Chapter 286: Ants

Chapter 286: Ants

#Over 500 Dead in H Country Due to Giant Ant-like Magical Beasts Emerging in a City#

#Massive Infestations of Ant-like Magical Beasts Appear in Multiple Countries#

#Swarm of Flying Ants Causes Casualties in Lingyun Mountain Scenic Area of City B#

#Capital of Country E Suffers Widespread Ground Collapses, Revealing an Ant Colony Below#

One headline after another sent shivers down people's spines and left them feeling uneasy.

Wen Ying had returned from the Realm of Demons the previous night. Since he had classes the next day, he only played a mobile game for a while before going to bed. The following morning, he woke up a bit late, skipped breakfast, and went straight to class. As soon as he entered, he sensed an unusual tense atmosphere within the room.

Everyone's expressions were serious, as if they were discussing something significant.

Wen Ying sat down at his desk, wondering why Lu Qingyuan and the others didn't eagerly ask him about how he defeated Wu Shaluo. It wasn't because of his narcissism, but defeating an adult Scarlet Crow as the Mirror Demon was a groundbreaking event that challenged textbook knowledge, even if it was just an adolescent one.

"What are you all talking about?" Wen Ying noticed that they hadn't even noticed his arrival, so he had to approach them himself.

Lu Qingyuan turned his head. "Hey, Wen Ying, how come you're here?"

"Were you guys engrossed in something just now?" Wen Ying asked with confusion. "Is there an exam coming up or has the Extreme Party caused another uproar?"

At the mention of this, Lu Qingyuan's expression turned solemn and somewhat peculiar. "You don't know about it?"

Wen Ying grew even more puzzled.

Lu Qingyuan continued, "Did you not check your phone today?"

"I haven't, indeed," Wen Ying said, taking out his phone. As he opened it, a news notification at the top of the screen caught his attention. His puzzled expression froze as he immediately tapped on the notification.

Scanning through the news content at a glance, Wen Ying then rushed to gather information from various popular social media platforms.

The more he read, the more astonished Wen Ying became. "When did this happen? Everything was fine when I returned to the Realm of Magic last time..."

The student sitting in front overheard and casually commented, "These news articles started popping up late last night. Who knows if they were previously concealed or if things were genuinely calm."

Another person mumbled, "It's impossible for so many different kinds of ant-like magical creatures to appear overnight. They must have been appearing gradually beforehand, probably suppressed by someone with ulterior motives."

"I've long been displeased with those suppressing negative news. Suppression never solves the problem; now look where it's gotten us. The situation is out of hand, and we should have rallied our forces earlier to deal with it when there were fewer of them."

Wen Ying gazed at the image of ants on his phone and said thoughtfully, "I've never seen a magical beast quite like this before."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Lu Qingyuan hesitantly suggested, "Perhaps it's because you haven't spent much time in the Demon Realm?"

Others agreed with this perspective.

Though Wen Ying felt the same, he remarked, "Don't these ants seem somewhat familiar to you?"

"No, not really."

"Are they familiar?"

They exchanged glances, all equally perplexed.

Wen Ying continued, "Could they be the Fallen Rock creatures that appeared in Agitated Paradise?"

At Wen Ying's remark, everyone looked at those strangely shaped ants with hearts pounding in fear.

Although they appeared in different forms, they all exuded a similar conflicting aura. It wasn't too obvious with ordinary ant soldiers, but the leaders of the group resembled it greatly. The sensation of holiness descending into malevolence was all too familiar to them.

Moreover, some of the leading ants had skin that resembled stone.

"One of these is a Fallen Stone Monster?" The person in front of the desk spoke in shock, "Does this world have so much negative energy and divine stones?"

"How is it possible? The Church of Archangels is in charge of divine stones, what's going on with them?"

What's going on? Wen Ying recalled the last time he had asked Yun Lao to destroy the vessel Wu Mixiu had prepared for his descent. After that, the church didn't retaliate at all. They were quiet and obedient as if nothing had happened.

Sure enough, they were up to something big. Wen Ying swiped through the screen, where someone had risked their life to take pictures of the ants. Most of them depicted a large number of ants.

