Chapter 9: The Mother
Su Xiao wasn’t certain yet that this little creature was an insect race mother queen, but he would soon be able to identify it.
[Comparing both parties’ intelligence attributes… Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute is 2.42 times that of the enemy. Obtained 100% of the enemy’s data.]
Data as follows:
Name: Insect Race Mother (Infant Stage)
Evolution Phase: First Rank.
Health: 46.2% (Cell Infection, Severe Starvation, Cranial Concussion, Neck Soft Tissue Contusion, Mild Carapace Damage).
Bio Energy: 20/180 points.
Strength: 15 points
Agility: 13 points
Stamina: 40 points
Intelligence: 45 points
Charm: 63 points
Skill 1, Mother (Evolution Phase: First Rank): Can cultivate Mantis Armor through cell division using the flesh and blood tissue of other organisms.
Skill 2, Insect Nest (Evolution Phase: First Rank): Can establish a small-scale insect nest using Mantis Armor. The nest contains egg-producing biological connective tissues, etc.
Skill 3, Higher Life Form (Evolution Phase: First Rank): When the ‘Bio Energy’ accumulated in the insect nest reaches its upper limit, the Mother can evolve to the Second Rank. The Mother and the insect nest will awaken new abilities, increasing the types of lower insect races that can be cultivated, etc.
…
Without a doubt, this insect race mother was very weak, weak enough that Su Xiao could crush her with a flick of his hand, but she possessed immense potential, provided she could grow.
The insect race didn’t have a concept of talent; as long as they could continue evolving, they could rapidly expand their clan. In the initial stages, their overall abilities should be roughly similar.
Moreover, by examining this insect race mother’s data and her fragmented words, Su Xiao knew that not all insect race mother insects could be called mother queens. That title was reserved for super-large insect race mothers.
The evolution from Mother to Queen, and from Queen to Mother Queen, was theoretically a very short process. However, actual evolution faced layers of hardship: obtaining resources, competition among their own kind, plundering and invasion by foreign races, etc. It was worth noting that for totem tribes, mother insects were valuable treasures. They firmly believed that by sacrificing a mother insect to their totem, the totem would grant them power.
After searching nearly the entire mountain, Su Xiao finally found an insect race mother. In truth, insect race mothers weren’t too rare. When an insect nest bred higher-level insect races, there was a certain chance of birthing a new mother insect.
The original mother queen or queen of the insect race would raise the newly born Mother for a period, then give her 10 to 20 worker insects and let her establish her own nest.
This was due to the nature of the insect race. Even though mothers would compete for resources, racial continuation took precedence over the individual. In some super-large insect nests, a mother queen nearing death would even transfer the nest to a new mother queen and allow herself to be eaten, thereby maintaining that large insect nest.
As for the little creature Su Xiao encountered, she had clearly just been driven out by her former queen to establish her own nest. But judging from her physical condition, this little one was somewhat unambitious. Forget about evolving; this disgraceful little thing was nearly starving to death.
Su Xiao took a piece of dried meat from his storage space and handed it to the prostrate little mother. The little mother shrank back. This reaction was largely due to the effect of her Charm attribute.
Perhaps because she was unbearably hungry, the little mother tentatively took the dried meat, devoured it in a few bites, and then looked at Su Xiao pitifully, as if to say, “Is there more?”
“Want more?”
“Mm.”
The little mother nodded. Her digestive ability could only be described as formidable. As soon as she swallowed the small piece of dried meat, her body absorbed the energy from the food within seconds, making her eyes brighten a little.
“Although I’m not sure if you can survive that process, you should have a name first.”
“Name? Why? Insect race doesn’t need names.”
The little mother looked at Su Xiao with confusion. Clearly, she still had basic cognition. After all, her former queen had raised her until she was independent before driving her out of the group. Because of the expulsion, she had been depressed for a long time, until she encountered a pack of hunting wolves and realized she had no one to rely on.
