Volume One: The Spiral Stone Inscription Chapter 24: Man-Eating Ants Besiege the City, Part Two — The Scarlet Ravine

After a glance at the viscera and gore littering the ground, Chen Fan strode forward.

Four hundred meters later, he stopped, brow furrowed, gazing at the street ahead. The ground was riddled with holes, each the size of an adult's fist, with grains of yellow soil piled around their rims.

"This is a mutated ant nest!" He turned to Jiang Yan. "Be careful. Ants usually win by sheer numbers. If we wake them, we’re dead!"

She nodded heavily. "Don't worry, I'm no fool. I won't hold you back."

Chen Fan grunted and moved forward slowly, observing his surroundings with care. Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing rang out from a distance. His heart skipped a beat, and he moved cautiously toward the noise, terrified of rousing the ants beneath the earth. He leaned against the corner of a wall and peeked out.

At the end of the street, four figures were dancing in combat against a four-to-five-ton mutated pangolin. The creature was colossal, like a small mountain; its body seemed cast from molten iron, every part glinting with a metallic sheen that suggested it was invulnerable.

"Those are people from Base 15. The black-skinned man is Karl. What are they doing here?" Jiang Yan’s eyes filled with confusion as she leaned against him to get a better look.

Curious, Chen Fan asked, "How many survivor bases are there in the Eastern District?"

"There are 35. You didn't know that?" After expressing concern for his common sense, she returned her focus to the battlefield.

"Ignore them. Let's keep moving."

Chen Fan skirted to a parallel street and pressed quickly toward the source of the golden-red glow. When he was about 2,500 meters from the target, he stopped. The world had "fallen."

Countless giant holes covered the ground—hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions—and in every single one, a red ant's head poked out.

"Something's wrong!" Chen Fan’s heart jolted. He retreated in a flurry and sprinted toward a nearby skyscraper. Pushing through the battered doors, he scrambled up the dusty stairs to the top floor.

Gale-force winds howled at the summit. As he stepped out, the wind caught him, lifting his body. Terrified, he grabbed the wall's edge, forced himself down, and stayed in a half-crouch to keep from being blown away. He motioned for Jiang Yan to stay in the stairwell, then braved the wind to crawl toward the edge of the roof.

His heart hammered against his ribs; he pressed himself flat. It wasn't just the five- or six-hundred-meter drop—the edge had no guardrail. Standing here was like standing over an abyss. Cold sweat soaked his clothes. He dug his fingers into the concrete, dragging himself forward like a soldier in the trenches.

He moved with agonizing slowness as the hurricane grew more violent. Even prone, his torso felt partially suspended, hovering inches off the ground. Veins bulged on his neck and forehead; his eyes were bloodshot. He was using every ounce of his strength just to keep himself pinned down.

He gasped as the wind lifted his legs, then his thighs, and finally his torso. Only his ten fingers kept him tethered to the ground. His eyes turned crimson with sheer terror. Just as he was about to be swept away, inspiration struck. He pulled a massive safe from his pack and pinned it over his body. The wind could not budge it. He was safe.

Like a turtle, he poked his head out to scan the streets below, then the surrounding blocks. His heart went cold. He crawled to check hundreds of streets. Everywhere he looked, he saw an endless expanse of ant holes—not hundreds of thousands, but tens of millions, hundreds of millions. An ocean of holes with no end in sight.

A profound sense of unease consumed him. His intuition screamed that he had to leave this abandoned city immediately, or he would die.

"What’s wrong? Is it just the ant holes? If we’re careful, we won't wake them," Jiang Yan said, still unaware of the gravity of the situation, confident in her strength as a Level 1 mutant.

"We have to leave this city now, or we won't get out," Chen Fan said, his face drained of color. Ignoring the golden-red glow in the distance, he raced down the stairs. Seeing his panic, Jiang Yan grew serious and followed.

They sprinted out of the city without looking back. As they reached the edge, they encountered the four from Base 15, who were carrying the carcasses of two pangolin pups. Karl, the black-skinned man, looked at Jiang Yan. "What’s happening?"

"I think there's danger," Jiang Yan said, looking to Chen Fan. Chen Fan didn't bother explaining; he just pushed harder. Sensing the urgency, the others followed.

