Battle with Mutant Ants Again

Tom ordered everyone to retreat not because he was annoyed by the woman's complaint, but because he discovered a brown giant ant at the stairwell.

Just like the one from room 203, this was another Level 2 mutant ant. Looking at its swollen abdomen, he knew its attack pattern was the same. That's why he ordered everyone to step back and keep their distance.

Lin Meiqi had collected two large plastic sheets in the room and quickly called someone to hold them up on the cart, just enough to cover their heads. Tom had secretly told her earlier that there might be ants in this building that sprayed venom, so she had prepared for it.

The brown Level 2 mutant ant didn't act alone; it was accompanied by several mutated worker ants and two mutated soldier ants. This was indeed a formidable alliance, causing a lot of headaches.

After creating some distance, the Level 2 mutant ant's first venom spray landed on the biscuit shield, a bit far from Lin Meiqi and the others, so they were unharmed.

After the second spray, two soldier ants rushed to the front of the Old Street No. 0 armor, one behind the other, and clasped their forelimbs onto it, fiercely biting the armored shell with their large pincers.

Tom struggled to free himself from the soldier ants and reached behind to grab his butcher knife. Despite his six-fold strength and sharp blade, he couldn't break open the soldier ant's shiny headshell, but he managed to dislodge it after two strikes and seized the opportunity to shove the sharp blade into its mouth.

As the third venom spray came, most of it was blocked by the biscuit shield, leaving only a splash on him and the two soldier ants.

The armor suffered from acid corrosion, leaving behind black rust streaks as the liquid flowed down. However, the shells of the two soldier ants were immune to this venom and remained unharmed.

After this round of attacks, Tom simply threw away the biscuit shield, grabbed the knife handle with one hand, and grabbed the soldier ant's pincers with the other, using all his strength to pry open its mouth. Then, he pressed down with his foot and tore its head in half with his hands.

As the fourth venom spray came, Tom caught the remaining soldier ant and used it to block some of the venom. Although most of it still landed on him, he didn't care and immediately pressed it to the ground, pounding its abdomen with force.

Five mutated worker ants arrived and began to bite and tear at the Old Street No. 0 armor. Some parts of the armor, which had been corroded, were continuously torn apart by them, especially the helmet, the weakest part. It had been slightly corroded by the venom spray just now and was now torn open by the worker ants, leaving a large hole.

Tom hammered the soldier ants to death and grabbed two worker ants to block the fourth venom attack. This time, the blocking effect was even worse, and the worker ant's shell couldn't completely resist the venom, emitting a sizzling sound as it was corroded, and a pungent smell filled the air.

Tom felt his helmet heating up. He took off his helmet and saw a large patch of venom on it, quickly throwing it aside. At the same time, he noticed a large area on his right arm, almost flowing into the wound torn open by the ants. Unable to wipe it off, he immediately unfastened the arm guard and threw it away before the venom could flow into the wound.

The Level 2 mutant ant stood up again, pointing its tail at Tom. He gritted his teeth, crouched down, and swiftly aimed and fired the worm cannon.

Due to being entangled by the worker ants and soldier ants, the Level 2 mutant ant had a perfect environment for its attack, so much so that it didn't even move as it sprayed venom multiple times. This time, it didn't expect Tom to also have long-range attack capabilities, and before its venom could be sprayed, its large tail was already smashed by the worm cannon. The entire tail was smashed, leaving only the upper body struggling helplessly.

Without the restraint of the venom cannon, the remaining three mutant worker ants were no longer a threat. Before Tom could act, Prince Xiong, holding the needles Tom had given him, bravely charged forward and engaged in a magnificent battle against the three.

Tom saw that the situation was under control and immediately drew out his large knife, walking slowly towards the Level 2 mutant ant with only three legs left.

In the dim corridor, the survivors saw the black and menacing Old Street armor, one hand holding a large knife, slowly approaching the three-legged monster.

Although the mutated ants couldn't express joy or anger, everyone could feel the fear and despair emanating from the brown ant. And without his helmet and right arm, the Old Street armor was now a towering 9.9 centimeters tall, equivalent to its previous 2.3 meters. With his smaller size and the mismatched helmet and bare right hand holding a large knife, he looked like the martial god Guan Gong descending to earth.

"So...so cool!"

"Very cool!" murmured the two female survivors, completely forgetting that they had just complained about Tom and the others arriving too late.

Lin Meiqi stood on the side, looking at the two infatuated women with disdain, then turned her head and found Liu Yue, who had a boyfriend, showing the same expression. She suddenly felt that Tom was causing a lot of trouble.

