may already be one of the smartest people in Star Abyss, at least in theory.

A slight joy welled up in my heart; with applied mathematics, the progress of Yue Ning Mall's core algorithm would be greatly accelerated!

After getting up and washing up briefly, I went downstairs to eat with Lin Qingying.

Early in the morning, the sun was shining brightly. The television news was repeatedly broadcasting that the insect swarm in the city had been completely eradicated and life had returned to normal. In addition, the community's loudspeakers were also broadcasting this message over and over again.

"Good morning, Brother Ding Han and Little Ying Sister!"

Not far away, Li Xiang, carrying a schoolbag, suddenly jumped off Grandpa Li's tricycle, grabbed a small stool, and sat down beside him.

"Li Xiang, want a fried dough stick?"

"Xie Xie, Brother Ding Han!"

The chubby boy grabbed a fried dough stick in his mouth, but ate it very slowly, his face full of worry. "Brother Ding Han, my classmates say that the bugs have already invaded the city, and they might wipe out our elementary school today. We won't have to go to school anymore, is that true?"

"What utter nonsense..."

I was speechless. After greeting Grandpa Li, I said, "Didn't you hear the news? The swarm has been wiped out, and our country's higher-ups have sent many super-powerful Psionicist. They can sense the presence of the swarm's biological information. They can tell whether there are any bugs dozens of kilometers away just by opening their eyes. So don't worry, the bugs won't massacre your school. You still have to go to school as usual."

"Oh..."

He nodded, whether with relief or disappointment, it was hard to tell; youth is indeed unaware of sorrow.

"Alright, I'm leaving now. Goodbye, Brother Ding Han and Little Ying Sister!"

The gloom in the little fat boy's heart was swept away, and he followed Grandpa Li away with half a fried dough stick in his mouth.

Lin Qingying smiled faintly and asked if I wanted a few more fried dough sticks. I said no, I was fine with six or seven tenths full for breakfast.

This morning, I frantically wrote code in the office, solving many previously unresolved problems and making some minor modifications to the architecture, which will make the overall algorithm smoother.

At this moment, with the fifth-level mastery of programming, mathematics, architecture, and algorithm knowledge, I feel more than capable of writing algorithms, and I no longer feel powerless as I did before.

Sometimes I feel a pang of regret. If I were to return to the real world in the future, most of these skills probably wouldn't stay with me. I'm afraid I'd still become that useless office worker. Could I really bear that kind of drastic change?

I even suspect that when that time comes, many players won't want to go home.

That's right, we're so happy here we don't even want to leave!

As noon approached, my stomach started growling; the consequences of eating only 60-70% full in the morning were becoming apparent.

"Zhao Yihang!"

I called downstairs immediately, "Have you ordered my takeout yet?"

"You won't be able to get takeout. Come down and see for yourself," Zhao Yihang.

"Holy crap?"

My heart skipped a beat. Had someone come to cause trouble again? Or had someone else suddenly died? Or was it some kind of ridiculous mess, like Chen Xiaoman's ex-husband coming to beat people up?

So he grabbed his coat from the chair, put it on, and went downstairs to see what was going on.

When I got downstairs, I didn't see anything lively. Instead, I saw Lu Xiaobei standing beautifully by the bar. She took off her sunglasses, looked at me, and whistled, saying, "Handsome, wanna add me on WeChat?"

'Damn it...'

I was utterly speechless. "Lu Xiaobei, why are you acting like a scoundrel?"

Not far away, several students playing games couldn't help but laugh, their bodies trembling, upon hearing this. They were all regulars, and even quite familiar with Lu Xiaobei. Who wouldn't give face to a big star like Lu Xiaobei? Only in front of me did she act like a pushover.

"None of your business?"

She said confidently, "I'll treat everyone to lunch, and we'll set off once Sister Xiaoman arrives."

No doubt about it, it's Jijiwa Wa again; she has a special fondness for that dry pot restaurant.

