The Battle with the Ants (1)

Yang Xiao stood about a meter before the thick fog. Behind him were Chen Fei and the other four girls, all very nervous.

Yang Xiao pointed his black sword at the fog and said, "Chen Fei, shoot a bolt of lightning into the thick fog."

"Okay!" Chen Fei stepped forward and swung her right hand, and a silver lightning bolt shot into the fog with a swoosh.

The fog seemed struck by electricity, retreating with a whoosh about a meter, just within range of Chen Fei's lightning.

"Chubby, try whipping your hair."

Chubby moved to Yang Xiao's side. With a thought, her jet-black hair instantly grew four meters long, stabbing into the fog like steel wires.

This time, the fog receded about four meters.

After Chubby retracted her magic hair, Yang Xiao noticed something strange. The fog didn't surge forward again but left a blank space.

Gripping his black sword, Yang Xiao said solemnly, "Everyone, stay close. Chubby, Chen Fei, and Chen Lu will use ranged attacks if we spot mutants. Dai Yun, protect those three."

Stepping into the fog, it retreated about a meter around Yang Xiao. Each step forward pushed it back further. Even in his wake, it didn't regroup.

Uneasy with penetrating too deep, the group skirted the fog's edge, steadily pushing it back. After half an hour they'd opened up a passage dozens of meters deep and 5-6 meters wide.

As Yang Xiao progressed, creaking sounds suddenly emitted from the fog up ahead.

"Heads up, everyone!"

The four girls immediately held their breath.

Waving his black sword, Yang Xiao kept the fog at bay.

Abruptly, a skeleton emerged from the gloom. Shocked, he halted.

It was human. Likely a student camped here last night, judging from the remnants of tents in the fog.

With 200-300 who hadn't entered the Gene Store's 50-meter safety zone, it stood to reason some would meet this fate.

Carefully, Yang Xiao stabbed into the fog with his sword. As it retreated, a fully intact skeleton appeared before them, with fresh blood stains on the ground. It was clearly devoured by some mutant last night.

The girls shook with fright at the grim sight of a classmate gnawed to the bone. Chen Fei's stomach heaved as she vomited.

Creak...creak...creak...

The sounds continued.

Yang Xiao touched Chen Fei's shoulder. "You okay?"

Chen Lu supported her, offering some water to sip.

Finally, Chen Fei stopped retching. She awkwardly muttered, "Sorry Boss, I'm okay now."

"Alright. Stay alert everyone, mutants are near. Run if you can't beat them, toward the Gene Store. Within 50 meters you'll be safe."

Before attacking, they verified their escape route.

Yang Xiao glanced at the four girls and then proceeded onward. The fog kept retreating, revealing two more skeletal remains.

Suddenly, a fist-sized insect-like thing crawled out of one skeleton.

Yang Xiao's sword twitched as he stabbed at the mutant on the ground. "Attack!" he yelled.

Panicked, Chen Fei's lightning, Chen Lu's ice spheres, and Chubby's hair lashed the earth.

A sharp crack resounded as the skeleton crushed to dust. Examining closer, under Yang Xiao's black sword lay a strange creature, now very dead, covered in ice.

Lifting it, Yang Xiao froze.

It was a mutated ant!

The four girls peered at it, equally shocked.

"Who'd expect ants to grow as big as fists after mutating? That's too horrifying!"

"Looks like these students got swarmed and eaten by them."

"Well, then the squeaking sound we just heard should be the noise made by the mutated ant swarm."

Using his sword, Yang Xiao flipped over the ant's corpse.

Thud. A dark, irregularly shaped crystal shard fell out, glinting.

Quickly collecting it, the cool, slightly heavy object sat in Yang Xiao's palm.

"What's that?" asked Chen Fei.

"The genetic fragments Gu Bo mentioned, I bet."

"So this is a fragment? What's it for? Also, Gu Bo said we could eat mutant remains. Can we eat these ants?" Chen Lu asked.

"Should be fine roasted over a fire. Crispy outside, tender inside, a dash of salt. Can't be too bad." Chubby chuckled.

"Chubby, if you keep eating random things, I'll really start worrying," Dai Yun joked.

Yang Xiao eyed the four girls. "Look at you all, we just killed one ant and you're already planning your next snack. There's a whole swarm up ahead, we'll kill plenty to feed you."

The girls giggled and followed as Yang Xiao pressed on. Chubby took out a prepared sack and deposited the ant's corpse within.

Cautious not to rush ahead, they steadily advanced, forcing back fog while scanning the ground, defeating several stray mutant ants in succession with their abilities.

Yang Xiao found his black sword could skewer an ant in one strike, but Chen Fei's lightning and Chen Lu's ice spheres couldn't one-shot them. The electricity could stun the ants, while the cold slowed their movement. To kill one, each girl needed to attack three consecutive times.

As for Chubby's magic hair, the stiff strands couldn't directly pierce the mutated ants' bodies. She had to wrap them up and then violently slam them into the earth. Five or six vicious slams would crush one to death.

Dai Yun's wolf claws could likely kill the mutated ants directly, but she had to get up close to attack, which would also put her in danger.

After slaying a dozen more ants, the group had gathered 5 genetic fragments. The drop rate seemed around 30% or less. As for any weapons Gu Bo mentioned, none had appeared.

The five of them gradually developed a strategy. It involved Chen Fei's lightning and Chen Lu's ice balls for the initial attack. Then, Chubby would use her long hair to immobilize the stunned ants hit by the lightning or ice balls and finish them off with just a couple of strikes.

In groups, her hair could sweep up dozens of ants at once which was very useful.

Yang Xiao found his black sword could practically one-shot the mutant ants. And with his heightened senses and reflexes, if he spotted one, a single strike would invariably connect.

The five of them became more enthusiastic about the killings and couldn't help but quicken their pace in search of the ant colony.

When Yang Xiao's blade pushed back a wall of fog, a swarm of mutated ants finally appeared before them.