The Startling Prince Xiong

According to Lin Meiqi's inference, the red crystal belongs to enhancement, the green crystal belongs to control, the yellow crystal belongs to storage, and the blue crystal's function should be transformation. It can be called a conversion, exchange, or transformation crystal.

From then on, with the deduction of the approximately functions and names of the four crystals that Tom came into contact with and knew about, guided by the genius beauty Lin Meiqi with an IQ of 183, they discussed her discoveries and returned to the hall to prepare for departure. Time was limited, and Tom needed to evacuate as many people as possible to the shelter while collecting more supplies for unforeseen circumstances.

Of course, before this, he had Lu Qiuman register the awakened individuals, adding 4 hours to the shelter's folding time, delaying it to June 29th at 13:00.

Feng Hanjun was very unhappy with Tom and Lin Meiqi's whispered conversation, and her eyes were full of emotions as she looked at them. But Tom didn't care, as the others weren't concerned about it. He instructed everyone on precautions, such as not attempting to damage the facilities in the shelter, immediately stopping when warned, not approaching the wood beetles, and so on. Then he left with his package and Lin Meiqi.

The gate slowly closed behind the tank transporter, with Lin Meiqi sitting in the car, twirling the needles in her hand, asking, "Aren't you worried that this woman will persuade others to lock the shelter gate, preventing us from returning? I've checked, the gate can be locked from the inside."

When Tom received the point prompt, the system also indicated that he had obtained the highest control of the shelter during this deployment period. This control was represented by the gate. Even if the people inside locked it, he could still open the gate with his watch. Of course, he felt it unnecessary to tell Lin Meiqi about this reason.

"It's okay, I know how to open it from the outside. Besides, the shelter only has a little over a day left. She's not stupid enough to do something so brainless."

"Then... aren't you afraid she'll vent her anger on your precious wood beetle?" Lin Meiqi seemed very eager to incite Tom against Feng Hanjun, always coming up with one plan after another.

Tom chuckled, seeing through her curiosity, "The wood beetle's carapace is very tough. Even without armor, I can't crack its shell. If a few ordinary people provoke it, that's just asking for trouble."

In addition to Lin Meiqi's building, the other one closest to the fountain pool was the second building on the east side. Tom remembered there were over 10 people upstairs, but that building also had two level-two threats.

Even without the help of the genius beauty, Tom also knew that the level-two threats marked in the system were mutated creatures with special organs that had more special attack methods. Their mutations should be even more formidable, so Tom called them level-two mutant creatures.

Just one level-two mutated rat could turn into a porcupine ball attack. With two level-two mutated creatures, he didn't know what kind of challenge they would face. But to save people for points and to increase his own combat experience, they had to go to that building. Avoiding problems wouldn't solve them. If there were just two now, if they encountered a dozen or more later, they would be even more incapable of dealing with them.

As they headed towards the second building to the east, there were still sporadic ant disturbances along the way, which posed no threat to the two of them. However, halfway through, curious Lin Meiqi once again pestered Tom to tell her the story after waking up. Tom thought this little girl's brain was quite clever, so he began telling her about his discoveries after waking up, ending with their encounter with ants on the rooftop when the door to the second building appeared in front of them.

So the story temporarily came to an end. Tom used his Termite Prototype Cannon to break the glass window of Unit A's big iron door with glass. After knocking enough for an entrance and leaving the tank transporter in the nearby bushes, Tom took out the spare ammunition from the car and, with Lin Meiqi's help, loaded it before the two of them went in.

The first floor was still empty, and looking at the staircase leading to the second floor, Lin Meiqi smiled and said, "You should be thankful that the fire department didn't approve the construction of tall buildings in Longyao Community. It's just because the soil in the downstream area of ​​Lujiang is soft and doesn't allow buildings over 8 floors. Otherwise, with dozens of floors of elevator buildings, climbing stairs would kill you."

