บท 16: Cricket Hunting And Leaving
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
No one except for mantises and spiders was born to hunt, and nobody could do anything about it.
However, System's hunting skills could gradually be honed. While having no inheritance in his bloodline, human intelligence and the powerful physical strength of insects would surely make him an excellent hunter if he kept practicing.
If he attempted a few more similar hunts, System would be able to capture this cricket easily.
Unfortunately, there was no such subject for System to practice his skills. Before molting a third time, he would not be strong enough to challenge a strong opponent that would undoubtedly maim or even kill him. However, after molting and becoming an adult grasshopper, he would be ushered into this stormy and barren world with no prey to choose from.
System shook his head as he reached the entrance of cricket's tree hole and tried to squeeze in.
As System had observed previously, the narrow opening could not allow his head to pass through. If he forced his way in, it would cause his head to bleed out, which was not worth it.
Upon a closer look at the tree hole, System's insect head gradually revealed a human smile.
The tree hole was oddly shaped, narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, and System could even smell some special muddy odor from the cricket.
System would be able to squeeze into the hole and catch the cricket if he could widen the wood near the opening. System had a way to widen it—the biochemical weapon [Corrosive Slime].
This kind of corrosive liquid could easily corrode bark, and he believed that it could work well on wood too.
While there was not much slime he could secrete, System could recycle what he used for corrosion in order to reduce consumption. It would be sufficient to widen the cricket's tree hole.
The cricket, hiding in the tree hole, was like a turtle in a jar, with no possibility of escaping.
The fishy-smelling slime was slowly secreted from System's mandibles, and the opening of the tree was slowly corroded.
As System used [Corrosive Slime], the cricket that was hiding in the tree hole became restless. Its body was shaking, and it started to move from time to time.
System was also more careful when he saw this, just in case the cricket suddenly rushed out from the tree hole and escaped again.
After ten minutes, half of the opening was widened by System. The cricket had quietened as if it had resigned to its fate, with only its abdomen still breathing slowly.
After another ten minutes, System managed to bite off the cricket's head.
With no fight taking place, the cricket had been fumigated, and it had passed out due to the corrosive liquid's volatility before being captured.
Hence, it was normal for the cricket to be restless at first and suddenly quieten down after ten minutes. It seemed that the smell of System's [Corrosive Slime] carried some toxicity.
However, the toxicity in this gas was not strong, and it took more than ten minutes to poison the cricket in a confined space such as the tree hole. Thus, it could not be used as a means of hunting.
…
While System was eating the cricket's carcass, he thought about his next hunting target.
Food was scarce after the rainstorm, and System thought hard but had no idea about what to hunt next. Eventually, he thought about the two spiders he had seen.
In the process of hunting the cricket, System had more or less found a way to deal with the spiders.
He had a unique advantage over spiders, which was his ability to fly.
System planned to find a wooden stick, grab it, and fly to stab the spiders with it.
System did not think that he could impale the spiders with a wooden stick—all he wanted was to stab them into the water.
Although spiders could prevent falling with the help of their thread, he could launch two attacks to break the thread. Even if it was difficult for him to do so, success was probable.
System could plan until that step. The spiders' strength would be weakened if they fell into the water. But so what? Even if the spiders were unfortunately drowned, he would not be able to fish them out.
…
System chewed with his mandibles while thinking. After molting into an adult grasshopper, his mandibles had become sharper, and he could even chew through the sturdiest brain shell of the cricket easily.
Unlike normal meat, System preferred this kind of crustacean food, which tasted like crunchy milk chocolate, a taste that he had never tried in his previous life.
System devoured part of the cricket's carcass, grabbed its remaining body, and flew back to his lair.
After pondering for a while, System finally decided to leave this place. He was very familiar with the nearby area, which spanned for 100 meters. He was confident that he could live there comfortably for two months.
By constantly moving, System would be able to find more food and opportunities that could allow him to extend his short lifespan.
System decided to leave the remaining cricket carcass for the next morning and leave this place after he was full.
As compared to the dim night, System eventually decided to explore the unknown forest during the day. After all, his body needed some rest, and the dim light at night would make his exploration inefficient.
…
Before dawn, System had eaten the remaining cricket carcass.
Early in the morning, System crawled out of his lair on time, chose slightly higher ground, and started jumping forward.
Due to the loud flapping of his wings, System did not choose to fly. Although no birds had shown up nearby for several days after the torrential rain, it was hard to tell in further places.
Since he possessed [Information Reading] that could help him observe dangerous situations, System moved cautiously but not slowly. After five minutes, he had leaped and moved a hundred meters to an unfamiliar area.
He found several gray-brown mushrooms on a rotting tree with the great efficiency of [Information Reading].
Undoubtedly, mushrooms, which were made up of fungi, were nutritious food. Even so, System's body was unfamiliar with the smell of mushrooms, and he was unable to tell if the mushrooms were poisonous.
Although the mushrooms' color seemed to be non-toxic, System did not dare to try them easily. He jumped on a mushroom and observed it for a while, but eventually hopped away.
The layer water on the ground became shallower as System slowly moved toward the higher ground. After a few hundred meters, puddles of water appeared on the ground.
It was not long before System decided to take a rest due to the consumption of [Information Reading].
Soon, he spotted dozens of the insects, which he was familiar with. There were a dozen ants, which were commonly seen in the forest. These ants had one-centimeter dark-brown bodies. System seemed to have encountered this species before.
Currently, the ants were tearing at a tadpole struggling in the mud. This tadpole was about 3cm, not counting its tail, and had already grown a hind leg.
The water had receded, and the tadpole had been unlucky enough to be trapped in the mud. Even if the ants had not found it, the tadpole would have still died.
System surveyed the surroundings carefully, and after finding no sign of danger, he aimed at an ant and charged straight at it.
Now that System charged toward these ants in his adult form, he was no longer like a zebra rushing toward a hyena. Instead, he was like an elephant rushing toward a hyena.
He wanted to hunt an ant first to test his ability!
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