Self-Awareness

Soldier Ant Big Fool's mind seemed somewhat confused. After telling System that he was not the ant queen, it continued transmitting, "You are the ant queen."

"Mm, I am."

System replied to Soldier Ant Big Fool through Mind Transfer. Though he appeared calm on the surface, turmoil had already gripped his heart.

This was Soldier Ant Big Fool's first time questioning him, but System knew it definitely would not be the last.

As Soldier Ant Big Fool's intelligence increased, it would surely continue to question System.

And what about the ant eggs and larvae he was brainwashing now? Wouldn't they question him in the future as well?

Should he give up brainwashing these eggs?

Or should he find a way to suppress their intelligence?

System's thoughts were a mess. He had to come up with a way to eliminate these hidden dangers.

And deciding how to deal with Soldier Ant Big Fool was also exceedingly troublesome.

Keeping Big Fool around was undoubtedly like leaving a ticking bomb at his side. Who knew when Soldier Ant Big Fool might realize something was wrong and come to kill him?

System already understood soldier ants, the mad battle caste among ants, very well. Like lunatics, they would fight to the death against any creature detrimental to the ant nest.

Yet he desperately needed Soldier Ant Big Fool right now. After all, the construction of the overwintering nest could only be completed with Big Fool's help, and the same went for storing food for the winter.

System was deeply conflicted...

Fortunately, Soldier Ant Big Fool only doubted System that one time. It never brought up the matter again afterward, as though it had forgotten all about it.

But from then on, Soldier Ant Big Fool's behavior became increasingly strange.

Besides usually enjoying fiddling with the translucent pebble System had given it, Big Fool would also go to a nearby puddle that had not yet fully dried up.

Whenever it had spare time after completing the tasks System gave it, it would quietly stare at its reflection in the water. From time to time, it would touch the reflection on the water's surface with its legs, whether day or night.

It seemed to be thinking about something.

System often watched from afar in secret. He could not understand what Soldier Ant Big Fool was thinking, but judging by its behavior, Big Fool probably would not rebel against him anytime soon.

Two more days passed like this.

During another exchange with Soldier Ant Big Fool, Big Fool seemed to think of something and suddenly asked System, "What am I?"

"You? You're a soldier ant," System answered.

"What is a soldier ant?"

"An ant responsible for protecting the ant nest. There are many kinds of ants. Just as you're a soldier ant, I'm the ant queen," System explained.

Soldier Ant Big Fool appeared to think for a moment. Before long, it voiced a new question to System.

"Why am I... a soldier ant? Why are you... the ant queen?"

"This..."

Hearing Big Fool's question and tone, System suddenly understood. At last, he grasped why Soldier Ant Big Fool had asked him days ago whether he was the ant queen.

Big Fool had not been doubting the ant queen identity System had fabricated. Rather, its increased intelligence had given it an entirely new understanding of the world.

Big Fool should have become aware of the concept of self.

The self, also called self-awareness or self-concept, primarily referred to an individual's awareness of their own state of existence, the result of an individual evaluating their own social role.

In our experience, recognizing everything about oneself and distinguishing oneself from the surrounding objects and other people—that was the self, that was self-awareness.

Without a doubt, after growing for this period of time, Soldier Ant Big Fool had developed its own unique intelligence, allowing it to recognize itself.

When it had stared at its reflection in the water, it had not been daydreaming. It had seen itself in that reflection and become confused.

And Big Fool's question had undoubtedly risen from an ordinary question to the heights of philosophy.

It was like asking a human why they were human.

Why was it a soldier ant, while System was the ant queen?

There simply was no definite answer to such a question. System found it difficult to explain.

Still, it was not as if System had no solution. He could simply attribute the question to fate—everything was ordained by fate.

Something as mysterious and unfathomable as fate was perfectly suited to explaining this question.

But Big Fool would surely keep asking what fate was, dragging the question on without end, like some brat who always loved asking why.

Fortunately, Soldier Ant Big Fool was ultimately not some brat who loved crying and making a fuss, but a soldier ant in an ant nest.

When it heard System order it to continue directing the worker ants in building the overwintering burrow, it decisively gave up on its question and chose to carry out System's command, beginning to direct the worker ants to continue constructing System's overwintering nest.

Soldier Ant Big Fool had merely become aware of its own self; it had never doubted System.

But this incident could not make System completely relax.

If Soldier Ant Big Fool's intelligence continued growing like this, one day it would eventually discover that System was not of the same species as it—that he was a grasshopper.

When that day truly came, even System could not predict what would happen.

Because System ordered Big Fool to keep eating without pause, Big Fool's body had grown further and now reached 5.5 centimeters.

Though still not as strong as System, those massive mandibles and the stinger at the end of its tail were enough to pose a threat to him.

System felt somewhat uneasy. He feared that, at some unknown moment, the soldier ant Big Fool would realize something was wrong and attack him.

With no other choice, System could only order Big Fool to build his overwintering nest as quickly as possible. At the same time, he began distancing himself from the soldier ant, reducing his contact with Big Fool.

System had already made up his mind. Once Big Fool finished building the overwintering nest for him and filled its granary, he would have Big Fool return to the ant nest and avoid any further contact.

Of course, he had also considered killing Big Fool after the soldier ant finished all this, eliminating future trouble once and for all.

But in the end, he simply could not bring himself to do something like putting away the bow once the birds were gone, or cooking the hound once the rabbits were dead.

Time passed bit by bit. System's overwintering nest was gradually built more than halfway by Big Fool's construction team, reaching a depth of four and a half meters.

Ants appeared to possess no intelligence, yet the underground nests they built were remarkably perfect.

The passages within the nest branched in every direction, effectively allowing ventilation and air exchange from the entrance. Meanwhile, the worker ants had gradually dug out dozens of granaries inside for him to store food.

Over the past few days, the ant larvae System had brainwashed hatched from their eggs one after another, and several dozen ant larvae had gathered around him.

The first batch of ant larvae to hatch had already formed pupae with sufficient food. It seemed these ants did not have a particularly long growth cycle.

And with twenty-five days remaining before the end of his lifespan, System reached Level 12.

His body grew further, reaching seventeen centimeters, and the Insect Adaptation (12/21) in his bloodline rose to Insect Adaptation (13/21).

Ever since Level 11, whenever his Insect Adaptation talent level increased, his grasshopper bloodline would transmit some images to him. This time was no exception, and a scene of swarms of grasshoppers flying in formation appeared in System's mind once more.

Yet he still could not learn what purpose the locust swarms had in doing this.

This time, his newly acquired derived ability [Keen Vision] (3/9) rose to [Keen Vision] (4/9), further improving his eyesight.

But compared to all that, System's greatest sensation upon successfully reaching Level 12 was still his Metamorphic Growth talent.

From the moment he reached Level 12, the blood flowing through his body had churned ceaselessly as though boiling, while the exoskeleton covering his entire body became unbearably itchy.

His body was urging him to undergo his third metamorphosis at once...