CH 107

Chapter 107 They Are Indeed Pest, But Every Part Of Their Body Are Treasures

Devil Moth was one of the deadly high-risk mutants on the wasteland.

Although their individual combat power was not strong, and their strength was almost the same as the cruncher, if they were to be ranked according to the degree of danger, even the creeper would admit defeat.

Their danger level was at least B level or above!

This kind of creature usually lived in groups. Their larvae fed on psychoid leaves, and the adults were omnivorous and predominantly carnivorous.

Their larva did not have any fighting ability, but the mouthparts of an adult were extremely sharp, and the bite force was extremely strong!

It was said that the strongest Queen Devil Moth in this race could even tear steel. As for the general Devil Moths, it was not a problem for them to bite through a few bulletproof vests.

Of course, not every nest of Devil Moths could give birth to a Queen Devil Moth, just like not all Crackleclaw Crabs had a queen.

But even so, it was still dangerous enough.

What was more interesting was that although such mutants were no different from pests, they were not entirely useless.

For example, the larvae of Devil Moths could secrete a kind of silk thread called "Devil Silk", which was used to make cocoons.

It was said that the strength of this kind of devil silk was very high, even more than some macromolecule biopolymers, and its material was light, so it was usually used to make excellent armor. This material was not only popular with wastelanders such as mercenaries, caravan guards, etc. but also with the upper class of Boulder City.

However, such mutants were not common, and their requirements for the living environment were even more demanding than mutant leeches.

First of all, they needed enough light and heat, and secondly, their larvae needed to feed on the psychoid leaves, otherwise, this race would not be able to reproduce at all.

As for the psychoid leaves, it was said that they could be used to make a mildly addictive stimulant. Even if it was used as tea leaves, it would have a refreshing effect far better than ordinary coffee and tea.

Why was there such a thing as psychoid leaves in an abandoned greenhouse site?

This was what Chu Guang couldn't figure out the most.

Looking at the description of Brother [Makka_Pakka] on the forum, the number of Devil Moths they encountered in the greenhouse was still quite large...

Makka_Pakka: "Fuck! You can't imagine how unlucky I am! Brother Sideline and I planned to go to the greenhouse site and see if there are any good things that can be recycled. But as soon as I entered, I was attacked by moths!"

Night Ten: "Exploring the jungle without a ward. It reminds me of one person. (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ”

Ya Ya: "Hahahaha! This person died twice! Noob! So bad! Hahahaha! o(*≧▽≦)ツ"

Makka_Pakka: "(#`Д′)!"

Ample Time: "Let's ignore the question of whether he's a noob or not first. How did you get in?"

Gale: "I am also very curious about this question. If I remember correctly, the gate outside the greenhouse is electrically controlled? And it's so rusted that Old White still couldn’t pry it open after breaking two steel pipes. It didn't even shake when we tried to destroy it with gunpowder. We all suspected that it was an image background in this game.”

Makka_Pakka: “Brother Sideline is a fireman, and he's a perception type. This guy walked around the tower-like greenhouse for a while and told me that there must be a fire escape to enter. I thought that it made sense, so I searched for a while with him. Then we found an emergency exit in the warehouse!"

Ample Time: "The emergency exit in the warehouse? I seem to have seen it before, and I'm sure that it cannot be opened as well."

Gale: "Mhm, that stuff is also powered by electricity."

Makka_Pakka: "This is where it got interesting! It indeed couldn't be pried open, but there was a power distribution box in the room. Brother Sideline checked the power distribution box and found that the switch inside was stuck and the fuse was blown. He wanted to fix it, but didn't understand how to. We scratched our heads for a while and thought of a dumb way to fix it. We unplugged the box, removed all the replaceable objects inside, and then found all replaceable parts around to replace them.”

“We didn’t even expect that it would work, but after replacing a few things that we didn’t know whether it was a battery or a fuse, the light of the door was switched on magically! Then we couldn’t wait to open the emergency exit and walked into the greenhouse... Soon after that, I was attacked by a group of moths!"

Sideline_slacking: "It’s called Devil Moth! The administrator told me."

Makka_Pakka: "Yo, Brother Sideline is here. Are you okay?"

Sideline_slacking: "Hey hey, not bad. I took back the VM, and saved my equipment as well. It's just that my injury was too serious, so they decided to end my suffering."

Ya Ya: "o(*≧▽≦)ツ"

Ample Time: "The official website just updated the information of Devil Moths, saying that the silk thread produced by Devil Moth larvae is a kind of textile material with excellent performance. Their teeth can also be used to make tools such as daggers and scissors, and the psychoid leaves, which are their larvae’s main food, can be used for stimulants."