Tom looked around to confirm that there were no bugs around, and then began to climb the stairs. "I won't climb more than four floors."

"You're not stupid. Shrinking it by 24 times, climbing one floor is equivalent to climbing 24 floors. Not everyone has the patience to go up and down like you, so they don't want to go downstairs for help when they're trapped. But you still want to go and ask for help, just like Feng Hanjun. You don't look... like a good Samaritan, do you?"

Tom didn't say anything, just hopping up the steps one by one.

"There must be a reason! It must be related to the shelter, right? Hehe, you have repeatedly emphasized to send everyone to the shelter and then evacuate them when the time comes. Since your camp is so far away, why did you come all the way to save us? Say, did the shelter give you benefits?"

This little girl was not bad, smart, and beautiful, but her curiosity was too heavy. Tom didn't want to tell her about the shelter exchange system, but she could still reason out the general idea, which made him quite a headache.

"Well, there are more secrets. It's okay, I will find better things to exchange with you for this secret! Lin Meiqi is trustworthy!" 

Finally reaching the second floor, Tom followed the vibrations on his watch and walked to Room 203, only to see the door wide open, with a cardboard box stuck in the middle. The two glanced at each other; it seemed that many people were not stupid and were aware that the security door, once the batteries were depleted, would trap them to death.

Pushing open the door, Tom let Lin Meiqi go in first, followed by himself.

It was another high-end decoration style, and it could be said that the overall owners of Longyao Gardens had a high level. The style of this suite was more Chinese, with tacky but quaint rosewood sofas and coffee tables. Next to the coffee table were several round wooden stools, which Tom thought were thick and huge.

"Is anyone there?" Tom shouted several times, but there was no response, which made him have a bad feeling. Walking to the bottom of the coffee table, he actually saw a puddle of blood, which further confirmed his speculation.

"You keep up, walk quickly!" Tom said as he started to run, following the direction of the bloodstains. Not far away, he saw several dead ants, and he continued to run past a tall wine cabinet, which partially separated the kitchen from the dining room.

The kitchen was scattered with rice and packaging paper, and with the chilly wind, Tom looked to the left, where there seemed to be a small balcony. He hurried over, and at this moment, his watch was vibrating very strongly, indicating that he had found the right direction and that there were still living people.

A few minutes before Tom arrived, in the corner of the balcony, three men and two women were crouching, their clothes disheveled, unarmed. In the middle of the balcony, a man wearing only a cloth around his waist was fighting three mutated worker ants with steel needles.

His name was Prince Xiong. Prince Xiong shouted, "Jumping down might not kill you, after all, we've all shrunk, just like these ants. But..." He said as he thrust the steel needle with a steady stance, accurately hitting the worker ant's mandibles, the force was so great that it pierced through. Then, with force from his waist, he shook his hand, turning his upper body half a circle and flipping the ants on their backs.

"But our human organs are too sophisticated, ants can't compare. You guys jump down... you'll definitely get hurt." Prince Xiong stepped on the mutated worker ant that was flipped over, making it unable to struggle, while confronting two other mutated worker ants with a long needle.

He wielded the steel needle vigorously, poking, stabbing, sweeping, and knocking on the mouthparts of the two ants, forcing the ant with only mouthparts as its attacking weapon to gain no advantage. Taking advantage of the gap in the ant's defense, he would use the needle to stab the mandibles of the ant struggling under his foot, and after a few stabs, the ant under his foot would be motionless.

Without any concerns, it was easier for Prince Xiong to deal with two ants at once. Squatting halfway down, he inserted the steel needle diagonally into the ground, stabbing the nearest worker ant, then lifted it using the leverage principle. Then he quickly turned around, gripping with both hands and advancing, pinning down another worker ant that was biting from behind.

Despite being worker ants, even though they had mutated, their mandibles were still no match for the steel needles manufactured by human intelligence. Prince Xiong confronted the mutated worker ants, even though the sharp mandibles that could bite through throats were right in front of him, there was no fear on his face.

