For now, Caroline still didn't know what to do with it. This wave of insect disaster was only the beginning—an easy level, so to speak. As the temperature rose, these creatures would multiply dozens of times faster. Their mutants' powers would also grow stronger. With more human mutants serving as "food" for the mutant insects, the next wave would be far more terrifying. Right now? This was only the appetizer before the real nightmare. To be safe, Caroline drew a vial of Nelson's blood before she left, just in case she needed it later. Nelson insisted he could take care of himself and Handsy. Following Caroline's advice, he scattered poison near the door to stop any insects that might crawl up to the lab and interrupt his experiments. Caroline placed Jet and Snow on the 66th floor to guard the place. Raven stayed on 65th to protect Nelson and stop any mutant insects from reaching higher. Once everything was ready, she hurried back to her station. When she returned, she found Tyler and Denton standing silently by the window. Their faces tense, eyes fixed outside. Not a single word was spoken. Caroline moved to her assigned window and looked down. What she saw made her stomach twist. The water below was churning—filled with thousands of red, snake-like worms. They had already swum close to the building, only a hundred feet away. They swayed back and forth in the murky water, forming an endless wave that stretched for blocks. These were steelworms. Mutated steelworms. Now, gathered together, they packed so tightly that the entire flood below was stained red. Some lifted their heads, their eyeless faces turning upward as if searching for their destination. Caroline caught a glimpse of their mouths—rings of jagged, sharp teeth.Their slick, red bodies glistened in the sunlight with a metallic sheen. It was clear, these creatures had evolved. Their flesh now tough as steel. Then, as if they'd reached some silent agreement, the swarm split in two. Half charged toward Building B. The other half came straight for Building A. "Attention, all squads! Strike!" Francis's voice came through the walkie-talkie. Caroline and Tyler exchanged a quick glance, then they launched their attacks at the same time. Caroline's water ability became crucial here. She focused, freezing the surface of the water right in front of them. Several steelworms were instantly trapped in ice, unable to move. The others followed up with their abilities, striking hard at the frozen creatures. For a moment, the floor was filled with red liquid spilling out of the insects' bodies. The water turned pale red as it mixed with their blood. But these attacks only enraged the swarm. The worms went berserk, twisted their bodies, and crawled out of the water at least twice their earlier speed. Francis swung his arms, sending out sharp blades of wind. The air rang with metallic clanking sounds as the wind blade sliced through hundreds of worms. Countless worms were torn apart instantly, but the blade only left white marks on the larger and tougher ones. Those surviving worms began climbing up the walls, layer after layer, forming a horrifying red wave. It looked as if the entire building had been painted in red. Furious, Francis gathered all his strength, spinning the air into a massive vortex. He tried to sweep the creatures off the walls. But there were too many of them.After a few seconds, his face went pale. Francis was getting dizzy from overusing his ability. Caroline's eyes widened as she saw the swarm breaking through Francis's line of defense and heading for her floor. Tyler and Denton jumped into action too. Denton, still wearing his "rat king" outfit, commanded his mutant rat army. His body transformed into his stink bug form, and he leapt out the window, leading the rats in a wall-climbing battle against the steelworms. Meanwhile, Tyler's whole body, except for his face, had turned to metal. His arms became two giant blades. He stood firmly by the window. No steelworm made it past him. Caroline's attacks were more varied. She froze worms in place, controlled the fluid inside their bodies, and stabbed them with ice blades. She even boiled the water to cook them alive. A healing ability user moved between the floors, producing water that could restore energy to exhausted fighters. Thanks to him, the front line held longer than anyone expected. Soon, most of the steelworms had been slaughtered. Their corpses piled up beneath the building, forming a mountain of dead insects. Still, some worms managed to break through the defenses, slithering up toward the 50th floor. The young soldiers who had stayed behind dealt with those one by one. And if any still managed to slip through and made it into the crowd of civilians, those civilians would fight back with everything they had: fire, hammers, kitchen knives—whatever they could grab.