Chapter 8: Capture
Walking out of the forest, Su Xiao entered a stretch of continuous mountain ranges. Due to the lack of pollution, the clear mountains and green waters presented a captivating scenery, and the air quality was impeccable.
The wildlife in this world was generally larger in size, after all, the environment here was good and food was abundant, but the pressure to survive was considerable, with insect races as apex predators at the top of the food chain.
Su Xiao grabbed onto Baha's talons, while Amu grabbed the other one, and Bubu Wang lay on Baha's back.
"I feel like I'm bearing pressure that doesn't match my age. I've only been born for a few days."
Baha kept spouting nonsense as it spread its wings, carrying Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu into the sky.
"Roar."
A creature with wings resembling a bat flew over. This thing was at least five meters long, looking like a prehistoric pterosaur.
"Woof (Destroy it)."
"Destroy it with my mouth? I've got so many hitchhikers now. Eh, boss, I didn't mean you were a hitchhiker, you know what I mean."
"Moo!"
"Ah crap, it's coming over! Bro, we're both flying, don't you dare come closer!"
Half a minute later, Su Xiao crushed the unknown creature's skull and tossed the corpse into the jungle below.
A strange roar came from the forest below, and at the same time, a flaming spear flew over.
With a whoosh, the flame spear flew past Amu.
"Boss, let's go down and kill them."
"Keep flying."
Just as Su Xiao finished speaking, over a thousand figures burst out from the jungle below. They wore primitive fur and leather skirts, their bodies covered in fiery red patterns.
In this forest, there were conservatively tens of thousands of tribal residents. They were the rulers of this area.
After being 'seen off' by this large group of primitives, Su Xiao left the mountain region from above.
If a continent hadn't been artificially developed, the proportion of forests and grasslands would be incredibly high.
After Baha flew for two hours, it landed on a green mountain. This mountain was at least a thousand meters high, the upper half bare, while the middle and lower parts were covered in vegetation and trees.
A strong wind blew, leaves flying everywhere, trees rustling. The sky was dark and oppressive, with muffled thunder rumbling. It was about to rain.
Just moments ago, Baha had nearly been struck by lightning. Bubu Wang on Baha's back was scared half to death; the lightning bolt was less than ten meters away.
"Hey~ I haven't done anything bad, there's no way I'd get struck by lightning..."
Crack!
A crisp sound of lightning came, and Baha quickly shut up. However, it quite enjoyed the feeling of the strong wind blowing through the trees and the whole world darkening around it.
The reason Su Xiao had Baha land here was because he had found a small insect nest nearby using the Apostle's Eye.
Su Xiao looked between a few trees. There was a four-meter-high, five-meter-diameter round mound. This mound had large veins protruding from it, and three worker insects, a cross between a mantis and a scorpion, were guarding the front of the nest.
Compared to the nearly hundred-meter-high insect nest Bubu Wang had photographed, this nest wasn't even a little brother; it was at most a great-grandson level.
Su Xiao seriously doubted whether there was even an insect queen here. Maybe a few worker insects got separated from the main force and just set up camp here.
"Amu, it's yours."
"Moo."
Amu, carrying its Frost Warhammer, stepped forward. As soon as it got near the nest, the three worker insects let out hissing roars.
After a brief fight, Amu tore the insect nest in two. Inside was only a pile of bloody fresh meat, with no insect queen in sight.
Clearly, the insect queen was a relatively rare creature. Su Xiao wasn't disappointed. Finding the World Core wouldn't be easy. Before either side found that thing, the likelihood of another battle was very low.
Su Xiao formed one team, Bubu Wang another, and Amu with Baha a third, and they began searching the mountain forest for insect nests.
Walking through large patches of vines, Su Xiao occasionally checked the war channel to make sure he wouldn't be unaware of any changes.
Cold raindrops fell on Su Xiao's face. Within a few minutes, a torrential downpour fell from the sky.
In the heavy rain, Su Xiao hadn't walked far before stopping. Ahead appeared a massive creature. It looked like a rhinoceros, but it had three vertical sharp horns on its head and a T-shaped bone plate in front of its mouth. Its enormous size made an elephant look like it wasn't even as tall as its leg.
The unknown creature also sensed Su Xiao. It let out a low growl, turned around, and fled. Its panicked demeanor was a far cry from its nearly thirty-ton weight and the large trees it easily knocked down.
Su Xiao frowned, glancing at his Charm attribute. This attribute was already low enough to affect animals' senses. That huge creature just now was probably a very docile herbivore.
After nearly two hours of searching, Su Xiao found over a dozen insect nests. The tallest of these nests was nearly ten meters, but they were all full of worker insects. It seemed some nest had been destroyed, and the homeless worker insects had gathered in small groups, waiting for death. Without a queen, the nest's demise was only a matter of time.
Su Xiao destroyed over a dozen nests in a row. Not only was there no insect queen, but apart from worker insects, he hadn't seen any other type of insect race.
The rain grew heavier and heavier. Soon, it might trigger a flash flood.
Fortunately, Baha brought good news from its side. It had found a suspicious insect nest. Sometimes, being able to fly really lets you do whatever you want.
Su Xiao headed towards Baha's location. It was in the middle section of the mountain peak. After arriving, Su Xiao found this area relatively flat, a mix of soil and rock. Continuing up about a hundred meters, there was bare rock mountain.
Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha were crouching in the grass. As soon as Su Xiao arrived, Bubu Wang bit his pant leg, signaling him to get into the grass too.
"Is this the nest you found?"
Su Xiao looked at Baha. Baha winked at him, meaning there was a surprise.
The reason Bubu Wang pulled Su Xiao into the grass wasn't danger, but fear that Su Xiao would scare off the insect race not far away.
This was a small green mound less than three meters tall. Compared to the last nest, this one was smaller, but the veins on it were noticeably finer and seemed to be pulsating.
They used the same method as before. Amu took a few swings to deal with two worker insects. Just as it was about to tear open the nest, a small figure darted out from inside and ran straight towards Su Xiao.
As the saying goes, there are roads in heaven you don't take, and no doors in hell you come crashing through. Baha shot out from the grass, letting out a loud roar:
"DEMACIA!"
Heaven knows why Baha shouted that. It spread its wings and pinned the small figure to the ground with one claw. This humanoid creature, covered in light purple chitin, clawed and bit at Baha, but it was useless.
Su Xiao stepped forward and grabbed the humanoid creature's head. It had two very thin antennae on its head, its body had distinct light purple chitin lines, and its fingertips had sharp claws.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The Void Tree provided language ability, but Su Xiao wasn't sure if it was universal for the insect race.
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the struggling humanoid creature swiped at him, only to have Baha smack it on the head with a wing.
This little thing was less than a meter tall. Su Xiao stood it up and let go. The humanoid creature wobbled a few times and plopped down on its butt, clearly dazed from the hit.
"Looks like it can't understand. And it doesn't seem like an insect queen. Amu, dispose of it."
Amu, carrying the Frost Warhammer, stepped forward.
"No... don't."
The humanoid creature made a strange sound, but Su Xiao could understand the meaning it expressed. This should be the effect of Universal Language Lv.50.
"I just want to reproduce. Mighty being, can you let me go?"
The humanoid creature prostrated itself on the ground. Its survival instinct told it that it wasn't strong enough yet, so it had to beg for mercy to live.
"Reproduce..."
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. He pressed one hand on the chitin on top of the humanoid creature's head.
"How many... do you want to reproduce?"
Su Xiao's smile was very gentle, but the humanoid creature felt a chill run through its body. Even when the queen in its former nest was about to banish it, it hadn't felt this kind of fear.