"Boss Zhang, it seems like this place of yours is no longer safe!" A middle-aged bald man hiding in the corner nodded repeatedly, "Secretary Wang, what should we do? Where can we go in the future? The country still hasn't sent anyone, these ants are too terrifying, frightening people to death."

Prince Xiong was evenly matched with the mutated worker ants in strength, but at this moment, he didn't rely on brute force. He tilted the steel needle, pushing the mutated worker ant tightly holding the needle towards the ground, then flipped over and rode on its head, pulling the needle backward with all his strength while twisting. When the flipped worker ant turned over, Prince Xiong had already twisted the neck of the ant under his foot.

Even with its neck broken, the ant still clung tightly to the steel needle. But Prince Xiong didn't care, he pushed the head hanging on the steel needle into the mouth of the flipping ant about to bite, and excitedly exclaimed, "Haha, what's there to be afraid of? I've seen worse, this is just like dogs biting dogs!"

The ant crushed the ant's head, freeing the steel needle. Taking advantage of the fact that the mutated worker ant hadn't let go of its mouth yet, Prince Xiong stabbed the steel needle directly through its head.

In a few moments, his hands had incapacitated three mutated worker ants.

In addition to these three large mutated worker ants, there were also many small ants lying on the ground. Prince Xiong wiped his forehead, "Oh, it's not enough excitement yet. I'm telling you, Boss Zhang, we... oh, run!"

The five people crouching in the corner of the balcony had just stood up when a larger ant crawled in from outside the railing. With one pincer, it lifted up Boss Zhang, who was closest to the railing and presumably in the safest position. With its mandibles closing, the large man was severed in half from the waist. Blood and organs scattered all over, drenching the other four men and women.

The four people turned back and immediately screamed as they ran towards Prince Xiong. They cursed their luck, feeling as if they had been born with two fewer legs. One woman was so frightened that her legs gave out, and she collapsed on the ground.

Prince Xiong quickly rushed forward and pulled the woman back. Meanwhile, Boss Zhang's upper body fell to the ground, his eyes wide open as he watched his lower body being torn apart by two large ants and swallowed. He could only emit a pitiful cry and groan, "I don't want to die, save me, I swear... I'll never engage in illegal business again... Ahh..."

Prince Xiong pushed the woman back, holding the steel needle horizontally in front of his chest, coldly watching Boss Zhang's tragic situation but unable to move forward. He knew Boss Zhang was beyond saving, and these two big guys were obviously bigger than the ones he had dealt with before, especially their mandibles. He even doubted whether his steel needle could withstand their biting force.

"Run! Run!" Prince Xiong urged in a panic.

The four people were terrified and at a loss, one of the men asked with a trembling voice, "Secretary Wang, how do we escape? Our legs are too weak to move!"

"Tsk!" Prince Xiong frowned, gritted his teeth, and tightly grasped the steel needle as he charged forward.

These were the two most powerful mutated ants that Tom had encountered: soldier ants. They were even larger than crocodiles, standing a head taller than humans when they stood up. At this moment, two soldier ants appeared, with several smaller ones crawling out from under their feet.

Prince Xiong's steel needle thrust did not hit the soldier ant's mandibles; instead, it made a dull sound as it stabbed into its head, unable to penetrate it at all.

The first attack failed, so he quickly retracted the needle, avoiding the danger of being caught by the mandibles. "It's over, there's no escape!" With legs that long, there was no way he could outrun them. Prince Xiong could only stab again, this time finding the opportunity to hit the soldier ant's mouth.

Unfortunately, the steel needle tip couldn't penetrate deep into the ant's mouth because besides the large pincers, the soldier ant's mandibles had mutated to include a row of sharp teeth. The steel needle couldn't break through, but instead, it was caught by the sharp teeth.

"It's done!" Prince Xiong quickly let go in time to avoid being lifted up, looking at the other soldier ant that was closing in, he knew he was doomed.