Jun Bao had originally wanted to see the queen up close, but seeing how cautious she was, he decided to take it step by step, studying her carefully. With artificial wombs already available, his empire's most advanced breeding techniques were at his disposal. He planned to cultivate a few queens of his own to enable mass reproduction.
From Wen Jun's words, it wasn't hard to tell that these gastropod bugs survived well in the apocalypse. Perhaps they were a new species that had evolved through mutation in these end times, much like the dino-chickens. In this world, they could eat almost anything, and their offspring were productive enough to form a small but viable food chain. Unlike the dino-chickens, though, the gastropod bugs reproduced faster and matured quicker. As a food source, they could fill more stomachs.
"If you really want to compare value," Jun Bao said, "dino-chickens are high-end, since eggs are a delicacy. Gastropod bugs are more about quantity." He thought their worth was roughly equal.
Xiao Wei looked intrigued. Food in these mountains was scarce, and she felt a little hungry. She glanced at Wen Jun pitifully, unaware that in the pitch-black house, two small snakes were sliding along the wall toward her.
In fact, no one really noticed. The house was cold and dark, lit only by a dim glow, enough to make out shapes but not details.
Wen Jun, however, was firm. "No! You can't study it." He knew very clearly that outsiders couldn't figure this out, and in the entire mountain, only here had gastropod bugs.
Xiao Wei sighed in disappointment and lowered her head.
Jun Bao tried a compromise. "How about we trade for an egg? You name the price."
Seeing that Jun Bao seemed intent on their gastropod bug, Wen Jun began shooing him away. "No, no, we—"
Before he could finish, the unexpected happened. Something under the massive bed suddenly shot upward. At the same time, the two small snakes that had slid in were flung into the air. They didn't have time to react before massive pincers snapped down and dragged them into the mouth at the lower abdomen. Crunching sounds followed, loud and unmistakable.
The huge quilt hit the floor with a dull thud, revealing a terrifying scene beneath the bed. In the darkness, Jing Shu's eyes widened. She'd survived ten years of the apocalypse, but she'd never seen anything like this. Today, her perception of the world had been completely shattered.
Time seemed to freeze.
Jun Bao couldn't even speak, his words stuck in his throat. The room was dark, but even with his poor vision, the sheer size of the creature was obvious.
This wasn't a frail, legless girl lying under a blanket anymore. The disguise was gone; everything was exposed.
What had seemed like a simple bed was now just a hollowed-out wooden frame. The girl's upper body leaned against the headboard, but her lower half was fused with a massive abdomen that filled the bed. Thirty-six legs moved like a millipede, and two giant pincers waved in midair, seemingly searching for food.
The bed had been placed against the corner of the mountain wall because a huge cavern lay beneath. Gastropod bugs came and went from the cave, some carrying what appeared to be food into the queen's mouth, working like worker ants. Others carried freshly laid eggs into the cave, probably to the incubation chamber Wen Jun had mentioned. No wonder the village was small and no bugs were visible—they were all down there.
After three or four stunned seconds, Jing Shu reacted. This girl, half human, half bug, had to be the gastropod queen Wen Jun had mentioned. Her lower half, however, wasn't under her conscious control—otherwise, the two snakes that had slipped in to scout wouldn't have been devoured in full view.
So this was a direct exposure.
And clearly, the lower half had been attached artificially. Jing Shu couldn't understand how human and bug could fuse. From what she'd heard, Xiao Wei had been a normal child before the mutation in the mountains began.
Previously, Jing Shu's bugs were too scared to approach, so she had sent the snakes that had been fed Spirit Spring to scout. She hadn't expected them to be eaten by the queen as a snack.
Jing Shu quickly scooped up the drowsy Yang Yang and pulled Jun Bao back. This was shaping up to be a serious battle.
Wen Jun finally reacted, his heart racing. He grabbed the quilt to cover Xiao Wei, but his hands trembled violently, as though a deep secret had been uncovered.
A monster.
He remembered the first villager who had discovered Xiao Wei and thought about how she'd slowly accepted her reality over the past half year. And now, this.
"Don't worry, Wen Jun. No need to hide anymore. They've seen everything. Stay behind me—they won't hurt me," Xiao Wei sighed. After her lower half became bug-like, her vision changed, and she clearly saw the reactions of the others.
Gou Tou shouted, running outside to call others. "Outsiders found our secret! Grab weapons and eggs! Make them food for the gastropod bugs! None of them leaves today!"
Jun Bao's face was full of astonishment. "Jing Shu, did you see that? Xiao Wei is the gastropod queen. How is this possible? Her lower half is linked to such a huge creature. It's symbiosis!"
"Now isn't the time to marvel at that!" Jing Shu groaned. The two pairs of massive pincers moved fast and precise. They'd just eaten the snakes before they could react. These weren't ordinary prey, like an ant queen—they were lethal.
She wasn't scared, only worried that Jun Bao might foolishly rush forward and have his head snapped off and swallowed.
Outside, chaos erupted. Jing Shu feared what would happen if these people started planting eggs in them—the consequences would be messy.
"Xiao Wei, Wen Jun, don't be alarmed. We mean no harm," Jing Shu hurriedly explained.
Xiao Wei calmly looked at her. "You have a lot of little bugs with you. The two snakes just now—they were yours, right?"
Snakes? Bugs? Jun Bao and Wen Jun exchanged confused glances. Where were they?