Chapter 21: Thirteenth Floor and Acid Bugs

The thirteenth floor was different from the usual floors. It didn't have ordinary classrooms, only four large halls and some storage rooms. Each hall was extremely spacious, generally used for large lectures, major debates, or even large-scale indoor performances. Even seating hundreds or thousands of people wouldn't feel crowded.

But now, the four halls on the thirteenth floor felt overcrowded. Perhaps ninety percent of the survivors from the entire academic building had gathered here. A rough estimate put the number close to two thousand. Looking around, all one could see were faces full of panic – girls sobbing uncontrollably in fear, or boys pale with fright. What spread through the crowd was no longer just panic and anxiety, but a faint despair.

This... what on earth is happening?

Is it the end of the world? Or am I having a nightmare?

Why did so many insects suddenly appear? Each one ferocious and terrifying, gnawing on human bones... Oh god... Isn't this an era of peace, a society ruled by law? How could so many classmates die all at once? Someone tell me, this isn't real!

Nearly two thousand people were scattered across the four halls. Although the students huddled together, no one felt even the slightest sense of security. Instead, they shivered uncontrollably. Some just cried their eyes out; some stared blankly, unsure what to do; others fearfully made the sign of the cross on their chests, praying for God to send legions of brave angels to save them.

Unfortunately, at this time, let alone God's angel legions, even if Buddha Tathagata dispatched the Eighteen Arhats, it would be too late. Because they discovered that another swarm of green, elongated insects had flown in from outside the window!

These elongated insects had segmented bodies, somewhat resembling silkworms, but they were hundreds of times larger than silkworms. Each one was a meter long, with a diameter of nearly twenty centimeters. Coupled with their shiny green skin, they looked like long winter melons at first glance!

And what defied biological common sense even more was that these elongated insects actually had thin wings similar to bees, flapping rapidly. Even though their flight speed wasn't fast, when they swarmed together, seventy or eighty of them rushing in at once, everyone who saw them felt their souls leave their bodies!

"That... what kind of insect is that? So disgusting!"

"Who knows what it is, anyway... they must be terrifying, just like those giant red insects that could bite my roommate's waist in half with one bite..."

"Ah, they're flying towards our hall! What do we do?"

"Wahahaha, we're doomed, doomed! Looks like we're all going to perish! No one can save us!"

"Don't be silly, stop being silly! Those insects are invincible! They're so ferocious, humans are no match for them... Ah Tao, why don't we just jump off the building and die..."

"No, no! Should we just sit here waiting to die? Absolutely not! We have to survive! We must do something!"

"Men! Men quickly organize a resistance force!"

"Girls fall back! Fall back!"

"Everyone don't panic! Our classroom has five or six hundred people, and only about twenty insects flew in! We have a huge numerical advantage! As long as we unite and fight bravely, we can still repel those insects!"

"Take this! These are old chairs found in the storage room... also wooden swords from the Kendo club! Strong boys get priority equipment!"

For a time, the students and teachers in the four halls erupted into chaos, milling around in a disorganized mess. Even though some old professors desperately tried to organize some boys into self-defense groups, it had little effect. After all, morale was abysmally low, and the weapons were extremely crude. The halls were filled with cries and screams; how could they possibly muster enough courage to form a student self-defense group capable of fighting?

Soon, those oily green insects had already flown to the windows!

Everyone's heart skipped a beat! They held their breath!

The windows were layers of high-quality reinforced glass, meeting standards for thickness and hardness. Even a soccer ball kicked with full force absolutely couldn't damage such windows – those insects looked fleshy like silkworms; surely they couldn't break through the windows, right?

The higher the hope, the deeper the despair. Facts proved that insects from the Insect Realm were absolutely beyond everyone's imagination!

When the students saw the green insects spraying streams of liquid from their funnel-like mouthparts, they all shuddered!

With a hiss, the reinforced alloy glass actually emitted black smoke, and the glass rapidly melted, forming interconnected holes!

"Impossible! Reinforced glass isn't metal, how can it be corroded?"

"What terrifying acid!"

"We're finished, finished! The liquid sprayed out is definitely super concentrated acid, dozens of times stronger than aqua regia! If even a drop touches the skin, probably half the body will rapidly corrode..."

"Fuck! Then what's the point of resisting! No, absolutely not! If I fight that kind of insect covered in concentrated acid, what if the acid splashes onto my body... I'll be left without even bones, completely annihilated! Ah, you use this wooden sword instead!"

By this time, the reinforced glass had already been corroded with holes large enough. The first green insect suddenly flew in!

Everyone's scalp tingled, and they instinctively retreated. However, one brave boy decisively lifted a chair and threw it hard. The Acid Bug's flight speed wasn't fast, nor was it very alert, so it was hit on the head by the flying chair, making a splat sound.

"Wow! Well done!"

Seeing this boosted everyone's morale. It seemed the insects weren't invincible after all. As long as they carefully launched "ranged attacks" at them, they could still be harmed!

However, that Acid Bug didn't suffer much damage. Instead, it was enraged. With a screech, it raised its head, and its foot-long conical mouthpart sprayed a fast-moving blob of liquid towards the nearest old professor!

The old professor's body swayed. The next moment, his chest cavity began to disintegrate like burnt-out ashes, completely turning to dust. Then it spread from his chest to his head, abdomen, and limbs. In less than three seconds, only a pool of foul-smelling, turbid yellow liquid remained on the ground. No evidence of the old professor's existence could be found!

The students watched, faces ashen. They originally thought the Red-Crested Beetles gnawing on corpses inch by inch was disgusting enough, but witnessing a human being corroded to death alive by an Acid Bug, only then did they realize there was such a horrifying way to die in the world!

Merciful God, how could you allow such ferocious Acid Bugs to exist in the world...

In an instant, the students' fear reached its peak.

However, when fear reaches its apex, humans tend towards two polarized reactions: either completely paralyzed with terror, or no longer knowing what fear is, fighting back desperately!

Next, the twenty-odd Acid Bugs outside the window flew in one after another. And among the five hundred-plus students, thirty or forty silently stepped forward, armed with extremely simple and crude weapons, engaging in a desperate struggle.