King
Chapter 205 - 205 126 Natural Disasters and Man-made Calamities_3

205: Chapter 126, Natural Disasters and Man-made Calamities_3 205: Chapter 126, Natural Disasters and Man-made Calamities_3 The effect was, of course, not so good.

There isn’t a single genius who’s a fool.

Why would they experiment on others with their incomplete inheritance?

If anyone is foolish enough to do it, they will deserve to die.

At the very least, if they get duped now and die, it’s only them.

But if they get fucked over in the future, their whole family will suffer.

Meeting old friends would usually be a cause for celebration.

But with the locust plague about to erupt, no one had the heart to be festive.

To conserve energy, the welcome banquet was cancelled.

Every event was kept simple, even old friends who were recognized didn’t come over for a reunion at this time.

This was undoubtedly a wise decision.

After a day’s worth of hustle and bustle, everyone was on the verge of collapsing.

This was true for Hudson and even more so for the others.

The strong-willed could endure pain that ordinary folks couldn’t, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t get tired.

Reaching the county city did not mean the mission was complete.

The next day, they had to go out to intercept the locust army to minimize losses, which inevitably meant venturing deeper into the neighboring province.

The Governor’s Mansion was handling all the negotiations for this; Hudson didn’t need to worry about it.

All he had to do was prepare for battle and make sure he wasn’t a burden if they did encounter the locust army.

As for the battle, that was a bear’s business.

Most of Hudson’s combat abilities lay in his bow and arrows.

Who has ever seen anyone use a bow and arrow to shoot down locusts?

There might not have been a banquet, but there still had to be a meeting.

As the main combat force, Hudson was honored to attend.

…

“There’s been a change of plans.

We just received a magical message from the capital.

There’s a possibility that the locust plague is being controlled by someone.

If we encounter the Insect King, we should try to capture it alive if possible.

Reinforcements are on their way, but don’t get your hopes up.

Our task is to find the Insect King within the locust army.

Luck is more important than having a few more powerful fighters.”

The truth was, the locust army didn’t pose much of a threat to the people present.

In previous locust plagues, it was rare to hear of a strongman falling.

While talking, Hudson could clearly feel the gazes of everyone present converging on him.

His intuition told him these guys were placing the heavy responsibility of finding the Insect King on him, the so-called “Son of Fortune”.

At that moment, Hudson suddenly understood why he was getting so much attention.

Turns out that apart from his fighting abilities, people were also banking on his luck.

The aftermath of his character setup exploded.

Legendary things had happened too many times to him.

Even though most of the time it was the result of artistic license, making the story legendary, the coincidences were too many for people not to believe.

During normal times, this “lucky” character setup was the most intimidating.

Unless absolutely necessary, nobody wanted to go up against the “Son of Fortune”.

History had taught them that directly confronting the Son of Fortune usually didn’t end well.

Enjoying the benefits that came with his “character setup”, he must also bear the corresponding recoil.

Fortunately, this time it was just about finding the Insect King, which was safe enough.

Locusts, those little buggers.

Even if they advanced into magical beasts, they were still the weakest among them all.

If it were not for the Insect King’s fast flying speed, and its ability to command the locust army, no one would care about its paltry combat abilities.

“Your Excellency Governor, if the locust plague is controlled by someone, does the Insect King also come under human control?

If the Insect King is controlled by someone and it’s willing to hide, it can completely evade our notice.

It could act as an ordinary locust and enter the Southeastern Province from any corner.

It is difficult for a common mage to distinguish between the Insect King and locusts, let alone ordinary people.

This will undoubtedly increase the difficulty of finding the Insect King.”

Hudson resolutely used the tactic of passing the buck.

Since the capital said the locust plague could be controlled by humans, then if they can’t find the Insect King, there’s a good explanation.

“Rest assured, Baron Hudson.

The Insect King isn’t that easy to control.

Even magical beasts have their own dignity.

Even if you force them to sign a master-servant contract, they will not sincerely cooperate.

The Insect King might even voluntarily reveal the identity of the controller.

Next, we just need to be vigilant.

I believe the great Lord of the Dawn will bless his believers and will definitely not let the locust plague rampage on!”

The Earl Piers replied formally.

All of these are simply clever excuses, even the scapegoat has been chosen.

If they don’t capture the Insect King, it will be the Lord of the Dawn who didn’t bless, not him, the Governor, who didn’t try hard enough.

…

In Fengyun Province, the devastating locust plague sweeps across the land, immature wheat, soybeans…

everything ends up in these demons’ bellies.

But these are still not enough.

The never-satiable locust army, not only devoured crops, but also wild grass and leaves in the fields, nothing escaped their calamity.

The locusts devoured everything they could, leaving the whole world in a death-like silence in the wake of their march.

Only after the locust army passed, did the Noble Lords organize the Serfs to kill the remaining locusts.

The sparse locust hunting force, their faces filled with despair under their pale complexions.

“Famine is here!”

Any experienced old farmer knows, in such a year of disaster, it’s the greatest luck to not starve to death.

Having enough to eat is merely a dream.

As expected, the Noble Lords collectively reduced food rationing.

Not only were the Serfs’ portions reduced, but many minor Nobles had to reluctantly lower their own portions as well.

Even if they have soup with a hint of meat, nonetheless nobody expresses any joy as they look at their food.

Locusts devoured everything, there was not enough fodder on the land, forcing the Noble Lords to slaughter their livestock reluctantly.

A good meal now simply means a longer starvation period later.

Looking at the food you know, for now, rye has been removed from the staple diet, and everyone is eating miscellaneous grains that were harvested early and cannot be stored for long.

In this world of desolation, a special caravan travels incessantly through the fields.

The primary business of the caravan is: to purchase the livestock slaughtered by the Noble Lords, pickle them, and sell them in the big cities.

No ordinary person could come up with such a cunning idea.

Other caravans only buy hides, but this one doesn’t even let go of the meat.

A trade monopoly doesn’t necessarily mean profitable.

Unless they are Noble Lords, few ordinary people can actually afford these preserved meat products.

Especially in these years of disaster, those with money will prioritize buying grains instead of expensive meat products.

But none of this affects the old man’s decision because his trade, although it doesn’t make a profit, never incurs losses.

No matter how lousy a product is, at the end there will always be someone who would buy it at a price higher than the market’s.

“Grandpa, these locusts are even gnawing on wood!”

Amidst this oppressive world, a little girl’s innocent voice was a source of joy for the caravan.

However, this time no one could really feel happy.

Locusts gnawing on wood is absolutely not a good omen.

If all the locusts evolved this characteristic, the calamity would be even worse.

Maybe one day upon waking, the cart would be gone.

For a caravan moving through a disaster area, that would be a severe disaster.

“Guna, you’re amazing, finding even this.

But these locusts aren’t good creatures, if you see them, squash them!”

While speaking, the old man kicked up a cloud of dust and debris which wiped out all the locusts in sight.

The accompanying fellows also get busy, constantly inspecting whether any locusts have infiltrated their caravan, and being ready to take drastic measures as soon as they found them.

“Grandpa, you are lying!

Last time I saw…”

Before the little girl could finish, the old man covered her mouth and warned with patience, “Young lass, stop talking nonsense!

These locusts have mutated, they are truly poisonous!

If you want to eat meat, let grandpa make it for you, don’t even think of having insects…..”

The little girl gazed at the old man with a grievance.

When did she want to eat locusts!

She was just saying….