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41.66% Laws of the Insect Hive / Chapter 25: Living Corrosive Slime

Chapter 25: Living Corrosive Slime

Editor: Atlas Studios

It may be due to the slime or another reason entirely, but such the colloid was effective in leveling up [Molting Growth]. It was equal to more than two times the insect meat of equal mass. Also, even if System ate a large amount of colloid, the increase's effects would not weaken.

Besides that, the colloid had another, greater effect on [Molting Growth].

System sensed that the nutrients within the colloid strengthened the molting power in his bloodline. He may even break through the upper limits of [Molting Growth] at that rate!

The maximum level of grasshoppers' [Molting Growth] was 13. Still, Level 13 might not necessarily be the limitation of [Molting Growth], just like how his [Insect Adaptability]'s maximum level was 21.

If he continued eating colloids, his [Molting Growth] could break through its upper limit, and even reaching Level 14 was possible.

If [Molting Growth] continued to increase, then a third, fourth, or even fifth molting might be possible.

By then, System's lifespan would definitely increase.

Undoubtedly, by eating the slime's colloid, System had found a way out for his future, as he had discovered how to lengthen his lifespan.

System continued devouring the colloid and discovered more of its traits.

Not all colloids would be effective toward breaking through the [Molting Growth]'s upper limit—only fresh colloid was useful.

The few colloids scattered on the ground, which were no longer moving, still had the effect of increasing the level of [Molting Growth]. However, they could not help break through the upper-level limit of his talent.

System looked at the few small slimes that gathered nearby and had an idea. 'Could I rear these small slimes like livestock?'

The slimes only needed to survive by devouring rotten branches or leaves, so it should be easy to rear them.

However, System rejected such an idea quickly.

If his size was about that of a human, then it should not be a problem to rear these small slimes. However, he was just a big grasshopper now, so it was unrealistic to rear the small slimes.

His best course of action was to eat all the alive colloids with his fastest speed.

From the ants' nest to the mud, where the slime was in now, there were a total of six gathered colloid balls, the biggest one was 6cm in diameter, and the smallest one was 3cm.

Because the ants' casualties were high, no ant should wander and disturb him as he ate the colloids. The only limitation was that he would need to rest.

System estimated that he at least needed an entire day to digest all the colloids.

Fortunately, he could reduce the time as he had the derived ability [Hunger Tolerance Physique], so his stomach could actually be filled with food twice the weight of his body.

However, to maintain his agility, he had yet to fill his stomach all alone.

If he made full use of the space in his stomach, System estimated that he would need only 12 hours to finish all the colloids.

If he ate for 12 hours straight, then although he might be mentally exhausted, he could still persevere.

Within the six colloid balls, the three larger ones were more lively, so System was worried that they would run away. Thus, he kept on using his limbs to slice the large and lively colloid balls and ate a little each time he cut them apart.

In the process of devouring the larger colloid balls, System realized that the smallest one gradually stopped trembling, as if it was about to stop moving.

To make full use of these colloids, System started to swallow the smaller ones.

As time passed, the sun gradually set, and the sky turned pitch-black. System, who had been jumping back and forth within a 10 meters distance, lost a medium-sized colloid, around 4cm, in the end.

After it turned dark, the few colloids became abnormally lively. It was unknown when that medium-sized colloid, which had been very stable all along, had suddenly jumped away. Hence, System did not notice when it was gone.

After the colloid ball had escaped, the remaining colloid balls were close to one another, making it convenient for System. His stomach only needed to digest for another five hours before he could completely devour the remaining three and a half colloid balls.

As he swallowed these colloids, his glands turned very itchy. It was like special nutrients had surged from his stomach, which then nourished the glands in his throat that could secrete corrosive slime.

System predicted that when he reached Level 10, his [Corrosive Slime] would definitely level up again.

Suddenly, just as System was thinking of that, the itchiness of the gland in his throat increased by a few times…

It was extremely itchy!

System stopped eating the colloid and wanted to use his forelegs to scratch his throat. However, his forelegs were a little thick, and he could not stick them into his throat. Thus, he decided to find a small branch to poke his itchy throat.

