Chapter 15: The Clumsy Locust Hunter
Editor: Atlas Studios
About the same time as System estimated, as the sun was setting, he managed to eat two pupae and began to return to his dead-leaf lair.
Due to the increase in size, the originally spacious lair was already a bit small for him. It probably would not be able to accommodate him if he went up two levels.
System did not give up foraging for food at night but took a short rest. When the food in his abdomen was almost completely digested, and his body reached the peak of his flexibility, he would start his first hunting activity at night.
After five days of heavy rainfall, there were very scarce creatures for System to hunt.
Most of the insects System could find after the rainstorm were cicadas that liked to chirp, but he had little confidence in killing them as they would fly away at the slightest sign of danger. Also, the activity of these cicadas was very unpredictable. Although they chirped from time to time, it was tough for System to find them.
There were also prey with predictable movements, such as the two spiders that System spotted. One of them was black-brown and 6cm in size, and the other was slightly smaller, about 3cm with yellow-white patterns.
After the heavy rain, these two spiders had rewoven their webs. They would stay in the center of their webs at night, while during the day, they would rest in their makeshift nest in the corners of their webs.
To System, however, the two spiders were more like hunters rather than prey. He felt that he would probably get killed by the spiders' fangs if he challenged them.
After much consideration, System decided on his final target, the chirping cricket, an insect with a fixed nest.
This cricket's nest was located at a narrow tree hole, which System had scouted out two days ago.
Because of that tree hole, the cricket had escaped from the natural disaster brought on by the heavy rain.
System had been just a grasshopper nymph two days ago and had no clear advantage over the male cricket, which was 3 centimeters in size. He could easily fall into the water in the fight, so System did not attack it in his nymph state.
As an adult grasshopper, System's strength had improved, and dealing with that cricket was not a problem.
Unfortunately, System had grown a lot in size and could no longer enter cricket's tree hole. Hence, he had to wait for the cricket to come out to chirp at night and ambush it.
…
When the food in System's stomach was digested, the sky was completely dark.
System made all the necessary preparations, jumped, and landed on a branch near the cricket's nest.
The cricket's nest was near to System's lair, which was only five or six meters away.
[Green Camouflage]!
The patterns and color of System's body slowly changed into that of tree leaves.
Due to the restriction of this derived ability, System could only change into a color similar to green. His size was so out of proportion to this branch that he could be noticed easily.
However, if he chose a more distant branch, System was not confident in launching an attack. Thus, he could only hope that the arrival of the darkness would affect the cricket from noticing him.
Without moving a muscle, he entered into his hibernating state and waited for the cricket to go out and chirp at eight or nine o'clock, like every night.
System was like a viper waiting for its prey to take the bait, silently waiting for the cricket to appear.
Snakes were the most adept lurkers in nature. When food was scarce, they would even wait for their prey for days without eating or drinking.
It could be said that reptiles such as snakes and some insects took the idiom of waiting for the hare to the extreme.
Whether it was the reptilian snakes and crocodiles, or most arthropods such as mantises and katydids, their hunting style was to wait quietly for their prey to enter their attack range before suddenly making a lethal attack.
Compared to these less intelligent hunters, though System was also waiting, he was clearer and more efficient in his goals. He was aware of when and where his prey would appear.
As System expected, when the pale yellow moon was at a slightly more than a 45-degree angle, the cricket crawled out of the tree hole in time and jumped onto a branch next to it.
Apparently, this mate-seeking male cricket did not notice System, who was hiding obliquely above it. The cricket quivered its wings on the branch and started to chirp.
System's strong hind limbs began to accumulate strength, the sinews of his wings were in position, and he kept simulating in his mind the hunting action after he pounced at the cricket.
With a gentle breeze blowing by, System suddenly charged towards the male cricket. His wings flapped and further increased his speed.
System's hunt failed in an instant…
His hunting skills were far too amateur compared to those of his less intelligent predecessors that simply guarded their prey.
The first half of his ambush was perfect, and perhaps he would have succeeded if his target was a mantis or katydid. Unfortunately, as a green-tailed grasshopper, which was generally small, his bloodline did not provide him with a hunting instinct.
System could only make hunting plans according to his own understanding. His plan was simple. He would control the cricket with his four forelimbs and then chew its head off with his mandibles.
There was actually nothing wrong with his plan, but his moves were bad, and he was not very lucky.
Although his sudden attack was quick and the cricket was unable to react in time, System's outstretched forelegs only pressed against the cricket's smooth wings.
With the sudden trembling of its wings, the spurs on System's forelegs failed to exert strength. Also, he landed unsteadily this time, so the cricket escaped from System like a mudfish.
…
System made a quick decision the moment the cricket broke free from him. He immediately got up and moved backward, blocking the entrance of the cricket's tree hole.
There were still a few centimeters of water on the forest ground, and the cricket couldn't escape to the water surface. The only safe place was its tree hole.
However, after System swiftly blocked the hole, he suddenly noticed that the cricket had disappeared.
Due to his [Information Reading], the outline of everything in the surrounding within a meter glowed dimly in System's eyes. No ripple appeared beneath the tree branches. Apparently, the cricket had not jumped to water to escape.
"Could it be hiding behind the leaves?"
Upon recalling the direction the cricket escaped, System stared at the few leaves on the branch not far away and fell into contemplation.
The tree's leaves were shaped and sized like maple leaves, with short petioles, which made it a good spot for hiding.
System hesitantly moved toward the leaves, but it was not long before his antennae sensed a subtle vibration. Then he retreated toward the entrance of the tree hole.
Nevertheless, it was too late as the cricket had already made its escape back to the tree hole.
Actually, this cricket was hiding right under the branch. However, because of humans' inertia thinking, System forgot the insects' ability that enabled them to hang upside down…
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