Wasn't the Unlucky Bear Show Cancelled?

The next second, she was flipped upside down inside the car. Song Weishi landed on the roof without much injury, but the aunts weren't as lucky—they tumbled into a heap, groaning in pain.

She was used to this kind of bad luck by now. Whenever Xie Yi was around, fortune turned against her, and every dirty trick seemed to come her way.

The System chimed in with its usual snark: "Didn't that show get cancelled?"

Song Weishi: ...

Never mind. Let her see what was coming now. The aunts were still adjusting their positions while Song Weishi crawled to the window and spotted a massive thorn flower mantis. Its abdomen heaved up and down, as if it were breathing.

Song Weishi let out a small sigh of relief. If there was only one, dealing with it wouldn't be a problem.

But her hopes were quickly dashed. She turned her head and saw another one—this one with a larger, darker abdomen than the first. It looked far more formidable.

Song Weishi immediately called out to the people inside the car: "We're surrounded! The one we saw earlier probably attracted these. Their weakness is at the joint between the abdomen and the thorax. Cutting off just their forelegs or abdomens won't work—you have to be careful!"

After her urgent warning, she heard a dull thud outside, as if something had been punctured, followed by a terrible grinding sound.

They were tearing the car apart like crabs.

Song Weishi felt like the crab roe inside, waiting to be dug out.

The entire back seat was ripped open, and the hot air rushed in relentlessly. Song Weishi stood up and pulled the aunts to their feet.

She scrambled out of the car quickly, but the aunts, hampered by their awkward movements, were still trapped inside. Seeing the mantis already swinging its forelegs, she shouted, "Hit the deck!"

The aunts reacted instinctively, dropping to the ground without a second thought.

The two mantises swiped at air, then turned their full attention to Song Weishi.

She jumped off the vehicle and sprinted toward the roadside. One mantis she could handle, but two? Not a chance. This was the safer bet.

Soon, she had lured both mantises away from the car. The flimsy electric vehicle couldn't withstand another monster's attack, and the others scrambled out with pounding hearts, scanning the area for any sign of Song Weishi.

But she was already out of sight, moving too fast.

The group didn't waste time. They climbed out and sought cover nearby.

Xie Huiqing grabbed clothes from the trunk and wrapped herself up tightly, leaving only a sliver of her eyes visible so she could barely see what was happening. It wasn't as good as a protective suit, but it would reduce the damage.

Song Weishi raced through the darkness, looping around before sprinting back. She noticed her stamina was far better than before—running hundreds of meters didn't even leave her winded.

She yelled ahead, "Get ready, I'm coming back!"

The mantises hopped along behind her, rarely taking flight. For creatures their size, flying probably drained a lot of energy.

The thorn flower mantises' wings were large but, like their smaller counterparts, as thin as cicada wings. Only the front pair had any real function; the rest were decoration. That's why Song Weishi could escape their grasp so easily.

The group watched nervously as she ran toward them, two mantises—one big, one small—trailing behind.

Song Weishi reached them, spun around, and caught the big mantis's incoming foreleg squarely, then flipped onto its back with a smooth vault.

The remaining mantis, now without a target, charged straight at the others.

Song Weishi grabbed hold of its wing, ignoring the scales that showered down and covered her. She wiped the powder from her face, yanked on the wing, and aimed a kick at its abdomen.

But this big mantis was smarter. It twisted violently, snapping its own wing in the process, and flung her off.

Song Weishi rolled on the ground to break her fall, but she couldn't dodge in time—the mantis's foreleg was already swinging at her face. She raised her arm to block, and a searing pain shot through her. The protective suit was torn clean open, and the mantis's foreleg slashed deep into the scar on her arm.

Warm blood poured down. Song Weishi rolled away, scrambling back to her feet.

The wounded arm trembled uncontrollably. The mantis moved to strike again, but was kicked clean in two the next moment. Xie Yi sent its upper body flying with a kick, appearing in front of Song Weishi almost by teleportation—her speed was impossibly fast.

Being injured twice in one day was too much even for someone made of iron. Song Weishi clutched the wound tightly, the threads embedded in her flesh torn apart. She yanked them out carelessly, hissing at the pain, on the verge of tears.

