CHAPTER 280: CHAPTER 144: LOCUSTS_3

Shale initially didn’t think much of it, but he was startled by Li Xiu and immediately retreated in a flash, even further back than Li Xiu.

If Li Xiu, who was so formidable, was this scared, how could he dare to take the risk?

After the Demon Spirit Egg cracked open, none of the previous volatile liquids flowed out; instead, a small bluish metallic head emerged from inside.

"Is such a small demon spirit really worth this much fear?" Shale looked at the demon spirit crawling out of the egg, filled with doubt in his heart.

The demon spirit was not even as big as a palm, made entirely of bluish metallic components, resembling a blue mechanical locust.

Not only had Shale seen locusts before, but he also deeply loathed them.

When he was a child, his hometown suffered a locust plague. Locusts that filled the sky flew over the rice fields, leaving the once verdant fields gnawed to nothing.

Wherever the locusts passed, not even tree bark was left, as anything edible would be devoured.

If it hadn’t been for that locust plague, his family wouldn’t have starved to death.

So, it could be said that Shale hated locusts the most, and seeing the demon spirit in the form of a locust, his anger surged instantly.

Moreover, this little demon spirit without even a Light Pattern didn’t seem particularly strong to him, so he directly activated his Overlord Gloves. The Tyrant Rune glowed as he punched the locust demon spirit on the ground.

Bang!

Shale’s punch landed on the locust demon spirit, but the demon spirit tilted its head, causing Shale’s body to stagger back repeatedly, taking seven or eight steps before he could steady himself, his face full of shock.

Li Xiu was about to step in to rescue Shale, but saw the locust demon spirit had no interest in him. It flapped its wings and half-hopped, half-flew onto a piece of the crystal box fragments nearby, and started nibbling on it with its bizarre mouth.

Li Xiu and Shale exchanged bewildered glances; this mechanical locust-like demon spirit wasn’t attacking them but was instead nibbling on the crystal fragments—how peculiar.

The locust demon spirit was only palm-sized, yet its appetite was incredibly voracious. In no time, it had devoured an entire fragment of a crystal box.

Without any intention of stopping, it leaped onto another fragment and started munching away.

Li Xiu and Shale both felt their scalps tingle. Those crystal boxes were harder than steel.

Even a Jedi Knight wearing a gentleman’s hat could only barely leave a scratch on them using the Blood Light Slash.

Yet the locust demon spirit devoured the crystal as if it were sugar, which was terrifying in itself.

Li Xiu gave Shale a look, and the two of them quietly backed away, retreating to where the Longevity Lamp was before stopping.

"That locust-like demon spirit is a bit unusual. I’m not entirely sure I can kill it. I’ll give it a try in a while; you stay by the Longevity Lamp. As soon as I shout, extinguish it immediately," Li Xiu said to Shale.

"No problem," Shale nodded in agreement.

Li Xiu took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, and decided to have Demigod Shana fire a shot from a distance to test the locust demon spirit’s strength.

Bang!

A bullet composed of blue light hit the locust demon spirit, but the bullet shattered like fireworks.

However, the locust demon spirit was unscathed, merely pausing its eating to glance at Demigod Shana.

Li Xiu was surprised; the locust demon spirit didn’t even have a Light Pattern and seemed not even to be a Flowing Color Demon Spirit, yet it could withstand Demigod Shana’s bullet—this was too bizarre.

After glancing at Demigod Shana, the locust demon spirit lowered its head and continued to munch on the crystal, showing no intention of fighting Demigod Shana.

Li Xiu’s expression turned even more peculiar. This demon spirit seemed strange in every aspect. Any other demon spirit, even if not attacked, would instinctively attack upon seeing humans or human-controlled demon spirits.

"What kind of demon spirit is this anyway?" Li Xiu pondered with a frown.

Li Xiu couldn’t be certain if the thing dropped by the airdrop pod was an aircraft.

If it was indeed an aircraft, was it controlled by demon spirits or by humans?

Earlier, on that wrecked ship, the eyes Li Xiu had seen resembled human eyes.

If there were humans creating these things within the Land of Trial, why would they drop such things into this oasis?

If the demon spirits performed the airdrop, what was their goal?

Li Xiu felt that this oasis probably held more significance. Whether the locust demon spirit was sent by humans or demon spirits, they must have a purpose beyond letting it feast here.

What could possibly be here? Aside from the oasis’ vegetation, there were only those dilapidated wooden huts, which the locust demon spirit clearly wasn’t interested in.

The locust demon spirit’s eating speed was incredibly fast, devouring all the crystal box fragments in no time.

The fragments of a single crystal box combined were nearly the size of its body, yet after consuming seventeen fragments, its size hadn’t changed at all—how it managed to eat them was unknown.

While Li Xiu was pondering, the locust demon spirit suddenly fluttered its wings and flew towards the oasis’ only water pool.

The water pool was only a few square meters in size, surrounded by stones, with a stone staircase on one side that descended three to four meters to reach a pool of water, too deep to see its bottom.

From the surface, the pool had no ripples, suggesting it wasn’t formed by an underground river passing through, and was likely connected to an underground water table.

Li Xiu quickly ran over, looked down from above the pool, and saw the locust demon spirit had already leaped to the edge of the pool.

Li Xiu thought it might be drinking water and was still pondering whether demon spirits needed to drink water when the locust demon spirit unexpectedly plunged into the pool and instantly vanished without a trace.