Volume Two: A Race Against Death in the Northern Boundary - Butterfly

"--Hey! Alba! Stop right there!"

Following the trail to a deserted path, Ally finally saw that familiar yet hateful tall, thin figure.

Alba swayed slightly and stopped.

"What's wrong, Ally?"

The voice was completely flat, devoid of any emotion.

"And then you asked me—what were you doing, sneaking around outside the ward like that!"

"Hospitals are public places, why can't I go there?"

"Ugh... that's not the point! Someone like you going to see Amy and the others, you must be up to something!"

Alba frowned slightly and opened his mouth slightly, but ultimately said nothing.

"You murdered my father, brought the convoy to this state, and forced Ailin and me to struggle on... How many more people will you cause to suffer?!"

"..."

Alba's face showed displeasure, but it quickly returned to its icy expression, with a hint of malevolence in his eyes.

"So what if you cause others misfortune?"

"Varied--"

"Happiness and unhappiness are ultimately relative. Everyone has their own happiness, but happiness is not like air, which is everywhere and inexhaustible, but rather a mineral that will eventually be depleted. If others have more, I will naturally have less. Faced with this situation, what would you choose?"

What are you saying...?

"Don't you understand? It means—I am very happy now! Because of the misfortunes that keep happening around me, the happiness that should have been theirs has been taken by me! Thanks to this, I now have status, position, and wealth! All of this was unattainable for me back when I was still doing hard labor for your arrogant old man!"

"You... bastard!"

Enraged, Ally picked up a pebble, quickly added Jet Point to it, and aimed it at Alba's chest.

"Too slow!"

Before she could even launch it, a strong hand grabbed her wrist, twisted it gently, and the pebble rolled to the ground.

"Idiot, you don't understand combat at all!"

With a sudden exertion of force, Ally was pushed forward and nearly fell to the ground.

"Don't try to use force, it's too ugly. All you can do is drive."

So--

"If you're not satisfied, if you want revenge for your idiotic father, then use your driving skills to defeat me in Stage 4!"

After leaving those words behind, Alba turned and left, never looking back.

Ally just stared blankly at his back.

If you're not satisfied, if you want revenge for your idiotic father, then use your driving skills to defeat me in Stage 4!

These words echoed in her ears like thunder.

The words, though spoken by an enemy, dispelled all the gloom caused by Emilia's forced withdrawal from the competition.

Yes... there's no time for unnecessary worries. My goal is simply to achieve revenge and rebuild the racing team.

Ultimately, there's only one thing to do.

With a bang, the ward door was pushed open forcefully. I was startled while peeling fruit and quickly looked at the person who came in. It turned out to be Ally, who had inexplicably run out earlier.

But she is a completely different person now compared to just a few minutes ago.

"Everyone!!!"

Hands on hips, legs straddling, head held high and chest out—she seemed to have returned to the time when I first joined the team, that brave, fearless, and unwavering girl.

She was just a moment ago looking dejected and crying, so what happened in the last few minutes to change her mood so drastically?

"Do you remember what I told you before the competition started?"

"You mean... your purpose for participating?"

"That's right!"

A piercing gaze shot over us, sweeping over Ailin, me, and Givinia in turn.

"I have two purposes for participating: first, to revive the team's former glory, and second..."

She took a deep breath and announced at the top of her lungs—

"We must get our best results and avenge that bastard!"

That night--

In my room, I lay on my bed, reflecting on everything that had happened since the start of the competition.

World Crystal Tree, Crystal Realm Fruit, ancient people, relics, bonus points, organization.

The individual clues, when pieced together, gradually converged into a clear line.

The World Crystal Tree was worshipped as a deity by our ancestors. However, as time passed, this worship was gradually buried in the dust of history and lost to history. As time progressed, our ancient ancestors multiplied generation after generation, no longer confined to the isolated northern border center, but gradually merging with the outside world, eventually flowing into the ocean of countless ethnic groups and ceasing to exist.

But what about the World Crystal Tree?

A divine Divine Item growing in the heart of the Northern Realm must possess earth-shattering power. Yet, despite countless explorers venturing into the Northern Realm over the years, only legends of ordinary Crystal Tree, King Crystal Tree, and Crystal Emperor Tree circulate, while the existence of the World Crystal Tree remains virtually unknown. Why is this?

Perhaps it was hidden away by our ancestors...

Huang Huo once said that whenever the World Crystal Tree bears Crystal Realm Fruit, it will always produce two at once. One will remain, while the other will explode, causing the entire area within a thousand miles to crystallize. This terrifying destructive power is no different from a natural disaster—that is to say, the World Crystal Tree is both a deity worshipped by the ancients and an invincible natural disaster that slaughters living beings.

Since they were carrying such a time bomb, the early inhabitants would naturally have prepared some measures to suppress the tyrannical nature of the World Crystal Tree.

And those measures—

"I'm afraid it's those so-called 'bonus points'."

To obtain the Crystal Realm Fruit, the organization must first eliminate the suppression measures implemented by the ancient inhabitants, allowing the World Crystal Tree to reappear. They will then disguise these 'measures' as bonus points, using the competition participants to search for them, while they reap the benefits...

That's absolutely brilliant! Whoever came up with this wicked idea must be either a genius or a madman.

In any case, we must be fully prepared to defend against any potential dangers.

