102: Blood-red poisonous ant

Crippled Wang said with lingering fear, “I caught these ants at the General Store. One of my subordinates was bitten on the arm. It was just a small break in the skin, but the pain was unbearable. He kept hitting the wall, begging us to kill him.”

“Then he started to giggle, didn’t remember who we were, ate garbage, and talked nonsense, like he was crazy.”

“I knocked him out and fed him a bunch of random antidotes. His condition only improved today. These are even scarier than the poisonous mosquitoes from before.”

Jiang Fei carefully observed the ants in the glass jar.

They were the size of a fingernail, completely blood-red, and furiously attacked the glass as she shook the jar.

Blood-red Poison Ants was the name given to them by experts.

The venom carried by these ants damages human nerves, causing severe pain and temporary dementia.

For minor cases, if the venom is cleared from the wound in time, recovery can be as quick as a week.

For severe cases, if the venom spreads to the brain nerves, it will cause permanent damage, turning the person into a fool who will not live for more than a few months.

Moreover, Blood-red Poison Ants are very destructive; they will gnaw on various electronic facilities, pipes, wood, and so on.

In her previous life, Blood-red Poison Ants appeared after the virus.

At that time, she was infected with the virus and received a treatment quota, moving into the Hospital prepared by the authorities, thus safely avoiding the Blood-red Poison Ants.

Afterward, she only understood how terrifying they were by listening to other survivors chat.

In this life, the Blood-red Poison Ants appeared earlier. With experience in dealing with insect plagues, the Safety Shelter should be able to withstand them.

“I’ve heard others talk about these ants before; they’re called Blood-red Poison Ants. Ordinary insect repellents are useless against them. You can find some strong-smelling things to sprinkle in the shop, like Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, garlic, mint leaves, and laundry detergent—all of these can be used.”

“Blood-red Poison Ants dislike strong irritating smells and will avoid them if they detect them.”

“Store sweets and meat in sealed containers, as these two things will attract Blood-red Poison Ants.”

Jiang Fei also told Crippled Wang about the precautions and how to treat bites.

She asked him to drive the truck to the back door of Mingshang Apartment Complex first, while Jiang Fei took the glass jar back to Ping An Supermarket.

Dao Ba had already left with his subordinates.

“Have these ants ever appeared in the shop?”

Su Liuyuan thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “I found a few at the entrance when I closed the shop last night and stomped them to death. This morning, I sprinkled insect repellent powder outside the shop.”

Jiang Fei repeated what she had told Crippled Wang to Su Liuyuan.

After listening, Su Liuyuan immediately went to the shelves and found several bags of Sichuan peppercorn powder and laundry detergent: “Captain, you take care of the sales area and the lounge, and I’ll go to the small warehouse and the restroom!”

He didn’t want to be bitten and turn into a fool!

In nearly an hour, the entire shop was sprinkled with Sichuan peppercorn powder and laundry detergent.

To prevent any stragglers, Jiang Fei brought out several transparent storage boxes and taught Su Liuyuan how to make traps.

“Dig a small hole in each box, turn it upside down on the ground, and put a mixture of baking soda and sugar inside.”

“Baking soda will affect the Blood-red Poison Ants’ digestive ability. Once they accidentally ingest it, they will starve to death in two or three days.”

“Once done, place them at the main entrance and in various corners. Starting tomorrow, all customers entering must be inspected, and we will temporarily stop selling solar panels.”

There was a large flow of people, and they couldn't inspect everyone.

Su Liuyuan agreed with Jiang Fei’s decision: “I heard from the breakfast shop owner in the back street that the authorities will be selling solar panels and pedal generators during this period, costing only 1 point and with free installation. We wouldn’t make any money selling them either.”

One path to wealth was gone, but Jiang Fei didn't care.

She had other things to sell.

The Supermarket had upgraded; she had confidence!

The ant prevention work in the shop was left to Su Liuyuan, and Jiang Fei drove to the back door of Mingshang Apartment Complex to meet up with Crippled Wang.

“Lend me the truck for two days. I’ll return it after all the goods are unloaded.”

