Fifty meters underground.
Rick trailed the two meteorite sand-carrying Black Tiger Ants to the underground city's end. Before him stood a mud wall pockmarked with countless honeycomb-like holes. Ahead, the only way forward was to crawl into those holes like the ants; above, fang-like stalagmites barred any exit to the surface.
"Fuck it, better to check inside." After long hesitation, Rick steeled himself. He sneaked to the mud wall, confirmed no ants lingered in the upper holes, then clung to the uneven rocks and vaulted into a ten-meter-high cavity, agile as an ape.
Thanks to the nest's numerous air vents, the air here was fresher than in the underground city, invigorating Rick. He pressed his ear to the ground, interpreting vibrations to map nearby insect positions.
Though not yet a top-tier Insect General with extended insect senses, as a 100% compatible insect-human, his perception rivaled bugs. Lacking Moya, he relied on this to stay safe.
Two in the right tunnel, one in the left—40 meters away. Rick got his intel in an instant. He leaped up, clinging to the tunnel ceiling like a gecko, scurrying toward the left passage.
Around the bend, he spotted a giant Black Tiger Ant guarding a cave entrance—easily twice the size of the "porters" he'd seen. "Must be a soldier ant."
Soldier ants were the combat caste of Black Tiger Ants—true Demonic-class fighters, while worker ants were mere Soldier-class, a two-rank difference in combat assessment made obvious by their size.
Facing this behemoth, Rick dared not move. He held his breath, frantically recalling the Breath Concealment Technique manual he'd memorized in the library—a skill from ancient assassins, their basic art for hiding aura during missions. No doubt Shust, constantly on the run, practiced similar techniques to move freely between cities.
But Rick was cramming now, unsure of its effect—he could only gamble. Forcing focus, he ignored the ant, directing all attention to his heart, controlling his breath to slow, slowing his heartbeat in tandem.
Thanks to Shust's earlier breathing drills, Rick slipped into the zone quickly. Gradually, fear faded; his heart no longer raced with tension, nor did blood surge to his head. This signaled he'd entered the preliminary concealment state—now he needed to maintain it, acclimating his body to move in this trance.
It was a lengthy process. Clinging to the ceiling, Rick became a statue, motionless for half an hour as the guard ant remained oblivious. Then, he inched forward—yet it seemed he'd never moved at all.
This was a strange state: every movement was mechanical. He'd suppressed all aura, even his scent, moving without a sound. A stillness enveloped him, as if he existed outside the flow of air. To onlookers, he might as well have been invisible—except visually.
But Black Tiger Ants lacked vision; eons underground had degraded their eyesight to near-blindness, able to see only what their forelimbs could reach. Rick crawled above it, passing within fifty centimeters—yet the giant ant never stirred, letting him slip by unnoted.
Extreme pressure unlocks unknown potential. Normally, mastering Breath Concealment would take months, but with death looming, Rick's latent abilities exploded. In under an hour, he grasped the technique—rough around the edges, but it cracked open a door to survival.
Previously, every time Rick fought, he'd feel his blood boil. The combat instincts honed by insects over millennia let him target opponents' weak points instantly and maximize his body's potential like a bug. But fundamentally, these techniques, though powerful, weren't tailored for humans. In intense battles, the wildness in his blood often surged so strongly that he felt out of control.
This was a dangerous sign. Unlike ordinary insect hunters, he knew his insect egg hadn't undergone gene culling, retaining its primal wild genes. Moreover, he hadn't received the egg via injection gun—instead, it had flowed into his body through a wound. These two differences constantly gnawed at him, fearing he'd one day cease to be human. Since reaching Insect General rank, he felt himself turning more insect-like—not just in appearance, but internally: his increasingly abnormal physical fitness, nearly matching bugs even without transforming, sharper senses than others, and the ability to survive on minimal food and water—impossible for normal humans.
He feared complete transformation, a mental block that had stalled his progress since reaching Insect General. But mastering Breath Concealment now gave him a sense of humanity. This was a human combat technique. Though transformed, his mind stayed calm—clearer and more composed than usual. He felt total control over his body, a bizarre sensation where he could even manipulate his hair.
Lost in this strange realm, Rick scampered along the tunnel ceiling like the wind, movements silent, human aura fully suppressed. Passing Black Tiger Ants detected no life force, never noticing the enemy who'd brushed right by them. In this unimaginable way, he pierced layer upon layer of defenses, reaching the nest's core: the nursery.