“No, you do. Having a name makes dying more dignified.”
“I don’t want to die. Dying turns you into part of the dirt, and dirt tastes terrible.”
“…”
Su Xiao looked at the little mother in surprise. He hadn’t expected this little thing to be so hungry she was eating dirt. In reality, the little mother had gone beyond eating dirt; she had recently become almost herbivorous, surviving for days on leaves.
Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang, signaling for the naming expert to offer a suggestion.
“Woof (Potato).”
Su Xiao didn’t accept it. He looked at Baha.
“Wrapped so tightly in carapace, why not call her Sweet Potato.”
“…”
Su Xiao turned his gaze to Amu.
“Amu, hungry.”
Amu wasn’t thinking about naming at all; he was contemplating whether the little mother was edible, and whether to roast or steam her.
“Your name is Jila. If you succeed, your clan will also be called Jila.”
Su Xiao took out a large pile of food. The little mother, Jila, didn’t care about having a name or not. She devoured the food in large mouthfuls, appeasing the hungry cells in her body.
After Jila had eaten all the food, she began to consider the second issue: how to escape.
Su Xiao took out the [Abyssal Jar] from his storage space. He grabbed Jila by the back of her neck and pressed the jar against the carapace on her chest.
Pitch-black demonic force surged into Jila’s body. Her pupils immediately turned pure black, and black patterns appeared on the outside of her carapace.
Crack, crack…
Cracks appeared on the light purple carapace. Su Xiao only stopped after injecting 10% of the demonic force from the ‘Abyssal Jar’ into Jila’s body. He then injected her with over a dozen different potions in succession.
Jila fell stiffly to the ground. Her health value plummeted, then rose, cycling continuously.
With a bang, the carapace on Jila’s arm burst open, revealing purple biological tissue. But soon, the carapace on her body surface recovered.
After about ten minutes, Jila finally climbed up from the ground. She looked somewhat dazed, but as an insect race, she wasn’t so easily corrupted.
Su Xiao took out a summon contract scroll from his storage space. The rank of this item was low; it could only bind temporary summons. A so-called temporary summon could only assist the summoner in combat within one world. When the summoner left that world, the contract would expire.
However, this was sufficient. Even if Jila could continuously evolve, her individual combat strength was pitiful. She needed to rely on lower insect races to fight. Su Xiao couldn’t afford to give her the opportunity to develop in every world.
The contract scroll shattered, and a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Hunter’s Charm attribute is too low. Contract failed.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao was not surprised. He took out a stack of temporary summon contracts from his storage space. That’s right, a whole stack. Beini had tried to resell these items a few worlds ago, and the result was obvious: they were all dead stock. Because of this, Beini had hidden under Su Xiao’s bed for a long time, feeling wronged, and even cried for a while.
Su Xiao began using the contract scrolls one by one. After using 15, perhaps due to the boost from the demonic force, the contract succeeded.
[You have obtained a temporary summon: Insect Race Mother (Infant Stage).]
Summons receive a boost from the summoner’s intelligence attribute. Su Xiao’s True Intelligence attribute, as high as 109 points, had an imaginable effect on Jila. However, due to the temporary contract, the boost effect was somewhat reduced.
As soon as the contract succeeded, Jila’s Stamina attribute reached 60 points, Intelligence 65 points, and Charm 75 points. As for her skills, for some unknown reason, they did not receive a boost.
The light in Jila’s eyes returned. She seemed to notice something and quickly retreated a few steps.
[Notification: Your summon, Insect Race Mother, has extremely low loyalty. There is a risk of contract termination at any time.]
[Current Loyalty: 8 points (May cause contract termination at any time).]
…
“If you dare to run, I’ll steam you alive, like steaming a crab.”
Su Xiao looked at Jila with a full smile.
[Notification: Your summon, Insect Race Mother’s loyalty has increased by 15 points. Current Loyalty: 23 points (May escape at any time).]