Queen (Part 1)

The giant grasshopper's withered-yellow exoskeleton looked exceptionally hard, covered in intricate, unknown patterns that were likely the vein patterns of some kind of leaf.

It had a pair of golden, profound compound eyes, along with long antennae like those of a katydid.

The giant grasshopper flew down from the sky and landed before System, giving off a strange scent that System found very pleasant.

System felt that the grasshopper before him was incomparably beautiful.

All sorts of indescribable emotions welled up within him, even an urge to kneel and worship her.

Yet that urge to worship was far weaker than another emotion—the desire to mate with her.

This was the instinct carried in the blood of every insect.

Find a strong mate, breed with them, produce powerful offspring, and let those powerful offspring carry on one's bloodline.

System forcibly suppressed his body, which was trembling faintly with excitement. With a human soul, he truly could not imagine what it would look like for a grasshopper less than half her size to mate with her.

Besides, if he mated with her now, all that awaited him was certain death three days later.

The fear of death gradually cooled System's excited body.

System carefully observed the enormous female grasshopper before him. She did not make any more intimate move toward him, merely cocking her head as though examining him.

System was relieved at this. If this giant female grasshopper had been determined to mate with him, determined to perish together with him, then with his current body, it would have been truly difficult to resist.

The mating rules between insects were very simple: the stronger the individual, the more attractive it was to the opposite sex.

Conversely, if one was weaker than the other party, it was difficult to attract them.

The female grasshopper before System was like this. She clearly had no intention of mating with him. If System forcibly approached her, he might even be attacked by her.

One large and one small grasshopper simply examined each other atop an unknown plant.

As System pondered, he sensed the mysterious aura radiating from her. It was not the scent of a female that attracted the opposite sex, but a mysterious aura that made him want to prostrate himself on the ground.

This female grasshopper, fully twenty-five centimeters long, seemed like a queen among grasshoppers.

She was covered in sturdy exoskeleton and possessed enormous mandibles. Even lizards and birds, the natural enemies of insects, would likely find her difficult to defeat, while ordinary insect hunters such as mantises or katydids could only flee far away at the sight of her.

System guessed that this female grasshopper's ability to emit a mysterious aura like that of a grasshopper queen was very likely because she had completed her third molt.

He did not know what she had gone through to reach a grasshopper's third molt.

Perhaps she was exceptionally gifted, or perhaps she had encountered some extraordinary opportunity.

Among the tens of millions of grasshoppers born in the forest every year, it was not impossible for such a special individual to appear.

Unfortunately, insects had very low intelligence and could not communicate. System could not ask her questions, nor could he obtain specific information about the third transformation from one of his own kind.

Yet as System was thinking, he suddenly heard a soft voice.

"Go? Together."

The voice was very soft, but System heard it with perfect clarity. Instinctively, he turned the antennae on his head to detect where the sound had come from.

He twisted his insect head and looked around, but found nothing.

"You, go? Together."

That soft, strange voice entered System's mind once more.

System finally realized that it was not actually a voice, but a unique ability resembling communication through thought.

The creature sending this mental message was the female grasshopper before System.

"Go? Together."

The female grasshopper sent the message again. She seemed to possess intelligence, but her command of language was poor, making her messages exceptionally clumsy.

An astonished expression unconsciously appeared on System's insect face.

Compared to the wild boar that could produce flames, or the old druid who could heal wounds, this grasshopper before him undoubtedly astonished System even more.

It was not merely because a telepathic ability like that of an insect swarm brain bug was unusual, but because the creature wielding this strange ability was one of his own kind—a distant grasshopper relative of a different species.

"Go? Together."

The grasshopper queen sent the message again, and System finally recovered from his astonishment.

The grasshopper queen's ability was wondrous. System could feel his mind connect with hers; through this Mental Link, he could communicate with her.

"Where are you taking me?"

System tried to send a message to her through this Mental Link.

He discovered that sending a message was extraordinarily easy. As long as he imagined himself speaking the words, the mental message would naturally be transmitted to her.

The grasshopper queen tilted her head and glanced at System, showing what seemed to be a puzzled expression. Not long afterward, another mental message came from her.

"You, different."

"You... me, very special, and... them... different."

The female grasshopper's use of mental messages was clumsy. It seemed that there were many words she could not express, but System still understood the meaning of her message.

"Do you mean that you and I possess intelligence, that we're different from ordinary grasshoppers?"

"Int...elligence?"

"Yes, intelligence." System gave an affirmative reply.

The female grasshopper seemed to sink into thought and did not continue speaking with System for a long while.

System simply waited quietly. Before long, the female grasshopper suddenly looked at him and sent him countless messages.

Those mental messages intertwined, forming strange yet familiar images in System's mind.

System knew these images well. They were precisely the scenes that had surfaced from his bloodline when his Insect Adaptation reached level 11 and entered a new tier.

In the images, countless grasshoppers traveled in swarms, flying over towering mountains and ridges, over seas and lakes, as though searching for some mysterious place.

"Together... go?"

The enormous female grasshopper sent System another mental message, and at last System understood what her invitation meant.

"Why go somewhere so far away? Is there something there?"

After thinking for a moment, System questioned her. Perhaps her Insect Adaptation level was higher, and she knew more secrets.

The grasshopper queen showed what seemed to be a longing expression and sent System a message. "Want to go... see."

The world was so vast; she wanted to see it.

The message the grasshopper queen conveyed was simple and pure. If an ordinary human had said such things to System, he would most likely have taken them for an excuse and never believed them.

But the grasshopper queen clearly could not lie, nor would she lie.

She had no other purpose. The grasshopper queen simply wanted to witness this vast world for herself.

System gently shook his head and sent the queen a message. "I can't go with you. I have to stay here."

"Wh...y?"

Seeing the queen's expression, System thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth. "A lifespan of sixty days is too short. I don't want to waste my time exploring the world."

The grasshopper queen showed a puzzled expression and continued sending System mental messages.

"You... and me... together... later... mate... offspring."

The female grasshopper seemed to be trying to say a very long sentence, but her words were difficult to connect completely.

Still, System understood the queen's message. She was saying that System should travel with her, and when he was close to death, she would breed offspring with him, allowing him to leave descendants behind and pass on his bloodline.

Passing on one's bloodline was an instinct every insect was born with. Compared with their own deaths, they feared even more that they might fail to leave offspring behind.

But System was different. Compared with leaving descendants behind and then dying, he clearly hoped to live longer himself.

System looked at the enormous female grasshopper before him, unable for a moment to find anything to say...