Awakening

Rowan was awakened by a series of "clucking" sounds, and his morning grumpiness made him very angry.

His prolonged period of sleep and hibernation had dulled his mental acuity.

My mind was completely blank; I couldn't think of anything for a moment.

However, he couldn't care less about anything else at this moment. As his physical functions continued to recover, extreme hunger overwhelmed him.

He instinctively tore open the Insect Cocoon that enveloped his body. Having not moved for a long time, his body seemed rusty, making his movements extremely difficult.

After finally managing to tear open the Insect Cocoon, the dried Insect Cocoon had absolutely no edible value.

Then, to his despair, he discovered that there was an even more solid wall outside.

"I don't know which bastard actually glued this place shut," Rowan cursed inwardly, his mind still foggy.

The constant "clucking" sounds coming from above made him increasingly irritable.

Squeezing out a tiny bit of strength, the two giant claws, with Gao's refreshed eyes assisting them, kept poking at the wall.

Finally, through persistent efforts, a small opening was made in the wall.

With a flaw in the hole, things became much easier to deal with. Using his Pincer Limb, Rowan used various methods—pulling, prying, and digging—to continuously enlarge the small hole.

Clumps of soil, tightly bound together, kept falling into the sealed cave.

The breach grew larger and larger, until finally strands of soil that hadn't been held together rolled into the hole.

Unlike their bound counterparts, this soil could not withstand the attack of two giant claws.

As the soil continued to fall, Rowan casually scooped some up and put it in his mouth, slightly filling his hungry stomach.

However, Rowan's efficiency in absorbing nutrients from this soil was very low; the soil only provided temporary relief and did not address the root cause of the problem.

With time of his own to spare, Rowan didn't delay. After a quick bite, he continued digging. Fortunately, his Pincer Limb were just as capable of Digging Leg as his digging legs.

In no time at all, they dug out an upward passage.

Fortunately, the earthquake and tectonic activity brought Rowan, who had been buried deep underground, back to the surface.

The cave he was in was only twenty or thirty meters above the ground.

However, even this short distance, by the time Rowan reached the surface and took a breath of fresh air, he was already nearly exhausted.

At the same time, he also discovered the culprit that had "woke him up".

Looking at the frog's big eyes, you can tell it has excellent eyesight.

Rowan's long-lost talent for disguise and color-changing finally came in handy, and he used it instinctively.

The colors on his body shifted, his originally black body gradually becoming multicolored. Then, Rowan seemed to magically disappear, perfectly blending into his surroundings.

As Rowan crept closer to the dark green frog, Rowan was a little nervous. After all, he might only have one strike left, and whether he would be eaten or gnawed on the dirt depended on this one move.

The Pincer Limb gradually moved closer to the attack range, and the frog seemed to sense it, but did not move.

As Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, the weakened version of the Hyperboloid System activated. The wind howled, and the giant tortoise continued its momentum after piercing the frog's body, driving it deep into the soil.

Rowan, who hadn't hunted personally in a long time, had poor control of his strength, and half of the fresh prey was ruined.

However, he couldn't care less about that at the moment. He could eat two pounds of Aphid droppings right in front of him.

After a hearty meal and having replenished some energy, Rowan's intelligence finally began to return, and he recalled the events before his hibernation.

But before he could think further, a series of regular, faint tremors came from the ground. He was terrified. Was another earthquake about to occur?

However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the vibration was like the sound of a huge organism moving and stomping on the ground.

Fortunately, the thing was still some distance away from him, but his senses seemed to have become much more acute. He could hear the croaking of frogs even at such a deep underground depth, which seemed to corroborate this.

With the crisis temporarily averted, he finally had time to observe his surroundings.

The tall trees all around were leaning and twisted, some even uprooted. Looking at the cracks in the ground, Rowan guessed that an earthquake or similar disaster had occurred.

However, he had never seen most of these tree species before.

Previously, the Swarm territory occupied most of the continent, and there were very few things he hadn't seen before.

Suddenly, looking at the spot where the frog had last disappeared, he finally realized what had happened.

This was a species he had seen when he was a human, but he had never seen this thing since he became an insect.

At this moment, he couldn't help but ask himself three profound questions.

How long did I sleep?

Where is this place?

"Have I time-traveled again?"

There is too little information, and the situation outside is unclear. Going out to search for information on our own is too dangerous.

Therefore, the most important task at present is to regrow the Mother Nest. He is taking the group route, and he is panicking because he has no troops under his command.

There should have been a stream here, a very small one. Unfortunately, the earthquake changed the terrain, and the stream needs to find a new course.

At this moment, the area was filled with small puddles, and hidden beneath the fallen trees and weeds were tiny streams of water.

Occasionally, the croaking of frogs could be heard from all around.

The tiny scales on his body began to work, concealing Rowan's figure. He carefully avoided puddles and crept towards the direction from which the shout came.

Frogs are known to be the nemesis of insects, with their entire array of weapons designed to eat them. However, the frogs here are far too different in size from Rowan, making this supposed nemesis relationship impossible.

For example, if a human were the same size as an ant, he would definitely be no match for the ants if he were unarmed. But once the size difference is significant, he could easily crush a whole swarm with a single stomp.

Not only is the frog's size inferior, but its talents are also suppressed. Its eyes, which evolved to catch rapidly flying insects, are completely countered by Rowan's stealth and camouflage system.

Having lost the initiative, the frog had no chance to escape from Rowan.

After killing and eating several frogs, Rowan's stomach didn't feel full at all. It seemed that his body was indeed severely depleted this time, and the frogs were quickly broken down into energy to replenish his body's needs.

During this time, Rowan also spotted several flying insects.

This was the ability he had always dreamed of. Before, the Swarm had occupied most of the land, but he hadn't found a single flying insect. He never expected to see them everywhere here.

This inevitably prompted Rowan to ask himself three profound questions once again.

Because of their small size, Rowan's Pincer Limb, despite having a weakened version of the Hyperboloid System, were difficult to control in terms of force, resulting in only straight, unflexible attacks. This made them somewhat inadequate for dealing with these tiny creatures.

However, Rowan has more than just Pincer Limb as a hunting weapon; he has better weapons for dealing with such agile, small targets.