Mafia Bug
The silkworm baby proudly mounted the hill and wriggled around the flower in circles. It wasn't long before it took notice of the five bee crystals, and believing no one to be watching it, began nibbling them.
"It is difficult to be a bee in this place. First, they are attacked by an army of flies commanded by a spider, so that their cocoons are stolen. And now, they must give an offering of crystals to a bug. Insects may live a hard life, but this takes the cake. Their mistreatment is almost upsetting." Han Sen now understood that the bees had been working hard to produce an offering of edible crystals to an extortionist bug. Free lunch in trade for protection.
If the bee king feared the bug, then it undoubtedly had to be something quite powerful. Han Sen used his new mask to take a look at it, and he was startled to see its body flaming hot. It was far more powerful than the silver fox, but not too far off the bee king.
Han Sen didn't understand why it was so threatening to the bee king, though. How could that bug compel the bee king to work tirelessly to produce an offering of such crystals? It didn't look all that much stronger than the bee king, and with the backup of its bee army, the king shouldn't have had too much trouble in running the little bug off.
But now, all the bees must have been cowering inside their hive, afraid of the bug outside munching on all the fruits of their labor.
"Is this guy really that powerful?" Han Sen used his dongxuan aura to scan it. He witnessed the bug's body refine the crystals it ate.
"It's only a second-generation super creature. The little angel should be far stronger than that little thing." Han Sen was even more confused, seeing this. He had no idea why this bug was some sort of mafia insect-boss.
Within the hour, the silkworm baby had managed to gobble up all five of the crystals. But after eating them, it did not leave. Instead, it remained atop the hill producing strange sounds.
Not long after, the bee king flew out and looked at the bug with great trepidation. The bug made a few more noises, to which the bee king responded angrily. It flapped its wings faster than usual, as a display of this.
Han Sen was not sure what to think of anymore, and no witty comments came to mind. He had been there for days, watching bees live their lives. And now, he was watching a bee king communicate with a worm.
The bee king, despite its apparent anger, conceded to whatever demands had been made. After some sort of deal was struck, the bee king returned to the hive. Upon its return a little later, it was carrying another three of those crystals to the bug.
But this did not satisfy the bug either, and it made wretched screeches in response. Arrogantly, it hopped on a rock and screamed even louder. It was like some gangster demanding a bigger drop.
Han Sen thought the tether of the bee king's patience would finally snap, and a fight between the two would commence. But the bee king conceded to the demands once more, and brought out another three bee crystals. It dropped them off in front of the bug.
The little bug now looked satisfied. It climbed down off the rock and went back to nibbling the bee crystals.
The bee king looked disheartened. It looked so incredibly sad, submitting to the demands of its bully. Slowly, it retreated to the beehive.
"Where does that little squirt come from? How can he get the bee king to behave like this? Does it have a bigger, badder daddy grub or something? Is that why it can do as it pleases?" Han Sen's mind began to work.
If the silkworm did indeed have friends, then he figured he could waste those one-by-one until only the elder remained. If it had the same energy flow, Han Sen figured he could absorb the Life Geno essences of an entire family of creatures.
The bug ate four more of the bee crystals before it felt full. Its belly was round and puffed like a ball.
"Tzick!"
The bug called out once more, and Han Sen believed it to be calling out the bee king. But it wasn't.
Silk began to pour out of the bug's mouth. It built up until it had wholly cocooned itself.
"Is this thing a little baby? Is it now transforming into an adult?" Han Sen's face looked puzzled.
If he guessed it correctly, Han Sen knew why the bee king was so afraid of it. If it was already that powerful as a baby, heaven knew how powerful it would become once it had fully grown. That was why the bee king was so afraid of it and was willing to obey its every command.
"I have to kill this thing!" Just when Han Sen decided to do this, he used his dongxuan aura to scan the cocoon. He stopped in his tracks.
The energy flow inside the cocoon was changing. It was morphing into something different from what he recalled earlier, and it was an ongoing process.
It was like there were two different energy flows inside the cocoon. That was why Han Sen pulled back and wasn't sure whether or not to advance just yet.
If he killed the bug now, and the energy flow he had learnt would not work, he'd incur a great loss.
Han Sen hesitated a little and did not strike. He continued to watch the energy flow change, learning every step as it went.
The energy inside the cocoon had changed a lot, and overnight, it had become something completely different. Han Sen wouldn't have believed a tale such as this to be true, had he not seen it with his own two eyes. Two completely separate energy flows were now occupying the same super creature.
"What could this thing possible be turning into?" Han Sen had become incredibly curious. But as dawn broke the following morning, the energy finished its morph and it seemed as if the creature inside had finished evolving.
When the sun rose in the east, the cocoon cracked open. Han Sen witnessed a silver-winged butterfly struggling to pry itself free from the thick hide of the cocoon.
The cocoon was incredibly sturdy, and breaking it completely was sure to be a trying task. The silver butterfly could only poke its head through the opening, as its body and wings were still deep inside.
Han Sen's heart jumped, and he quickly summoned the little angel. With his peacock crossbow, he repeatedly fired towards the silver butterfly.
If he didn't kill it now, it'd be much harder once it fully exited the cocoon. This was sure to be the best chance he would get. The butterfly had only just finished evolving, and the creature wouldn't have adapted to its new body yet. And now, stuck inside the cocoon, there truly could not be a greater chance.
Whoosh!
A z-steel bolt struck the silver butterfly's head. It only created a shallow mark, and it was already quite clear how much stronger this creature was than the Devil-Eye Spider.
But after that strike, the silver butterfly cried out in pain. It struggled to remove itself from the cocoon at a more hurried pace. But now, the little angel had arrived before it, and she brought down her mighty greatsword on the creature's head.
The silver butterfly was still stuck inside the cocoon, and it had not even managed to free one of its claws yet. It seemed to try to roll with the cocoon to dodge the incoming attack.
But it couldn't do it in time, and the greatsword was brought down directly on its head.
Blood squirted from the cleft. Although the little angel's greatsword was much stronger than Han Sen's crossbow and bolt, it didn't deal fatal damage. In fact, the total damage dealt was small and its head was nowhere close to being hewn off.
Before the butterfly evolved, it was a self-asserted boss that extorted others. Never had it been humiliated as it was being now. It was visibly frustrated, fuming with anger, and it exerted far more effort in its attempt to squirm free from the hold of the cocoon.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The little angel struck the butterfly's head in the exact same spot another three times, which left behind a deep wound. But the silver butterfly was tough, and even that wasn't enough to kill it.
Dong!
The little angel slashed again, but by now, one of the butterfly's claws had managed to break free from the cocoon. It blocked the sword with the loud sound of clashing metals. Evidently, the sword could not deal damage to its claws.