While he was searching for the branch, System suddenly felt a piercing pain in his throat—the gland suddenly started to wriggle uncontrollably!

The colloids that he had swallowed into his stomach were being digested and absorbed at an unusual speed. At the same time, special energy flowed into his throat, transforming his glands.

His [Corrosive Slime] leveled up!

[Corrosive Slime] (9/13) → [Corrosive Slime] (10/15)

That was the first time that System's ability had increased outside of when he leveled up. Also, not only did his [Corrosive Slime]'s level increased, but its upper limit increased, too.

The glands in his throat became more developed, and the slime secreted was much more viscous, like glue. Even if he used his limbs to pull the slime apart by a few centimeters, it would not immediately break apart either.

Although there was no obvious increase to the corrosiveness of the [Corrosive Slime], System felt a strange sense of connection toward the slime that he spat out.

His secreted slime was alive like the colloids of the slime. System sensed the slime on the dead leaf on the ground trembling slightly.

Meanwhile, as System retrieved the slime, he could even feel the slime's happiness as it had returned to his body.

"Is it possible that my secreted slime can become alive as [Corrosive Slime]'s level increases?" murmured System as he felt the slime occasionally vibrating in the gland of his throat.

If these corrosive slimes could be controlled freely, then they would undoubtedly become his powerful trump card.

The glue-like slime could jump up from the ground at an unimaginable angle, and then like gangrene, it could corrode the enemies' weak joints, limiting their movements.

System could even imagine the scene of him using his slime to defeat spiders, or even his natural enemies, birds.

System was mentally exhausted as his search for food this time had lasted over 10 hours.

The good thing was that his [Corrosive Slime] had leveled up, so the colloids in his stomach were being digested rapidly. Most likely, he would be able to finish the remaining colloids in another hour or two.

Then, he could head to the pile of stones near the pitcher plant with his bulging belly.

As System was eating the colloids, he thought of his next day's plan, which was how he was going to get more colloids from the slime.


Chapter 26: Level 10

Editor: Atlas Studios

At midnight, System jumped toward the pile of stones near the pitcher plant with a bulging belly. He jumped toward the gap between the stones he had chosen in the day.

Subtle movements could be seen as a small 2-centimeter cricket crawled out of a gap and instantly crawled into another narrow gap between the stones beside it.

System did not think anything of him invading and occupying the lair of the cricket and did not bother about that small cricket's escape. He started to rest in silence.

After he swallowed [Corrosive Slime] into his stomach, System's digesting speed increased yet again.

About two to three hours after dawn the next day, System completely recovered and was refreshed.

His stomach, which had expanded like a balloon, also returned to the normal size—the slime's colloid had been digested.

He crawled out of the stones' gap and jumped toward the puddle of mud, where the slime was the previous day.

The slime was not moving in the mud, and the ants within its body had basically been dissolved. System could not see clearly how the ants looked within the colloid.

Maybe, because he had eaten the slime's colloid, System realized that the slime's plant aroma no longer affected him. Its influence on his mind was already negligible.

System grabbed a dead branch and tried to tease the slime using the previous day's method.

The effects of throwing the dead branch twice were extremely unideal.

The dead branch just bounced off the most outer layer of the slime's colloid, while the slime's body vibrated a little irregularly, then it returned to its still state.

The slime seemed to have no concern toward the outside world at all.

It looked like for a short period, the tactic of pulling the slime to fight with the ants so he could obtain colloids was impossible.

System also did not have the guts to face the slime directly. Although the slime did not show much of a reaction to the two branches, if he took the initiative to bite the slime's colloid, the slime might jump and swallow him whole.

System left resolutely to explore the surroundings and do what he was best at—snatching from ants. Occasionally, he would go back to see if the slime had recovered.

Karma indeed existed. A few days ago, the ants had been the ones stealing his food, but now, he was snatching from them instead.

System found another ants' nest that was within a rotten tree 30 meters away. Its occupants were the same kind of reddish-brown ants that had battled with the slime.

This nest was even larger than the one that had fought with the slime. Also, the reddish-brown ants' speed was extremely fast.

