Shackles of Humanity

By the time Luo Kai reached the first-floor lobby, a large crowd had gathered behind him. The hotel’s roll-up security door was quite sturdy and hadn’t been broken through by the insects.

Luo Kai violently smashed open the basement door. A large group of people was crammed inside. They first erupted in panicked screams, but sighed in relief upon seeing it was a person. One of them yelled, "Hey! There’s no room here! Go find somewhere else."

Luo Kai ignored them and pulled Lu Qing inside. The bloodstained blade in his hand was still dripping, his expression was grim, and his presence was overwhelming. The people in the basement couldn’t help but shrink back. The crowd behind him naturally surged in, blocking the door once more, and the space plunged back into darkness.

The basement was spacious but filled with clutter. Luo Kai and Lu Qing sat on a wine crate. Geng Daqiang came over and whispered, "Brother Luo, thank you."

Luo Kai asked, "Why are you here? Where’s Erya?" He remembered Geng Daqiang having a proper job as a proofreader at a newspaper in Longyang City.

"My dad and Erya are both in Longyang City. I’m on a business trip with our president. Oh, right, this is the president of our newspaper, President Zhang." Geng Daqiang stepped aside, revealing the portly, middle-aged man behind him.

The paunchy man hurried forward to shake Luo Kai’s hand. "A pleasure, a true pleasure. Does Brother Luo live in Longyang City as well? If you need anything in the future, don’t hesitate to find me."

Luo Kai shook his hand, then turned back to Geng Daqiang. "So, you moved?"

"Yeah, my dad works at Black Stone Heavy Industry now. We have a house assigned by the company."

"Oh, that explains it." Luo Kai said no more. He closed his eyes, his throat vibrating slightly as he continued to study the subtleties of subsonic sound waves.

Geng Daqiang wanted to cozy up to him more, but looking at Luo Kai, he felt an inexplicable pressure and didn’t dare to speak again. He glanced at the radiant, lovely woman by Luo Kai’s side. Their intimate gestures made it clear their relationship was anything but ordinary. His heart filled with both envy and astonishment. ’In my memory, Luo Kai was just a tricycle driver... How can he have such a beautiful girlfriend?’

The people in the basement didn’t dare make much noise and could only whisper among themselves.

"Have you guys noticed? The gunfire is getting fainter."

"Yeah. Maybe the insects have been wiped out."

The bald man’s voice was grim. "There’s no way this many insects could be eliminated so quickly. The sparse gunfire can only mean one thing..."

President Zhang seemed to realize something, his face draining of color. "You mean the Defense Army has been annihilated by the insects?"

The bald man shook his head and said coldly, "My guess is that the Changyuan County Defense Army couldn’t hold the line, so they abandoned us all and fled."

A buzzing sound of wings beating the air came from outside. It grew closer and closer, then suddenly stopped. Everyone frantically covered their mouths and held their breath, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Time passed slowly. Luo Kai pulled the Military Dagger from his leg and handed it to Lu Qing. "Qing’Er, a lot of insects are coming. Take this to defend yourself."

His voice wasn’t loud, but everyone in the basement heard him loud and clear. They were all horrified but didn’t dare to ask any questions.

SCRAPE! A sharp, barbed hind leg pierced the basement door. The iron-clad wooden door was no obstacle for the insect’s entry. Another pair of sharp forelimbs stabbed through.

Luo Kai stood up and walked to the door, a flicker of doubt in his mind. ’Why can these insects pinpoint the location of a hidden crowd? If the swarm is this sensitive, then hiding is useless.’

With a CRASH, the door was torn open, and a massive insect burst through. It was much larger than the previous ones, nearly the size of a person. Its guillotine-like hind legs supported its upright body, and the mandibles in its mouth squirmed, emitting a strange chirping sound. Its compound eyes fixed on Luo Kai, but they weren’t filled with the same ferocity as before. There was even a hint of confusion.

Luo Kai detected a low-frequency sound wave that was inaudible to ordinary people. ’So that’s it!’ he realized. ’The insects use subsonic sound waves to communicate. It must have heard the one I just simulated, that’s why it found us.’

Realizing the creature before it was not one of its own, the giant locust kicked off with its hind legs, opening its long, wide mouth to bite him.