Second only to the queen's chamber, the nursery had far more guard soldiers and workers. Normally, soldier ants packed the passage so tightly that not a gap showed. Slipping in unnoticed was impossible—he'd have to break through the living wall of ants.
But today, the nursery's guards had more than just Rick to deal with. From the other end of the passage came the relentless clash of hard objects. The guarding ants grew agitated, shoving toward the sounds of battle.
On the other end of the passage.
Moya and his team, who'd taken a clever route to reach here, also had no choice but to fight their way through. Half a month of cooperation had clearly honed their teamwork. When insect hunters with implanted eggs faced wild adult insects, the insects' advantage was overwhelming—a law that held anywhere in the world. Thus, Shust and Rant would struggle to take down a mature soldier ant alone, but when it came to the most cooperative creatures, humans outshone all others. Even the famously team-oriented Black Tiger Ants merely swarmed in numbers—a far cry from the strategic coordination of humans.
One insect hunter might struggle with one insect, but two hunters could handle two insects much more easily. Now, the Black Tiger Ants faced such a scenario. Though they held an absolute numerical advantage against just three enemies, the nest's narrow passages limited them—only two soldier ants could fight at a time in the tight corridor, nowhere near enough.
At the vanguard, Rant wielded his heavy shield and halberd. The Rhinoceros Beetle was renowned for its thick armor and sharp horn, and being a rank higher than Black Tiger Ants, their mandibles couldn't pierce Rant's shield. His halberd, however, easily punctured their exoskeletons. This gap was nearly insurmountable, and the frontline ants also faced Shust's sneaky spider silk. Though not lethal, the tough silk restricted their movement, leaving them tied up like rice dumplings for Rant to skewer.
Rant and Shust's synergistic advantage turned the battle into a slaughter. The fearsome Black Tiger Ants became sitting ducks, felled one by one. Moya, bringing up the rear, used his Ice Fly's freezing ability to stack and freeze the corpses, building impenetrable walls to block reinforcements.
Under this near-unstoppable tactic, the nursery guards were cut off, fated to be annihilated.
Splat! Rant's halberd pierced an ant's breastplate, and he twisted the blade, spraying insect juice across his face. "Ugh!" He spat out the foul liquid. "How many of these damned things are there? Feels like they never end!"
"Only a hundred or so—patience!" Shust shot two more silk threads, binding an ant's mandibles and forelimbs.
Rant raised his halberd, but the ant wobbled and collapsed. "Huh? Scared to death?"
"Wishful thinking—someone stabbed it in the back." Shust's eyes lit up, staring into the shadows behind the corpse.
"Could it be..." Moya abandoned his work, shoving past Shust.
"Long time no see!" A familiar voice rang out.
"Hell yeah! It's you!" Moya whooped, flinging his arms around Rick as he emerged from the shadows.
This magical reunion thrilled everyone more than a stimulant. But after the excitement, Rick's first words made Moya freeze: "Dude, why's your face covered in white fuzz? Got mold?"
"..." Moya's smile vanished as Rant and Shust doubled over laughing. "It's an Ice Fly! Just some white fuzz—you wish you had it!" Moya yelled, cursing President Nanze for the egg.
"Ice Fly? So it's an ice fly—still a fly!" Rick clapped the red-faced Moya, greeting Shust. "You look good."
"You too." Shust smirked, nodding to Rick's empty wake. "They..."
Rick paused, but Shust cut him off. "No need to explain—I get it."
"What?!" Rick realized the misunderstanding. "They're waiting outside. It's too dangerous in here."
"They... You mean Lav and Anna are both alive?" Even Rant was stunned. He couldn't fathom Rick dragging two "burdens" across the desert alone.
"Yep, both alive."
"Missing any limbs?"
"Nope—got more, hahaha..."
Seeing Rick laugh so easily, Rant relaxed. He'd prepared for the worst; Rick's survival was already a miracle, let alone the girls. And from Rick's tone, they were thriving.
Though dying to know how, they had pressing business. Chit-chat could wait.
"Hurry—before the ants react, grab some eggs and bounce!"
At Rick's word, they sprang into action, leaping over ant corpses and racing for the nursery. Along the way, dead Black Tiger Ants littered the path—Rick's handiwork. Exploiting their rear vulnerability and with the ants distracted by Moya's team, Rick had silently taken them down from behind.
With the path cleared, the four burst into the nursery in a blink. But as Rick stepped inside, massive mandibles stabbed down from above.