Some impatient classmates immediately took to the internet to post comments. With the whole world paying attention to this matter, a few informative comments quickly rose to the top.

Wen Ying saw them but said nothing.

The bell signaling the start of class rang.

"Tsk."

"Are we really not having class today? Something huge just happened."

"I want to see more. What if some major news gets deleted in seconds?"

Noticing the students' sighs and dejection, the teachers understood the reason but said, "I haven't received any notice about canceling classes."

The sighs grew louder.

Someone raised their hand. "Teacher, could those ants truly be the Falling Rock monsters? Can they reproduce?"

Compared to the possibility that all those ants were transformed from falling rocks, someone thought of reproduction. Ants were notorious for their fertility.

But could the Falling Rock monsters reproduce like living creatures?

"What Falling Rock monsters?" The teacher looked puzzled. "Who told you that those magic beasts are Falling Rock monsters?"

"Not so?" The person who had raised their hand repeated Wen Ying's explanation.

The teacher, who had not visited the Euphoria Park, didn't understand the students' talk about "familiarity." She advised, "Don't jump to conclusions about such matters. It's not that easy for a Divine Stone to transform into a Fallen Stone Monster."

Everyone in class was distracted, with some daring ones secretly checking their phones, only to be caught by the teacher, leaving them with long faces.

Wen Ying raised his hand directly, asking to go to the restroom. The teacher approved, and the others' eyes lit up, but they were coldly denied. The teacher knew exactly what these kids were thinking, none of them genuinely needed to use the restroom.

When Wen Ying first mentioned it, the teacher hadn't reacted in time, allowing him to go. But even if she had, she probably would have silently consented anyway, considering he was a demon.

Again in the familiar restroom, Wen Ying's lips twitched as he stepped inside. He really had a connection with restrooms.

Skillfully, he created a barrier in a cubicle with a door to prevent sound leakage. Originally, he intended to call the Devil King, but after some thought, he decided on Ye Wang.

Seeing Wen Ying's call, Ye Wang had a good idea why he was calling and said straightforwardly, "Lord Wen Ying, we captured a few of those ants for research and found that they aren't magical beasts. Their life aura is peculiar, existing somewhere between inanimate and animate objects."

"That's right," Wen Ying responded, then asked, "You mentioned that the monsters formed from Fallen Stones can reproduce, correct?"

Ye Wang: "Uh...?"

He recalled that Fallen Stone Monsters were created when Divine Stones absorbed a large amount of negative energy. As for their reproductive capabilities...

Can a stone reproduce? Ye Wang sank into deep thought.

"It's possible... right?" Ants were numerous, and divine stones weren't as common as cabbage. Rather than assuming every one was a Fallen Stone Monster, he preferred to believe in the possibility of their reproduction.

Wen Ying shared the same opinion.

The Demon King must have already received the news. If there was a mission, he would proactively call. The lack of communication indicated they were holding their ground for now.

Opening the cluttered Weibo again, Wen Ying noticed that the latest trending topic was about whether ants were Fallen Stone Monsters.

More and more people were witnessing ants across different regions, and the affected areas were expanding. Disaster Management, Exorcist Association, and the Church of the Archangel had all issued announcements that they had dispatched personnel to deal with the ants.

Compared to the comment sections of the other two major organizations, the Church's section was filled with doubts about the ants being Fallen Stone Monsters. Many people presented evidence of their suspicions. Wen Ying strongly suspected that quite a number of those providing evidence were students from Excitement Paradise.

Some individuals presented comparative evidence with absolute conviction. Those who didn't understand found it persuasive and joined in, resulting in an increasing number of people questioning the Church's stance.

Fallen Stone Monsters hadn't appeared for years. Apart from the incident at Excitement Paradise, the last known occurrence was at least five hundred years ago. The Church's higher-ups had no intention of hiding it, but it was certainly better if the discovery was delayed.

The Pope grumbled privately.

Not all factions within the Church were privy to this scheme; only a select few in the upper echelons were aware. The church members who found themselves under public scrutiny felt both innocent and wronged.

Each national branch of the Church had anticipated being able to release their lengthy rebuttals after seeking guidance from headquarters, but to their surprise, they learned that those ants were indeed the Fallen Stone Monsters!