At the treetop,
the spider webs that served as 'door curtains' and 'warning lines' parted one by one at Bai Jie's will, clearing space for Wang Miaoyin to enter.
At the same time, over a dozen translucent threads imbued with mysterious laws converged, weaving into a silk ribbon that covered Wang Miaoyin's soul-stirring beautiful eyes, wrapping around her head into a snow-white blindfold.
This way, although Wang Miaoyin had entered the entrance of the spider's nest, she could not see the spider or the nest itself.
"Hah..."
Bai Jie heard Wang Miaoyin's breathing quicken slightly. Her snow-white skin flushed with an intoxicating rosy hue, fine crystalline droplets beading across her forehead, fragrant sweat dripping down. Shame and nervousness were written plainly across her face.
Suddenly, Wang Miaoyin felt the spider silk around her waist transmitting an irresistible force, dragging her deeper into the darkness of the nest.
And on the nape of her back, a trace of chilling cold intruded—clearly, some demonic danger was gradually drawing closer.
She also smelled a delicate fragrance floating softly in the air, like the scent of orchids—elegant and rich, yet mind-numbing, like a hallucinogenic and addictive drug.
With her vision blocked, her senses of smell and sixth sense seemed amplified several times over. The danger and the exotic fragrance were both far too intense, nearly driving her to faint.
Time crawled by excruciatingly slowly—every second felt like an entire century...
How the seductive young woman wished this suffocating sensation could end as quickly as possible—yet also hoped it would never happen at all...
"Hah... sss..."
The girl's breathing grew more chaotic and frequent.
In this instant, she perceived that there was an enormous spider sprawled at the core of the web, emanating a deadly and dangerous aura, luring her closer.
No—calling it 'luring' wasn't quite right. It was hunting.
And she was the pitiful prey.
Any resistance of hers, any ability—before such an anomaly existence—seemed as fragile as child's play.
Rustle... rustle...
Fine hairs stood on end across her pink-glossed, lustrous skin, because two forelegs tipped with blades, along with pedipalps, had gently rested upon Wang Miaoyin's snowy shoulders.
The girl's breath came to an abrupt halt. Her reason nearly collapsed in that single moment.
Cold, hard exoskeleton. Sharp, venomous points. Soft and fine hairs. A massive, oppressively large body reared up and pressed fully against Wang Miaoyin's neck and collarbone.
This dangerous, abnormal, and deeply chilling sensation pierced all the way into her very soul, making her tremble uncontrollably, on the verge of losing control.
The enormous spider body half-leaned against Wang Miaoyin's jade-like back—its weight not heavy, yet pressing down so hard she could scarcely breathe.
"Lord... Lord Bai Zhi..."
She seemed to have already envisioned it—those two massive fangs would abruptly elongate, then ruthlessly stab into her flesh, greedily draining her life in great gulps.
Tssk!
A sharp pain stabbed through her shoulder and neck.
In that instant, the heavens spun, the universe blazed with color, Wang Miaoyin's consciousness exploded like fireworks. Her soul simultaneously experienced spasms of ultimate ecstasy and agony of extreme torment, then fell into the blackest of nights.
In her daze, she dreamed: beneath a dazzling starry sky, a beautiful pink-purple aurora shimmered, and a strange, demonic blood moon hung high above...
The demon spider's skill—Bite, had been activated.
...
After an unknown length of time passed, as profound spiritual essence surged into the spider's body, a familiar mechanical notification suddenly rang out within its consciousness:
Ding! The long-absent system notification chimed:
[Evolution conditions met. Evolution commencing]
An overwhelming tide of deep, heavy drowsiness came crashing in, more intensely than ever before!
Forcing the last of its waning consciousness to bind the unconscious Wang Miaoyin and toss her down from the nest, it commanded Lin Binbin to look after her.
As Bai Jie sank into slumber, it sensed the three little blue-violet spiderlings all gathering at its feet, emitting emotions of either nervousness or joy.
It told the three little ones not to run around and to stay by its side before finally relaxing into sleep.
...
Yongan City, Gaia Technology Co. Branch Office.
Chen Zhang had been here for three days now. He had long since completed the onboarding formalities and was currently in the probationary period.
During probation, he not only needed to understand the processes, classifications, and key technologies related to human cybernetic modification experiments—assisting with experiments, deriving and analyzing relevant data—but also had to undergo special training in preparation for the formal assessment about three months later.
Once the assessment was passed, a comprehensive score along with mutual input from both sides would determine whether Chen Zhang would go to the headquarters or remain at the branch.
Although he no longer had to attend classes, the life here was far less comfortable than university. His days were packed full with study, experiments, and training.
For this, Chen Zhang felt fulfilled—and safe. At least he no longer had to worry about running into those anomaly incidents on campus.
He also hoped to sooner acquire abilities beyond those of ordinary people—like Liu Wei had—so he could protect the people who held significance to him.
"Chen Zhang, Minister Liu is looking for you." A colleague came up beside him and notified him.
Liu Wei? What does he want?
Chen Zhang set down the instrument in his hands and left the lab, heading toward the innermost office area of the floor.
Liu Wei was the Deputy Minister of Gaia Technology's Security Department—something Chen Zhang only discovered after arriving. He never expected that despite appearing to be under thirty, Liu Wei had already climbed to such a high position.
Gaia Technology had branch offices in over a dozen cities across the Federation. The top position in each branch's security department held the title of Deputy Minister. As for the Security Department's full Minister, that was the person who oversaw the security departments of all branches.
So, Liu Wei was not only Gaia Technology's top security officer in Yongan City, but also Chen Zhang's highest superior.
"Brother Wei, is there something you needed me for?"
Chen Zhang knocked on the door, then entered the minister's office.
At that moment, Liu Wei was frowning at his computer, occasionally pounding the keyboard angrily. "Just a moment—I'm gaming."
Chen Zhang: "..."
Chen Zhang still couldn't figure out how this man had ever made Deputy Minister.
"Ugh, what the hell is this teammate doing!"
"I'm gonna backhand you with an iron lump!"
"Insolence! Protect the emperor!"
"At the limit!"
The muscles in Chen Zhang's eyebrows twitched, and several black lines dropped down: "..."
"I'm done! Even a dog wouldn't play this game!"
Minister Liu indignantly rose to his feet, grabbed his keyboard, and executed a shoulder throw.
Crash!
Black parts scattered through the air.
"Ahem... Chen Zhang, sorry to keep you waiting."
Liu Wei straightened his attire, sat upright in his chair, looking slightly embarrassed.
"..." Chen Zhang used every ounce of his strength to keep his facial expression from twisting into something bizarre.
Just then, the door automatically opened, and a robot walked in. It poured Chen Zhang a cup of coffee, then left.
"The reason I called you here... is about something very important." Liu Wei's tone suddenly turned serious as he spoke slowly.
"Bai Jie—this name is not unfamiliar to you, I take it?"
Chen Zhang's pupils contracted imperceptibly. His heart tightened at once.