WC_really_has_mosquitoes: "Holy shit! Advanced equipment materials?! Doesn't that mean it's a treasure mountain?!"

The_Escaping_Mole: "Yeah, a dangerous one. Just look at Brother Pakka and Brother Sideline. They have a strength type and a perception type, both of which are LV4. However, they were still easily killed by them. Isn't it enough to explain the problem?"

Ample Time: "Mhm, what surprised me in particular is that the level 4 perception type cannot detect them in advance. Devil Moths are probably more concealed than creepers!"

Old White: "This is indeed extremely scary, and in that greenhouse, there are actually crops? More importantly... it still has running electricity?"

Ample Time: "This possibility is very high. The power supply system of the gate and the cultivation system inside the greenhouse may have two completely different sets of power sources. Let's make a bold assumption. What kind of safety issue would this kind of highly integrated greenhouse worry about the most?”

Old White: “Power cut?”

Ample Time: “Yes! Unlike traditional agriculture, once this kind of greenhouse is powered off, it means the complete interruption of the water supply system, the ventilation system, and the lighting system. It may cause the crops to die under unsuitable temperature, air, and lighting conditions in just a few hours. Therefore, in addition to relying on the public power grid, this kind of facility should also be equipped with an independent power supply."

Gale: "Mhm, and the backup power supply for internal facilities and external facilities should not be the same."

Night Ten: "What power supply can work for two hundred years?!"

The_Escaping_Mole: "Are you stupid? The pre-war era in the background settings of this game is already half a utopia, right? Controllable nuclear fusion was definitely the most basic energy source of this kind of society. One kilogram of helium III can generate 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and one hundred tons is enough to power the world for one year. So if there's a one-ton fusion fuel rod, let alone two hundred years old, I guess it wouldn't even be a problem for it to keep running until the next century."

Gale: "It doesn't have to be nuclear fusion. Even the solid-state hydrogen batteries that often appear in science fiction works can last a long time. Since hydrogen itself is not active, as long as the battery structure is not destroyed, the battery can theoretically be stored for a long time."

Night Ten: "How is it possible?! Even if it is controllable fusion, does the equipment not need to be maintained?"

The_Escaping_Mole: "What else do you want? Do you want the game developer to build one for you to verify it? Does EVE have to build A stargate? Does J.K Rowling have to show you a magic spell?"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Ample Time hurriedly interrupted. "Okay, okay, Night Ten is overthinking it. Let's ignore him and talk about your thoughts."

The_Escaping_Mole continued typing. "Very short answer, I think this should be considered a wild monster spawning point. The official website said that devil silk is a good thing, and the body of Devil Moths, as well as those psychoid leaves that can do stimulants, are obviously very profitable materials. Now, the question is, how to safely harvest this profit? Blindly rushing definitely won't do. Even the level 4 strength type brother couldn't stand a chance, I doubt others would be able to do anything."

There were many replies after this, and the entire post had twenty pages of replies, but Chu Guang kept reading it until the end.

At first, this group of people decided to try the fire attack. Fire could restrain the mutants of the insect system, but the disadvantage was that the spoils would also be burned together.

Others mentioned letting in the cold air.

But the building itself was durable enough, it may not be so easy to dismantle the greenhouse. In addition, if the facilities inside were still working and there was enough heat generation, it was difficult to say how effective opening a large hole in the window could be.

Finally, after some discussion, a group of people decided to lure Devil Moths out of the emergency exit, and then kill them one by one outside.

When the number of Devil Moths in the lair was reduced, they would rush in, plunder quickly, and then retreat.

As for Brother Mosquito...

He chose not to work with others. He left a sentence: "I am best at this", then went offline from the official website early and went into the game.

Chu Guang didn't know what he planned to do, but he didn't interfere with the players' gameplay. Now the active matter reserve in the outpost was still sufficient, he allowed them to die a little bit.

Not only could the devil silk be used as armor, but it could also be used as a special product to trade with other survivors' strongholds. So it was a very popular item. 

In particular, the analysis of this group of players mentioned that this greenhouse was very likely to have a controllable fusion battery that could be recycled.

If this was the case, then Chu Guang would really make a fortune. 

……

The players had a strong hands-on ability.

After a group of players agreed to team up in the game on the official website, the group of people went online on time at the same time at six in the morning and brought a lot of things with them to surround the greenhouse site.

It was a bad idea to use guns to kill moths. They didn't have a luxurious amount of bullets that would allow them to fire the gun at will. Cold weapons with a large attack surface and lower cost would work better.