Xie Yi grabbed her hand, flustered. Her gloved hands weren't clean, so she didn't dare press them against the wound.

"Thanks. I'm fine."

Song Weishi forced her heavy arm up, rejecting Xie Yi's touch. In the darkness, she couldn't see Xie Yi's expression, but the woman stood frozen, hand still outstretched, silent.

"Xiao Song! Oh my god, are you okay!"

One mantis had thrown everyone into chaos. They hadn't had time to check on Song Weishi, but now that it was dealt with, they rushed over.

Seeing her bleeding arm, the aunts all gasped, as if they could feel the pain themselves, their hearts pounding with worry.

Xie Huiqing dove into the trunk and grabbed the medical kit. "Let's find a place to hide first and treat Xiao Song's wound!"

There was no time to hesitate. Giant monsters kept swarms of insects at bay, but with the monsters gone, the bugs were back—a dark, cloud-like mass was already closing in on them from the distance.

Song Weishi gritted her teeth and managed a couple of steps. The itchy sensation returned to her wound. She looked down and saw the gash on her arm, flesh still turned outward, healing at a visible rate.

The more it healed, the more her body drained. Even her once-steady steps began to feel unsteady.

Two of the aunts grabbed her, trying to keep her from sinking, but it was no use. Her consciousness was fading, eyelids drooping, barely staying awake.

This was the result of rapid energy expenditure. Song Weishi finally understood where her ability lay.

This extraordinary self-healing wasn't something ordinary people had.

But there seemed to be a side effect—while healing, she became utterly exhausted.

Or maybe she'd overdone it today. Anyone who lost this much blood in a day would feel like death warmed over.

Song Weishi forced herself to stay alert, letting the aunts drag her along.

She felt someone hoist her onto their back, her view rising suddenly.

Supporting hands held her steady from behind.

She wasn't the type to fuss. Whoever was carrying her—she'd earned it.

Song Weishi wrapped her arms tight around the person's neck and let herself fall asleep without guilt.

Xie Yi adjusted her hold on the unconscious girl and broke into a run.

The group moved in silence, heading for the office building in the port district.

The building had backup power. Xie Huiqing scanned her fingerprint and iris, held the door open, and waved everyone inside.

The guards inside immediately rushed over: "Director! What are you doing here at this hour?"

Xie Huiqing waved them off. "My car broke down on the road. Is there signal in the building? How many staff are still here? Set up a meeting room immediately and contact all districts."

One guard hurried inside, while another stayed to take the medical kit from her hands. "There are 23 staff members on the night shift, all in the dispatch room."

"Good. Sister, take care of Xiao Yi and the others. Ask her if you need to know anything. I'm off."

The surroundings here were far better. Aside from a few bugs they'd brought in, there wasn't an insect in sight.

Xie Yi grabbed a spray can and doused them all from head to toe.

The small bugs clinging to them dropped to the floor in an instant. There were plenty, but they were manageable.

Xie Huiqing had been thrown off balance by the sudden insect plague—she'd never imagined Huihai City would face a disaster like this. If Song Weishi and the others hadn't arrived in time, she might have been dead by now.

After finishing the decontamination, she hurried off. The others, now safe, let her go.

Song Weishi was still unconscious on Xie Yi's back. The guard on duty led them to a break room, handed them some food and water, and left.

They laid Song Weishi on the couch, and everyone sat down, peeling off their protective suits. The stifling heat had Xie Huiying fanning herself constantly.

The group gathered around the couch, looking down at Song Weishi.

Her hair was plastered to her face with sweat. Sister Chen wiped her face, then wetted a handkerchief to cool her down.

Song Weishi's body was burning hot—probably from the self-healing.

The wound on her arm had mostly closed, leaving only a faint pink scar.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe something like that could happen in real life.

Whether Song Weishi counted as a superpowered person now, she didn't know. But her extraordinary healing ability set her apart from everyone else.

About half an hour later, Song Weishi stirred awake. She opened her eyes to see the aunts' worried faces.

Aunt Huang was fanning her with a document so she wouldn't overheat.

