They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 106 Insect Laboratory

It flapped its wings a few times and successfully took flight. Then it flew straight in one direction, and the thick powdery scales successfully covered Ria's gloves with "white ash".

But now was not the time to worry about such trivial matters. Without thinking, Ria followed behind Moth Number Fifteen and entered the narrow area between the two houses together.

It was so narrow that it could hardly be called an alley, but moths perched on the brick pavement in the middle and fluttered their wings slightly.

The dusty scales scattered on the ground again.

Ria noticed a crack in the ground, so after tapping the ground a few times with his cane to confirm there were no traps, he squatted down and lifted the floorboards.

As expected, there was another space below, and a ladder led down to the bottom. Ria bent down and climbed down the ladder, lighting her kerosene lamp to illuminate the surroundings.

The moth also flew down and landed on the back of his hand that was holding the cane.

"Is this... an abandoned medical laboratory?"

The first thing you see is a long corridor, with rows of small white rooms on both sides, resembling those in a hospital. These medical rooms are side by side, each with a vertical glass panel on its door.

The ground was covered in dust, and medical waste was carelessly discarded, suggesting that no one had been here for a long time.

However, Ria dared not relax. He cautiously carried the kerosene lamp and circled the room, peering through the glass. Inside, there were only some basic medical equipment and a bed covered with white sheets, but at this moment, those things seemed to have been through some disaster and were all askew.

Broken medicine bottles, overturned metal frames, a bed that had been moved and turned to its side, syringes scattered all over the floor...

They were all covered with a thick layer of dust.

As Ria explored the other rooms, she found that each one looked like it had been through a terrible ordeal. One of the rooms was marked with a red "biohazard" sign, and coincidentally, the moth in Ria's hand reacted when she approached it.

"Hiss... hiss!!!"

The moth turned its head around, flapped its wings, and flew onto the door, fluttering against it with all its might. However, Ria did not rush in. He summoned the mythical creature, rummaged through its feathers, and finally took out a leather mask.

He had seen this mask many times before; it was the same gas mask worn by plague doctors. Earlier, when Ria was strolling on the street, he happened to come across a shop selling masks and bought one, thinking that he might need it someday.

Now, its usefulness has come in handy.

Ria removed her glasses and put on her mask, fastening the belt neatly at the back of her head. She raised her cane and extended the end towards the crack in the door. Soon, a black tentacle snaked around the cane and crawled behind the crack, its surface seeping acid that corroded the lock completely.

"Click."

The door opened.

Inside, there was a layer of transparent protective netting. Through the gaps in the netting, Lia witnessed an unforgettable scene—

The walls, the ground, the ceiling, and even the protective netting were covered with segments of fleshy worms. These worms were translucent, and their light pink bodies shone with a crystal-clear luster when illuminated by the firelight.

Their heads are deep red, and their six short black legs allow them to grip any area tightly and climb and wriggle above it.

Upon discovering Ria's arrival, they swarmed towards him, their sharp teeth clashing together, making a rustling sound. If Ria closed his eyes, he would feel as if he were in a forest, enjoying the breeze rustling through the green leaves. But with his eyes open, all his senses could clearly feel the bloated insects trying to devour him.

They crowded together, until the bottommost worm, the one closest to Ria, was squeezed until its body ruptured, and yellow juice seeped from its shell and dripped onto the ground.

The worms from all directions remained oblivious, indicating that even with their size, they had been starving for a long time.

"hiss--"

Giant moths swarmed onto the net, sucking up the "sweet nectar" with their tube-like mouthparts. After a moment's thought, Ria approached the net, grabbed an insect with its head sticking out, and yanked its entire body out.

Logically, the flesh worms' palm-sized bodies should prevent them from squeezing out of the fine web, but Ria didn't care about their activity. When observing them, he found that the worms' outer skin was exceptionally tough, so Ria didn't need to worry about the flesh worms being torn apart.

The worm was forcibly pulled out of the illogical opening by Ria, and all the contents of its body were squeezed out of the cloaca, becoming food for other insects to fight over.

"Its surface has a numbered pattern, though very faint, it's not entirely absent."

Lia unfolded a layer of insect skin in her hand and examined it through the light of the kerosene lamp. At this moment, the mandibles of the worm were still opening and closing wildly. A moth flapped its wings and flew to its side, stroked its mouth a few times with its forepaws, and then forcefully pierced the head of its own larva and began to suck the contents inside.

There wasn't much inside the insect's head, but it tasted quite good; at least, it was a rare delicacy for the moth.

"These things must be moth larvae. I was right. They came from humans... It's possible that the so-called curse on the whole block is caused by these insects."

Ria fed the insect in his hand to Little Swarth, and to prevent the insect in the web from being "used" by some people, he turned around, his tentacles lifting his collar to reveal a unique eye behind his neck.

"Come on, little ones, say 'cheese' with me!"

"Shh——"

He folded up his collar, and when he turned around, all the insects were contaminated and corroded, their bodies shimmering with golden light, looking at them at first glance like golden fluorescence shimmering on countless gray gems.

After doing all this, Ria tore apart the net that covered them and took all the insects with her.

Besides being wary of certain biochemical infections, Ria wore a mask here for another reason.

The bird-beak doctor's mask was also a disguise; if he could just quietly pretend to be a plague doctor, he could avoid a lot of trouble.

Those white-masked cult members are interested in patients, but they can't possibly have the same idea about the plague doctors.

If that's the case, then Naria will have no choice but to find a way to escape.

He returned to the ground, retraced his steps, and took the opportunity to look for a shop selling toast.

Unfortunately, the only toast shop in the neighborhood had closed down for some reason. When Ria found it, its sign was lying on the ground, the shop door was still open, but there was no one inside.

(End of this chapter)