Chapter 5: Insect Breakout

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While Shen An was halfway on her journey, she suddenly received a message: "There will be thunderstorms and light rain around noon. Feeding attendants are advised to return to their sky huts."

Shen An looked at the message, noting that the tone was not forceful, only suggesting that she should try to return. Even though it was just light rain, she was prepared as she had brought an umbrella.

She then noticed the chat room filled with discussions about the weather alert.

"I heard it's due to solar particles. Even with artificial clouds, thunderstorms and light rain can't be completely controlled. It's a common occurrence."

"Our sun is over five hundred million years older than Earth's sun, so its functions are not as reliable. It's getting old."

Shen An was slightly taken aback. These were people from the New World?

She knew that not only Earthlings but also many people from the New World became feeding attendants. However, this was the first time she realized that the chat between New Worlders and Earthlings wasn't very different. They even seemed quite friendly and approachable.

"You're from the New World? Can we be friends?"

Someone asked next.

Putting down her phone, Shen An found the chat room refreshing too quickly to keep up with. Even if she spent the whole day there, she couldn't read everything. Besides, it was her first day in the New World, and naturally, many people were excited.

Taking a deep breath, Shen An continued to memorize her 140th word and looked at the mountaintop before her. Once she crossed over it, she would be there.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Thunderstorms were not unusual on Earth, but purple lightning was something Shen An had never seen before. It descended from the sky like a straight line, and the thick clouds flickered with purple rings of light, which was quite awe-inspiring for Shen An standing on the mountaintop.

In Zone 112 Feeding Base Center, a group of people stood in front of a massive light screen, watching the lightning strike not far away, their faces not looking good.

This was the thunderstorm energy they had accumulated for nearly a month, and it was meant to be released when they needed it the most. Yet, it had been "intercepted" so easily by a solar particle. For them, the loss was enormous, and their month-long effort had gone to waste.

"Team Leader, the boundary isolation net from Zone 76 to Zone 93 has been affected and is now completely damaged." A worker immediately came to report. The affected area was larger than they had imagined, and the energy of the thunderstorm was greater than they had predicted.

"Dispatch a maintenance team." Standing in the middle was Qin Yan, the leader of Zone 112 Command Center Operations and one of the executive directors of Zone 112. He was in charge of the specific operations of the entire Feeding Base Center in Zone 112.

Vice Leader Huang Qucheng clenched his fists, holding onto the railing in front of him with a helpless and regretful expression. It was a pity, but they were powerless.

Vice Leader Geng Xin looked at the team leader.

"Although the thunderstorm plan failed, we have seen the power of the thunderstorm. With more detailed data, we'll be better prepared for the next time."

The Thunderstorm Plan was a joint effort by the Su family and several other major families to establish a new wind control base in the East Sea region. This would be the 79th wind control base of the entire Wind Domain Alliance worldwide. If successful, their East Sea region would have a complete ecosystem.

With a complete ecosystem, they could autonomously recruit feeding attendants and conduct ecological control, avoiding the costly expense of inviting nearby wind control bases for ecological control. This not only effectively reduced the costs of wind and rain control but also significantly enhanced the region's competitiveness.

Qin Yan nodded in agreement. He understood the situation. The funds for the next project hadn't arrived yet, and convincing the wind controllers to assist them was not an easy task. If it weren't for the fact that the other party owed them a favor, albeit a small one, it would have been extremely difficult to get their help.

Finally, Shen An arrived at her destination. Through practice, she found that the navigation had provided the most effortless and convenient route. She panted for breath while looking at the vast expanse of fluffy white trees ahead. The entire Fluffy White Forest was extensive, stretching from Zone 86 all the way to Zone 87.

However, the leaves that the insects could eat were very selective, especially during their larval stage. They could only eat the newly grown leaves at the tip of the branches, not the undeveloped ones, as their water attributes didn't meet the requirements. The aged leaves were also unsuitable, as their water attributes diminished as the leaves grew older.

At present, the larvae in the first stage of development could only eat Level 1 feed, such as Fluffy White Tree leaves, and Level 1 feed like Jade Melons. However, there were very few of these in Shen An's feeding zone, and they had not matured yet.

A whole tree could only yield a few leaves. Luckily, it was the season of rapid leaf growth, and Shen An saw many newly grown leaves.

Each harvesting required twenty to thirty tender leaves, which wasn't a large quantity, and carrying them wasn't an issue, thanks to the refrigerated preservation function of her backpack.

Shen An climbed up the tree and compared the attributes of the tender leaves one by one using her phone. She picked the ones with the best attributes and started harvesting. After all, these leaves wouldn't last until tomorrow, as new leaves would grow by then.

When she had finally harvested over twenty leaves, Shen An was about to descend when she saw a bright yellow and black insect crawling on her pants. The colors were so vibrant that it was hard not to notice. Moreover, Shen An was quite familiar with this insect – it was the precious water attribute insect, the Silver Moon Leopard Phoenix Butterfly larva!

For a moment, Shen An almost thought that it was her own insect, but she was certain that she had closed the glass box and double-checked before leaving.