“Alright. When the time comes, Boss, you can find A Meng, and he will drive the truck back.”

Crippled Wang left with two subordinates, and Jiang Fei took both the goods and the truck into the Supermarket.

【Ding — Detected gold: 43149 grams】

Including the gold earned from selling solar panels in the shop over these six days, the total was 157149 grams.

She still needed over fifty thousand grams of gold to unlock the next area.

Jiang Fei was in an excellent mood and returned to unit 302 for a thorough search.

She found no trace of Blood-red Poison Ants. She took out 8 boxes of garlic and 10 sets of one-piece diving suits in different sizes from the Supermarket warehouse and stacked them in the living room.

When Lu Yu and the others returned in the evening, Jiang Fei called everyone for a meeting, took out the glass jar, and explained the situation with the Blood-red Poison Ants.

“The Blood-red Poison Ants haven’t erupted yet, so we need to prepare early.”

“These things were given to me by a friend previously. I only retrieved them tonight. Garlic is more effective at repelling ants than other things. One box per person; mash it into garlic paste and place it in various corners of your homes. Su Liuyuan will take the rest to the shop tomorrow.”

“There are one-piece diving suits in the boxes. Sharks can’t bite through them. Two sets per person. Wear them under your clothes; they’re close-fitting and won’t attract attention. The extra set is for changing.”

It might be hot, but it’s better than being bitten by Blood-red Poison Ants.

Xiao Chuxia felt a chill of fear: “I saw these ants at the Hospital today and even thought about catching one to show Miss. Luckily, I was too busy at the time and didn’t catch one, otherwise I would have been bitten.”

Ling Zhaorui also felt fortunate: “I found some at the Planting Base too, but I didn’t catch any…”

“We can’t open the windows on muggy days, so we can seal them up. What about the air conditioning, squat toilets, and drains?”

“If we seal up the air conditioning, our homes will turn into a water curtain cave.”

Lu Yu suggested: “Protect the outdoor air conditioner unit, and then there’s no need to seal the inside.”

“For other places, we can find things to seal them before work, open them after work in the evening, re-sprinkle garlic paste, and then seal everything up again before going to bed.”

“Although it’s troublesome, it’s safe and doesn’t affect our lives.”

Upon hearing this, the others decided to follow Lu Yu’s advice and returned to their respective homes to check for Blood-red Poison Ants.

Soon after, the rhythmic thud of garlic being mashed echoed through the 3rd floor.

While everyone’s windows were still unsealed, Lu Yu found the climbing gear and tools Jiang Fei had given him last time.

He called Su Liuyuan and Ling Zhaorui for help, going outside the windows to install iron plates on each household’s air conditioner unit, protecting the unit, pipes, wires, etc., to prevent them from being damaged by Blood-red Poison Ants or from ants crawling into the house along the pipes.

Then, he used an electric drill to make dozens of small holes in the iron plates, too small for the poisonous ants to enter, for ventilation.

In the early morning, everyone had completed their protective measures.

The windows were sealed with windproof plastic sheeting and iron plates, and the drains were covered with the large bricks Jiang Fei had given them.

The squat toilets were difficult to seal, as there would be gaps if iron plates were simply placed over them.

Lu Yu welded several flat boxes from iron plates to directly cover the squat toilets, making them easy to move for use.

The surroundings and inside were covered with garlic paste, so there was no worry about Blood-red Poison Ants coming up.

Every room, including the outside corridor, was filled with a pungent, irritating smell of garlic.

Jiang Fei chose to sleep in the Supermarket tonight.

The next day, she went to Ping An Supermarket with Su Liuyuan.

To prevent Blood-red Poison Ants from crawling into the car, they didn't drive, each carrying two large bags of garlic and walking there.

Blood-red Poison Ants would appear in large numbers soon, affecting travel.

She wanted to sell all the goods on the shelves and earn enough gold for unlocking before that happened.

As soon as she reached the shop entrance, Jiang Fei heard strange noises.

“Whoosh!”

“Bang!”

“Thump!”

Jiang Fei: ?

Who was making firework sound effects?