Resistance

The mist settled on their skin, cool and clammy, carrying a sharp, chemical sweetness.

Its effect on the insects was immediate. The beetle-like swarm clinging to the glass curtain wall twitched a few times, then slid off and tumbled onto the sidewalk below, landing on their backs, legs kicking feebly for a few seconds before going still.

But that was just this one patch. Two streets over, fresh bugs were already pouring out of storm drains, ventilation ducts, and the foundations of abandoned buildings—dense as a black tide.

The spraying ran on a four-hour rotation, keeping the insect population at a critical equilibrium where they didn't grow. But that was all. There wasn't a single decrease—not one bit.

"Spraying chemicals alone won't cut it," Song Weishi muttered to herself.

If they let this go unchecked, it wouldn't be long before the infestation spiraled out of control. Huihai City had always been fast with pest control—the three-day deadline was practically a death sentence.

Song Weishi had also received the security personnel assembly order, but in her current state, there was no way she could get up and work.

After a glance at it, with Xie Huiying's coordination, Song Weishi lay back down.

She'd rest a bit before heading out. She'd just arrived in Huihai City and hadn't even enjoyed a day of the good life before it was time to get back to labor.

On the helicopter feed, the plants that had once been ordinary were indeed much taller than before.

This insect plague was probably linked to those plants that had shot up overnight. Besides insecticides, Xie Huiqing also needed to deploy a solvent specifically for the mutated vegetation.

Time was tight and the task was heavy—there wasn't much room to prepare, so it had to be a swift, decisive purge.

Xie Yi, who had been in the lounge, was called out as well. Her skills didn't even require her to join a squad—she could go straight to frontline missions.

But the immediate priority was clearing out the monsters in the surrounding area.

Xie Yi left, and Xie Huiqing and the others followed to help, leaving Song Weishi alone in the lounge.

She lay there, not planning to go out for now. After a night of extermination, the large-scale insect outbreak in Huihai City's urban area had been barely contained. This was a citywide public pest control effort, with all residents participating in the fight against the infestation.

Though it was under control, everyone stayed indoors with doors and windows sealed tight. Fortunately, since the apocalypse began, everyone had developed the habit of hoarding supplies, so for the moment, there were no problems.

Song Weishi spent the night in the lounge. When she got up and looked out the window at the oppressive black swarm, she realized that while it was supposed to be a citywide effort, most people only bothered to manage their own little patch of home. It didn't actually help with clearing the bugs outside.

If they relied solely on the government, there simply wasn't enough manpower.

How could they get everyone motivated?

Song Weishi stared outside. To be honest, aside from the mutated insects, ordinary bugs were mostly just disgusting. With their sheer numbers, they posed almost no real harm to humans.

So wouldn't it be a good idea to have ordinary people join in the extermination?

The city's biggest shortage was supplies. Food was crucial to everyone, and Xie Huiqing couldn't possibly have the security personnel still working on pest control deliver food to every household.

But if they could get people to volunteer for extermination by offering incentives, then with everyone working together, the city could quickly return to its former state.

After thinking it over, Song Weishi felt the plan might be viable and immediately sent a message to Xie Huiqing.

The bugs kept emerging; the government could only manage to keep their numbers from growing.

That was already the limit.

Any further variable would require external intervention to stop the insects from running rampant.

Xie Huiqing replied quickly. She'd been up all night dealing with matters, overwhelmed and bleary-eyed as she stared at the constant influx of messages.

She had considered Song Weishi's method, but it was too controversial. She'd have to bring everyone together to discuss it.

Song Weishi replied with a "Got it," pushed open the lounge door, and the guard outside walked over to lead her inside.

Passing through the corridor, the daytime windows were covered with bugs from outside, making the once-bright hallway look dim.

Song Weishi followed the guard, surveying her surroundings.

The government office area was quite high-tech. All the security checkpoints were sealed doors, hard to breach by force—it looked extremely safe.

They took the elevator to the third floor, passed through two closed doors, and the guard led Song Weishi into a large, mostly empty meeting room. Xie Huiqing sat in front of the central screen, constantly issuing commands to people monitoring on both sides.

It used to be the emergency management office. Now the walls were plastered with insect plague distribution maps, the table was strewn with samples of various types of insecticides, and the air was thick with the smell of chemicals and sweat. The noise was chaotic, with walkie-talkies crackling from every direction.

Several people stood before the big screen. When they saw her come in, their brows furrowed slightly, but no one said much.

One square-faced man blocked her approach. His jawline was sharp, his uniform buttons fastened all the way to the top, but his sleeves were rolled up, revealing a few red marks on his forearm from insect claws—clearly from fighting outside and just returning.

Xie Huiqing looked up. "You're just in time," she said. "I'm about to call a meeting about the follow-up containment plan. That 'citizen bug-catching' idea of yours—want to present it up there?"

"Yes."

The man who had just blocked her gave her a look, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded. "Follow me."

The real meeting room was further in. Two helmeted guards stood in the corridor; at the sight of the man, they stepped aside and pushed open the heavy wooden door.

The room was small—a long table, a dozen or so chairs, most of them occupied. Facing them was an electronic whiteboard covered in numbers and plan codes. At the head of the table, Xie Huiqing arrived a beat late and took her seat.