So, she concluded that this wasn't her insect. Additionally, this one seemed slightly bigger than her own. It was about the size of her thumb.

Now, this insect was looking at her with its round black "eyes" quite "innocently," or rather, it was "innocently" staring at the tree leaves in her hand. Its two little ears were twitching, giving it a very pitiful appearance.

"Are you hungry?" Shen An unconsciously asked, finding it quite amusing that she was talking to an insect without any consciousness.

However, the next moment, Shen An clearly saw the insect nodding vigorously and using its little feet to climb up her pants.

Huh? Shen An looked at this scene with bewilderment.

"Do you want to eat?" Shen An asked again, and the insect immediately nodded, bending its body and climbing up with great effort.

Shen An was uncertain but still offered a leaf from her hand. The insect immediately extended its two claws to "embrace" the leaf, and then it wolfed it down greedily.

Such speed...

Comparing it with her own insect, Shen An became more convinced that this wasn't her own. Her own insect had a much slower eating pace.

When the insect finished devouring the palm-sized leaf, it "pitifully" lifted its head and "looked" at Shen An.

Shen An hesitated but offered another leaf, and the insect eagerly started eating again.

Shen An consoled herself that maybe her insect simply ate slower, and perhaps its "appetite" was also not small.

"Reminder, Feeder from Zone 86, you haven't eaten breakfast or lunch. Regular meals will keep you energetic," a voice prompt appeared on her phone.

Shen An sighed. She was indeed hungry, but eating both breakfast and lunch together would save her a meal.

She ordered a boxed lunch from her phone and sent her location. After some thoughts, she continued to harvest leaves. When she had gathered another twenty or more leaves, Shen An finally stopped. Regardless, she needed to bring this insect back first and figure out how to deal with it later.

She placed the insect in her backpack and prepared to head back. The boxed lunch had already arrived, and just as mentioned in the chat room, the delivery was prompt and accurate.

The boxed lunch was even more delicious than she had imagined, with fried chicken and meatballs. Shen An even added a poached egg. Though she couldn't rule out the possibility that she was very hungry at the moment, she quickly devoured the boxed lunch. After finishing, she stood up and glanced at her phone.

It was a little past 1 o'clock, and it would take her a little over two hours to return. She could still make it in time for the feeding, leaving her with some extra time to arrange as she pleased.

The journey back for Shen An went quite smoothly, and she was much faster this time. Being young, even after four or five hours of trekking down the mountain, she finally returned to her sky hut, putting down her backpack. She then shared an intimate moment with her bed. Though her legs were swollen, she was still full of energy.

...

"Team Leader, so far, all the feeders have returned to their sky huts, and all the insect data in the area is normal," a worker reported as part of their routine.

"Very good. How's the progress on the isolation net repairs?"

"We've already fixed four areas, and we expect to complete the rest tomorrow morning."

"Excellent." Qin Yan nodded. Though the first day hadn't been entirely smooth, at least they had managed to overcome the challenges without any major issues.

However, at that moment, another worker rushed over.

"Team Leader, there's some trouble—" The worker immediately played a recording in their hands.

"Yes, I saw a Silver Moon Leopard Phoenix Butterfly larva." A girl's voice sounded on the recording, clear and crisp like a lake of water.

Qin Yan looked at the worker, signaling them to continue playing the recording.

"Did you find it? Are you Feeder 86? Where did you find a Silver Moon Leopard Phoenix Butterfly larva? Are you sure it's not your own?" 

"No, right now I have two here, see—"

Through the other person's phone screen, the large screen in the control room quickly projected the image of a larva crawling on the control table. Surprisingly, there was also another one lying inside the glass feeding box.

Then, the girl's voice detailed the location where she found the larva. Everyone was taken aback because they could all tell that the girl wasn't making things up. Meanwhile, the surveillance footage from the girl's feeding zone was quickly retrieved, and the data for the two larvae was also pulled up. The larva on the control table was indeed from Zone 87.

"Team Leader, take a look—" Another worker had already quickly traced the "escaped" larva's route. As it turned out, it had escaped from Zone 87's sky hut early in the morning and had crawled into Zone 86 due to the damaged isolation net.

The control room fell silent. Dealing with such matters would have been a simple task if it involved any other zone, but since it involved Zone 87, it became tricky.

This was because Qin Yan had received orders to avoid any interactions with the people from Zone 87.

"Team Leader, what should we do next?" The worker had hung up the call with Shen An, citing the need to verify the larva's identity, but they needed to come up with a response.

Qin Yan remained silent for a moment.

"Call Old Huang and Old Geng over." Qin Yan said. When there was a problem, he couldn't shoulder all the responsibility alone, especially since this matter involved a wide range of issues. Moreover, they still needed to deal with those families due to the failure of the thunderstorm experiment.

Huang Qucheng, who had just sat down, immediately stood up in shock. They had lost an insect? But he quickly regained his composure—yes, from their perspective, these insects were precious, but in the eyes of the younger generations of Zone 87's families, they might not be such a big deal.

"Let's discuss together, what should we do next?"

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