A few minutes later, Chen Xiaoman came downstairs, and the group walked onto the street to go eat.

"Weren't you recording in BH City?"

I asked, "How come you have time to go back to Huaining City? I guess you haven't finished recording the fourth and fifth versions yet?"

"That's about it, come back and check."

Lu Xiaobei took off his sunglasses, spread his arms to feel the spring temperature in Huaining City, and laughed, "Huaining City is practically my hometown, you know. Yesterday, a huge insect nest appeared in Donghu District. How could I not come back to check it out?"

Her current outfit is very casual, a white tank top and a gray plaid shirt. It's a very simple combination, but it looks very youthful and vibrant on her. Even though she has a small chest, she still looks very cute.

Of course, I also know that Lu Xiaobei couldn't say much when I was fighting the swarm of insects yesterday, for fear of disturbing me too much, but he was also very worried, so he still flew to Huaining City in person to check if I was missing any limbs or anything.

"Ding Han, say less. Xiao Bei rarely comes back, don't upset her," Chen Xiaoman said.

"Okay, Sister Xiaoman."

Chen Xiaoman is the most composed person at Feiyang Internet Cafe, and I respect her words very much.

Not long after, the Chicken Frog Dry Pot Restaurant.

Lu Xiaobei ordered a large pot of fried rice, plus two servings of egg fried rice. She had a particular fondness for the fried rice at this restaurant, and it was indeed quite good. The fried rice grains were plump and perfectly balanced in moisture, making it an excellent dish.

So he ate his fill.

Just as he put down his chopsticks, the sound of Gun Like a Dragon echoed in his mind. It was a voice message from him. "Ding Han, I just received news that a large insect hive has appeared near the Wall of Life in Creek City. Get ready, the Guide might issue a mission soon. Huaining City and Creek City are sister cities, we need to go and reinforce them!"

"Learn!"

Two minutes later, a bell rang in my ear--

[Attention all players! The Region Task "Reinforce Creek City" (S-rank) has been officially released! Issued by: The Guide. Quest details: A large insect hive has appeared near Creek City, and the insectoid biosignals are extremely strong. Please immediately proceed to Creek City to provide reinforcements. The more insects you eliminate in battle, the richer the final reward!]

The mission arrived just as our group of people were walking out of the dry pot restaurant.

"Xiao Bei, come here, I have something to tell you."

I turned and went into the alley next to me, Lu Xiaobei came over after putting on sunglasses.

She must have been recognized too many times in BH City, so she's become more obedient and wears sunglasses wherever she goes.

"What's wrong?"

I need to leave for a bit.

"Ah?"

Lu Xiaobei looked annoyed. "You're leaving as soon as I get back? There's no need to avoid me like this. I didn't ask anything of you, and I certainly didn't ask you to break up with Lin Qingying and be with me."

What are you thinking about?

I glared at her. "It's still about the Zerg swarm. I just triggered an S-class Main Quest. Apparently, a large Zerg hive has appeared near Creek City and could breach the Wall of Life and invade the city at any moment. Creek City's defenses are far weaker than those back home, so I have to go there immediately!"

"We definitely need to go."

She frowned slightly. "After all, Creek City is also my second hometown."

"Goodness, Huaining City is half your hometown, and Creek City is half your hometown too. So only BH City isn't your hometown, is that it?"

"That's right. There's nothing worth staying for in BH City. After all, all my memories are from my childhood, and I'm all grown up now. People shouldn't live in the past. In your players' words, living in the past is like wasting time on side quests that have no future. I need to get back to my Main Quest."

I gave her a deep look. "Xiao Bei, sometimes I feel you're quite cultured."

"Go to hell, Ding Han!"

She punched me angrily. "I'm a graduate of a top national university, you know?"

I nimbly dodged, and then, taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, I flicked my hand and summoned the Off-road Motorcycle from the alley, saying, "Alright, I'm leaving now, I'm not going to argue with you anymore!"

