Bloodthirsty Mosquito

"Eh, why is the sky so hazy?"

That morning, Medivh stood atop the watchtower overlooking the construction of Armory Camp when he suddenly noticed the distant sky turning a murky gray.

This abnormal weather change caught his attention.

There wasn't a strong wind today, was there? It shouldn't be a sandstorm.

"Lord Medivh, this is a mosquito plague breaking out!"

Medivh wasn't familiar with the situation in the Odyssey Region, so he called Suixiang over to ask.

Suixiang fixed her gaze into the distance, her expression turning grave. That hazy sky wasn't a weather change—it was the manifestation of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes gathering together.

Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes were giant mosquitoes with Magic Beast bloodlines, possessing sharp mouthparts and razor-like claws.

When a swarm of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes flew past, a person would be drained into a shriveled corpse in an instant.

Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes normally bred in a swampy area north of the Odyssey Region.

When their population reached a certain threshold, the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes would gather into swarms, fly out of the swamp, and sweep across the Odyssey Region.

Before a swarm of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes, whether it was thugs, alien races, or ordinary creatures, all were equal—once targeted, there was basically no chance of survival.

The mosquito plague was a disaster passed down by word of mouth in the Odyssey Region.

Every time after a mosquito plague, the number of living beings in the Odyssey Region would plummet sharply.

The reduction in population and the scarcity of prey would make the situation in the Odyssey Region even more tense.

The unstable situation in the Odyssey Region meant no stable food production.

After the mosquito plague came famine, and thug gangs and alien races would become even more frenzied for a single bite to eat.

Suixiang had experienced a mosquito plague as a child. She remembered how the cat people hid in underground tunnels to avoid it.

When the mosquito plague ended and she walked out of the tunnel, what she saw were terrifying skeletons wrapped in skin and bones.

Those remains included cat people who hadn't hidden in time and livestock raised by the cat tribe.

Those terrifying skeletons left a deep impression on her, becoming the source of nightmares for their generation of children for a long time.

She remembered that after the mosquito plague, the tribe was short on food, and hunters who went out rarely brought back prey.

Not only was food scarce, but the tribe was also frequently attacked by starving human thugs and alien races.

In extreme hunger, everything became food.

Tribesmen who went out to hunt often went missing, becoming rations for other starving creatures.

Suixiang's parents had died protecting the tribe during the great famine.

"Interesting."

After learning the details of the mosquito plague, Medivh wasn't flustered at all.

Armory Camp was mainly composed of skeletons, which weren't afraid of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes sucking their blood—they had nowhere to bite.

When the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm came, Medivh and his people only needed to take shelter in the underground warehouses under construction in the Castle District.

"Lord Medivh, it's time to stock up on food!"

Not long after the gray mist rose, the distant sky turned yellow.

This time it was real sand and dust—a sandstorm kicked up by fleeing herds of beasts.

Suixiang reminded Medivh that before the mosquito plague arrived, they could freely hunt the fleeing beasts and stock up on food.

After the mosquito plague, prey would be scarce, and if they didn't stock up now, the great famine period would be harsh.

"Of course."

Medivh nodded and ordered his transcendent skeletons to lead the hunting of fleeing beasts.

Looking down from high above, whether carnivores or herbivores, all were fleeing in unprecedented harmony.

Those that ran too slowly would be swallowed by the gray mist, becoming blood meals for the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm.

Even among the beast herds, there were quite a few Magic Beasts, but most low-rank Magic Beasts couldn't withstand the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm.

All things had their checks and balances. When the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm swept through, there were also creatures that preyed on them.

In the sky, flocks of Colorful-Feathered Birds kept diving at the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm, hunting them.

On the ground, armored beasts swept their long tongues to catch passing Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes.

The Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes had no way to deal with these heavily defended beasts.

On the water, fish would occasionally leap up or spit water cannons to hunt Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes.

These creatures were all part of maintaining balance, factors that limited the spread of the mosquito plague.

When the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm dropped to a certain number, they would flee back to their breeding grounds to reproduce, and the mosquito plague would end.

The outbreak of the mosquito plague didn't affect Armory Camp.

Medivh continued refining skeletons as usual. Ordinary skeletons were either building walls in the Wall District or constructing multi-story underground warehouses in the Castle District.

Transcendent skeletons, leading combat-type Green Bone Skeletons, were either patrolling the camp or hunting fleeing beasts in the wild.

Not all beasts were killed. When encountering herbivores that could be tamed, the skeletons captured them alive and brought them back to the camp to be penned.

Medivh had plans for agriculture and animal husbandry. Some things needed to be prepared in advance.

Magic Beasts were not unintelligent; they knew how to seek advantage and avoid harm. Likely sensing the transcendent skeletons hunting in the wild, not a single Magic Beast passed near Armory Camp.

The great hunt lasted five days. The yellow clouds drifted far away, gray fog arrived in their wake, and the swarm of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes came.

Medivh, Audrey, and the foreign maids had long since retreated into the Underground Fortress, not taking risks with their own lives.

Above ground at Armory Camp, it was all skeletons. Just as Medivh had anticipated, the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes had no way to bite the skeletons.

Under Medivh's command, the skeletons at Armory Camp hunted the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes by various means.

A vast number of Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes were killed. The swarm had gained another natural enemy.

Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes possessed Magic Beast bloodlines. Their own blood and the refined blood essence, like the blood of Cold-Horned Deer, were greatly beneficial to the growth of Time Skeletons.

Upon discovering this, the skeletons hunted with even greater frenzy.

To lure the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes into staying, the skeletons often brought out large barrels of blood to trap them.

"Moo..."

The Magic Beasts knew to seek advantage and avoid harm. Finding that Armory Camp had a natural enemy of the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes, a herd of bovine-type Magic Beasts being hunted by the mosquitoes drew close.

They wanted to use the strength of Armory Camp to survive.

It was a Magic Beast tribe. Like the Bloodthirsty Mosquito swarm, most were merely beasts with Magic Beast bloodlines, with only a few being first-rank Magic Beasts.

Under the lead of a Magic Beast-rank Bloodthirsty Mosquito, that Magic Beast tribe was in dire straits.

"If you don't want to die, obey!"

Medivh understood sustainable development. He intended to raise this Magic Beast tribe, continuously obtaining Magic Beast blood.

He had Suixin use the Voice of the Soul to contact the tribe's Magic Beast leader, laying out the terms of his protection.

At first, the Magic Beast leader refused. Medivh left them to be hunted by the Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes.

"Moo..."

Faced with the threat of life and death, the Magic Beast leader finally bowed its head in submission, accepting Medivh's enslavement.

The pact was made. The transcendent skeletons led the other skeletons to relieve the Magic Beast tribe.

The Magic Beast-rank Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes could do nothing against the transcendent skeletons. After a few were killed, the rest scattered in disarray.

Having witnessed the military force of Armory Camp, the Magic Beast leader dared not turn traitor and obediently stayed in the designated area to recuperate.

Medivh was very hospitable. He had the skeletons deliver fresh, tasty forage to feed the weary herd.

After enslaving that Magic Beast tribe, the skeletons continued to trap Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes at Armory Camp, absorbing their blood to grow.

The Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes, which lived by sucking blood, were now having their blood drained by skeletons—a curious cycle of retribution.