208: Chapter 208 A wormhole suddenly appears in the medicinal field, and acid beetles swarm out.

The wind continued to blow.

Chen Wuwang stood in the doorway of the watchtower, his cloak snapping in the wind. His silver-white ponytail whipped behind his shoulders like a bundle of taut steel wires.

The Mechanical Prosthetic Eye in his right eye flashed again. This time it wasn't three flashes, but five short, consecutive bursts of blue light, like some signal crashing against a wall inside his body.

He didn't blink.

His gaze was pinned firmly on the northwest corner of the Medicinal Field—the coordinate point he had noted on the surveillance map.

The ground moved.

It wasn't a vibration, nor was it a collapse.

Instead, it was like a sheet of skin being torn open from beneath by an invisible giant hand, suddenly arching and splitting, the soil churning like waves.

The rune chains of the Spiritual Vein protection array snapped one by one, emitting ear-piercing 'crack! crack!' sounds, like metal being forcibly torn apart.

A pitch-black opening suddenly exploded from underground.

It was thirty feet in diameter, bottomless, and its edges were scorched black, as if burned through by something of extreme temperature.

A foul-smelling gust of air shot up into the sky, mixed with the scent of rotting earth and acid, hitting him full in the face.

A wormhole.

By the time the word popped into Chen Wuwang's mind, the first batch of beetles had already swarmed out.

They were black, the size of a fingernail, with oily blue-gray shells and six thin, fast-crawling legs. On their backs was a slit-like gland that constantly secreted green slime.

They moved in groups like a living tide, gushing out from the hole and scattering as soon as they hit the ground, spreading in all directions.

"Sizzle—"

A beetle crawled over a "Crimson Heart Vine," and the gland on its back suddenly sprayed a stream of green liquid, hitting the base of the vine directly.

The spiritual plant's root System, which should have been as tough as iron, instantly emitted black smoke. The surface carbonized and cracked, and the entire plant withered and collapsed at a visible speed.

It was extremely corrosive.

Chen Wuwang's pupils constricted, and his finger slammed onto the communicator at his waist.

"Alert! Wormhole eruption in the northwest sector of the Medicinal Field! All combat units assemble at the main nursery immediately! Priority is to hold the Spiritual Vein interfaces and spiritual plant areas of Grade 3 and above! Repeat, this is not a drill!"

Just as his voice fell, the second wave of beetles had already reached the protective rune plates.

The defense arrays driven by spiritual energy had just lit up with golden light when they were simultaneously sprayed with liquid by a dozen beetles. The green liquid splashed onto the rune plates, making a loud "sizzling" sound. The golden light flickered violently and extinguished completely in less than three breaths, leaving the plates scorched and cracked.

"Dammit!" he cursed under his breath, and without further hesitation, he vaulted down from the watchtower.

He jumped directly from the thirty-foot-high platform, knees slightly bent upon landing, sending a circle of gravel flying.

He didn't stop, sprinting toward the armory while shouting: "Activate the 'Earth Net' smoke blockade procedure! Open all Sector B diversion pipes! Flood it with inert spiritual mist!"

Several responses came through the communication channel; some Shadow Guards had already begun deploying mecha squads.

But he knew it was too late.

The swarm was spreading too fast. In just seven or eight breaths, it had already spread over twenty yards. Three spiritual plant areas at the edge of the Medicinal Field began to smoke, with sporadic flames lighting up—a sign of spiritual plants spontaneously combusting after being corroded.

Just then, a shrill whistle came from the sky.

A silver streak of light tore through the night sky from the west of the city, accompanied by the piercing roar of an engine, arriving over the Medicinal Field within three breaths.

It was a light combat mecha, entirely silver-gray, with external folding high-frequency blades on its arms. The two sets of jump thrusters on its back were still emitting pale blue exhaust flames.

The mecha came to a sudden halt in mid-air, its feet slamming heavily onto the ground, the impact sending the surrounding beetles flying.

The cockpit popped open, and Chen Xiaodao jumped down, his face still stained with sweat from calibrating the System, and his combat uniform collar wasn't even buttoned.

He swept his gaze over the scene: the churning wormhole, beetles crawling everywhere, burning spiritual plants, scorched rune plates...

There wasn't a moment's hesitation.

He reached back and pressed the mecha control button. The arm blades unfolded with a "shing," a hum arose, and the spiritual energy charging was complete.

"Go time!" he roared, charging into the center of the swarm.

Sword light exploded.

The first strike, a sweep of thirty feet, sliced a dozen beetles in half. Green acid splashed, corroding pits into the ground where it landed.

The second strike followed immediately, a diagonal slash that pinned a beetle about to spray liquid into the dirt.

He didn't stop, kicking away a beetle crawling toward a Spiritual Vein interface with his left foot while his right sword swung back, splitting another beetle that had just emerged from the hole in two.

