Chapter 248: Plasma Rounds, Falling Into Despair

The defensive city wall of Bao’an Base City was several kilometers away from the coastline because the city was close to the sea and countless terrifying direbeasts were lurking in the sea.

The distance between the coastline and the city was only a few kilometers, but countless direbeasts from the sea had been buried here. The base city had stopped many times of direbeast invasion.

Coastal base cities such as Bao’an had more arcanists, more weapons and equipment, and more experience in fighting direbeast invasion than the inland base cities.

This time, however, everyone looked solemn when thinking of having to fight and destroy a massive army of insectoids.

This Insectoid army had destroyed San Francisco Base City, reducing the prosperous large base city into ruins on the first day.

The following two days, this Insectoid army had destroyed over a dozen mega and large base cities, including Manila Base City, Sydney Base City, Vancouver Base City, and Los Angeles Base City, and slaughtered many of the residents before they left.

What happened during those two days was, it had given people a terrible impression that his Insectoid army was invincible, unstoppable, and capable of nothing but destruction.

So at this moment, people were at their wits’ end at seeing bugs surging like a stormy sea towards them.

Could they fight off this insectoid army when other mega base cities like Sydney and Los Angeles had failed?

Would they die if they could not stop it? Would the 200 million residents in the base city die a tragic death under the iron hoof of the Insectoid army?

They really did not know.

More people were in despair.

This was the situation on the defensive city wall.

Look at the situation inside the city again.

Residents had walked out of their homes, workers had emerged from the factories, and students came out of their classrooms to stare at the live stream of the situation on the big screens on the street.

People were watching this invasion closely, waiting for the result.

They hoped for the best and expected the worst. It would be great if they could fend off the Insectoid invasion, but if they failed, they would have to hide in the underground air-raid shelters or bunkers at once and hope they would survive.

The wealthy people in the luxury villa area had their maglev motorcycles, cars, and even airships at the ready, packed their belongings, wallets, and ID cards, ready to flee.

They would leave here immediately once the defensive wall was breached.

This might seem selfish, but what else could they do? Wait for the direbeast to break through the city wall and slaughter them?

So no one could blame them.

On the other hand, the first Insectoid army had landed. They waved their pincers and claws as they moved on the ground, as if massive excavators crawling with a rumbling noise. At last, they came within the attack range.

“Fire!”

Bullets, cannons, fireballs, water spikes, stone bullets, thunder dragons, wind blades, ice guns, and laser cannons fired at the sound of the order, raining down on the approaching Insectoid army with ear-shattering explosions.

Boom!

Smoke and dust rose into the air and obscured the leading Insectoid army and also blocked people’s vision. Everyone was waiting with bated breath, wondering if the attack worked.

Two or three seconds later, as the smoke dissipated, they were disappointed.

The attack had only killed a few giant bugs—just barely, and most of these bugs were relatively small. Other larger insectoids were not affected at all.

The Insectoids continued to approach rapidly and came under the city wall in the blink of an eye. The largest ladybirds first came under the wall and acted as ladders.

The smaller ants and other bugs stepped on these giant ladybugs and climbed up onto the wall in just the blink of an eye.

Apparently, this Insectoid army differed from the previous direbeast invasions; they were not only stronger but also well-trained and had a tacit understanding with one another.

“Fire!”

The arcanists on the city wall attacked with no hesitation. Since it was in close range, the firepower could unleash a lethal blow to the insectoids, killing the first wave of insectoids that climbed onto the city call. But a second wave of bugs had come before those arcanists would celebrate their first victory.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

They greeted the bugs with fiercer attacks.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Greenish bug blood was splattered and broken limbs and shells were flying all over.

The fierce resistance of the arcanists had held back the Insectoid army for the time being. The Insectoids could not break through the city wall, no matter how hard they tried.

People watching the live stream in the city breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the situation.

Just then, several hot magma-like plasma gleaming with silverish light shot out from the Insectoid army and hit the city wall.

Boom!

The plasma rounds exploded and blew open several massive holes in the solid city wall.

This was not over yet. The scattered bits of plasma spattered on the bodies of the arcanists nearby with a hissing sound, instantly roasting those hapless arcanists and turning them into skeletons.

Over a dozen arcanists were scorched, dying a tragic death as they were reduced to skeletons on the spot.

This made other arcanists’ blood run cold.

“The Plasma bug!”

“The Plasma bugs are attacking!”

It horrified the rest of the arcanists.

It was the Internet age. The large-scale invasions occurring in other coastal base cities had long spread all over the world. Hence, the intelligence and information about the Insectoid army was well known to everyone.

The arcanists had recognized what was attacking them at first glance. These were plasma fired by giant bugs called the Plasma Bugs.

What is plasma?

Plasma is a substance similar to but different from gas. It carries a terrifyingly high temperature and is extremely lethal.

“We have to kill the Plasma Bugs!”

