After what seemed to be an eternity, a disoriented soul had woken up from its momentary slumber.
Shen slowly awakened from the muddy darkness that had rendered him unconscious. Where before he had been merely a cloud of thoughts—some type of fragmented soul drifting aimlessly—he now felt his own force had grown considerably stronger. Like an athlete who had trained and strengthened their body could feel the differences in power, so could he sense his newfound capabilities.
He quickly remembered his plan to collide with the mosquito-like creature. Looking around himself, he could no longer find it anywhere. This brought a smile of satisfaction to his non-existent face as he realized his gambit had worked perfectly.
For some inexplicable reason, a subconscious suggestion had told him to "infect" the mosquito by making contact with it. And now, having acquired an actual physical form, Shen discovered he could finally move around! He could smell, touch, and use all the other senses that the insect possessed—senses he had long been denied. Shen suspected he could even taste, though he didn't dare try given his current disgusting environment.
Examining his new body, Shen found that he appeared even larger than when the mosquito-like insect had first approached him. He noticed almost microscopic growths sprouting from his form—features that definitely hadn't been present before.
'This must be the result of some mutation that occurred when my consciousness merged with the mosquito. But how could something that didn't even physically exist interact with and possess a living being?'
Shen pondered this question until his mind wandered to the strange sensations he had experienced twice before: the second time when he had somehow possessed the bug, and the first time when...
Just as he tried to recall what had caused those initial odd assaults on his being, a realization struck him. He must have made contact with something without even knowing it!
'The organism I touched must have been some cluster of bacteria or germs! That's probably why I couldn't move around earlier but still retained my omnidirectional vision and hearing without any additional senses.'
In some strange way, it all began to make sense to Shen.
Taking the insect equivalent of a deep breath to calm himself, he contemplated why he was able to take over different creatures. Not particularly concerned with the "why," he simply chalked it up to some transmigration bonus power.
Shen began swimming through the contaminated waters, searching for an exit from this biohazard zone. Though he gave his all in his mosquito body, his pace was slower than a turtle's—taking him minutes to move even a single foot. While dodging debris in the sludge, Shen considered more efficient methods of travel.
Knowing he was only a tiny insect in the grand scheme of things—literally—he wanted to develop actual ways to defend himself should a predator appear.
'There must be some way for me to infect more than one organism at a time. Since I'm technically not limited by having a singular brain, I should be able to control multiple hosts simultaneously. Change of plans! Time to look for more life forms instead of escaping this place.'
Though Shen preferred not to take up permanent residence here, he knew all too well how easily a bug could be killed, and he had no intention of dying again anytime soon.
However, even after hours had passed, Shen still couldn't find any other living creatures swimming through the water—only chunks of debris floating aimlessly. But observing these objects gave him another idea.
Assuming this place was teeming with bacteria and germs, probably clinging to the solids in the water, Shen decided to attempt contact with all the microorganisms attached to the nearest piece of trash.
Approaching what looked like a amalgamated mass of cloth, waste, and algae, Shen took a deep breath and rushed into the mound of filth. Upon contact, however, nothing happened. So he decided to push his tiny mosquito body to its limits and began burrowing through.
Considering the insect's mutation and the fact that its body was strong enough to survive being infected by Shen's consciousness in the first place, he was able to chew and dig relatively easily, with the water even providing some assistance.
Through repetitive actions of biting, chewing, spitting out, and pushing forward, Shen reached what he assumed was the center. By now, his tiny body was thoroughly exhausted, physically strained from dealing with the burden of housing Shen's consciousness.
He then quickly attempted to infect the surrounding germs and bacteria, but had no success. He tried several more times but was met with the same disappointing result.
Finally, his host—the mosquito—had mutated beyond its limits and could no longer handle the strain. Shen's consciousness was forcefully ejected from the dying insect's body, and he found himself back in his dark state where all senses were blocked except for his thoughts.
'Damn it! This insect could only last a few hours before dying?'
Furious yet powerless in his current situation, Shen stopped struggling and once again resigned himself to existing with only his thoughts for company, for the meantime.
Meanwhile, in the physical world, the mosquito's body—having died from both strain and bacterial infection—somehow caused the surrounding bacteria to undergo the same type of mutation it had experienced. Dark green and yellow spores began spreading from the insect's corpse to the germs and bacteria around it, slowly taking them over.
In his consciousness, Shen felt that familiar buzzing and numbing sensation and knew his original plan had somehow succeeded!
The mutated bacteria and germs from the mosquito's body had already infiltrated at least thirty percent of the trash compound and were rapidly multiplying.
Thrilled he had yet another shot in this new life, Shen patiently awaited his next awakening to the world, unaware the filth around him would become his first kingdom.
And so it began.