Once the protective suit was on, Lan Jin slipped the Violetbane Ring over the sleeve of the suit.
Many other power users did the same, fixing their personal spirit tools on the outside of the suit.
If a weapon could not be worn close to the body, the base provided mounts. For example, Lao Gao's Ashen Blaze could hang from a clip so he could grab it quickly.
When all gear was secured, the team moved out.
…
On deck, the black mass of insects still circled the ship. The assigned team immediately began to clear and disinfect the swarm with saltwater. When they looked toward the nearby ship's deck, good grief, there were no more winged people standing upright. They had all taken to the air and were slowly drifting toward them.
Their eyes glowed a strange red, just as described earlier. At closer range, their faces also wore eerie smiles. Anyone would feel their skin crawl. Worse, it was not only wings. Several long insect legs had sprouted to match their grotesque bodies. Seeing people appear on the deck, those front limbs rubbed together like flies scenting food.
Disgust rose in Lan Jin's throat. The creatures moved slowly and were not yet close, but disgust was reason enough.
Without hesitation, she sent a bolt of lightning at the nearest hand-rubbing bug.
The bug froze in midair for a few seconds, black smoke curling off it, then fell into the water.
No one had expected that. Not the people on deck, not the drifting monsters.
As they continued to float toward the ship, Lan Jin dropped several more bolts. The half human half insect bodies smoked and toppled, one after another, into the water.
Shen Zhiyan stared, stunned. "This… this… we have not even started, and it is over already."
Not quite. One oversized insect had fully separated from its host. It crouched on the bloody deck of that ship, waving its limbs as if it sensed people below and wanted to punch through the planks.
Before it could smash the deck, the fall of the other bugs clearly drew its attention. As they splashed down, the big one turned its head toward Lan Jin's ship.
A heartbeat later, the large insect slipped off the deck and appeared in midair. In a blink, it was far too close.
The speed made everyone on deck snatch up weapons and attack without hesitation.
Lan Jin fired again. The bolt hit before the creature could move. It crashed into the water.
With a single heavy splash, the big insects were all gone. The small ones circling the hull flew like headless flies now that they had lost their leader. They slammed about at random, and the saltwater sprays knocked them down onto the deck in heaps.
There were too many to kill at once. Some regained their wits and fled. They all fled in the same direction, toward the J City base.
Now Lao Shi had even less reason to delay.
"Captain Zhang, I…"
"Go. Clean the deck, and then the nearby ships will head for the J City base together."
…
They were already on a rest rotation. After the deck fight, Lan Jin could not stand to linger. Besides, no one was going to let her do the mopping and hosing.
"Brother Zhang, if there is nothing else, I will go rest first," Lan Jin said.
"Go. We will pause the rotation for now. If anything happens, I will call you up immediately. Our next stop is the J City base. It should take about a day and a night. Rest well until then. After decontaminating your protective suits, leave them outside before you go back to your rooms."
Captain Zhang was not worried that the power users would pocket the suits. They were for inconvenient moments like this. He worried that, after close contact with insects, they might bring the virus into the rest area if they wore the suits inside.
"Got it."
…
One by one, they disinfected, removed the suits, and disinfected again before anyone was allowed back to the cabins.
The clearing work proceeded person by person. Once done, most headed to their own rooms. Lan Jin had arranged in advance for her team to come to her room.
The goal was to top up their strength.
Once Ling Jiang and the others arrived, Lan Jin flashed and pulled them into the space.
Inside, Lao Gao froze for a second and then asked, "Sister Lan, you are not worried they might install cameras in the rest area?"
Lan Jin said, "I checked. I also used a detector. If they can beat the detector and still watch us, then they earned it."
"Fair enough."
Lao Gao headed straight to the ice nook, filled his cup with a pile of ice, then poured in spirit spring water. After draining it, he sighed, "That suit breathes, but layered like that in brutal heat, I thought I would suffocate. When we reach the J City base, do we have to keep dressing like this?"
"We should," Ling Jiang said carefully. "Those insects are too dangerous. We did not witness the full mutation process, but proper protection is never wrong."
However…
Lao Gao guessed, "What do you think the J City base looks like now? Lao Shi was really tense."
"Of course he is," Lan Jin said. "With the J City base location, once the ice melted they were under water. The water must have dropped by now, but early on it would have been bad. If those things attacked the base, and even a power squad leader ended up like that… "
Total annihilation was not certain. Most bases had emergency defense measures. But heavy casualties were hard to avoid.
From what they knew, Lao Shi's standing in the J City base was not low. He was not at Captain Zhang's level in H City, but like Brother Li he could carry real responsibility. This training took many capable people away, and he led the team. Even if he was not at fault, he could not help but worry.