The group of people split up, and quickly found the structure diagram of the greenhouse, and some replaceable parts that had not been taken away by other scavengers.

The round tube with the thickness of the thumb was probably some kind of solid fuel cell, which could supply power to independent equipment such as gates and fire-fighting appliances. The round tube with the thickness of the index finger was probably some kind of fuse used in professional equipment. In terms of what material they were made of, it was not clear. 

Not all settings of this game were exactly the same as reality.

The Bull and Horse Squad did not participate in this operation. Instead, it was Old Brother "The_Escaping_Mole", the prestigious doujinshi artist on the forum.

As soon as everyone heard that he was an unemployed artist, they immediately invited him to be the commander of the operation.

Old Brother Mole did not disappoint everyone and quickly formulated a battle plan.

"The entire greenhouse is divided into an above-ground part and an underground part. The above-ground part has only 5 floors and the underground part has 10 floors. According to unreliable analysis, the 9th floor underground is connected to the already paralyzed urban drainage system. I guess that Devil Moths came in from there. Yes, the psychoid leaf seeds were probably brought by them too!"

"The 10th floor underground should be the location of the spare reactor! Devil Moths are likely to have turned it into a brood!"

"According to the description on the design drawing, there is an active closing valve connection between the first-floor greenhouse and the second-floor greenhouse."

"Strategically, we need to close the valve to cut off the connection between the first floor and the other floors, so that the entire first floor will be ours!"

[Construction_site_boy_and_bricks] nodded excitedly. "Good idea! In that way, we can trap them inside and clear them out one floor at a time. We will definitely be able to reach the brood this way! The devil silk and the materials there will definitely belong to us!" 

[Elf_Fugui_Wang] roared excitedly. "We can sell it to the rich lady Teng Teng!"

A certain strength-type player asked. "The problem is, how do we do it?"

[The_Escaping_Mole] knocked on the map and drew a cross at the end of the passage with charcoal.

"Tactically, we need two tanks in front, using concrete waste and wood as a cover, blocking Devil Moths out of the passage; followed by two agile types players to poke spears out through the gaps of the cover! These insects are not smart. They will just swarm over. So if we cooperate well, it should be no problem!"

"Let's do it this way!"

The two strength-type players cooperated with each other with temporary shields made by woodworkers, and set simple barriers along the safe passage leading to the greenhouse ruins.

These obstacles were mainly to facilitate their retreat, so as not to be surrounded by the Devil Moths that rushed up.

When they were approaching the exit of the passage, the two strength type players dropped the sack with concrete fragments on the ground, and used the wood sent in from behind to build temporary fortifications.

The interlaced wooden sticks formed a web, supported by a few main beams, which tightly locked the entire half-meter-wide space. It took a full two hours to complete the fortification.

These moths were as long as arms, and the small ones were half-arm long. There was no need to worry about them coming through the gaps.

"Everyone, get ready, I'm going to lure them out!"  As a strength-type player said, he took out a Molotov cocktail from his waist, lit it outside the web, and threw it toward the open space in the greenhouse.

With a crisp sound, the bottle fell apart.

The flame sprang up instantly and immediately attracted the surrounding Devil Moths that were attached to the wall.

There was no combustible material around, the fire didn't burn for long. It went out soon.

But immediately afterward these mutants discovered the "dazzling" heat sources hidden behind the simple barriers.

Then there were terrifying teeth-clicking sounds.

All the Moths shot toward them like bullets, slamming into the wooden obstacles, causing the thick wooden sticks to squeak repeatedly.

Both parties finally collided with each other on the spot!

"Damn! The strength of these moths is really strong!"

"Hurry up! I can't hold it anymore! Huh!"

"It's moving, it's moving! Hold on!"

The agile-type players that squatted behind did not dare to hesitate and immediately pierced the spears in their hands, retracted, and pierced again, repeating the simple and primitive piston movement.

Although not every piercing attack could hit something, with the rapid attack speed, they were still able to kill a few.

Originally, the Devil Moth’s advantage was not defense. Their soft belly was like paper. As long as the spear hit them, there would be a big wet lump of insect blood and intestines hanging on the spearhead when it was pulled out of their bodies.

"Fuck, when is this going to end!?"

"You guys use a little bit more strength!"

"Fuck you! I'm already doing my best, but this amount is just too much!"

"I feel like I can't hold on any longer! You guys stop attacking them! Come and help me push it.”

However, before this player could even finish his words, the wooden fortifications were swept away by the tide of insects like a broken dam.

Even if the players of strength type tried their best, they still couldn't stop the swarm.

