Soldier Ant Big Fool

The old druid appeared in System's mind.

If this locust plague was not eradicated, then after next year, the offspring bred by these locusts would form an even larger plague and ravage this forest.

If he were a druid who guarded the forest, perhaps he would have done the same.

But what had the locusts done wrong?

What had the Queen done wrong?

There was no right or wrong in this matter.

System knew that this was a difference in understanding between two entirely different species.

And he was no longer human...

A grasshopper's body was ill-suited for digging. By the time System had completely buried the Queen's corpse, the sky had long since turned pitch-black.

Perhaps because of the mental power that came with Mind Transfer, System did not feel mentally fatigued at all.

He felt that he could now go two or three days without resting.

Because of the Queen, System seemed to have gained some mysterious power. From time to time, he could sense something in the surrounding air flowing into his body.

His experience bar would occasionally grow by the slightest amount.

The power transmitted by the Queen had already brought his experience bar to the peak of level 10.

Even if he did nothing, his level would reach 11 in another hour or two.

But System had no mind to think about such things. He simply used his legs to pack down the soil over the Queen's grave, occasionally secreting [Corrosive Mucus] onto the dirt.

He needed to erase the scent of the Queen's corpse from the soil as much as possible, lest insects such as ants discover it...

On the morning of the second day, System rose to level 11. His body grew larger still, reaching 14 centimeters.

His size was now not much different from that of a small bird, while his strength and speed were clearly far greater.

Through this level-up, some of System's abilities also improved. [Hunger Resistance] (5/11) rose to [Hunger Resistance] (6/11); [Dark Vision] (4/5) rose to [Dark Vision] (5/5).

His vision became clearer in the pitch-black night, while his abdomen's capacity for food increased further.

And he had gained an entirely new ability—[Keen Vision]. With this ability, his insect compound eyes could now see things far away.

[Keen Vision] (3/9): A derivative ability gained from Insect Adaptation and Mind Transfer. Your vision is keener, and your eyesight has been enhanced.

System turned his gaze toward the sky. Though it was still somewhat blurry, he could now see the rolling clouds overhead as clearly as the Queen had...

"Kun, what do you think I should do..."

He sorted through the emotions weighing on his heart, then buried them deep within.

System knew that no matter what he planned to do in the future, he first needed to extend his lifespan and survive this winter...

Because of the old druid's trap, there were far fewer insects in the forest. However, most of those lost were insects that could fly and moved quickly.

Insects such as ants, spiders, and mosquitoes, which could only travel on their legs or moved slowly, had suffered almost no losses.

After all, the old druid's trap had been too far away. It would have taken these poorly mobile insects far too long to reach a trap several kilometers away.

Most likely, before they could arrive, the old druid's glowing trap sphere would already have dispersed.

After leaving the Queen's grave, System searched for a new feeding ground and nest while hunting small insects, testing the Mind Transfer and [Mental Link] he had inherited from the Queen.

Mind Transfer was a very peculiar power. By consuming a small amount of mental power, he could communicate with all things.

However, perhaps because the level of his Mind Transfer was too low, or for some other reason, his Mind Transfer currently only worked on certain living things.

From half a meter away, he could use [Mental Link] to connect with herbaceous plants and sense their emotions.

Plants' emotions were usually simple. They longed for sunlight, longed for their roots to drink in rainwater, and when System tore and bit at them, they would also send out feelings of pain.

But plants possessed no thoughts at all. After System transmitted information to a plant through Mind Transfer, the plant would not give him any response.

Besides plants, System could also use Mind Transfer and [Mental Link] to communicate with insects.

Only insects, however. When he used Mind Transfer on arthropods such as spiders, there was no response whatsoever.

By linking his mind with an insect's through [Mental Link], System could receive feedback from the insect in response to the information he sent.

Though it could not compare to the kind of communication he had shared with the Queen, he could still roughly understand some of an insect's thoughts.

For example, when he sent a mental message to a butterfly caterpillar telling it that the leaf it was eating contained deadly poison, the caterpillar would stop eating and show a puzzled expression. It wanted to eat the leaf beneath its feet, yet was also somewhat afraid to.

"Poison? Poison? Poison? Poison? Poison? Poison..."

Like a broken record, it would continuously send System mental messages consisting of this single word. Then, when System gave it an affirmative reply: "Yes, this leaf is poisonous."

The butterfly larvae would grow even more hesitant, and before long, they would leave that leaf on their own.

System did not find any other butterfly larvae for a while, so he had no idea whether all butterfly larvae would produce the same effect.

Compared to the butterfly larvae, System's tests on the far more numerous ants were much more extensive.

Besides telling the worker ants that the food they were carrying was highly poisonous, System would also tell them some interesting lies.

When he told the ants that he was one of their kind, they would generally choose to believe him at first, sending him emotions of goodwill. But before long, the ants would realize they had been tricked and angrily attack System.

After that, no matter what sort of information System transmitted through Mind Transfer, the ants would ignore it and only attack him in fury.

Of course, everything had its exceptions.

System's lies had an extraordinary effect on a blackish-brown soldier ant about three centimeters long.

This soldier ant was of the same species as the blackish-brown ants System had first robbed. Its enormous head took up half its body, and it had a stinger at the end of its abdomen.

System had not expected much from his experiment on this soldier ant. A soldier ant with such a violent temperament would probably attack him without hesitation, just like the previous two soldier ants, the moment he used Mind Transfer.

Yet the result with this soldier ant far exceeded System's expectations. After using Mind Transfer on it, System found that this soldier ant was obedient beyond belief.

Not only was it convinced that System was one of its kind, it also believed System to be the queen among ants, obeying him in nearly everything.

If told to raise its left foreleg, it would lift all three legs on its left side. If told to raise the middle leg on the left, it would still lift all the legs on its left side. If told to raise its left hind leg, it would truly raise only the rearmost leg on the left...

Other than being a little dim-witted, this soldier ant was perfect.

Because of how foolish the soldier ant looked, System gave it a nickname: Big Fool.

Because of the soldier ant Big Fool, System set his hunting grounds near this ant nest. He could observe Big Fool's condition in his spare time, and he could also use Big Fool to do certain things.

In fact, aside from being easily deceived by System, Big Fool did not normally seem foolish.

It would dutifully stand guard beside the ant nest, sometimes directing worker ants to pass through the area around the nest in an orderly fashion, and leading the charge whenever it discovered an intruder.

Of course, after System appeared, soldier ant Big Fool did more than carry out its usual duties. Under System's instructions, it would also take the initiative to snatch food being carried by its own worker ants, then hand it over to System.