I moved my limbs, feeling the blood rushing through my veins. After absorbing the Blood Energy of the Third Hand, my injuries healed quickly. My battered left hand was completely healed, the hole in my side closed up, and my lost kidney grew back. Although the Third Hand was ugly, it was indeed a great tonic. Now I am in better condition than ever before.

"Then hurry up and go to sleep, tomorrow is the final battle -- hmm?"

My body suddenly stiffened, and a strange sensation spread through me, its source seemingly... my abdomen?

No, not the abdomen! It's located even lower, roughly in the middle of the pelvic cavity, almost like—

"... Uterus?"

Hey, hey, no way... Could it be my period? I've been in this other world for months and I've never had my period before! I haven't even used a sanitary napkin!

I felt a wet and hot sensation in my lower body, and I quickly stripped off all my clothes. Then, in the dim light of the desk lamp, I discovered that my once pristine white panties were stained with blood!

Looking further down—it wasn't just the panties, but most of the sheets were soaked in blood, and blood was still dripping from between her legs! Although I don't know much about menstruation, normal menstrual bleeding would never be this heavy!

This... is definitely not menstruation!

"Ouch... it hurts!"

It was only then that I felt the contractions in my uterus, and once I felt them, they were uncontrollable! The pain spread like wildfire, as if someone was violently stirring something in my abdomen with an iron rod—it was excruciating! I clutched my lower abdomen, the intense pain causing me to convulse uncontrollably on the bed. Several times I wanted to scream, but I forced myself to hold it in. Something inside my abdomen—or more accurately, in my uterus—was moving incessantly, seemingly frantically searching for a way out!

This feeling, this excruciating pain, only reminds me of one thing.

Childbirth.

"Uh... um... sob sob!"

With a thud, I fell heavily off the bed. A large amount of blood gushed from my lower body, soaking my clothes and spreading across the carpet. As far as I know, even childbirth wouldn't result in this much bleeding; otherwise, the pregnant woman and her unborn child would have died!

In the midst of hellish pain, time ticked by, and I gritted my teeth, enduring the agony. To my horror, I discovered that as time passed, a distinct foreign sensation moved from my lower abdomen to my groin, as if a fetus were truly about to be born! However, when I looked down at my lower body, despite the excruciating pain, there was no sign of stretching at the entrance, not even a bulge in my abdomen. In other words, there was no 'fetus' inside me, yet the throbbing pain was undeniably real... What was happening!?

After at least two hours, the pain suddenly reached its climax. A violent tearing sensation pierced through my lower body—although there was nothing outwardly abnormal—I had a final, intense spasm, and a large gush of thick blood gushed out. The terrifying pain finally subsided, and I lay limply on the ground, sweating profusely.

Is this... what childbirth feels like?

You all work so hard, moms everywhere.

No—compared to that, if my hellish two hours were indeed childbirth, what did I actually give birth to?

As if in response to my question--

Glug glug, all the blood that had flowed from my lower body in the past two hours automatically gathered together, continuously compressing, and finally forming a blood sphere the size of a fist, suspended in the air. Through the blood, which had become extremely viscous due to concentration, I could see wisps of golden light escaping from it, while the blood sphere was constantly growing and shrinking, as if something was about to come out of it.

Finally—Pfft!

The blood cell shattered into pieces, but the expected blood splattering did not occur. Instead, the blood transformed into thin streams that flowed into the small point of light in the center. That point of light was a color of alternating gold and dust, and as the blood was absorbed, wisps of red light swirled and shuttled around it like satellites. If this thing had not come from my body, it would indeed have been extremely pleasing to the eye.

As the light slowly faded, I finally saw the strange thing clearly. What I saw shocked me; it was completely beyond my comprehension...

That's a butterfly.

A butterfly, about the size of a palm, with large wings.

It was an extremely beautiful butterfly with long antennae and pink wings covered with intricate golden patterns.

The butterfly that was 'born' from inside my body.

"This..."

Humans: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata, Class Mammalia, Subclass Theridia, Order Primates, Suborder Hominidae, Genus Homo, Species Homo

Butterfly: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Hexapoda, Class Insecta, Subclass Pterygota, Order Lepidoptera, Suborder Rhopalosaurus

"..."

What the hell?!

A sudden birth is one thing, but why did it have to be a butterfly?! If it were a human, it would be somewhat normal; monkeys are at least primates, and cows and sheep are at least mammals. But why did I, a chordate, give birth to an arthropod?! Humans and butterflies are taxonomically identical except for belonging to the animal kingdom!

The butterfly stretched out its wings and circled around me. This little thing... seemed quite attached to me. As it flew, it drew trails of gold dust, scattering shimmering golden light, and possessed an indescribable air of elegance and nobility, far surpassing ordinary butterflies. Could it be some kind of demonic beast? Am I being haunted by a strange monster?

So that means...

In the underground ruins, I seem to have inexplicably swallowed a small ellipsoid.

That shape, that feel, when I think back on it now...

Isn't it just an insect cocoon?

In other words, after I swallowed that cocoon, not only was it not absorbed by me, but it actually 'gave birth' to itself through my body?

I watched the butterflies fluttering merrily. Was it because of maternal instinct? Despite their bizarre entrance, I felt no aversion towards them whatsoever.

What exactly is its origin?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mother and daughter (presumably female?) are safe and sound. Congratulations!

I'm prepared to be criticized.