Wow~~~

Lu Xiaobei looked at my cool motorcycle and immediately drooled. "Can you take me for a ride next time I come back? This is so cool!"

"We'll see, I'm leaving now."

As he spoke, he mounted his motorcycle and sped onto the main road. Behind him came Lu Xiaobei's voice. "Ding Han, aren't you wearing a helmet? That's so unsafe!!!"

I was speechless.

Helmet... what's a helmet!? A bunch of us players don't wear helmets when we ride bikes. After all, the stats are what they are. Even if a tank runs over your head, you might not get Headshot. Why would we wear a helmet!

Player Black Market.

Ruolin, Cai Cai, Fatty, and the others took their places one by one, and the team of eight quickly assembled. Members of guilds such as Crimson Firmament Alliance and Jinyu also arrived. As a result, the players from Huaining City entered the Teleportation Array in groups and were successfully teleported to the Teleportation Array outside Creek City.

He took out his motorcycle and headed straight for the scene of the incident.

Five minutes later, the outline of the Wall of Life in Creek City came into view. Smoke billowed outside the south city wall, and the sound of gunfire was deafening. A great battle was taking place there.

"Get off the bus and move forward!"

With a command that Gun Like a Dragon, everyone put away their vehicles, took out their weapons, and advanced forward.

"Squeak squeak~~~"

In the forest, a swarm of Tier 2 Hydralisks and Exploding Insects burst forth, their brown and green hues blending together.

"Damn, it's a blizzard!"

There Are Monsters shouted, "Concentrate your firepower and kill the exploding bugs first!"

I immediately switched to the Pink Explosive Gun and, together with Cai Cai, Ruolin, and the others, unleashed a barrage of fire at the front. The bombs exploded incessantly, and the players' firepower was incredibly fierce. Moreover, those on the front lines were mostly elite players from Huaining City, with an estimated damage increase of around 30% per player. Their firepower was at its maximum!

Of course, I'm probably the only player with a 101% damage increase. Combined with the AOE damage of the Pink Explosive Gun, every shot unleashes a dense barrage of AOE damage. It's a good thing this is the real world, otherwise the main system might crash due to the terrifying amount of computation.

"Flamethrower, roasting the bugs!"

Not far away, at the command of "Gun Like a Dragon," seven or eight players carrying flamethrowers emerged from the Crimson Firmament Alliance crowd. They unleashed a flurry of fire at the swarm of insects, causing the flames to surge and the first and second-tier insects to sizzle and burn. Soon, the scene was filled with the exclamations of "Wow, it smells so good!"

Ruolin and I glanced over there together, both feeling a little envious.

It has to be the Crimson Firmament Alliance. No wonder they say "Gun Like a Dragon" is such a talent. This person not only has amazing personal charisma and leadership skills, but also maintains an excellent relationship with their superiors. While other players didn't even know what a flamethrower was, the Crimson Firmament Alliance had already started equipping it as standard issue.

Looking across the entire Huaining City, the Crimson Firmament Alliance is probably the guild most like an army. Its achievements are largely due to the Gun Like a Dragon guild!

So, more than 200 elite players from Huaining City pushed forward from outside the city, constantly eliminating the insects scattered outside the city.

Just then, a loud bang suddenly came from ahead.

"Boom~~~"

Through the trees, one could see the endless, colossal structure in front of them suddenly collapse.

"Holy crap, the south wall of Creek City has collapsed!" A squad leader from the Crimson Firmament Alliance stared in disbelief.

"Damn it, it collapsed again!"

Cai Cai's eyes widened as well. Players who had experienced the Stream City Campaign would remember that when the Dark Tide attacked Creek City, the south city wall was the first to be breached. Could it be that the south city wall was an easy target for Creek City, and anyone could just take advantage of it?!

"Advance rapidly, close in on the insect hive!"

With a command that his Gun Like a Dragon, the men unleashed even greater firepower.

