"Do you know what this is?"
Emperor Xuanwu saw Qin An's expression and sensed that this was no simple matter. His face grew grave.
Having sat on the throne for so long, he could catch the slightest change in anyone. From Qin An's expression, he could tell that Qin An seemed to know something about the insects.
The situation had already grown critical. The insect plague had plunged countless people into famine.
Emperor Xuanwu had no intention of wasting time, so he asked outright.
His question brought Qin An back to himself.
Qin An stared at the pile of insect carcasses before him. He picked one up between his fingers and examined it closely.
"Precise mechanical components, and a trace of extremely scarce spiritual energy inside. Someone must have made these things."
Someone else might never have recognized where they came from. After all, they were coated in the sheen of a metal never seen in this world.
Their joints and every other part were linked by intricate mechanisms. They looked like precision-built robots, not living creatures.
But Qin An could recognize what they were.
It was not that he knew who had made them. Things like these simply had not been rare in his previous life.
Machines were unfamiliar in this world, but Qin An knew them well.
Emperor Xuanwu's brows drew together. "You said 'mechanical.' What does that mean?"
It was a new word, and even Emperor Xuanwu did not know what it meant.
With Qin An right there, he saw no reason to hide his confusion and asked him directly.
Qin An set the carcass on the table before answering slowly. "Your Majesty, you can think of machinery as mechanisms. An unknown enemy assembled these parts to create the insects."
"And machinery does not belong to our