How could I be so stupid? Walking in here with just the two of us.
Chen Guang's thoughts were scattered, messy, and frantic.
"Human…"
The voice shook the whole place.
Trees thrashed wildly around him.
Before he could even turn, a massive hand shot out of the darkness, clamped around his throat, and ripped him off the ground like he weighed nothing.
"Surprising… you managed… to kill… my servant."
The creature's eyes flicked to the Goblin King's corpse.
Hot, foul breath washed over Chen Guang's face.
His thoughts fractured, like glass under too much pressure.
"I didn't—"
Chen Guang's body locked up. He kicked uselessly in the air, panic flooding his veins.
The Emperor Goblin leaned in.
Its mouth opened wide, rows of jagged teeth slick with blood.
The stench hit him a heartbeat later—thick, rotten, unbearable.
Sweat burst across his back.
There's got to be a way out.
His brain kicked into overdrive. Fear didn't matter anymore—only survival.
Closer. The monster's mouth kept coming. One bite. That's all it would take.
Ling… I broke my promise.
His eyes burned.
He saw his little sister lying in that hospital bed.
The image crushed his chest. For a moment, he couldn't breathe at all.
"You…"
The monster froze. Then, without warning, it threw him to the ground. Pain exploded through his body, his bones protesting with sharp cracks.
"You… smell… like something… that shouldn't… exist…"
It roared and stomped in rage, the trees trembling under its weight.
Chen Guang sucked in air, coughing so hard his throat felt raw.
Is it… scared?
He stared at the Emperor Goblin. It looked unsettled. Maybe even afraid.
He didn't wait.
With the last scrap of strength in his body, Chen Guang grabbed Mimi off the ground and bolted into the woods.
"Human… stop... running!"
The creature's roar thundered behind him, huge and furious.
Chen Guang's ears rang, blood dripped from his nose, but he didn't stop.
He just ran. He ran until the monster's voice faded away.
Splash. Splash.
"This should be far enough," he muttered, breathless.
He set Mimi down on a flat rock. The waterfall he'd washed at earlier thundered quietly nearby.
Everything hurt—every inch.
It felt like he'd been stabbed with a thousand needles.
His bones throbbed. His hands shook as he scooped up water and splashed his face.
That was close. Way too close.
A crooked, bitter smile tugged at his lips. Tears came again, uninvited.
"Ling, I made it. I'm still here!"
He screamed it at the waterfall.
He couldn't hold it in anymore.
Fear, anger, relief—it all spilled out at once.
He doubled over, clawing at the wet earth.
His teeth bit into his lip until he tasted blood.
For a moment, only the sound of the waterfall filled the forest.
*****
"I hope she's okay."
He looked at Mimi.
She lay there, breathing slow and steady, completely calm.
"How is she not hurt at all?"
He couldn't believe it.
He looked like he'd been chewed up and spit out, a mess of blood and grime, and she—she looked like she'd just wandered in from a walk in the park and fallen asleep.
"Your Majesty!!!"
A familiar voice snapped him back.
"You're alive? Good!"
Chen Guang spun around.
A genuine smile spread across his face. It felt strange—like seeing an old friend after years apart.
"Why are you all the way over there?"
The ants were clustered almost ten meters away.
"We can't come closer."
"That girl… she's giving off pressure."
"We feel crushed… It's terrifying."
The voices overlapped, buzzing in his ears.
Who is this girl, really?
Still frowning, Chen Guang walked over to the ants and sat down, palm open.
"Your Majesty, we found something behind the waterfall."
"It's huge, and its scent is familiar."
The ants buzzed louder, excitement in their voices.
He glanced back at Mimi. She hadn't moved. Still asleep.
"No more food…" she mumbled, eyes shut.
"She's even dreaming," he muttered. "Must be nice."
He gave a tired, crooked smile, then gently lifted Mimi onto his back.
"Show the way."
*****
"What's all that noise?"
A man in a black suit stormed into a control room packed with monitors and tangled cables, still clutching a steaming cup of coffee.
"Sir, there's an E-rank Portal—"
"It's just E-rank! Why are you freaking out like it's the apocalypse?"
He cut the report off, his voice sharp.
"But the energy—it's spiking hard. It's already at B-rank."
Another voice jumped in, fingers pounding the keyboard, the tension thick enough to taste.
Suddenly, the alarm screamed through the control room. The color drained from everyone's faces.
"What? Where is it?"
