Chapter 209: I will intervene
At the break of dawn, farmer Bolu Ti carried a basket on his back and a sickle in his hand as he headed to the fields.
Today, he decided to harvest the wheat early. Two rtives wereing over at noon, and he wouldn’t have time to spare then, having to entertain them with all sorts of trivial matters. He needed to finish his morning work first.
During wartime, the price of wheat was very low. Farmers could only sell their grain to the empire, or else they would be charged with treason.
Two days ago, a Sand Lizard had rushed into the field and eaten a lot of wheat.
The officer with the Sand Lizard even said that the wheat in the field had lured the lizard in, and he suspected that illegal fertilizer had been used. In the end, Bolu Ti had topensate the soldier with a bag of wheat.
But there was nothing he could do about it. As a farmer, what could he do? He could only hope that the heavens would help, allowing the wheat to grow more and heavier to cope with various disasters.
Bolu Ti walked all the way to the field, only to find it empty.
Where was the wheat? Where was the wheat?
The golden wheat that should have been there had vanished, not even leaving behind the stalks.He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.
The scene before him remained unchanged.
Bolu Ti thought to himself, it must be an illusion. Yes, he must have taken the wrong path; this wasn’t his field.
But when he looked around, the surrounding fields were also empty.
At this point, the farmer still thought he had taken the wrong path, that he had foolishly walked to another field.
But as he looked around, everywhere he saw, all the wheat fields had been swept clean.
The newborn sun shone on the ground, illuminating the fields clearly, with only manyrge locusts lying on the ground, still gnawing on the remnants of the wheat.
Bolu Ti walked a few steps in a daze, his body trembling uncontrobly.
Damn it, damn it!
The emperor wouldn’t let them eat their fill, and now even the heavens were bullying them.
He couldn’t live like this, he couldn’t live like this!
Bolu Ti blew his nose hard, swung his sickle, and shed at the locusts in the field.
"If I can’t eat, neither can you! Starve to death, all of you!"
But the locusts paid no attention to his anger.
They easily dodged the human’s attack, not even pausing their chewing.
Then the locusts pped their wings and flew to the next field and orchard.
***
A caravan transporting grain was traveling on the main road.
Mules and horses pulled carts loaded with sacks of wheat and pumpkins. These two foods were the empire’s most important military rations, easy to transport and store, and had high yields.
The tax officer and the construction officer led the team, having just collected grain from a vige. This batch of grain would be transported to the quartermaster in Crystal City, then redistributed by the militia of the logistics group to the front lines, ensuring that the soldiers and Sand Lizards at the front had enough food every day.
The sun had just risen, but suddenly the sky darkened.
Arge cloud appeared in the sky, getting lower and lower until it fell.
The horseman, familiar with the wild, shouted, "Locusts, it’s locusts. These are really big."
The empire had encountered locusts before and had experienced several locust gues, but under the intervention of the Apostles, these insects were quickly exterminated.
There were still some in the fields, but they were no longer a threat.
But today, for some reason, the locust swarm reappeared, aggressively attacking the empire’s rations.
The tax officer shouted, "Soldiers, soldiers, drive away the locusts!"
The soldiers hurriedly waved their shields and spears, but these were too clumsy against the locusts. The insects ignored them, tearing open the sacks and causing the wheat to spill out like sand. The locusts swarmed over, like wolves sucking blood.
"Attacking the empire’s supplies, they deserve to die!"
The construction officer, furious, drew his short sword and shed at a locust’s back. "Kill them for me!"
But after the sword struck, the locust, oozing slime, didn’t die. Instead, it slowly turned its head, itspound eyes staring nkly at the construction officer.
The scene made the construction officer’s heart race.
He angrily chopped therge insect into two, finally venting his anger.
Damn beast, daring to intimidate an imperial officer!
At this moment, the construction officer felt something was wrong.
He saw many locusts stop eating, each turning their strange heads, theirpound eyes staring straight at him.
The construction officer couldn’t help but take a step back.
The locusts suddenly swarmed over him, engulfing him in a sea of insects... In no time, only a sword and a limp chainmail remained on the ground.
After devouring the construction officer, the insects returned to the sacks, continuing to chew on the wheat and pumpkins.
The soldiers, terrified, ran far away, fearing the locusts’ deadly attack. Fortunately, these insects seemed to prefer grain and had little interest in hunting humans for now. Devouring the construction officer seemed more like a collective act of revenge.
The tax officer, pale with fear, shouted, "Man-eating monsters, they’re monsters, it’s an enemy attack, an enemy attack!"
"We must report to the empire!"
He frantically waved his whip and rushed towards Crystal City.
Seeing this, the soldiers also fled towards the city.
***
The same scenes yed out across the empire.
In the viges’ fields, the rampant locusts feasted voraciously.
In the towns, food stores were attacked and looted by the swarms.
Caravans on the roads frequently encountered locusts—they had a clear target, attacking grain convoys.
Even the fields and orchards around Crystal City saw the presence of locusts. Fortunately, the totems of the gods guarded the city walls, burning any locusts that approached into ashes.
But in the fields outside the city, people desperately used torches and chickens and ducks to drive them away, spraying poison, but these old methods had little effect.
In the pce of Crystal City, the ministers were in a state of panic.
"The number of locusts is increasing, severely damaging our grain reserves and logistics. If this continues, the front lines will run out of food, putting the entire front at risk."
"The Scout Group’s investigation shows that theye from Wuzi Wang’s kingdom, seemingly a species from there. The Wuzi people don’t eat grain, so the locusts don’t formrge swarms and mostly remain dormant. But the empire’s rich resources have attracted these monsters..."
"The rear logistics line is also being attacked by spider-like insect monsters, putting us in a dire situation."
"The urgent task is to continue collecting grain, drawing from the empire’s reserves to fill the gaps at the front as quickly as possible!"
"The locust problem must be solved, or it will only fuel these insects!"
"The quickest solution is to ask the Apostles to intervene... But the Apostles are all on the front lines participating in the divine war..."
"What should we do..."
The ministers couldn’t help but look towards the stone steps.
On the throne sat the empire’s highest authority, the chief Apostle of God Bo, Emperor Sote.
At this moment, Emperor Sote’s face was expressionless. He rested his chin on one hand, coldly overlooking the ministers below, as if watching a boring farce.
"I will intervene."
The emperor spoke slowly.
The ministers immediately felt relieved.
In God Bo’s realm, as long as an Apostle intervened, it meant the will of the gods had descended. Whether it was a natural disaster or a man-made one, it would be suppressed and eliminated.
Just then, a rustling sound echoed in the pce.
The ministers looked around.
Arge locust flew to an ornamental tree beside the throne, opened its mouth, and began gnawing at the trunk.
The crunching sound was particrly clear in the empty pce.
The ministers’ faces changed slightly, and they all lowered their heads, pretending not to see.
The chewing sound abruptly stopped.
They sneaked a nce and found that the locust had turned into ck powder on the ground.
The emperor of the empire stood up from the throne and disappeared.
Cracks appeared on the ground around the throne, with wisps of ck smoke rising from the gaps.
The people in the pce all smiled.
The insects had angered the emperor. Their doom was sealed!<hr>