The locust’s explosive leap was astonishingly fast. Even with Luo Kai’s formidable Perception, he could only vaguely register a shadow. The Severing Blade moved as he willed, and a clear ring echoed as it sliced through the air.

The Severing Blade struck the great insect’s foreclaw. For the first time, the ever-successful Curved Long Saber met resistance. It only cut halfway through; the locust’s claw was harder than metal.

Luo Kai grunted, his muscles bulging. He retracted the blade, spun, and in a circular motion, lopped off the locust’s head.

Seeing Luo Kai dispatch the terrifying giant insect with a single, fluid strike, the people in the basement stared at him with newfound awe.

More than one giant insect had been drawn by the commotion. Luo Kai got his adrenaline pumping, rushed out, and killed them all. He then cleared out all the locusts on the nearby floors before returning. He carried a long, solid-wood table, trimmed it into shape with his Severing Blade, and used it to block the basement doorway again. Returning to Lu Qing’s side, he sat down. All he could do now was wait. The Xingma Kingdom’s army wouldn’t possibly let the locusts rampage through its territory unchecked.

The gunfire outside was now almost inaudible, indicating that the Changyuan City Defense Army had likely lost all power to resist. It was easy to imagine that tonight, the city would become a Purgatory in the Mortal World.

Panic and anxiety gripped everyone’s hearts throughout the night. Early the next morning, the deafening sound of artillery fire erupted once more. This time, it was far more intense than the night before. Violent explosions sometimes detonated right near the hotel. Before long, the roar of armored vehicles could be heard. The army had entered the city.

Everyone in the basement let out a collective sigh of relief, their faces breaking into the smiles of those who had survived a catastrophe. A few of them started to move the barricade at the door.

The bald man quickly stopped them. "It’s a hail of bullets and shrapnel out there right now. Going out is suicide."

「Several hours passed.」 The gunfire outside hadn’t weakened in the slightest; in fact, it had grown even more intense. Luo Kai desperately wanted to go out and assess the battle, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Lu Qing. He could only wait passively.

A fierce battle seemed to be raging near the hotel. The ROAR of explosions was incessant, shaking dust from the ceiling. Several cracks had been blasted into the surrounding concrete walls. Everyone’s anxiety returned. No one knew if the next shell would explode directly overhead, destroying the hotel and burying them all inside.

Lu Qing couldn’t help but lean closer to Luo Kai, wrapping her arms around his. "Should we find another place?" she whispered.

Luo Kai shook his head, indicating it wasn’t necessary. With him there, he could get them out with brute force even if they were buried alive.

After a while, a series of human screams came from outside, mixed with an extremely faint, low-frequency hum. Upon sensing it, an unbearable itch bloomed deep within one’s body, creating an urge to claw out one’s own heart.

The first to succumb were a few people with weaker constitutions. They writhed on the ground, frantically scratching and clawing at themselves. In moments, they had torn their clothes and skin to bloody ribbons. They were fully conscious, but the itch rising from the depths of their very cells was unbearable. They couldn’t stop themselves from clawing and rubbing, howling as they pleaded with the horrified people around them, "Help me!"

The others were also enduring the agony. Seeing this, they could only scramble away, powerless to help.

The effect of this low-frequency Sound Wave varied depending on a person’s constitution. Those with weaker bodies generally had weaker cells at the deepest level, making them naturally unable to withstand the interference from the subsonic sound waves.

Lu Qing’s face was pale. Her constitution had improved significantly over the past month, so the effect on her wasn’t as severe. She said to Luo Kai, "Luo Kai, help them."

Luo Kai took a deep breath. With a command of his Thoughts, his vast Spiritual Power formed an invisible barrier, blocking the subsonic sound wave from entering. The people writhing on the ground gradually recovered. They had no idea it was Luo Kai’s doing and simply looked around in a daze.

Luo Kai stood up. He could block the low-frequency Sound Wave with his Spiritual Power, but that would only treat the symptom, not the root cause. To solve the problem for good, he had to eliminate the source. "Qing’Er," he said softly, "I’m going out to take a look."

"Okay, be careful." Lu Qing nodded obediently. ’She knew that if it weren’t for her, Luo Kai would have gone out last night. But last night would have been incredibly dangerous. Now that the army was in the city, the risk was much lower.’