vrcanaries Chapter 439 Red River No-Fly Zone
Chapter 439 Red River No-Fly Zone
"Zhizhi..." Sensing the change in the aura of the surrounding insects, Lei Xiu took a step forward, but was stopped by Lezhi's outstretched hand.
"No need for you, I'll do it."
His tone was stiff and devoid of emotion.
Lezhi got angry.
Seeing this, Lei Xiu immediately retreated without hesitation for even a second.
The jelly frog retreated, leaving Lezhi alone to confront all the surrounding insects.
Most of these insects cannot communicate. Lezhi can only vaguely sense their emotions, whether they are malicious or not, but that is enough.
In addition to using language, demonstrating directly to them is far more effective.
The forest frog was probably the leader of this group of insects. It launched the first attack, its powerful muscles shooting out instantly. The attack was already upon them the moment the sound of air being cut was heard.
The originally confident strike failed to land, and the tendon suddenly stopped when it was still a finger's width away from Lezhi. The frog controlling it paused for a moment, and then fell to the ground silently, the tendon unable to retract, collapsing to the ground along with it.
Having learned how to intimidate the Zerg in the last battle, this was Lezhi's second time using it. This time, Lezhi tried to precisely control the attack range and target, and the effect was even better than he had imagined.
The frog was the chicken he chose to make an example of. If the monkeys behaved, he could proceed to the next step; if they disobeyed, he would kill another one.
Of course, this killing wasn't a real killing. Lezhi had summoned these insects for a serious matter, not to stockpile food. The forest frogs were just stunned by his shock.
He understood this in his heart, but the insects didn't. What they saw was that the forest frog had just launched its attack when it suddenly collapsed.
There was no warning.
The unknown is the most terrifying thing, and this applies to any race.
The insects began to get restless. The bolder ones started to weigh whether they should make a move, while the less timid ones began to plan their escape routes. Ultimately, everyone was just trying to survive.
The first rule for survival is to stay away from sources of danger.
Lezhi, who inexplicably became a source of danger, bastards, why don't you insects play by the rules? You only think about fighting or running away, have you never thought about submitting? Tsk, not as sensible as those insects in the Misty Swamp.
We haven't taught them enough lessons.
Originally, they planned to let them go, but they found that being gentle with the insects didn't work, so they had to resort to a high-pressure approach.
A chilling aura spread instantly, engulfing the restless swarm of insects with a tremor from the depths of their souls, causing their bodies to freeze instantly.
The vast rainforest fell silent for a moment, with only the occasional rustling of the night wind through the treetops as a reminder that time had not stood still.
Jelly Frog, who had hidden behind Lezhi beforehand, was still affected by the aura emanating from Lezhi. Because it had experienced this before and had not faced the threat directly, it recovered the fastest.
Having confirmed that the leaf beetles inside the water bubble were doing well, Jelly Frog puffed out its cheeks; it was time for it to step in. These kin, it thought, were a testament to how its master was too lenient; if he had come sooner, there wouldn't have been so much trouble.
Jelly Frog stepped forward and slapped the Forest Frog awake with one paw. After muttering something, it went around waking up the other insects one after another. Once they came to their senses, the insects became much more docile.
Subduing people with force, with profit, or with reason—whichever works, as long as the goal is achieved.
"Alright, now that we've reached an agreement, let's do it as we said before. Line up and come one at a time."
With her usual smile back on her face, Lezhi took out a bunch of second-generation mushroom sub-mother bodies that she had prepared in advance from her space, one for each insect, and with the help of Jelly Frog, she quickly distributed several thousand of them.
"Use the method to ask Jelly Frog. If there are other insects around that want it, tell them to come to me, or you can ask Jelly Frog. I'll know everything."
Although they couldn't communicate directly, they could still understand simple things. After making sure the insects and mushrooms left safely, Lezhi and the others prepared to go back to rest.
"Does Zhizhi want to help these insects?"
"No, it's not helping the bugs, it's helping Jormungandr."
Leaping over the stream, Lezhi shook his head and retorted, "The threat of the shadows to Jormungand is everywhere. Only a portion of them can be discovered by the tree spirits. Most of the time, they hide in various places and develop silently. Since I can... then I should unite all the forces that can be united. After all, the insectoid race is the most numerous race in Jormungand."
“Where we and birds and beasts cannot go, insects can. They also do not want to be invaded by the shadows. It concerns the collective interest and does not conflict with internal disputes.”
"What, you think I did something wrong?"
“Of course not,” Lei Xiu shook his head and replied softly, “It’s just that I didn’t expect Zhizhi to think so much on her own. It’s a bit unexpected.”
From birth, he was told that maintaining the balance of Jormungand was the duty of the tree spirits, and he never thought that he could use, no, unite birds, beasts and some insectoids to achieve his goal.
It is remarkable that Lezhi, which has only been around for a short time, was able to come up with this idea and implement it so boldly.
So, Mother Tree, is that why you treat him differently?
…………
The two's actions the previous night did not alert Snow, and it was also because of his presence that they did not engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Zerg, keeping the commotion to a minimum.
When Snow woke up in the morning, he instinctively checked his surroundings again and found that most of the insects from the night before had disappeared, so he had no reason to suspect anything.
Even when traveling, Lezhi would try his best not to miss a meal unless it was an extremely urgent matter. This was his only insistence, and Lei Xiu and Snow naturally chose to go along with him.
The child just wants to eat, what's wrong with that? He's still growing.
At this point, Snow had something to say, "Lezhi, have you grown taller these past few days?"
"Hmm, really? You can tell?"
“Yes, it’s definitely not an illusion.” With that, Snow stood up and raised his hand to his collarbone. “When we first met, I was walking next to you and you weren’t even this tall. Now, Snow, do you think you’ve grown taller?”
Originally, Lezhi only reached below his collarbone, but now she's almost up to his chin. It's impossible for her to shrink back; Lezhi must have grown taller.
"Really? Hehe, actually, I noticed I seemed to have grown taller the day I left the Valley Clan, but I didn't have time to say anything. I must have grown even more in the last couple of days."
“Well, so…” Snow drawled out his words, exchanged a glance with Lezhi, and then spoke in unison.
"Eating more really does help..." "Eating a lot really does help..."
Breakfast was spent in cheerful conversation, and everyone was in high spirits, so the journey wasn't boring at all.
As the surrounding vegetation began to thin out, signaling their imminent departure from the rainforest, the sound of rushing water gradually became clearer.
When the fiery red river appeared before him like leaping flames, Lezhi was utterly dumbfounded. "This is... a river?"
"Yes, welcome to Redstone Valley. This is the Red River."
…………
"Oh no... it's falling..."
"Be careful, Zhizhi..."
Lei Xiu's sigh almost materialized as he caught Lezhi falling vertically. Whether Lezhi's personality—disbelieving others' opinions and insisting that only by trying is it true—is a good thing or a bad thing was hard to say.
"Now you believe me, right? The Red River cannot be crossed by flying, no matter who comes." Snow squatted to the side, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, neither confirming nor denying.
The Red River has stood for millions of years, and many stubborn tribes have tried to cross it, but Lezhi is not the first, nor will he be the last.
Le Zhi was speechless. The trembling wings behind him could still flap, but as soon as he took off, an invisible pressure would come and force him to land. It wasn't a problem with the wings. Could there really be a no-fly zone?