Chapter 896 - 715: Metal Insect Catastrophe (Part 2)

Chapter 896: Chapter 715: Metal Insect Catastrophe (Part 2)

Emperor Xuanwu heard Qin An’s answer and without any reservation, straightforwardly admitted to it.

Subsequently, Emperor Xuanwu took out a map from the side and unfolded it in front of Qin An.

At this moment, the map was already marked with various red dots, arranged from small to large.

After taking out the map, Emperor Xuanwu unhesitatingly pushed the map towards Qin An.

Qin An raised his hand to pick up the map, scrutinized the items on it, and frowned: "What do these red dots mean?"

Emperor Xuanwu explained: "The red dots represent the existence of an insect disaster. The more and bigger the red dots, the more severe the disaster. Look carefully, do you notice any anomalies?"

Upon hearing this, Qin An regarded the red dots as insect disasters and began to examine them patiently.

But after he had looked them over once, he found himself puzzled.

"According to the description of these red dots, these insects seem to be converging."

Emperor Xuanwu nodded and said: "That’s right. Through long-term observation, we have detected a pattern: every time after causing massive destruction, their aura becomes extremely faint, and when their aura is weak, they stop wreaking havoc and head toward this largest red dot."

"I’ve also sent people to investigate, but haven’t found any clues. These insects seem to mysteriously disappear once they enter this patch of sky."

"Even if someone watches the sky from below, they will notice these insects in the sky gradually becoming transparent until they disappear completely."

"As for where they went after disappearing, I do not know. But all the targets point to this place, proving that it is definitely not simple."

"If you are to investigate, starting from this place would be most effective."

Qin An pondered for a moment, then put away the map, stood up, and said: "In that case, I’ll take my leave first."

The matter was urgent, and he had just advanced to the Celestial Human Realm. He didn’t intend to waste time here.

Finding the root of the issue sooner would alleviate the pressure on the people and the Daqian Kingdom.

If it drags on, the number of people suffering from hunger and cold will only increase, plunging the Daqian Kingdom into a more terrifying life-and-death crisis.

Emperor Xuanwu let out a sigh of relief.

This matter was too strange, and to be honest, sending anyone would make him feel uneasy.

Only Qin An going would make him feel assured in handling it.

Now seeing Qin An willing to go immediately, he felt a burden lift off his shoulders.

"Be careful on your journey, and stay safe," Emperor Xuanwu advised, "Remember, you are the foundation of this world. If you encounter anything that you cannot solve yourself, do not act recklessly. Quickly return and inform me, and I will find a way to deal with it."

"Got it, I’ll head off now."

Qin An said nothing more, turned and left the Imperial Study, then soared into the sky, heading toward the place marked on the map.

Soon, the capital of the Daqian Kingdom fell into a peaceful yet solemn atmosphere.

Yet in such an environment, many people raised their heads together to see the figure gradually departing in the sky.

"It’s Mr. Qin, am I mistaken? Mr. Qin has emerged from seclusion!"

"That’s right, he is Mr. Qin! This time he was in seclusion for so long, and according to Mr. Qin’s pattern, the longer the seclusion, the greater the commotion upon emergence!"

"Haha, Mr. Qin has finally come out of seclusion, and I am curious to see what changes will occur now!"

The news of Qin An emerging from seclusion spread throughout the Daqian Kingdom like wildfire.

Both cultivators and leaders of various forces focused their gaze in the direction Qin An departed.

...

At this moment, Qin An was unaware of the attention so many paid to his movements. Flying through the sky at Celestial Human Realm speed, the scenery around him retreated at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Just then, he flew over a paddy field and slowed down slightly.

Qin An gazed at the field below, and his brow furrowed.

All he saw was a barren field, the rice stalks had been eaten clean.

A whole large paddy field seemed desolate, like an apocalyptic scene.

Along the way, the farther Qin An flew, the more paddy fields he encountered, and they were all without exception devoured bare.

If this pace continued, it would not be long before the Daqian Kingdom faced a situation where there would be no grain to sow.

As Qin An flew, he thought to himself: "The opponent truly devised a clever plan. Not choosing to confront me or the Daqian Kingdom head-on, but rather using such despicable methods. And yet, these despicable methods prove to be so effective."

With this thought, Qin An retracted his thoughts and continued forward.

After flying a long time further, Qin An slowly came to a stop.

He was now high in the sky, beneath him a ground littered with debris.

These were all eaten crops and plants.

Now these insects seem no longer satisfied with grains alone, for even many plants were decimated.

Qin An took out the map in his hand and searched the paper thoroughly, soon confirming he had reached the destination.

"But this place looks perfectly normal, where should I begin looking for clues?"

Qin An looked around, frowning tightly.

Then he decided to descend from the sky first, as searching above had yielded no useful discoveries, perhaps there might be something upon descent.

With this in mind, Qin An quickly descended, the scenery below enlarging as he fell.

Qin An landed steadily atop a hill.

The hill wasn’t tall, also sparsely populated, and no commoner passed through here.

In fact, even if some commoners had lived nearby, they had moved away by now.

Admittedly, the insect disaster here was far worse than before.

"Then I’ll wait here for a while to see what exactly these creatures are up to?"

According to Emperor Xuanwu’s description, every so often those insects would fly here as if gathered.

In that case, tonight I’ll wait for the next gathering of insects to see if there are any significant players among them.

With this thought, Qin An stopped lingering and began patiently waiting here.

However, during the wait, Qin An also searched around to see if he could find any corresponding clues.

Unfortunately, after searching everywhere, Qin An still found no clues or leads.

This place seemed to be just an ordinary plot of land, with nothing suspicious in sight.

Time slowly slipped away in Qin An’s wait and when he had waited roughly two hours, anomalies finally appeared around.

First, a fierce tremor sounded, and when Qin An turned to look, he found the surroundings filled with a large black shadow.

This black shadow steadily poured in from outside, slowly drawing closer to the center.

And when Qin An saw this black shadow, his eyebrows furrowed tightly.

These sprawling black shadows, dense like a blanket, if one had slightly better eyesight, they could clearly see these shadows were entirely composed of various bugs.

And the most surprising feature of these bugs is that they are all composed of machinery.

Every bug is mechanical, with sophisticated structures identical to those responsible for the insect disaster.

Qin An stood in place, closed his eyes, patiently perceiving.

He found these bugs seemingly ignored him, ceaselessly gathering overhead.

Once they gathered together, a profound fissure suddenly appeared in the sky.

All these bugs headed towards the fissure, and within moments, drilled into the fissure, disappearing along with those entering.