The wooden obstacles were chewed into pieces. And soon, it was the players' bones and flesh.

Before the four players hadn't a chance to turn around, their connections with the clones were instantly disconnected, and they went back to the official website to wait for the spawning CD.

Since there was no chance to retreat, the obstacles they left along the way were completely useless.

Short screams and deafening wings buzzing noises echoed in the passage.

Several players guarding the entrance of the passage exchanged their gazes with each other.

"Seriously? Did they all die so quickly?"

"I don't know... but from the screaming, I guess so." 

The first round of the raid ended in failure.

However, these players did not give up. On the contrary, the more difficult it was, the more they wanted to try to overcome it. And soon, they began the second round of action.

This time, the front row became three strength-type players, followed by two newbies of strength type as substitutes, responsible for repairing the cover, and at the same time replacing the exhausted players in the front row.

In the back row were three agile-type players, each carrying 4 spears, and a constitution player carrying goblin technology "Hellfire 0.3" behind them.

This thing was sponsored by Mosquito for free, no money was required. They just needed to return to the official website to write a user experience after using it.

It was said that this version of "Hellfire" was equipped with a tempering valve, and the flame would no longer burn back along the fuel.

However, even Mosquito, who bragged about how fierce this weapon was, couldn't guarantee that there would be no accidents.

It's a trial product after all?

And it's free. What more do you want?

In short, the things produced by Goblin Technology shouldn't be used unless it was absolutely necessary. This was also the teaching of the frontline commander Old Brother Mole to the warriors.

The nine players were finally ready and headed towards the passage together, the crowded formation filled the entire passage.

They were staking it all against these moths this time, and they would not give up unless they cleared all of them.

However, judging from the current situation, the progress did not seem to be optimistic.

These moths seemed to be endless, rushing towards them wave after wave.

In the end, the 9-person team still couldn't hold it anymore and was forced to use Goblin Technology. Before the flamethrower exploded, everyone finally retreated and temporarily closed the entrance to the emergency exit.

This battle was a stalemate from morning to evening. Including the losses from the last time, the players paid the price of 4 deaths and 2 injuries.

As for the Devil Moths on the first floor, there were probably hundreds of dead, or even more.

As for the specific number, it was not clear. After all, in this situation, there was no way to count the results of the battle, and it could only be estimated by feeling.

The battle damage ratio was 4:100+, which could be said to be very good. If it was an average survivor, let alone facing such a monster, they probably didn't even have the courage to walk into the lair.

The only fly in the ointment was that there were no trophies today, and only a large wave of monsters was killed...

Seeing that it was getting late, even if the players were unwilling to leave, they could only wait for tomorrow to do it again.

Regarding the result of "4 deaths and 2 injuries", it was completely expected by Chu Guang who saw the entire raid. So he didn't pay much attention to it.

After winning the battle with the marauders a few days ago, the players gained too much confidence in their strength, so it was not a bad thing to suffer a loss.

Fire attack was a good idea, but the number was a problem, and hunting was different from war. The former needed to worry about keeping the material safe.

Maybe they could try smoking next time?

As a price for growth, a small number of casualties was completely acceptable to Chu Guang. Anyway, as long as the VM was recovered, it wouldn't be a big loss.

Especially when Chu Guang recently discovered that Crunchers could also be used to extract Active Matter.

Although the amount was pitiful, one could only provide 0.1 to 0.2 units, and the discharged waste was even more useless, and it could only be thrown into the septic tank as biological waste, it was better than nothing.

Killing Crunchers was not difficult.

As long as it was not in the narrow terrain such as subways and ruins, even a newbie team could easily kill them with a kiting method.

Up to now, more than 70% of the 100 new players have reached LV1, and the highest level among the old players has even reached LV6, which was about to catch up with him.

Chu Guang's own "administrator" sequence has been developed to 9% so far.  In game terminology, he was currently at LV 9, and it was only a little bit away from LV10.

Perhaps after commanding another battle, or freeloading some experience from players he might have a breakthrough.

It was indeed quite rare for a force leader to be like him, who was not only smart but also brave, so it was okay for him to feel a little bit proud of himself.

Chu Guang, who was patrolling the industrial zone with a sledgehammer on his back, thought so in his heart.

At this moment, Brother Athlete's Foot of the No. 81 Steel Plant suddenly ran towards him.

This player blushed like a stove, making Chu Guang wonder if he was cold or excited to see him.

"Dear administrator! I have an important thing to report to you!"

Chu Guang stopped and looked at him. "What is it?"

Brother Athlete's Foot clenched his fists excitedly and took a deep breath.

"Your customized armor!"

"Has been completed!"