HLM -Chapter 1255 The Predatory Feast

Little Meng was a brave warrior, but the kea parrots it led were not. These cowardly birds excelled at picking on the weak and avoiding the strong. Back when they dealt with the Tui birds, they had the advantage and Little Meng leading them, and they had shown great prowess.

But now it was a disaster. Locusts were terrible in solo combat, but they came in uncountable numbers, surging like ocean waves from all directions and smashing into the kea parrots, leaving them in a pitiful state.

Finally, the kea parrots panicked, flapping their wings and retreating. Little Meng did not stop them; it realized that its flock was useless in this situation, and whether they stayed or left made no difference.

The locusts were not afraid of the parrots, so the parrots could not drive them away—and they certainly could not eat many locusts either. Their impact on the overall situation was negligible.

Even the fire-extinguishing vehicles weren’t much help. Their range was long and their coverage wide, but the locusts were limitless. The vehicles were like rocks in a stormy sea, incapable of stopping the tide.

Wang Bo felt a bit disheartened. He hadn’t expected the locust disaster to be this severe; he estimated that other farms and ranches must be even worse off.

As the locusts flew into Sunset Town, they slammed against car windows and house doors, making a “crackling” noise, as if hail were falling—a truly terrifying sight.

Their targets were clear: farms, ranches, and animal pens—places where the grass was the best. Wang Bo hoped that the “Hearts of the Ranch and Farm” could influence the locusts and prevent them from causing damage.

In fact, these territorial hearts did have that power. Previously, there hadn’t been many locusts in the farms, ranches, or livestock areas. But now, with locusts swarming in huge numbers, the intimidating effect of the territorial hearts was diminished.

Soon, the locusts descended.

A batch landed in the two areas designated for raising chickens, ducks, and geese. The poultry, seeing these brazen insects, didn’t hesitate—they happily began eating…

Wang Bo mainly fed his poultry with feed, because he raised so many that just the chickens alone numbered over a million. The pasture grass and insects weren’t enough, so feed was necessary.

Of course, the best food for chickens, ducks, and geese was insects—especially these lively, hopping locusts.

Over a million birds ran across the pastures, and the falling locusts were devoured in an instant!

Wang Bo was stunned by the scene. It wasn’t a gradual process—he wasn’t exaggerating when he saw the ferocity of the poultry in hunting the locusts. They were like travelers in the desert who had walked a week and suddenly found a spring in an oasis—they pounced with full force!

Although there were many locusts, they weren’t endless. They came in waves, chose a feeding area, and stopped. No large follow-up swarms arrived.

In just a few minutes, the poultry had devoured almost all the locusts in the pasture.

Seeing the birds still roaming the pasture hungrily, Wang Bo was ecstatic. He shouted, “Damn it! Knock down all the fences and let the chickens, ducks, and geese out! And send them to the farms and vegetable gardens—quick, quick, quick!”

The pickup truck rammed through the fences, and the poultry ran out through the gaps.

The pastures were contiguous, so the birds swept through the surrounding areas as well.

Another piece of good news: Wang Bo had worried about the lavender garden, but it hadn’t been ravaged by the locusts. That area was the territory of the purple swamphens, which were already abundant in Sunset Town.

They could fly, and seeing so much food, they happily flew out of the lavender garden. Some locusts were eaten even before they landed, and once on the ground, they were quickly swept up.

Wang Bo was overjoyed. He knew the purple swamphens had long had their eyes on the lavender garden. But they were only interested in the new sprouts—they ignored fully grown lavender. Previously, Wang Bo had tried traps and scarecrows to keep them away, but later he didn’t have time to manage them, and since there were so many, he let them be. Fortunately, the garden had the Heart of the Garden, and the lavender grew well.

Now, by chance, this inaction paid off. The large flock of purple swamphens not only protected the flower fields, but they also roamed the farms and vegetable gardens, with many even living near the lakes.

Purple swamphens primarily eat insects, and their ability to hunt locusts surpassed that of ordinary chickens, ducks, and geese. Wang Bo even used a helicopter to drive them to the farms, securing a large agricultural area.

That same day, expert groups set up to deal with the locust disaster proposed a countermeasure: natural predators.

“Currently, New Zealand has 68 types of locust predators, including birds, amphibians, and reptiles, which play an important role in controlling locust populations.”

“Our experiments show that introducing a large number of ducks into farmland allows them to completely consume locusts in 40 hectares with just 300 ducks. In addition, spiders like orb weavers, wolf spiders, and hunting spiders can quickly locate and consume small locusts in the fields…”

“In this regard, our purple swamphens are even more capable. Just 120 birds can devour the locusts in 40 hectares within a single day…”

Wang Bo rolled his eyes at the news. Damn it, it was just like a domestic cop movie—the police always arrive after the criminals are already dealt with. If the experts had provided this data earlier, he would have mobilized the poultry and swamphens much sooner.

It wasn’t just his chickens, ducks, geese, and the overabundant purple swamphens. Sunset Town had many other insect-eating birds—wood pigeons, blue ducks, Tui birds, emus, and more. After the locust swarms appeared, these birds independently began hunting as well, adding to the effect.

Thus, a disaster was resolved.

Of course, Sunset Town still suffered. Pastures and vegetable gardens, before the arrival of the poultry and swamphens, had been ravaged by locusts, with large areas of grass eaten.

Fortunately, the Hearts of the Ranch were level three or four, so grass regrew quickly. Only part of the pasture was eaten, so the loss was not substantial.

Vegetable gardens suffered more—many crops were nibbled, making them less valuable and hard to sell at good prices.

However, these losses were acceptable. With the locust predators striking everywhere, the unlucky locusts attacking Sunset Town were nearly wiped out. The remaining ones couldn’t cause much trouble.

Smaller swarms arrived over the next few days, providing fresh food for the poultry. These days turned into a grand feast for the birds of Sunset Town.