It was not very smooth when System went to snatch the first two to three times, and his body earned plenty of bite marks by the ants' mandibles.

In the process of snatching from the second ant, 1/4 of his antenna had even been bitten off.

After that antenna broke, System's balance became poorer, but it did not seem to affect him much.

After hunting the reddish-brown ants consecutively three times, System had basically adapted to how agile they were. Thus, his snatching process subsequently was much smoother.

Although he was still a little unused to it, System did not get injured anymore. As the number of times he snatched from the ants increased, his movements became more and more proficient.

Through observation, System discovered that the reddish-brown ants' habits were slightly different from the dark brown ants, especially in how they handled their food.

The reddish-brown ants would not slice the food into pieces. Instead, they liked to cut up the food into small portions that were three to five centimeters. Then a few worker ants would cooperate and carry the food back to the ants' nest.

The reddish-brown ants' habit was quite convenient for System, as he only needed to wander around three to five meters near the ants' nest, and he would be able to snatch big portions of food.

The food snatched each time was enough to sustain him for quite a long period. Also, when he was eating on the branch above the ants, he could choose what to eat next from the food the ants were carrying. Unknown huge insect eggs, butterfly larvae, a plants' seed, an earthworm's corpse, and so on…

Although these reddish-brown ants were smaller, they knew how to hunt better than the dark brown ants. Thus, they could capture a variety of prey.

The hardworking reddish-brown ants, carrying food, made System feel like he was eating a buffet which he recalled from his previous life. There would always be a large variety of food passing by him nearby, and he did not know what to choose.

System even snatched a 3-centimeter butterfly and half a centipede which was 4.5cm in length, from the ants. The two insect hunters' carcasses were still quite fresh. Who knew how those ants had hunted them down?

In the next few days, System spent his time snatching from the ants, exploring the surroundings, and observing the slime.

Basically, nothing unusual had happened in the process of snatching from the ants, and System had discovered seven ants' nests in his exploration expedition.

There were a total of four kinds of ants. Besides the reddish-brown ants and dark brown ants that System was familiar with, there was a type of large 2.5cm black ant and a type of tiny 0.5cm grayish-brown ant. The tiny ants had a special means of attack where their tail could shoot out acid, and System had suffered quite a lot when he first met such an ant.

The resources these four types of ants gathered were different. These days, System's bandit career had been very smooth, and he had eaten nearly 100 different kinds of meat.

However, as compared to discovering the ants' nests, System's exploration expedition these days had not been smooth as he had not discovered any other slimes within a few hundred meters radius.

On the other hand, he had met two magical creatures, but he could only choose to hide when he encountered them.

One of them was a large bluish-gray bird that was enveloped with blue electric light. System immediately hid within the grass nearby once he saw it from afar to prevent himself from being eaten as a snack.

The other one he saw was a bat glowing with blood-red light during nighttime. Bats were hunters that liked catching insects, so System instantly stuck himself to the ground once he saw the bat, giving up looking for food that night.

Fortunately, the slime System had been paying attention to had recovered its liveliness after resting for three days in the mud.

Its size was somewhat restored, but slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It continued looking for food in the forest.

Slimes and ants were like mortal enemies, and with just a little push from System, the slime started a fight with another ants' nest.

The battle's outcome was exactly the same as last time, though the type of ants was different, how the slime looked as it escaped from the ants' nest was basically the same. Its colloid was also filled with ant carcasses, while its colloids scattered onto the ground when it escaped.

System had the chance to eat colloid food for a second time.

In nine days, System had eaten the slime's colloid twice using the same method.

As the slime provided a large amount of EXP, System reached Level 10 on the ninth day, and his size increased to 10.5cm.

His talent [Molting Growth] increased to Level 13, the maximum level, just as he had expected. At the same time, he also learned of his third molting's condition—reaching Level 12.

System would molt a third time when he was Level 12—that was good news.

It might be too difficult for other grasshoppers, but it was simple for System, who searched for meat to eat daily.

Even if he did not purposely pursue the efficiency of raising his level and just relied on snatching the ants' food, System could easily reach Level 12 and complete his third molting within 30 days.


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