New Threat

"The Beetle is attacking?" Tom was puzzled. The Beetle they had rescued from the ant nest seemed very docile, and its memories also portrayed it as gentle. Why would it attack the camp?

"Is there some misunderstanding?" He quickly dropped the iron piece and dashed outside.

At the entrance, guards were nervously gripping their weapons, some even had their submachine guns out. Upon hearing the news, more people grabbed their weapons and rushed out.

The camp's security was everyone's safety. Upon hearing that a large creature was invading, everyone naturally became tense.

As Tom ran, he shouted, "Don't act rashly, don't act rashly."

His authority in the camp was established through battles with mutant creatures. Upon his shout, people slowly lowered their raised weapons.

The Beetle had grown even larger, now reaching around 30 centimeters in length and about 12 centimeters in height. It was indeed a formidable creature. The guards, seeing it silently breaking in, were naturally frightened.

Tom raised his hands, signaling everyone not to make any sudden movements. Then, he shouted to Rong Shu, who was running towards him with a kitchen knife, "Rong Shu, the green crystal!"

Rong Shu immediately tossed the green crystal he was wearing to Tom, who caught it and approached the Beetle.

However, the Beetle seemed agitated. Its long, hard antennae brushed against Tom, almost knocking him over. Seeing this, others nervously raised their weapons again, and the firearms were cocked.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous!" Tom shouted. To him, the Beetle was only emotionally distressed, not malicious. It probably encountered trouble but didn't know how to handle it due to its limited intelligence, hence its agitation.

Seizing an opportunity, Tom dodged the antennae and pounced on the Beetle. With the green crystal in hand, he placed his other hand on the Beetle's body.

Upon contact with the Beetle's mind, he felt a surge of violent emotions raging. He immediately released a calming belief, "It's okay, I'm here. Don't be nervous, don't be nervous."

The Beetle recognized his thoughts, and its previously agitated emotions gradually calmed down.

Then, communication ensued.

It turned out that after leaving the ant nest, the Beetle had climbed onto a small tree downstairs, which became its habitat.

However, after staying there for several days, it began feeling increasingly weak, sensing that something was missing.

Having no previous experience like this, the Beetle didn't know what to do, so it thought of seeking the little creature that had rescued it from the ant nest, which was Tom.

But how could it find Tom?

It dared not return to the ant nest, fearing further harm from the ants, so it recalled and remembered the location of the camp.

When it made contact with Tom, it gained many of his memories, including the location of the camp.

Hence, it climbed straight towards the camp.

As time passed, its strength dwindled, and its climbing slowed down, which sparked fear and agitation within it. Upon finally arriving at the camp, it chose to barge in directly, which naturally frightened the guards.

Weak? Tom withdrew his hand and shouted to everyone, "It's okay, I've communicated with it."

Everyone relaxed.

Weak? Tom pondered. The Beetle had eaten its fill and wasn't hungry. Then... he thought of the gecko. Besides food, the gecko was also interested in the yellow gemstone, which seemed to be on its menu.

Immediately, he instructed Bo Zai to bring over several gemstones, one of each type, because he remembered that the gecko only ate the yellow gemstone. Perhaps these creatures only had an appetite for specific types of gemstones.

Guiding the Beetle into a room, Uncle Wei was also alerted and looked at the tall Beetle in surprise. "This is good, Nepenthes. It's a potent medicine for dispelling evil, malaria, detoxification, and reducing swelling."

Tom glared at Uncle Wei discontentedly. "Uncle Wei, what are you saying at this time? It's seeking help because it's sick, and all you can think of is using it for medicine."

Uncle Wei blushed, rare embarrassment showing on his face as he chuckled, "Sorry, it's a professional habit, haha."

Bo Zai quickly brought over the four types of gemstones. Tom tossed them all in front of the Beetle, letting it choose.

The Beetle picked out the yellow gemstone with its antennae and pushed the others aside before bowing its head to nibble on it.

"Oh, it's also the yellow gemstone." Just like the gecko, Tom thought. So he said, "Bo Zai, have someone bring a few pieces of yellow crystals."

With just the amount of yellow gemstones available, it probably wouldn't satisfy this big fellow. Tom thought of using crystals to feed it.

This made Bo Zai reluctant. "Hey, Tom, although the yellow crystals aren't of much use now, who knows, someone might find a use for them someday. Feeding this ungrateful big guy with them... isn't it throwing good money after bad?"

It seemed that Bo Zai was still holding a grudge against the Beetle for running away without a word after being saved last time and was now reluctant to part with the crystals.

"When it mutated and fell asleep initially, it didn't absorb enough energy, hence its weakness. So if we help it now, I believe it will be grateful to us." Tom was quite sure of this. Through his contact with the Beetle, he found it to be simple-minded and... single-minded.

Once they saved it again, it would acknowledge them as benefactors, and probably follow them faithfully thereafter.

"Ah, you're the boss, your call. Let's hope it will really serve us faithfully in return." Bo Zai kept complaining, but still ordered two people to go with him to fetch the crystals.

