The Woes of Nosebleeds

Sensing the fear of the longhorn beetle, Tom quickly projected a reassuring thought: "You're safe now, beetle. I've killed all the ants."

After mutation, the intelligence of the longhorn beetle seemed to have improved. Just like the gecko before, it greatly appreciated Tom's reassurance.

"Scary, scary," it expressed.

"No need to be afraid, I've killed them all," Tom assured.

"So impressive, so impressive," it replied.

These conversations were actually Tom's own imagination. While the consciousness of the longhorn beetle expressed similar emotional states, its intelligence after mutation was only equivalent to that of a one-year-old child in terms of thought expression.

Tom then withdrew from the longhorn beetle's mind, and it woke up, shaking its huge body as it stood up.

Seeing this beetle, over 20 centimeters long and about 9 centimeters tall, with a hard shell and all black, everyone tightened their grip on their weapons, fearing the worst.

"Don't move! Don't move!" Tom loudly stopped Bo and the others, preventing them from agitating the beetle further.

The beetle lowered its head, sweeping its long and hard antennae a few times before stopping in front of Tom.

Just when everyone thought the beetle was about to attack Tom and was about to rush forward with their weapons, they saw the beetle extend its long antennae towards Tom's face, which Tom gently held in his hand.

"The antennae of the longhorn beetle combine taste, smell, touch, humidity, temperature perception, and light perception. By touching me with its antennae, it's like handing over all its weaknesses to me." Tom quickly explained loudly, afraid that others might overreact out of concern for his safety.

Upon hearing this, without Bo's order, everyone put down their weapons. They understood that the beetle meant no harm.

"Not only does it mean no harm," Skinny chuckled, "it's like a dog showing you its belly for a belly rub. It's completely acknowledging you as the boss. Impressive, An Ge!"

Tom chuckled and patted the beetle's antennae a few times before letting go.

Communication with creatures through the control energy green crystal was bidirectional. When he understood the beetle's memories, the beetle also gained some of his memories, at least about the recent battle with the ants. The creatures that had previously scared it, the ants, had all been wiped out by Tom, so naturally, the beetle felt grateful towards him. Combined with sensing Tom's goodwill, its trust in Tom deepened, leading to the earlier scene.

"Hey, Tom, with such a big beetle, since it's called a 'bull', it must be very strong. Why don't we use it as a tool for hauling goods? Haha." Bo's suggestion brightened Tom's mind. It was indeed a good idea, but he didn't believe that gaining the beetle's trust meant it would obediently work for him.

So he touched the beetle's body and conveyed his thoughts: "Do you have somewhere to go? Do you want to come with me?"

The beetle expressed a regretful thought, indicating that it had a place to go. Tom immediately congratulated it, telling it that it was safe outside and could leave at any time.

The beetle's movement speed was slow, but after mutation, its body grew larger, and it seemed to crawl a bit faster, although still not as fast as a human's running speed. They watched as the beetle, resembling a van, slowly crawled towards the gate.

Tom instructed a guy named Ah Zheng, "Follow it. Along the way, if you encounter anyone, tell them not to panic. It means no harm. Just let it leave." 

Such a huge creature would surely frighten those who didn't know the truth. After all, with people becoming smaller, many creatures around them were perceived as hostile. The people in the camp were already wary of all non-human creatures. Tom didn't want the people who came to the camp to misunderstand if they encountered it. If a conflict arose, it wouldn't benefit either side.

Ah Zheng immediately followed behind the beetle, and the beetle didn't pay him any attention. It continued its slow and rhythmic crawl towards the exit.

Bo seemed a bit disappointed. "Tom, you should have tamed it. In the future, whether it's transporting goods or pulling your armor, it would be a convenient mode of transportation, and it would also save some crystals."

Tom shook his head with a smile. "It has intelligence. I can't go against its will and force it to stay and work for us. Let it go. Whether it's a human, insect, or animal, I only welcome those who genuinely want to join us. We all need to become trusted companions, otherwise, it will only create instability."

Bo shrugged, letting the matter pass. He also understood that forcing something wouldn't yield good results.

Due to the burning of many ants, it was a bit difficult for the 10 guys brought by Bo to collect gems. When Tom returned, they had only dug out four large gems, two of which were red.

Previously, the majority of the gems obtained were blue from killing cockroaches, while ants provided more red gems. Although they didn't reach the level of crystals, it was still better than nothing.

Tom wanted to help clean up but was stopped by Bo. He was now the camp's top combat force and had just done a great job. It was only natural for him to rest on the sidelines and recover his strength. Otherwise, if a big guy emerged from somewhere, it would be troublesome.

Tom sat for a while, ate some rice, and Uncle Wei arrived with dozens of people.

"Uncle Wei, why did you come in person? How's the camp?" 