Yes, everyone had shrunk, and the rules of the world had changed.

The era of the former "tall, rich, and handsome" with cars, houses, and money as spouse selection standards was no longer applicable. In this age where even ants could eat people, those who could fight were the most sought after. Monogamy? In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, having three or four wives and concubines would be considered exemplary. When it came down to survival, even having dozens of women sleeping with one man was no big deal; staying alive was the only qualification to breathe.

Lin Meiqi glanced at their figures, and they looked back at her. She shrugged her chest, feeling like she had more... she immediately shook her head. "Why am I being so silly? My brain is more valuable than any physique. With my brain, I can survive in this world. In this era full of uncertainties, it's truly a beautiful time."

After Lin Meiqi returned to reality from her mental excursion, Tom had already extracted a green crystal and a large sapphire from the Level 2 mutant ant.

Even Prince Xiong, who had experience, suppressed his nausea this time and dissected the brains of the five mutated worker ants and two mutated soldier ants in the area. Lin Meiqi happily ran up to help with the scavenging.

Fortunately, Xu Wenqian and Liu Yue had seen Tom's corpse looting before and were mentally prepared. However, the other six survivors, seeing it for the first time, immediately vomited again.

The atmosphere in the bathroom just now had been too serious, and since only a few worker ants had attacked them, Tom didn't want to stay inside for even half a second longer, so he skipped the looting part. Now, they thought Tom was going to eat the ant meat.

After cleaning up the scene, they continued on their way. Before jumping down the stairs, Tom solemnly said, "The camp I'm in is far away, at Lao Pu Street on the opposite side of the Land River. I came here from so far away for a reason. Saving you is a matter of basic human principles; I don't want to stand by and watch people die. But neither the country nor any government agency has given me the responsibility or obligation to save you. If you have any complaints, then leave or keep quiet. Because to save you, I also have to take great risks."

Looking at the rust spots on the Old Street armor caused by the venom, and the small wounds torn open by the mutant ants, everyone knew how great the risks Tom mentioned were. If it weren't for this huge and hard iron armor protecting him, even a small amount of mutant ant venom could corrode large patches of skin, and the soldier ants' mandibles could bite him in half with one bite.

"I'm sorry!" The woman who had complained about Tom lowered her head, tears streaming down her face. "I... I didn't mean to. Thank you for saving us... I..."

Tom waved his hand. "I don't need repentance or apologies; what I need is not to burden my companions. I'm taking you back to the central shelter in the community now, where you can rest safely. After that, I will return to my camp. Anyone who wants to come with me back to the camp is welcome. However, joining the camp means following its rules. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules won't receive protection from others."

At this point, just staying alive was already good enough, so rules and regulations were completely irrelevant to the survivors who had crawled back from the brink of hell.

So they all nodded heavily in response to Tom's words.

Tom was very satisfied with their attitude. Having experienced cruel life-and-death situations, they would cherish the safety that came not easily. Unlike those three women in the shelter... just thinking about Feng Hanyun made Tom feel a headache. He didn't like such women. Should he leave her behind?

Tom shook his head. That question could wait. With a wave of his hand, he led the way down the stairs, aiming for the ground floor door.

The rest of the journey went smoothly. Although the two survivors with missing limbs looked pale, they endured and arrived on the ground floor.

Since there were no injuries when they entered the shelter, the emergency medical kit wasn't opened, so Tom didn't have any medicine on hand and could only bandage them up simply using whatever materials were available. The priority was to get them back to the shelter as soon as possible and use the medicine in the first aid kit for further treatment.

The space in the tank transport vehicle was limited, and at most, only seven people could squeeze in. At this moment, including Lin Meiqi, there were a total of ten people, so three had to sit on the roof.

Lin Meiqi actually wanted to sit on the roof to enjoy the scenery, but Tom barbarically arranged all five women into the vehicle, leaving just enough space for the two men with missing limbs.

The remaining three men, including Prince Xiong, had to stay on the roof.

Prince Xiong wasn't afraid, but the other two men were frightened. However, they had no choice. Either they went on the roof or walked on their own feet. These two choices didn't require any hesitation at all.

Although this thing was a high-end product with a high-quality battery, the battery still had to be used sparingly. So Tom didn't get back into the vehicle but chose to walk alongside, which also meant that the tank had to drive slower. It wasn't that the tank couldn't leave first, but if it encountered mutant soldier ants halfway, and the tank overturned while Tom hadn't caught up yet, it would be troublesome for the people inside the tank.