"Got a straggler!"
Rick's planted foot flashed up, kicking the ambushing ant's jaw and freezing its bulk mid-air. In an instant, his scythes arced, slicing the ant in two. The fluid motion drew a whistle from Shust: "Nice! You've improved."
"Learned from you."
Kicking the corpse aside, Rick stared into the nursery—and froze. "Holy... shit. That's a lot of eggs..."
Words failed him. He couldn't count the translucent, soybean-sized eggs piled like mountains.
"Must be hundreds of millions!" Moya gaped. These weren't cheap support insect eggs—they were expensive combat eggs.
"How much per egg?" Rick's first thought. He remembered his Soldier-class Scythe Insect had been priced at 10,000 gold coins in Kester City.
"Even on the black market, Worker Ant eggs go for 10,000 gold," Rant swallowed hard, "but Soldier Ant eggs... 500,000 gold is a steal!"
"Fuck! More profitable than murder!" Shust exclaimed. The figures were mind-blowing.
Staring at each other, they stood awestruck before this fortune. Rick snapped them out of it: "What are we waiting for? Load up!"
"Right! Move!"
Whooping, they charged the egg pile, stuffing pockets with laughter. A thousand eggs between them was already astronomical, but it was a drop in the bucket—barely noticeable.
Shust took the least, ever the cautious killer. While Moya stripped to stuff his clothes, Shust only filled pockets that wouldn't hinder movement—downright gentlemanly by comparison.
"Hey Shust, quit being modest! Take off your shirt—I need more space!" Moya had already tied a shirtful and was eyeing his pants next.
"Only the living spend money—dead men don't need coins." Shust lit a cigarette, glancing meaningfully at Rick.
Highly perceptive, Rick caught the implication instantly. Hesitating, he dumped several handfuls of eggs from his pants pockets, easing the bulge that had made walking difficult.
"Are you insane?!" Moya shrieked as if being skinned, watching Rick.
"Shust is right—we're still in the nest. Greed kills." Rick stepped beside Shust, both eyeing Rant.
Under their gaze, Rant coughed awkwardly, rebuttoning his unfastened coat and discarding eggs from mobility-impeding pockets. "Happy now?" he sighed, spreading his hands.
"Good. Let's move."
Rick led the way out of the nursery, Shust and Rant on his heels. Only Moya lingered, stripping to stuff his pants with eggs before staggering after them, shouldering two bulging packs.
The nursery had two exits. The tunnel Moya's team used was blocked—Black Tiger Ants couldn't breach the frozen barricade quickly, but neither could they retreat that way. Now they took Rick's entry route, a tunnel through the nest's core leading to the underground city.
Earlier, Rick had used Breath Concealment to navigate, but with four people, stealth was impossible. They had to fight their way out. Worse, their nursery raid had alerted the colony—now ants poured from every tunnel, making escape deadlier than entry.
"I'll scout ahead—follow me." Emboldened by his new technique, Rick took the lead.
Soon, he sensed a change. Earlier, though guarded, the nest lacked tension. Now, the tunnel reeked of a pungent odor—battle pheromones soldiers released to warn the colony. Stimulated by the scent, every ant in the nest grew edgy, antennae quivering to detect foreign smells.
"Shit, this just got complicated." Rick's scalp prickled at the roiling mass of ants ahead. Charging out with four people posed huge risks. And from memory, beyond this tunnel lay a vast open space—if ambushed there, Shust and Rant's teamwork would lose its edge.
"Need to break their formation before they mass!"
Without waiting for the others, Rick masked his aura completely. Moving with mechanical efficiency, he closed in on the ant horde. In battle mode, the ants' senses were heightened, and the tunnel was so crowded that a single antenna brush would expose him, no matter his skill.
Inching past two ants, Rick vanished into the insect sea. Now, quivering antennae and flailing limbs surrounded him—one slip, and his tiny form would be swallowed by the black tide.
"Let's play a game." Clinging to the ceiling, Rick released his grip, dropping like a stone onto a passing ant. Splat! His scythe pierced the ant's fragile eye, driving into its brain. The move was so stealthy he resembled a falling rock—only when the ant spewed fluids did nearby ants smell trouble.
One ant leaned in to touch the corpse with its antenna, but a scythe shot up from below, impaling its jaw.
As death scents thickened, the colony grew restless, thrashing together. The clash of carapaces thundered as giant soldiers shoved workers inward, trampling many to death.
Thanks to Rick's provocation, chaos erupted...