The voice of a commander resounded from the top of the city wall. “We will count on you to kill the Plasma Bugs in the Insectoid army. Their attack is too damaging!”

Three figures rose into the sky as soon as the commander’s voice trailed off. They were a gray-haired old man, a bald, burly guy, and a red-haired girl, who were all stellar beings.

There were a few stellar beings on Earth and they had been sent to the major coastal base cities at this critical juncture. It was a blessing for Bao’an Base City to have three stellar beings based here.

The three stellar beings lunged toward the Insectoid army. Their eyes were locked on a dozen of Plasma Bugs in the Insectoid army.

The Plasma Bugs were so recognizable. They were not only the largest but their abdomens bulged as if the belly of a queen ant and was filled with plasma and glowing in silverish blue light.

“Kill!”

The three stellar beings let out a low cry, and each locked on at a Plasma Bug. As they got within attack range, they attacked with no hesitation.

“Go to hell!”

The breach cracked open all of a sudden as the gray-haired old man roared and smacked with both his hands.

The opening was so wide and deep that the crack swallowed a Plasma Bug and nearby Insectoids before they knew what happened.

The gray-haired old man glared, and the crack closed back up. The Plasma Bug and the dozens of giant bugs vanished in the crack forever.

“One’s gone.”

The gray-haired old man breathed a sigh of relief and then glanced at a second Plasma Bug.

On the other side, the bald, burly guy and the red-haired girl had succeeded, too. They each burned and smashed one Plasma Bug. Three Plasma Bugs were killed in an instant.

The live-stream cameras had captured the footage, and people who followed the live-stream in Bao’an Base City went bonkers.

“Long live!”

“Long live!”

Students were cheering, workers shouting long live, and ordinary folk and the wealthy who were about to flee clenched their fists in excitement.

The Plasma Bugs could inflict so much damage that they were essentially the small nuclear weapons in the Insectoid’s arsenal. The Plasma Bugs had played a major role in the destruction of a dozen coastal base cities previously.

So people’s fear of the Plasma Bugs was deeply rooted in their bones.

The killing of three Plasma Bugs by three arcanists had boosted the people’s morale tremendously and gave the citizens the hope and confidence that they would prevail.

Since they could kill the three Plasma Bugs, they were confident of wiping out more of them. If they could get rid of all the Plasma Bugs, it would reduce the strength of the Insectoid army, and they might ward off the invasion.

It was a pity, however, that the cruel reality was falling short of the ideal. Just when the three stellar beings were about to hunt down the next Plasma Bugs, three shots of fire shot into the sky and hit and engulfed the three stellar beings in an instant.

“Aah—”

Many people covered their mouths in shock. Some timid ones even closed their eyes, too afraid to look. Those who were bold enough had their eyes glued to the screen, praying for the three arcanists silently in their minds.

The fire gradually dissipated, and the arcanists re-emerged, their bodies covered with a layer of black material, as if they had been scorched.

“Oh, God!”

“Have they been burned to death?”

“How could this be?”

Just when people thought that they had been burned and reduced to coke, the black matter on the three arcanists’ bodies receded, revealing their true appearances.

The three of them were safe and sound as the black substance on their bodies was Venom Suit.

People breathed a sigh of relief when they realized it was just a false alarm. But what followed next was not looking good.

A dozen dragonfly-like giant insects flew from the sea and soon surrounded the three arcanists.

These dragonfly-like giant insects were over 150 meters long and covered in blood-colored shells.

Their bodies were blood-red with several meter-long hair growing on their six legs. This hair was extremely hard, as if steel needles. They had two pairs of enormous compound eyes, too.

All these features made these dozen giant dragonflies look terrifying.

The three arcanists looked grave when the dragonflies surrounded them. Both the information they had read before and the overpowering aura emanating from the dragonflies bluntly told them that these giant dragonflies were Stellar-class direbeasts.

“We are in deep shit!”

The gray-haired old man shouted into the headpiece. “We will fall into the trap of the Insectoid army if we get into a fight with these dragonflies! We have to shake them off and kill the Plasma Bugs. The Plasma Bugs are posing an enormous threat to the city wall!”

“We know that, but it is difficult to get away from these giant dragonflies. You know, they are stellar beings!” The bald, burly guy looked grave.

“Just do our best!” The red-haired girl said solemnly. “We need to protect Bao’an Base City at all costs. We can’t let it end up the same fate as the other coastal base cities!”

“Kill!”

The trio desperately tried to break away from the encirclement.

It was a pity that they had seriously underestimated the combat strength of the Stellar-class giant dragonflies. The hope of getting away was slim, considering that each of them had to fight multiple dragonflies.

On the other hand, over a dozen Plasma Bugs were launching brutal attacks on the city wall with plasma.

A dozen holes had been blown open in the wall in the blink of an eye, with several dozen arcanists killed or maimed.

The situation was critical and becoming precarious.

“We are done for!”

“We are dead!”

“Will Bao’an Base City be destroyed, too?”

Everyone was in despair.

“What is that?”