The man spun toward the monitor, coffee slipping from his hand and smashing on the floor.
"Coordinates are up, but we can't pin it down. The area is distorting," someone called out, voice tight.
"Who went in?" His face twisted, hands shaking.
"Two people. Special Permit No. XXXXXX."
"Get B-rank or higher Vanguard units on this—now!"
He dropped into a chair, white-knuckled and sweating, staring at nothing.
*****
"It's dark and damp in here."
Chen Guang ran his hand along the rough cave wall, his other arm holding Mimi up.
She wasn't all that heavy.
Just pretend you're lugging a suitcase.
His eyes adjusted, shapes slowly emerging from the black.
"Your Majesty, we're almost there. Just behind that crack."
"That? How am I supposed to squeeze through something like that?"
He squinted at a gap barely wider than his fist, then spotted a yellow trail leading through.
"What's on the other side? How do I even get there?"
"Your Majesty, we don't know. But it's big."
"And the smell... It's familiar."
"Just crawl through, Your Majesty."
The ants wouldn't stop chattering.
Chen Guang groaned, propped Mimi against the wall, and started pacing, searching for some solution.
"There's got to be a way... maybe..."
He suddenly swung a fist at the rock. The shock rattled up his arm.
Are you stupid?
A voice echoed in his head.
"Yeah, no. This rock's way too tough."
He shook out his hand, wincing.
[COMPATIBLE GENE CODE DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDATION: COLLECT]
A system message flashed across his vision. He flinched.
"Compatible gene code? Where?"
He already had a suspicion.
[ON THE OTHER SIDE]
An arrow blinked on the interface, right where the ants had been poking around.
"Thought so. Problem is, how do I get there?"
He stared at the wall, lost in thought.
[SYSTEM SUGGESTION: NO PAIN, NO GAIN]
Chen Guang stared at it, dumbfounded.
"That's your suggestion?!"
"Wait—there's something new."
He yanked open the interface.
Next to [MISSIONS], a fresh tab: [SKILLS].
He tapped it.
[SKILLS]
[CURRENT SKILL LIST]
[STRENGTH OF THE FORMICIDAE]
[MONARCH PHEROMONE]
"Pheromone, sure, I get that one. But what's Strength of the Formicidae?"
He poked the skill. Instantly, information flooded his mind.
[STRENGTH OF THE FORMICIDAE]
[EFFECT: MULTIPLIES THE HOST'S PHYSICAL STRENGTH BY 10]
[BASE STRENGTH VALUE: 0.35]
[CURRENT STRENGTH VALUE: 3.5]
"Wait, what's this 'base strength value'?"
He tapped the number.
[BASE STRENGTH VALUE: AN EVALUATION OF THE HOST'S PERSONAL STRENGTH, CALCULATED BASED ON THE AVERAGE HUMAN STANDARD]
"So my normal strength is just 0.35?"
[AVERAGE HUMAN STRENGTH VALUE: 1]
"I used to be that weak?"
Shock washed over him.
He fell quiet.
Then glanced at the stubborn wall.
No pain, no gain.
He stepped back.
Then, all at once, he slammed his shoulder into the rock.
Crack.
Pain exploded through his body. Chen Guang bit down, staggered back, then hurled himself at the wall again.
Bones grated. His shoulder twisted with a sickening pop.
"Your Majesty, stop!"
"You'll hurt yourself!"
The ants sounded desperate.
"Shut up!!"
He roared, throwing himself at the wall again.
Blood trickled down his arm. The pain was blinding.
Again.
And again.
Time lost all meaning.
But finally—
Cracks snaked across the rock.
The wall began to give way.
Rumble… Rumble…
Crash… Crash…
The stone wall collapsed.
Pain slammed into Chen Guang as he tumbled with the falling debris.
Darkness started swallowing his vision.
"So this is it..."
Blood ran down from his forehead, pooling on the ground.
His voice sounded rough, barely there.
Every part of him hung limp, like he was a puppet with its strings cut.
"Your Majesty!"
"Right up ahead!"
"There! Look at that—huge, and familiar!"
The ants' voices buzzed, full of excitement.
Chen Guang dragged up what little strength he had left and looked toward the commotion.
Something massive waited in the center of the cavern.
A shaft of light poured down from above, catching dust and gravel as they drifted through the air.
"An… ant?"
Chen Guang's jaw dropped.
Right there stood a massive creature—unmistakably an ant.