About ten minutes later, the woodland in front collapsed, revealing an insect nest. The nest was about 200 meters away from the south city wall. The cracks from the nest continued to spread forward, extending directly to the base of the south city wall, which was the main cause of the wall's collapse. At this moment, many insects were climbing up the city wall and fighting with the Stream City Garrison guarding the wall.

Currently, the unit guarding Creek City is a division under the Crimson Dragon Legion, numbering approximately ten thousand, and is quite elite.

As for Dulin the Flame Wielder back then, although he served as the SJ of Creek City Committee, he actually had no military power. There was nothing he could do; this was the price of surrendering.

Accompanied by the screech of the insect swarm, wave after wave of insects charged towards us from all directions. The battle was fierce. Through the collapsed city walls, we could see that a cordon had been set up inside the city, and the military and police were urgently evacuating the onlookers who were unaware of the situation.

The fact that insect swarms move underground makes it truly difficult to prevent.

The battle continued, and the two sides entered into a tug-of-war. Wave after wave of Zerg swarms attacked outwards. Before long, night fell, and the Zerg swarms' offensive noticeably weakened.

The number of insect swarms that can hatch from a single insect hive is ultimately limited. This one in front of us is a large insect hive, but the player has been killing insects for so long that it should be close to the limit.

Just then, the roar of a heavy transport plane came from the sky. The cabin opened, and a huge figure was dropped down, with lights lighting up in mid-air. It was a Crimson Dragon-class Mecha!

"Boom!"

Amidst the rising dust, the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha landed. Inside the cockpit sat a short-haired young man with a hint of arrogance in his eyes. He turned the mech around to look at us and said, "I am Major Zhuang Da, ordered to destroy the insect hive. You players just need to follow behind me and scavenge for scraps. Don't make any rash moves, and definitely don't rush in front of me to your deaths. My Heavy Firepower weaponry doesn't discriminate."

"Grass..."

His simple words provoked strong dissatisfaction from players in Huaining City and Creek City.

However, this man was a Major and a pilot of the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha, so there was no choice but to listen to him.

"Let's go, let's set off!"

Zhuang Da gave a low shout and piloted his mech into the insect hive.

"Damn, this guy's really arrogant..." said the Chaos Demon King.

"Snort..."

"It's normal, "Gun Like a Dragon smiled faintly. "He's a pilot of Crimson Dragon-class Mecha, and he's young, so it's normal for him to be impetuous."

Let's go.

I walked to the edge of the insect hive with my Explosive Gun, turned around and smiled slightly at Cai Cai and Ruolin, and said, "I only know that arrogance will eventually be punished by heaven. The last one who was that arrogant was long ago burrowed to death by the Bloodthirsty Bug."

Hahaha~~~

Cai Cai smiled knowingly, "Lead the way, boss. We'll follow you into the insect hive to eat meat."

"Proceed! Stay alert!"

I also leaped down from the insect nest, using the rock face to absorb the force of each jump, and in the blink of an eye, I was inside the nest. My nostrils were immediately filled with the unpleasant smell of insects, as if I had entered a rotten cellar that had been decaying for many years.

Ahead, the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha had already opened fire, its Heavy Firepower from both arms sweeping across the area, turning a swarm of orange Blade Bug into a pile of minced meat!

This thing is really powerful, and Major Zhuang Da certainly has the right to be arrogant.

I wonder when we players will be able to own such a mech; it seems quite far off. Let's get Power Armor first, since this mech is much more powerful than Power Armor.

"Crimson Firmament Alliance, advance from the right flank!"

The sound of Gun Like a Dragon came from the right, while Worldly Uncontested Shen Jin led their people forward with a group of players from Creek City. All the players followed behind or to the sides of the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha, advancing slowly.

"Shh~~~"

Ahead, the soil inside the insect nest crumbled away, and the rock walls began to rise continuously. Then, a group of dark, shiny figures twisted out—a group of crustaceans that looked somewhat like centipedes!