Beetle corpses flew and acid splashed everywhere.

He was like an unsheathed sharp sword, plunging straight to the edge of the wormhole, carving out a vacuum in the densest part of the swarm.

"Xiao Dao! Don't go too deep! Wait for backup!"

Chen Wuwang roared from a distance, pulling up the coordinates of two heavy defense mechas on his communicator while running, remotely unlocking them and sending deployment orders.

"Can't hear you!" Chen Xiaodao shouted back, his voice carrying a hint of a laugh. "I'm having a blast right now!"

Before his voice could fade, there was another violent squirming deep within the wormhole.

With a "clatter," dozens of even larger beetles crawled out.

These beetles were the size of a palm, with dark purple shells and wider glands on their backs. The acid they sprayed was dark green and ignited upon landing, even etching honeycomb-like pits into the rock.

One of them aimed a stream of acid at the spot where Chen Xiaodao had just stood. The ground instantly collapsed, revealing a Spiritual Vein diversion pipe beneath.

The pipe wall was corroded, and spiritual energy leaked out, making a "sizzling" sound of high-voltage current.

Chen Xiaodao's gaze turned cold. Instead of retreating, he advanced, sliding in and piercing the beetle's head with his blade.

The sword tip broke through the shell, and green liquid sprayed onto his hand. His combat uniform began to smoke with a "hissing" sound. He quickly shook his hand, cursing: "Damn! This stuff is fucking toxic!"

He quickly jumped back to create distance, took a breath, and looked deep into the wormhole.

It was pitch black, and he couldn't see the bottom.

But that feeling had come—just like when he was five years old, crawling out of the ruins, his ears filled with the sound of the insect race devouring flesh.

That cold, numb, emotionless feeding rhythm beat against his nerves like a pendulum.

He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

"Come on," he said softly, "who's afraid of who?"

Meanwhile, Chen Wuwang had reached the armory door. He entered his fingerprint and voiceprint, and the heavy alloy door opened with a "boom."

He grabbed a Titanium Alloy Dagger hanging on the wall and snatched up a box of miniature shock grenades, stuffing them into his tactical backpack.

"Earth Net smoke System activated!" the dispatcher's voice came through the communicator. "Inert spiritual mist will cover Sector B within thirty breaths!"

"Not enough!" Chen Wuwang roared as he ran. "Have all mecha squads switch to melee mode! The acid can corrode rune plates, don't rely on long-range fire! Tell Xiao Dao to hold on! I'm almost there!"

He didn't stop, heading straight for the Medicinal Field along the express lane.

He covered the three-hundred-meter distance almost at a sprint.

Along the way, Shadow Guards and Artifact Refining Workshop technicians were already arriving with weapons. Some held Rune Guns, some carried spiritual energy flamethrowers, and others pushed small interference cannons.

"Patriarch!" A Shadow Guard captain came to meet him. "Our people are setting up defenses, but there are too many beetles. We can't hold them with manpower alone!"

"I know!" Chen Wuwang's gaze swept over the battlefield. "Concentrate fire to hold the main nursery first! Move all 'Soul Condensing Grass' and 'Dragon Blood Vines' of Grade 3 and above into spiritual energy safes! The rest of you, follow me!"

He charged at the very front, dagger in hand, a blood-colored spiritual pattern faintly emerging in his eyes.

The wormhole was still spewing beetles.

Batch after batch, an endless stream, like a sewage outlet opened from Hell.

The acid corroded the soil, spiritual plants, Formations, and pipes. The edges of the Medicinal Field had already become a scorched wasteland emitting black smoke.

Chen Xiaodao was still fighting in the middle of the swarm, his sword light like lightning, each swing taking out several beetles.

But he was also gradually being forced back. The ground beneath his feet grew narrower, surrounded by crawling black shadows, with acid spraying down from above from time to time. He could only rely on rolling to dodge.

"Hey! You guys up there!" he shouted toward the sky. "If no one comes soon, I'm going to be scrap metal!"

In the distance, two heavy defense mechas finally arrived, landing with a roar, their muzzles locking onto the wormhole entrance.

Chen Wuwang charged into the edge of the battlefield, kicking away an approaching beetle, and looked up—

Deep inside the wormhole, something seemed to be moving.

It was much larger than the beetles.

Jointed legs, curved, with a metallic luster.

Before he could see clearly, the thing suddenly poked its head out.

Eight long, thin legs, a triangular head, and mouthparts that opened to reveal a spiral drill-like structure.

It didn't spray acid.

It stared at Chen Xiaodao as if locking onto its target.

Chen Xiaodao also saw it.

He grinned, wiped the sweat and acid residue from his face, and raised his twin swords.

"Come on, big guy."