Plague Doctor

Chapter 420: Locust

“I am Wu Siyu, I came from the other world.” Wu Siyu went through a lot before she managed to claw this out. It was then that she appreciated and envied the Zoog’s system of language. They had worked out a system of communication through tapping themselves and objects around them. That would save so much time and energy. It would not cause their claws to dull with pain either.

She glanced at the drone that stopped in the sky. She waved her paws at it, ‘That’s right, it’s me, the Cat Wu Siyu. Please send this message back immediately!’ The drone buzzed. It did not descend nor did it return.

‘The headquarters should have noticed all these already, right?’ Wu Siyu thought. Elder Tong would have sent people from The One to inspect the situation, that was the protocol. Due to the severity of the situation, Wu Siyu continued to use her claw to swipe out another line on the soil. What’s a little pain if it could help her save plenty of lives? ‘I suspect the two worlds are coinciding and the point of overlapping is this mutated area. The world that I came from just survived an atomic explosion. There was nothing in sight but I did encounter a strange dead body. If the mutated area continues to spread, I’d suggest Phecda blow up this whole area directly and do not venture into this place.’ To save the trouble, she did not reveal that she came to this conclusion through the aid of Dirty-minded Jun’s voice in her mind.

That was her finding so far... O wait, there was one more thing. Her claw continued to move, “My paintings can transmigrate people through the different worlds. There is some kind of mysterious power within this cat’s body. I am not affected by the radiation, I don’t know why.”

“Meow...” When she was done, Wu Siyu finally could sit on her haunches to rest. ‘Now, it’s time to wait. Since the drone is already here, the members shouldn’t be too far behind.’

While she rested, she watched the situation on the other side of the border. Night had fallen. The scorched land was supposed to be devoid of life but for some reason, Wu Siyu heard some barely discernible movement... She wondered it the sound was due to the worlds coinciding. It sounded like the ground itself was moving, like something was trying to break through the earth.

‘Hmm, I guess I should report this as well.’ Wu Siyu meowed tiredly. But she did crawl up from the ground and continued to write with her claw. However, before she could finish, she noticed 3 members approaching her from the border of the mutated area. The border was 10 metres away and the three seemed like they materialized from thin air.

‘You’re finally here!’ Wu Siyu could recognize their symbol, they were not from The One, but the Action Department. Their rifles were all aimed at her.

“Hey, be careful with that...” Wu Siyu was afraid of friendly fire, “Move those things away from me.” But she herself heard that it was only a string of meows that emitted from her mouth. At that moment, two more members appeared. They pushed with them a big iron cage. The cage was attached with ancient seal stone and an electric shock device. It was meant for apprehension of criminals.

“The cat over there, listen! We don’t care what you are, stop what you’re doing immediately!” One of the members said sternly. He warned, “If you continue to write with your claws or make any noise, we’ll fire immediately. If you attempt any resistance, we’ll fire as well! Now please slowly walk into this cage. You only have 2 minutes.” The cage was attached to remote-controlled wheels. With a press of a button, it would whir forward and backwards. The door of the cage creaked open, waiting for its target to enter it. Being targeted by 5 rifles, Wu Siyu was stumped. ‘What? Oh, you suspect I am Wu Simiao pretending to be Wu Siyu?’

Wu Simiao was the nickname she had given herself in this feline state. It was after all, the only voice that she could make. Wu Simiao understood the suspicion that these people had but to be honest, if she’d elect an animal to assume Wu Siyu’s identity, she’d pick... some kind of deep ocean creature instead of a cat.

In any case, Wu Siyu felt things were not that simple. Why would they warn her from clawing out more words?

In the Phecda guide, when a suspected enemy wishes to speak, then let them speak because regardless of the authenticity, their words would be information that could be dissected. The only exception was when the information could cause damage or pose inherent threat like mental corruption or the words were part of a curse or ritual. ‘They did not wait for the Special Mobile Force but sent in the Action Department members instead... Based on everything that is going on, it feels like they’re suspecting me of performing a ritual and these people are sent here to stop me. But as strange as my sudden appearance was, why would they come to that conclusion? There’s nothing wrong with what I wrote, right?’

Wu Siyu glanced at the iron cage that slowly moved towards here and then at the words that she clawed out...

‘Everything is normal to me.’ She was stumped but she knew something was definitely off. ‘Hmm? So I am to walk into the iron cage silently? These people come from Phecda, if I’m able to travel back to Earth inside the cage with them, it’ll be wonderful. If not, I’ll just return to the wasteland once I cross the border. Entering the cage seems like not a bad choice.’

However, she was suddenly reminded of the iron cage, the one with the dead body inside it. An anxiety surged through her heart. Wu Siyu had always been a happy-go-lucky person, it was only when she was in real danger, that her spirituality would respond with such alarm.

“Please enter the iron cage immediately!” The member shouted again. The drone in the sky captured these interactions silently. This was clearly an instruction from the headquarters. Wu Siyu hesitated. If she did not abide by the order, she’d be turned into a beehive; but if she did, she doubted she’d end up any better... Clearly, Wu Simiao had lost Phecda’s trust.

At that moment, she saw something that caused her heart to skip a beat. The sound was turning louder! The soil at the wasteland was trembling. Along the border, blocks of soil were splashed into the air. Something was breaking out from the ground. But the things that caught her attention was a cloud of shadow that buzzed through the night sky. It was a cloud of locusts, a horde that carried radiation with them.

Wu Siyu saw these things clearly but the 5 Action Department members showed no recognition of these things. Wu Siyu’s instinct told her that once these locusts flew into the mutated area, despite these people’s heavy protective gear, they would be swallowed up in an instant and they’d end up a part of the landscape forever...

‘I have to warn them of the danger!’ In her desperation, a thought crossed Wu Siyu’s mind, ‘Should I make use of the mysterious force inside this body?’ She felt like if she accepted the force, she would gain immediate access to great power, power that would allow her to leap right onto the drone and send the few members flying out of the mutated areas with a few kicks. But first, she would have to accept the mysterious force...