"Watch out, it's a giant pincers, a Tier 4 Zerg unit!" Gun Like a Dragon shouted a warning.

In an instant, more than 20 giant pincers appeared, all of them level 60 Orange BOSS!

"Snort!"

Inside the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha, Zhuang Da let out a sneer, maneuvering the 20-meter-tall heavy mech to leap suddenly. With a "crack," its steel feet snapped a giant pincer-like insect in half, splattering green sap everywhere. Immediately afterward, the mech's left arm deformed, unleashing a giant Monomolecular Longsword. The sword light swept across, swiftly killing the giant pincer-like insects one by one!

Wow! That's incredible!

"This guy's arrogance is actually quite reasonable..." the Chaos Demon King couldn't help but remark.

I frowned but didn't say anything, but I firmly believed that those who become complacent will be punished.

A few seconds later, more than 20 giant pincers Explosive Kill by the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha, leaving only four or five. They were twisting their bodies, trying to restrain the mech, but they were no match for it. The mech's power was inexhaustible, and its arms swung wildly, smashing the few remaining giant pincers to pieces in the blink of an eye.

"Whoosh~~~"

Just then, a blue figure appeared ahead, bursting out of the darkness deep within the insect hive like a blue wheel.

"That is..."

I squinted at the name of the insect, and finally saw it clearly when it was less than 10 meters away from the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha.

Spirit Exploding Bug, Tier 5 Zerg, Cyan BOSS!

"Not good!"

I quickly retreated with the torch, shouting, "Cai Cai, come over here!"

Immediately afterwards, he shouted into the star map, "All players near the mech, activate invincibility now!"

I said, "I directly opened Absolute Space, heavily protecting everyone in the team within it."

"You little bug!"

Zhuang Da, inside the Crimson Dragon Mech, was completely unaware of what was happening. He suddenly raised one leg, as if to crush the Spirit Exploding Bug. However, the moment the mech's steel foot touched the Spirit Exploding Bug, numerous cracks appeared on its body, a powerful Mental Power rippled outwards, and then the Spirit Exploding Bug's body exploded, turning into a large amount of cyan molten liquid that sprayed in all directions!

"Puff--"

The explosion of the Spirit Exploding Bug was far more powerful than that of the Bomb Bug itself, and the blast field directly devoured everything within a 30-meter radius!

The cyan molten liquid, of unknown origin, instantly corroded most of the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha's body, leaving only "half" of the mech as it crashed heavily backward.

As for Major Zhuang Da, the cockpit was melted down, and his body was long gone, leaving not even ashes.

"Holy crap, that's intense..."

He was dumbfounded, seemingly indifferent to Worldly Uncontested.

At this moment, probably because I notified them in time, all the players in the front row activated their invincibility in time, so they all escaped the disaster. This time the survival rate was 100%, because everyone was a top player in both cities and knew the importance of the Invincible Burst Skill. Therefore, even if they gave up some attributes, they would definitely try to have an invincibility skill.

After all, the game has reached the mid-game stage. Although Invincible Burst Skill are rare, only appearing in rings and necklaces, there are still quite a few invincible equipment items on the market after half a year. Even if orange and purple invincible rings are too expensive to buy, blue ones are always affordable, costing only 20,000 to 30,000.

"Holy crap..."

Gun Like a Dragon stepped forward, glanced at the wreckage of the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha, and said, "This Major is just gone like that?"

"Hmm, that's all."

I smiled faintly, "Didn't you ask for it? Would it kill you to keep a low profile?"

For a moment, both "Gun Like a Dragon" and "Worldly Uncontested" let out a sinister laugh.

Let's go.

Carrying the torch, I stepped over the wreckage of the Crimson Dragon-class Mecha and led everyone to continue exploring. In this version, a large insect hive must contain more than just one cyan Spirit Exploding Bug; there must be at least one Pink BOSS. That is the opportunity we have for this trip!