Stink Bug

The distance between the rock layer and the surface was now less than two meters.

This was not good news for Rowan.

His advantage lay underground; among all the creatures he had seen in this strange world, his pair of Digging Legs made him the fastest mover beneath the soil.

Although, up to this point, he had only encountered two types of creatures: White Grubs and Yellow Earth Ants.

On the surface, however, his speed currently ranked only second.

The gap between first and second was significant. First place was only a title because there were no other creatures left to compare against. Second place, however, meant that at least one creature was faster than him.

And being fast meant being able to survive in a crisis.

Therefore, his safety coefficient was far higher underground than it was on the surface.

But now, his strategic depth was less than two meters.

What was the point of being fast if he reached the finish line the moment he started? And that finish line was a dead end. While he could move laterally, if the opponent had the numbers, they could still surround him. Take the ants, for example—quantity was never an issue for them, which left him feeling incredibly insecure.

Thus, he decided to change his strategy.

According to the current trend, as the underground riverbed rose higher, the amount of vegetation would increase and become denser. Likewise, the number of creatures would also grow.

If he continued to dig blindly, he would likely stumble into the encirclement of an imaginary enemy.

He needed to slow down now and gather more information to plan his future actions.

The fact that there were no insects or animals here besides the shrubs suited him perfectly. It was like playing a battle royale game; his current situation was like running from the encroaching zone, needing to ensure no one was behind him while he pushed forward.

However, before that, he first needed to fill his stomach.

The small green leaves on these shrubs were exceptionally tender. After several rounds of testing to confirm they were non-toxic, Rowan finally opened his appetite and began to eat.

Judging by the number of these shrubs in the vicinity, these leaves would likely be his staple food for the foreseeable future, making them worth the time and effort to verify.

Once full and satisfied, with the sunlight no longer a threat, Rowan didn't slack off and immediately got to work.

He hadn't crawled far before he faced his first attack.

Rowan had remained highly vigilant, and his large eyes—which were always prioritized for protection while digging—now displayed extraordinary capabilities.

The ultra-high resolution left the attacker nowhere to hide. A plump, elongated creature, looking like a giant version of an earthworm, suddenly lunged from the soil. Its thick, rounded body enveloped him like a large, cylindrical sack.

What it looked like exactly was still unclear, because from Rowan's perspective, he could only see a giant maw. Inside, rows of dense, sharp, tiny teeth were arranged in a spiral pattern, extending deep into the pitch-black interior of its body, enough to make one's scalp tingle.

The ultra-high refresh rate of his vision made the Big Earthworm Bug's swift movements appear much slower, giving Rowan enough time to react. He shifted his body slightly to the side, dodging the attack.

Having missed, the Big Earthworm Bug retracted its body as if nothing had happened.

Neither side had suffered any damage, so they should have called it a truce. But Rowan was not a man to hold a grudge; he deliberately stepped into the Big Earthworm Bug's attack range several more times, and it, being quite straightforward, lunged out to attack every single time.

Thanks to the Big Earthworm Bug's cooperation, Rowan quickly gathered enough data.

First, its intelligence was low; that was obvious at a glance. Then, its midsection acted like a spring, usually compressed and hidden in the soil, waiting to strike once it sensed prey nearby.

However, its attack range was limited to the area directly in front of it, with a radius equal to the length of its midsection.

Furthermore, it likely used sound and subtle vibrations to judge the location of its prey.

With a general idea in mind, Rowan burrowed into the soil and approached the Big Earthworm from below. The creature's weakness was too obvious; it was a miracle it hadn't gone extinct yet.

Don't let the creature's swift attack speed fool you; that was only because it could simulate a spring structure, which was only suitable for pre-set traps. It was helpless against someone like Rowan, who didn't play by the rules.

When he bit into the Big Earthworm from below, it was only halfway through turning around—this was a pure crushing of intelligence. Yet, Rowan felt no sense of accomplishment; this thing probably couldn't even comprehend what "crushing" meant. What was there to brag about when dealing with an idiot?

However, he then realized that if even a brainless creature like this could set traps to hunt for food, it proved there were even stupider ones nearby.

He had originally worried that with his current equipment, he would have to lay low for a while and be a herbivorous insect. He hadn't expected that after taking only two steps, an idiot would jump out and prove to him that he could, in fact, continue to be a carnivorous insect.

The big, stupid worm had no exoskeleton armor, and its simple, tough skin could not withstand Rowan's mandibles.

With a few snaps of his large teeth, he breached the Big Earthworm's body. As the dark brown bodily fluids began to flow from the wound, his sucking mouthparts clamped onto it.

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! As soon as the juice entered his esophagus, Rowan retched violently, trying to spit it out. Although he managed to expel most of it, some had already flowed into his stomach.

A foul, muddy stench filled his mouth—it was disgustingly, horribly bitter.

Rowan didn't consider himself a particularly picky insect; he had even licked rocks before, but this thing dealt him critical damage.

He had misjudged earlier; this thing was definitely the stupidest creature in the area. It probably lived by eating dirt, and setting traps was purely a way to pass the time. The only reason it hadn't gone extinct was because of its foul stench.

It perfectly embodied the philosophy: "As long as I evolve to taste disgusting enough, no creature will be able to stomach me."

Rowan shook his head repeatedly, thinking to himself that this was a creature to be avoided. The taste of that one mouthful nearly gave him anorexia; he didn't want to eat anything for the rest of the day.

He turned around, stuck his rear end in the air, and sped away; just looking at the worm now made him nauseous.

If the Big Earthworm had any useful genetic fragments, Rowan would have forced himself to eat it even while retching. Unfortunately, while those rows of tiny teeth were quite cool to think about, he couldn't accept the ability to make himself taste terrible, not even with his low standards.

Even if he could accept it, it wouldn't matter; this ability was the result of generations of Big Earthworm ancestors sacrificing themselves, embedding their foul stench into the genes of surrounding predators to buy the current generation of Big Earthworms their peace.

For example, if Rowan ever had little bugs of his own, he would definitely tell them to stay far away from this thing...

He burrowed down to the rock layer, found a crack to crawl into, drank a bellyful of water, and then took a leak, finally clearing away the disgusting sensation.

Rowan knew he had been careless this time; he lacked experience as an insect. His antennae also carried taste organs; next time he encountered prey, he would taste it with his antennae first...

He had no heart for scouting anymore; he decided to rest for a while first.