It didn't move, but it radiated a heavy, inescapable authority.
A chill shot through Chen Guang, goosebumps prickling along his arms.
Why does it feel so familiar?
A strange ache welled up, bittersweet, like meeting an old friend he lost a lifetime ago.
Tears slid down his face before he even noticed.
[COMPATIBLE GENE CODE DETECTED]
[SUGGESTION: COLLECT]
The system's voice chimed in again.
This time, Chen Guang knew, this was what the system meant all along.
"But how am I supposed to collect it?"
[SUGGESTION: DEVOUR]
That hit like a death sentence.
His brain instantly replayed those nightmares—ants crawling into his mouth, squirming down his throat.
The memory alone made him want to retch.
"Devour that thing? Are you out of your mind?!"
Panic cut through all his remaining willpower.
The ant's body was at least twenty times bigger than his own.
And it was still almost perfectly intact.
Alive, it must have been terrifying.
He couldn't help but respect it a little, even now.
But eat it? He'd explode before he even got halfway.
[GENE CODE CONFIRMED: FULLY COMPATIBLE]
[SUGGESTION: DEVOUR A PORTION]
Thank God.
"Take as much as you can and bring it here."
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
The ants swarmed the giant corpse, tearing off chunks of flesh.
They're so tiny. Can they even manage that?
Chen Guang couldn't move a muscle.
His brain was the only thing still working.
After a while, a pile of sticky, slimy meat appeared in front of him.
Disgusting.
No point whining about it.
He steeled himself and sucked in a breath.
"Feed it to me. Now!"
"As you command, Your Majesty."
The ants hustled around, dropping chunks of meat into his mouth.
His teeth sank into the cold flesh.
It was foul and rotten, mushy like mud.
The stench was like something that had decayed for centuries, rushing straight into his brain.
Chen Guang gagged and vomited violently.
Slime coated his mouth and burned his throat.
His whole body rebelled, shaking as if it would rather die than swallow.
But he forced himself to ignore it.
He pushed past the pain, past the disgust.
Like a starving animal, Chen Guang choked down the meat.
[NEW GENE CODE COLLECTED]
[ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS]
Just as both his body and mind reached their absolute limit, the system notification appeared like salvation.
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[APPLYING GENE TEMPLATE: ARMY ANT]
[BODY RESTRUCTURING IN PROGRESS]
That dry, metallic voice filled his mind again.
"IT HURTS!!!"
A violent force twisted his body.
Chen Guang screamed, his jaw clenching so hard his teeth almost cracked.
Bones snapped and popped, their sound mixing with his screams—forming a song of pure agony.
His skin peeled away under the dim light, exposing tangled muscle beneath.
He looked like a man being flayed alive.
"AAAARGGGHHHH!!!"
Flesh and blood twisted together, the sharp scent of metal and earth filling the air.
His muscles tore apart, then fused again.
Bones shattered and rebuilt themselves in an instant.
Skin crawled back over him at a terrifying pace, as if something was stitching a new body onto his frame.
The blood on the ground stopped spreading—then, impossibly, started flowing back into him, as if time itself was rewinding.
"GRRRRHHHH!!!"
Chen Guang dug his fists into the dirt, squeezing out every last bit of strength he had.
His face, finally healed, no longer showed the nightmare of bare eyeballs.
But his entire body burned, like someone had tossed him straight into a furnace.
Sweat poured down his skin, splattering onto the ground.
[BODY RESTRUCTURING COMPLETE]
[PASSIVE SKILL ACQUIRED: EXOSKELETON]
[SKILL EFFECT: BOOSTS HARDNESS AND TOUGHNESS OF ALL ORGANS]
That metallic voice faded away.
Chen Guang collapsed.
He squeezed his eyes shut, desperate for air.
His thoughts scattered like broken glass.
His skin had turned darker, a faint metallic sheen glinting under the dim light.
"No pain… no gain… of course..."
That was all he managed to whisper before everything went black.
The ground where he collapsed had caved in, leaving behind a massive crater.
For a moment, the forest fell silent.
From the edge of the woods, something enormous stepped out—a hulking, blood-red beast.
Every step it took shattered trees into splinters.
Its eyes burned with a cold, merciless light.
One glance from those eyes felt enough to make even death hesitate.
The creature sniffed the air slowly.
"I smell… danger…"
"Nearby..."
A low rumble rolled in its throat.
"It must be… eliminated…"