Song Weishi didn't recognize most of the people here. Xie Huiqing casually pointed to a seat for her to take, then picked up a folder and brought up the projection.

"You've all seen the effects of the helicopter-sprayed insecticide. The bug numbers are contained—they're not growing—but that's it. They're not decreasing. The swarm density per square meter was twelve last night, and it's still twelve today. How many resources has the spraying burned through? Chemicals, fuel, manpower—tripled—and all we got was 'not worse.' We need to draft a new plan."

Xie Huiqing gestured at Song Weishi, signaling her to stand.

To be honest, Song Weishi wasn't used to this kind of situation. Every eye in the room fixed on her, but there was no helping it—she'd come this far, so she'd tough it out.

She stood, cleared her throat, and began: "My proposal is to mobilize residents to join the bug-catching effort. Divide every household into zones, assign responsibility areas, and provide simple catching tools—sticky boards, electric grids, trap lights. These are low-cost and easy to mass-produce. Set up a reward system, exchanging bug catches for daily supplies."

The man across from her spoke first.

He was in his fifties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, speaking in a slow, deliberate drawl: "Mobilize residents? Have you considered the safety risks? Insect shells can pierce ordinary gloves, and some species spray corrosive fluids. If residents lack protective gear, who's responsible when something goes wrong?"

"Then issue protective gear," Song Weishi said. "Gloves, goggles, long-sleeved work clothes—those are in the warehouse. Our manpower is clearly insufficient; getting more residents involved is the chance for change."

"Supply distribution takes time," the man countered, seemingly adamantly opposed to her idea.

"The bugs aren't waiting for us." Song Weishi's voice rose half a notch. "The previous plan was to increase spraying frequency—from a four-hour rotation to three hours. Can the chemical plant's production capacity support that? At full capacity, they can only sustain two days; after that, they'll need to source from outside. What about two days from now? Wait for the bugs to gnaw the city down? Besides, we need visible results now."

The man's face changed; his mouth opened, but no words came out.

There are always people like this—slow and measured—but right now there was no room for trial and error. This disaster had come so fast, and if they let it go on any longer, Huihai City would soon be destroyed.

A man in a suit picked up the thread, his voice low: "The resident bug-catching plan involves public safety and the lives of everyone in the city. These aren't things decided on a whim. If there are casualties, who takes responsibility?"

"And who are you?" Song Weishi looked at him.

The man blinked, clearly caught off guard by her bluntness. He cleared his throat: "I'm the representative from Hengyuan Biotech, providing the technical support for this pest control operation."

"Technical support?" Song Weishi cut him off. "Your 'support' is recommending we spray every three hours, and let your company bill by the hour?"

The man's face flushed red. "What kind of attitude is that!"

Song Weishi spread her hands. "I don't have an attitude. I'm just stating facts. Bugs don't recognize your contracts or your responsibility allocations. Right now, they're destroying Huihai City, and everyone in the city is at home staring out the window, waiting for the higher-ups to solve it. But the higher-ups can't solve it alone, because this is a problem that needs all of us working together."

She turned her gaze to everyone in the room. "I know this plan isn't perfect. It has risks, resistance, and execution difficulties. But right now, there's no better option. Chemicals can only suppress; true reduction has to come from people. One pair of hands isn't enough, ten pairs aren't enough. We need thousands, tens of thousands. This city has as many hands as it has people."

In truth, they'd all considered this approach before, but proposing it was another matter entirely—everyone instinctively shied away from such a risky, borderline reckless method.

The meeting room fell silent.

Xie Huiqing looked up at her. "I support your idea. Alright, since no one else can offer a solution, we'll go with this. We don't have room for trial and error—we have to act now."

Everything Xie Huiqing wanted to say had already been voiced by Song Weishi. The plan was dangerous, but some casualties were better than total annihilation.

The person across from Song Weishi lowered their head, flipping through documents in silence.

The corporate representative crossed his arms, face turned away, but his ears weren't blocked—he kept glancing over with an uneasy expression.

"This meeting is adjourned. The resident bug-catching plan will be the primary backup option. All departments, cooperate to refine it. Xiao Zhao, you and the warehouse staff—thank you for your hard work—the supply inventory is yours. Make sure it's done by tonight. Dismissed."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the man across from Song Weishi grabbed his folder and walked out.

The corporate representative left fastest, his leather shoes tapping sharply on the marble floor, as if stomping his dissatisfaction into the tiles.

Xie Huiqing leaned back in her chair, looking at Song Weishi. The shell of official formality finally cracked a little, her gaze softening, her eyes brimming with exhaustion: "How are you feeling? Recovering well?"

Song Weishi: "Pretty good. I should be able to get back to work today. Chief Xie, I'll head off now. Call me if anything comes up. And you should rest too."

Song Weishi rose to leave. Since she'd proposed the plan, she needed to see it through.

"Alright." Xie Huiqing rubbed her eyes, feeling a bit light-headed, then loosened her collar and leaned back in her chair. "Go check in with Xiao Yi first. Keep an eye on each other, and let me know if anything comes up."

Song Weishi paused mid-step, let out a soft sigh, and followed the guard out.