Encountering Flying Bugs Again, Part Two

Rowan finally understood why the invisible insect remained motionless even when surrounded.

Just like him now, surrounded by Flying Bug, still wondering whether they've spotted him, whether to run or stay still.

He didn't hesitate for long before the Flying Bug launched their attack.

Dozens of Flying Bug swooped down on him. As they approached, they spread their wings and instantly changed their posture, from facing forward head to facing forward rear, revealing their stingers.

They were too fast; although Rowan reacted, he still couldn't completely dodge the attack.

Fortunately, his Exoskeleton Armor was no pushover; the tiny stinger didn't even leave a scratch on the carapace.

Rowan wasn't smug. He had seen countless times how the Little Red Ant dealt with the Super Giant, and these Flying Bug were like large winged ants. Who knew if they would use similar tactics?

With Walking Leg and a leap, he jumped down from the tree and ran off in a random direction. He didn't choose to fly because his speed was far inferior to that of Flying Bug with a specialized fuselage.

Moreover, in order to fly, he must spread his elytra, which is his carapace, exposing his vulnerable abdomen, essentially crippling himself.

After multiple evolutions and adjustments, its Walking Leg not only have excellent running ability, but also powerful jumping and gripping abilities. It moves through various obstacles like a parkour runner, with fluid movements that are highly entertaining to watch.

However, to Flying Bug fly in a straight line and have the advantage of high-altitude visibility, this appears somewhat flashy.

Strangely, Rowan never deactivated his Optical Camouflage, yet the Flying Bug seemed to have GPS tracking installed on him, always managing to pinpoint and attack him with pinpoint accuracy.

Rowan raised his Pincer Limb upwards and backwards to protect his eyes, while also preventing his body from leaning too far forward during rapid running, thus maintaining his speed.

Unfortunately, the slight increase in speed was negligible to the Flying Bug, whose attacks continued relentlessly. Although most of the Flying Bug were blocked by his armor, some still managed to seize the gaps in his armor and climb onto his body.

Rowan dared not let them linger on him. Although he was also a poisoner, he preferred direct confrontation and disliked opponents who relied on poison.

While Walking Leg, his legs also had to reinforce the defenses on his back. The reverse joints drove away any Flying Bug on his back, which greatly affected his running speed. In the past, Rowan always thought that he had a total of ten limbs, including two Pincer Limb, two Swimming Leg, and six ordinary Walking Leg, which was enough to deal with most situations.

But he was facing only that small part of the situation, and at that moment he wished he had six more Walking Leg to defend against attacks from the air.

This is a slow death. If it were just a long-distance race, with his body's fat reserves, he could definitely exhaust the guys behind him.

But now he was in a primeval forest where the situation was unclear, and who knew how many fishermen were hiding in the shadows waiting for an opportunity. He dared not drag the Flying Bug here for a long time; he had to think of a way.

But before that, the first thing to determine is how they position themselves.

Optical Camouflage was no longer effective, and Rowan's deceptive Sex Pheromone had no effect. He wasn't surprised; after all, this method of locating enemies required extremely close proximity, and he was just trying it out.

Suddenly, he noticed many light yellow granular powders on the carapace. These powders originated from the base of the hind legs and abdomen of the Flying Bug. There were many fine hairs there, covered with this powder; it seemed to be some kind of pollen?

Could they have located him using these pollen particles? Rowan scanned the area and, sure enough, found some powdery residue at the tip of the first Walking Leg that had attacked the Flying Bug.

Although Rowan didn't know how the Flying Bug located the pollen, since there were plenty of flowers and pollen around them along the way, they hadn't lost track of it. But he figured it must be some kind of special talent.

Upon discovering the cause, Rowan immediately guessed it was the smell. Suddenly, his elytra opened as he ran, his abdomen rose, and a burst of "Gatling" fire erupted.

After the strafing was completed, the elytra immediately closed.

In the past, when everyone was engaged in ground combat, the Gatling was effective for close-range firing. However, when it came to air-to-ground combined arms warfare, its range disadvantage became apparent.

The Flying Bug following behind only heard a sound and watched the spectacle. But Rowan didn't intend to kill them directly with this; a stench accompanied by white smoke filled the air.

The Flying Bug were indeed affected, becoming disoriented and unable to find their way. But before Rowan could even feel smug, the Flying Bug quickly gained altitude and chased after him again.

"Damn it!" Rowan cursed under his breath. The scent could only cover a small area and was practically useless while running at high speed. Unless he stayed in that area and didn't come out.

However, this doesn't solve the fundamental problem. If the Flying Bug has enough patience, it will become a sitting duck. The risk is too great, and this plan is not advisable.

Suddenly, he remembered seeing similar scenes in cartoons before. In most cases, the problem was solved by jumping into the water.

There was a small river not far away, and Rowan could already hear the sound of the flowing water.

Although I don't know if the plot of the animated film is reliable or not, I can't care about that at the moment.

As for the murky river water and the unknown dangers it poses, in the current situation, choosing between known and unknown dangers doesn't seem difficult.

Turning around, Rowan sprinted forward. Every so often, he would fire a few "projectiles," which only temporarily slowed down the Flying Bug's pursuit, but it was better than them crawling all over him. Moreover, this allowed him to focus on Walking Leg full speed without needing to defend himself.

A few minutes later, just as Rowan was running out of "ammunition," he finally reached the riverbank.

Without hesitation, he leaped into the water. The river made a "plop" sound, creating ripples that soon returned to normal.

Some of the knowledge from the cartoon is still very useful; the Flying Bug could not be tracked any further and stubbornly lingered on the water's surface.

But don't forget, Rowan is an amphibious soldier.

Thinking to himself, "Let those guys keep waiting," Rowan thought, "My Swimming Leg, which weren't very useful before, are finally going to come in handy." He quietly drifted downstream along the riverbank.

Suddenly, some unidentified objects in the water darted towards him at an extremely fast speed. Although his vision was now very poor, his hearing had been greatly improved.

Although the Echolocation System originated from bats, the ear holes they develop are densely covered with fine hairs, which provide some waterproofing, allowing it to remain effective underwater.

Although he cannot open his mouth to emit ultrasonic waves underwater, he can still detect abnormal fluctuations through feedback from the surrounding water flow.

After all, the sound of these rapidly disturbing water currents was far too obvious.