As soon as she sat up, they crowded around her: "How do you feel? Any discomfort?"

Song Weishi shook her head. Actually, she felt great—refreshed. The exhaustion from earlier was gone, though she was still a bit weak, and she felt dizzy when she sat up.

"I'm fine. Where are we?"

Sister Chen sat beside her and handed her a cushion to lean on. "We're at Xiaoqing's work area. Don't worry; it's safe here."

Song Weishi nodded and forced a small smile, though she couldn't agree with that assessment.

After all, Xie Yi was right there. When the female lead was around, trouble was never far behind.

She wanted to leave this place, but with the aunts all here, it wasn't something she could bring up.

So she quietly edged away from the female lead's position, deliberately avoiding the probing, almost wounded look in the other woman's eyes.

After all that exertion, Song Weishi felt terribly weak. The aunts handed her the food the guard had brought—dry, hard toast that could last forever.

Song Weishi tore open the wrapper and took a bite. It was like chewing on stiff cardboard. She ripped off a small piece, washed it down with water, and swallowed.

It was utterly tasteless. She wanted nothing more than to open her space and eat properly, but under the circumstances, that wasn't an option.

So she forced down a few bites, just enough to fill her stomach.

Xie Huiqing, meanwhile, had her hands full. The leader of District One had just escaped death and was already buried in work.

There weren't many people in the meeting room—most were busy coordinating. Within two hours of the insect plague hitting Huihai City, the power grid had completely collapsed, and repairs would take time.

The priority was city-wide decontamination. Insecticide worked on regular bugs, but against monsters, it was nearly useless.

Xie Huiqing ordered immediate action: restore power first, alert all residents to stay indoors, and begin dispatching chemicals for a city-wide spray by morning.

The insect plague had struck without warning, and Huihai City had suffered heavy losses.

Xie Huiqing could see the city edging toward the same fate as others that had fallen. If disasters of this scale kept coming, the whole city would fall into chaos within two weeks.

Her head throbbed, her chapped lips pressed tight together as she drafted orders and dispatched commands across the city.

The signal in the office building was strong. Xie Huiqing handled her work while keeping in touch with Song Weishi and the others via phone, updating them on the situation.

She sent teams to repair key stations first, restoring partial power and network connections, and warned residents to stay inside—though it was a formality, since no one in their right mind would be out in this.

Then helicopters were dispatched to spray insecticide and decontaminants at targeted sites.

People hiding at home had sealed their windows and doors, but the bugs got in everywhere. The residents were busy cleaning up their homes and barely paid attention to what was happening outside.

But after the commotion outside, the bugs inside had indeed dwindled.

Insects that came into contact with the insecticide died in droves, piling up thick on the streets.

Real-time footage streamed in, and the results were promising.

The group watched with rapt attention, finally letting out a breath of relief. So this disaster wasn't unsolvable.

They'd start with a small-scale cleanup, wipe out all the bugs that could be killed with chemicals, then deal with the monsters outside. Soon, Huihai City would return to peace.

Song Weishi watched the shaky footage—helicopters weaving through various districts, sometimes flying close to the ground. She spotted many towering trees, almost level with the helicopters.

Many trees inside residential areas were also unusually tall. Normally, those were just ordinary landscaping trees, not this tall.

Especially in the newer neighborhoods—the trees were just like the ones they'd seen on the road, growing so tall they looked mutated.

But this was Huihai City. When Song Weishi had entered, she'd observed that the greenery was nothing like this.

As more footage came in, Song Weishi frowned. "Doesn't this look a bit strange?"

She pointed at a residential area that bordered the mountains. The closer to the vegetation, the more bugs there were.

The trees were also growing more and more lush. Huihai City had once been a city that hadn't mutated too severely.

But overnight—first the insect swarm, then these anomalies—Song Weishi couldn't help but suspect that Huihai City was becoming the next place to be swallowed by the apocalypse.

The group huddled together, staring grimly at the helicopter feed. The people in the meeting room also wore heavy expressions, all turning to their leader, Xie Huiqing.

She didn't wait around. She gave the order directly: "Notify all security personnel and district heads across the city. We have three days to clear out every bug in the city. Time is not on our side."