Ten minutes later, they reached the city limits and recoiled in horror. A red tide was spreading toward them—a sea of palm-sized red cannibal ants. There was no fighting them. Red tides were sweeping in from all four directions. They were trapped.

"Why are they attacking us?" Chen Fan frowned, baffled.

Suddenly, a boom of thunder rolled through the sky, and a raindrop the size of a fist smashed against his cheek.

"Cannibal ants... migrate before the rain?" Chen Fan realized with a sense of crushing helplessness. Man proposes, but Heaven disposes.

A screeching sound, dozens of times louder than the thunder, tore through the air. Chen Fan looked around; the gray city had turned into a vibrant, shifting red. The red tide covered everything for five thousand meters, piling four or five meters high. The gray ground and buildings were rapidly consumed.

"We're dead!" Chen Fan stared at the endless red sea. Desperate, he checked his system inventory. He had over a dozen safes left. One was special—made of tool steel, incredibly hard, and lined with shock-absorbent material. His eyes lit up. He saw the massive combine harvester inside.

The bald man, Wu Bo, approached. "Brother, I'm Wu Bo. We need to help each other!" The other two, Huang Long and Li Qingfeng, joined in. Chen Fan ignored them. Their eyes were cold and sharp; they were up to no good.

"No, I won't die here!" Karl screamed, throwing the two pangolin carcasses. The ants surged toward the meat, clearing a small patch of ground, but the surrounding swarm immediately filled the void.

Karl turned savage, backing toward his teammates. The group split. The four of them glared at Chen Fan and Jiang Yan with murderous intent.

"What do you want?" Chen Fan asked.

"What do we want?" Karl sneered. "We have to sacrifice you two!" He drew his explosive-resistant suit from his bag.

"So you're going to butcher us for bait?" Chen Fan stepped back.

"I have no choice! I'll build you a cenotaph when I get back!" Karl turned to his teammates. "Are you with me?" They didn't speak, but their cold eyes signaled they were ready to draw their own gear.

Suddenly, a crunching sound echoed. Karl thrust a long blade through the chests of his three companions. He gripped the hilt, his hand stained red with their blood. "Ha! How much meat do the two of you have? Adding you three is the only way I'll make it out! Rest in peace!" He yanked the blade out. The three men stared at him in disbelief, dying at the hands of their own "brother."

Karl turned his blood-stained blade toward Chen Fan. "You're next. I'll cut you into thousands of pieces to maximize your value!" He lunged.

Chen Fan smirked. This was exactly what he wanted.

*BOOM!*

The massive combine harvester dropped from the sky, its roar shaking the earth. Thousands of ants were crushed into pulp. "Get on!" Chen Fan pulled Jiang Yan into the cockpit and drove the mechanical beast into the red sea. The steel treads acted like a giant meat grinder, mercilessly crushing the ants into a scarlet slurry.

Behind them, Karl shrieked. Chen Fan glanced back to see him swallowed by the red tide. Ants swarmed over him, boring into his skull, eating him from the inside out until there was nothing left—not even bone.

Chen Fan turned his gaze forward, driving toward the golden-red glow. Two hours later, they escaped the boiling red sea. He recovered the Thunder Source Stone, a head-sized gem that would suppress his mental contamination. A flicker of greed crossed his eyes.

"What are you thinking?" Jiang Yan aimed her pistol at him.

Chen Fan sighed and handed her the stone. "Take it. I won't fight you for it. Don't go on any more missions for a few years; take care of little Ya."

"You're sensible," she said, pocketing the stone. She looked at him, her eyes dropping to his crotch. "Thank you. When you come to the Ninth Base, I'll 'thank' you properly!"

Chen Fan stepped back, unsettled. "I'm not that kind of person. You're overthinking it!"

"Are you sure?" She pulled down her collar, revealing her pale chest. "Pretty? Want it?" She licked her lips, teasing him.

Chen Fan swallowed hard. "You've got a good eye! But let's save it for next time!" As Katherine’s voice rang in his ear, he dropped Jiang Yan off near the Ninth Base and headed toward the residence in the mountain forest.