Another day passed, and quite a lot happened at the Dujing Group headquarters.
First of all, there were now three members who had passed the written test.
Lu Ansheng was naturally one of them.
The other two were Zhou Yiyi, the so-called “Idea King” who always stands out among the guys and is nicknamed Wu Yong (“Useless”) by his peers, and Li Bing, known for his explosive temper and street alias Li Yunlong.
No one knew how these three managed it, but they actually memorized the entire geographical layout of the Ye City Subway by sheer force of will.
This was just as Lu Liang intended.
The team leaders he wanted had to be thoroughly familiar with the structure of the Subway; that way, if they encountered Monster Bugs or a Scavenger organization they couldn’t handle, at least they could use the complex layout of the Subway to buy time.
True to his word, Lu Liang appointed those three as team leaders and had them lead their subordinates into the Subway for training and mutual adaptation.
Next, Lu Liang planned to order a batch of standardized uniforms and fitness equipment, hoping to boost the Dujing Group’s strength and unity.
He set his sights first on the German Style Uniform—say what you will, but those things were seriously cool.
Art students might be unreliable, but their taste in aesthetics was impeccable.
The German Style Uniform was a bit pricey, but Lu Liang gritted his teeth and bought them anyway.
Since they were custom-made as standard uniforms, delivery would take about a month.
He didn’t think this expense was frivolous at all.
Wages were for attracting middle-aged people who just wanted to support their families.
For young people like Lu Ansheng, who still had a youthful spirit, you couldn’t rely on wages alone—you had to give them something cool to make them stay loyal.
Teach according to their aptitude, and spend money where it counts for the best effect.
Lastly, there was the Monster Bug problem.
Lu Liang kept feeling that this batch of Monster Bugs caught in the Subway was very different from before.
Just a few days ago, these Monster Bugs had been mute, low-level creatures, only able to communicate through simple gestures.
But now, they seemed to have “evolved,” grown smarter, and could even make monotonous sentences by rapidly vibrating their wings in unison.
Their emotions were no longer dull and wooden, either—some even showed signs of suicidal tendencies.
Locked in a sack by Lu Liang, these Monster Bugs never stopped flapping their wings, buzzing endlessly.
Just this morning, Lu Liang noticed that two of the Monster Bugs had died.
With two days left until delivery, Lu Liang couldn’t let any more Monster Bugs get hurt—these were all his money!
He never dreamed that one day, he’d be giving psychological counseling to a bunch of Monster Bugs.
He opened the sack holding the Monster Bugs, and the ones that had been buzzing all went quiet.
Then, a few of them struggled to push over a big lump, which turned out to be a handful of coins they’d hidden somewhere, and pushed them right in front of Lu Liang.
Lu Liang knew this was the “Ransom Money.”
A Monster Bug had tried this once before.
“Giving me money won’t help. I’m not letting you go.”
Lu Liang glanced at the filthy coins—they couldn’t add up to more than 20 or 30 yuan, not even a tenth the value of a single Monster Bug.
The Monster Bugs huddled together in agitation, their antennae touching as if sharing some information.
After a while, one Monster Bug crawled shakily over to Lu Liang, wings trembling violently, and managed to utter some faint words:
“Why…”
“Because you’re worth far more than these coins.”
Lu Liang answered simply and directly.
The Monster Bugs froze at once, completely taken aback by this answer.
They clustered together again, communicating through their antennae.
After a moment, that same Monster Bug buzzed its wings once more:
“If you do this… the Worm Mother’s guardians… won’t… let you go…”
“Is that a threat?”
Lu Liang sneered and curled his lip, saying,
“Your Worm Mother is worth 400,000 on the market. If I get the chance, I’d like to catch it and sell it too.”
The Monster Bugs stood there in a daze, staring at Lu Liang in disbelief.
They never imagined this human would be so bold as to set his sights on their Worm Mother!
Suddenly, the Monster Bugs that had been quiet went berserk, flapping their wings furiously and emitting sharp, jumbled cries:
“Humans… bad… Worm Mother… good…”
“Worm Mother… will give us… good lives…”
“You’re not allowed… to hurt… Worm Mother…”
And many more cries filled with utter heartbreak and rage.
Literally filled with heartbreak!
Some Monster Bugs, already slightly injured when caught by the Scavengers, began flapping their wings so violently that within seconds, several fell silent—dead on the spot.
Lu Liang’s mouth twitched. What was this? Suicide-by-taunt?
It felt like his own money had suddenly stood up, flipped him the middle finger, and then set itself on fire.
Not wanting to see his money keep offing itself, Lu Liang had no choice but to curl his index finger and knock each Monster Bug on the head, knocking them all out before stuffing them back into the sack.
He tossed the corpses of a few dead Monster Bugs from the table into the trash, feeling a bit perplexed as he pondered why the Monster Bugs were collecting coins.
They must have been ordered by the Worm Mother to do so, but what was the Worm Mother collecting coins for?
Lu Liang picked up a coin that one of the Monster Bugs had produced and examined it carefully.
No matter how he looked at it, it was just an ordinary, filthy coin.
He didn’t sense any miraculous power from it.
In the end, he could only accept this absurd reality—the Worm Mother was collecting coins just for money!
Human money!
But what use did human money have for the Worm Mother? Buying things? It was a Monster Bug—didn’t eat humans, and now it was collecting money?
Besides, with all these scattered coins, you couldn’t even get out of the Subway, let alone spend it somewhere.
Just as Lu Liang was pondering this question, his phone suddenly rang. The caller was one of his three teams, C Group, led by Li Bing.
He answered the call and asked,
“What’s up, Li Bing? Something happened?”
On the other end, there was a gasp, then Li Bing’s desperate scream:
“Boss, we’re under West Ice House, help—boom!”
A deafening crash came from the other end, and then Li Bing’s line went dead.
Lu Liang’s heart sank, and he rushed out of Dujing Group headquarters.
At the same time, under West Ice House in the Subway.
In the dim, gloomy environment, the sewage of the Subway flowed sluggishly along the tunnel, but now, there seemed to be a new metallic tang in the stench—like the scent of blood and rust.
Thud!
Li Bing rolled aside, narrowly dodging the attack of a human-sized Mantis Monster, sweat streaming down his face as he shouted to the others,
“Run!”
Behind him, the insectoid Monster’s scythe-like forelimbs dripped with sticky fluid, slowly oozing from Li Bing’s pierced cell phone.
The terrifying weapons flexed open and closed, their edges glinting with metallic light.
Rows of sharp serrations lined the blades, and with the slightest friction, they gave off a nerve-jangling “crack” sound.
Its mandibles chewed relentlessly, bits of flesh and blood squeezing out from between its jaws, dripping down its chin.
The sticky blood mixed with some unknown bodily fluid, stretching into long, thin strands that hung from its jaw, filling the air with a stench of blood and rot.
Not far away, in the sewage, floated the body of an adult man, his chest ripped open, intestines spilling out, half-devoured by the Mantis Monster.
The Mantis Monster’s neck twisted unnaturally, emitting a harsh “crunch” of grinding joints.
The sound was filled with rage at being disturbed—and a desperate hunger for fresh flesh.
Unlike the harmless Monster Bugs that just collected coins, this was, without a doubt, a true, vicious, man-eating monster.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.