After the Beetle finished swallowing the yellow gemstone, it still wasn't enough. It nudged Tom with its antennae, and of course, Tom understood its intention. He comforted it, asking it to wait a moment, and soon the food was brought.

Bo Zai quickly brought four pieces of yellow crystal, and the Beetle wasted no time in crunching them down. It ate all four pieces.

This made Bo Zai wince. "Even if it becomes our servant, we can't afford to feed it. How many crystals does it need to eat in a day?"

"Crystals aren't their daily food, just the energy they need during the mutation phase," Tom speculated. "I reckon it will need to sleep after eating, it's not possible for it to eat every day. If that were the case, all the mutants outside would have starved to death long ago."

Indeed, after finishing the crystals, the Beetle twitched its antennae a few times and crawled towards a corner. Tom pressed down on it. "Very satisfied, very sleepy."

Watching the Beetle lie down motionless, Tom breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, this big fellow was settled.

"Alright, let's get back to work. Um... Bo, have two people guard this big guy. If it wakes up, come and inform me."

Currently, he was the only one who could communicate with the Beetle. To avoid misunderstandings, it was best for him to communicate with it as soon as it woke up, lest any misunderstandings lead to conflict, which would benefit no one.

With the matter of the Beetle settled, Tom resumed his work on making the armor for Old Street No.1. On the other hand, Bo Zai, early in the morning, set his sights on the Beetle's large body. That night, he directed people to make a large cart platform, waiting for the Beetle to wake up so Tom could deal with it and have it serve the camp like an ox.

The next day at noon, the first thing Tom did when he woke up was to check on the Beetle. However, upon pressing down on it, he found it unresponsive, just like the yellow cat that Little Bao had put to sleep earlier.

So Tom had to start his day's work again. However, as soon as he sat down in the laboratory, someone came to find him, saying Bo Zai was looking for him.

After running to the meeting room, Tom saw Bo Zai sitting in front of the table with a solemn expression, and Uncle Wei beside him also looked grim.

"What's wrong?"

Bo Zai sighed, "Two brothers who went out for a walk this morning didn't come back. So I sent Skinny out, guess what happened?"

"What happened?"

"Do you remember the mutated Bamboo Leaf Green in front of the ant nest?"

"Yeah." They had encountered an attack by an ant swarm on the way back from the landlord's room, managed to burn down the mutated soldier ants with Maotai liquor, and hadn't had time to deal with it before they encountered a Bamboo Leaf Green, which occupied the ruby.

"Those two brothers were eaten by it. Skinny managed to avoid being found by sneaking, so he hurried back to report."

The mutated Bamboo Leaf Green appeared? Tom stood up abruptly. "Where is it?"

"It's under the short tree downstairs. There are several weeds there, perfect for it to settle. If the Beetle hadn't come over yesterday, it would probably have been eaten by it last night."

"How is it mutated?"

"Skinny said it's about the height of a building."

Tom did some calculations. When they first encountered that snake, which reached his abdomen, it was about five centimeters long. If it was the height of a building, it would be about 12 centimeters, plus its length... it would be equivalent to... a train carriage?

"Uncle Wei, do we still have Realgar?"

Uncle Wei sighed, "The snake-repelling effect of Realgar is actually limited. I've already ordered the gates to be locked, sealed the gaps, and sprinkled Realgar. But if it's extremely hungry, it might still crawl in despite the smell of Realgar."

Upon hearing Uncle Wei's explanation, Tom nodded understandingly. It seemed that the myth of Realgar's snake-repelling properties had been exaggerated. Perhaps some snakes simply disliked the smell of Realgar and avoided it when choosing, similar to how people avoid stepping on dog poop on the ground, but that didn't mean people would die from eating or stepping on dog poop.

"With the mutated Bamboo Leaf Green's size, is it impossible for it to squeeze in through the gaps in the door?" Tom asked. The other loopholes in the clinic had long been sealed, and the windows were iron-barred.

"The snake's bones can shrink. If it really wants to come in, a few squeezes, and it can still get in."

Tom raised his fist decisively. "Then let's take the initiative, just like before. The parts of Old Street No.1 are ready, just waiting for the final adjustments. As for my Old Street No.0, I need to add another layer of iron plate to resist the bite force of the mutated snake. It's estimated to take two days."

Bo Zai clapped his hands. "Then tighten the defense. In these two days, adjust the two sets of armor properly. When the time comes, we'll both go out together and try to kill it."

Uncle Wei looked worried. "Is that really feasible? You know, the biting force of a snake is very strong, and it's also poisonous. Tom, can your armor withstand it?"

"Even if its bite force is strong, it won't pierce through two layers of iron plates. At most, my movement with Old Street No.0 will be slower. By then, I'll mainly draw fire, and Bo will take advantage of his speed to harass. We've trained in cooperation before, so there's no problem with coordination."

Bo Zai nodded confidently, full of confidence.