Locusts Pass (Part 2)

More than ten days later, the Grasshopper Queen's appearance had not changed at all. She still had the same withered yellow exterior as before, and her pair of antennae remained long and slender.

"Is... that cricket?"

The Grasshopper Queen stared at the food System was chewing and sent out her distinctive mental ripple.

After more than ten days, System found that the Grasshopper Queen had become far more proficient in her command of language.

Though she still could not match him, System could hear many shifts in tone in the Queen's words.

It seemed that she had been practicing this kind of mental message all these days. Otherwise, she could not have improved so much.

"Yes. Do you want some?"

System stopped eating and, as naturally as if he were with an old friend of many years, offered the food to the Grasshopper Queen.

"No. I don't like... eating meat, this kind of food."

The Grasshopper Queen refused through a mental message. At the same time, she used her mandibles to bite off a leaf nearby and placed it in her mouth to chew.

"These past few days, was that peculiar aura coming from you?"

There was no need for any politeness in speaking with the Grasshopper Queen. System directly voiced his question.

"Yes, it was... sent by me." The Grasshopper Queen swayed her antennae and continued sending System messages. "You really did not... come."

System watched the Grasshopper Queen for a while before saying, "You know I would not go."

The Grasshopper Queen touched System's antennae with the antennae on her head. Her distinctive, gentle mental ripple spoke again. "I know... you would not come, so I came back... to find you."

"I... missed you..."

The Grasshopper Queen's mental message contained boundless longing, and System did not know how to respond to those feelings.

With no other way, System could only use human wisdom to change the subject. "Are you still going to explore the world? Like those scenes in your bloodline?"

"Yes, I am going, together with them." The Grasshopper Queen looked up at the sky overhead as she answered System.

"Them? A lot of grasshoppers are going with you?"

"Mm..."

The Grasshopper Queen continued gazing up at the sky. Staring at a cloud through a gap in the dense forest, she asked System, "Do you know... what that is?"

Insects' compound eyes could not see very far, but looking at that hazy white mass in the sky, System knew what the Grasshopper Queen meant.

"That is a cloud," System answered. "It is one form of water."

The Grasshopper Queen showed a somewhat regretful expression. Staring at the sky overhead, she said, "I... cannot fly that high, but I can... fly farther."

The Grasshopper Queen lowered her raised head and continued speaking to System. "I... have a name now. Do you know... what a name is?"

System looked puzzled. "A name? Did you give yourself one? My name should be System."

The Grasshopper Queen replied, "Sys... trom, Kun, my name... was given to me by Shadow..."

System pressed, "Shadow? Who is that?"

"An insect."

Not long after System's conversation with the Grasshopper Queen, accompanied by the distinctive sound of beating wings, a green grasshopper about five centimeters long landed not far from them.

Soon, another grasshopper flew over, then two, three, more than a dozen, hundreds...

More and more grasshoppers gathered around him and the Grasshopper Queen. After more than ten minutes, several thousand grasshoppers of all kinds had gathered nearby.

And their numbers continued to grow.

The tranquil forest became clamorous. The grasshoppers occasionally beat their wings and flew about. Some hopped into the nearby grass to gnaw on plants, while others flew to the treetops to bask in the sun.

Because of the grasshoppers' arrival, large numbers of ants poured out from a nearby ant nest. The ants attacked the grasshoppers around them, intending to catch and eat these grasshoppers that had disturbed their peace.

But grasshoppers had never been food for ants from the moment they were born, much less adult grasshoppers. With a light hop, the ants' encirclement would come to nothing.

Countless grasshoppers kept gathering around him and the Grasshopper Queen. System could no longer count exactly how many had arrived, but there were at least tens of thousands.

There was an open space nearly half a meter wide around the Grasshopper Queen. Aside from System, no other grasshopper landed within it.

System guessed that this was likely a display of the grasshoppers' hierarchy. Grasshoppers that underwent their third metamorphosis would naturally become leaders of the swarm.

The swarm continued expanding. The locusts gathering there even blocked the sun in the sky, making the forest where System was darker.

Looking at the grasshoppers blotting out the sky and covering the earth, System recalled a natural disaster from his previous life—locust plagues.

When locusts passed through, not a blade of grass remained.

System had never experienced a locust plague in his previous life, but he had seen scenes of them in documentaries.

Even though it had only been a documentary, the first time System saw a locust plague, he could not help being shaken.

The sky-darkening locusts would devour every green thing as they flew.

Although the swarm before System was somewhat smaller in scale, it was not much different in essence from a locust plague. The forest's plants were steadily eaten away by the locusts at a visible rate.

Most of the gathered grasshoppers were not large, ranging from three to eight centimeters in length. Among them, System also saw many Green-Tailed Grasshoppers of his own kind.

The arrival of these densely packed locusts did not make System uncomfortable. Instead, it stirred a sense of closeness within him.

The grasshoppers gathered in joyful reunion, giving off a strange aura that left System's body intensely exhilarated.

He even felt the urge to fly through the air alongside the grasshoppers.

"Really... you won't come with us?" The Grasshopper Queen seemed to sense System's excitement. Looking at him, she sent out another mental message.

After a brief hesitation, System refused again. "Mm, I won't."

A long sigh seemed to echo from the Grasshopper Queen's mental message...

The grasshoppers' revelry continued. They hopped about, radiating delight, while many began searching for mates and mating.

Because of his robust build among the grasshoppers, System attracted quite a few female grasshoppers as well. But as long as he stayed near the Grasshopper Queen, those females would stop pestering him.

The grasshoppers that chose to mate were still a minority. Most simply fluttered wildly through the air, seemingly playing together with their own kind.

Several birds flew into the grasshopper swarm at just the right time, catching grasshoppers to eat. But there were simply too many grasshoppers. Once the birds had caught enough to fill their bellies, they vanished from sight.

By noon, several million grasshoppers had gathered.

No more grasshoppers arrived, and at that moment, their revelry reached its climax!

Centered on herself, the Grasshopper Queen once again released strange waves of aura. System felt as though the blood throughout his body were beginning to simmer.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Several million locusts leaped upward at once and spread their wings. In an instant, even the bright noonday sun was blocked by the torrent of gathered grasshoppers, plunging the forest below into pitch-black darkness.

Countless grasshoppers surged majestically through the sky, flying in a single direction.

The Grasshopper Queen looked at System for a long while. After their antennae touched one last time, she too spread her wings and began flying with the grasshopper torrent.

At that moment, System also spread his wings and followed behind the queen.

"Will you... come with me?"

The Grasshopper Queen sent another mental message, brimming with anticipation.

"No. I just wanted to see you off. After you leave this time, I don't know whether you and I will ever meet again..."