Uncle Wei, like everyone else, looked astonished at the swarm of ants on the ground before answering Tom with a smile, "It's okay, haha. Bo had prepared a defense plan early on. More than twenty small ants came, but they were no match for us. There was even a large mutated ant, but it was taken down with a single shot. You guys did a great job here, so many ant corpses."

While Uncle Wei was still laughing, Bo led him aside to count ant eggs and ant heads. Upon seeing Uncle Wei's arrival, they forgot to exchange greetings.

With over eighty people brought by Uncle Wei, everyone worked together and managed to gather everything in just over an hour. They then returned in a formidable group to the medical camp.

Tom took Old Street Zero back to the cardboard laboratory and repaired it for a while before being called to a meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was to report the gains from the recent battle.

This time they obtained a green crystal, which was the biggest item, dug out from the ant queen's head. The rest included 16 large gems (red), 11 (green), and 13 (yellow), as well as 21 small gems (red), 18 (green), and 11 (yellow). Food-wise, they acquired over 2000 ant eggs and 116 ant worker heads.

Most of the people living here were from ordinary families, so there wasn't much stored at home. They managed to find half a barrel of rice, half a bag of high-gluten flour, and a few eggs. It had been so long that the eggs were probably bad, but there was also a bag of sausage in the rice barrel, which could be preserved for a long time and was definitely a good find.

Apart from these, they found a kitchen knife and an iron shovel.

They couldn't move the rice and flour for the time being, so they would consider it tomorrow. As for the kitchen knife and iron shovel, Tom planned to bring Iron Slag Old Head over tomorrow to divide them into small pieces and bring them back in batches.

The sausage was a good find, so naturally, they brought it back. It had been a long time since anyone had eaten proper meat.

After reporting the gains, they also discussed the next steps.

In Tom's view, with the recent threat of the ant nest resolved, they could continue to explore outward, aiming to search every nearby room and collect as many supplies as possible. Essentials like rice, flour, and salt were absolutely indispensable for survival. In terms of weapons, besides preparing more iron weapons, they should also expedite the development and production of Old Street One used by Bo.

Bo's ability excelled in speed, and with Old Street One, he could use the big red crystal. By then, Bo would have a 5.5-fold enhancement in leg strength, giving him a significant advantage in running and jumping, both in combat and exploration.

Bo agreed with Tom's ideas and added that they should pay attention to the situation of surrounding mutated creatures during exploration, striking whenever possible, and clearing out the surrounding mutated creatures as much as possible.

Thanks to Zeng Shisan's efforts, over 100 living people were sent to the mutated creatures around, each of whom could be eaten by multiple insects or animals, leading to mutations. This meant that there were still over 200 different mutated creatures outside, and they needed to quickly utilize the advantages of their armor and numbers to eliminate these threats as soon as possible.

Uncle Wei agreed with Bo and Tom's proposals, stating that he would prepare several nourishing prescriptions to ensure that Tom and the others had better physical conditions to face future battles, while also prioritizing the nutritional balance of the combatants on his side.

Then dinner arrived. Uncle Wei made noodles with flour and served ant egg soup. Additionally, each person had boiled ant eggs dipped in soy sauce, greatly relieving everyone's recent discomfort from eating rice-based foods.

Bottles of Maotai liquor were also brought out, diluted with water so that everyone could have a share, celebrating the successful eradication of the ant nest.

In the following days, Tom began drawing diagrams and working with Iron Slag Old Head to make parts for Old Street One armor. During this time, Tian Zai brought over thick medicinal soup for Tom to drink, claiming it would strengthen his body.

However, after just two days of drinking it, Tom started having nosebleeds every morning. At first, he didn't take it seriously, thinking it was normal for a beginner to have nosebleeds. Plus, he felt a bit embarrassed, so he didn't tell anyone.

But when the symptoms persisted for two days and Tom even started having nosebleeds while making armor parts, Iron Old Head couldn't help but mock him for a while.

Soon, the news spread from Iron Slag Old Head's mouth and spread throughout the camp. Everyone knew that our war god Tom was having nosebleeds, and even the steel plate in the laboratory was pierced by him.

At this moment, Uncle Wei realized the seriousness of the problem. He immediately drove everyone out, grabbed Tom's wrist, checked his pulse for a while, and then said solemnly, "There's no reason for this. I've reduced the dosage of the medicine a lot. There's no reason for such a strong reaction from you."

"Uncle Wei..." Tom's face immediately fell upon hearing this, "It turns out it's still a problem with your medicine, and it's made me suffer."

"No matter what, find someone to help you first. I'll stop your medicine... and switch to another prescription."

Tom quickly waved his hand, "I won't drink your medicine for now. I feel very strong now, I don't need... I don't need these..."

"There's no reason... there's no reason... Bo and the others are on the same prescription. If there's any difference... it's that your medicine is specifically handled by Tian Zai... Tian Zai..."

"Uncle Wei, I think... I know what Tian Zai's ability is." Tom immediately thought of a possibility.