Laws of the Insect Hive

Chapter 55: Desperate Struggle To Survive (2)

Out of System’s six limbs, only his right foreleg and left middle limb were still intact.

It was unknown why but System had lost control of his right foreleg’s tentacle. It seemed that the frost had damaged it greatly and incapacitated it.

System controlled his remaining two limbs to adjust the angle of his body and aim the gland in his throat toward the pupa in the distance in preparation to shoot his [Corrosive Slime].

However, as System moved his right limb, he noticed a crack at the joint of his foreleg, which seemed intact.

Accompanied by a light snap, the crack on his right foreleg’s joint deepened. Then, the foreleg fell from his body, and only a single tendon was still connecting it to his body.

Meanwhile, when his right foreleg fell off, the three tentacles, residing in the round hole of his foreleg, suddenly dashed out and flailed on the ground non-stop, like earthworms.

System stared at his wriggling limb on the ground for some time before moving his body and picking the foreleg with his last remaining limb. Then, he placed the foreleg below his mouth and started chewing on it.

System once again felt the abnormality in his emotions. When eating his foreleg, he did not feel uncomfortable but instead started enjoying its taste.

He didn’t stop there and targeted his flailing limbs next. It could be said to be one of the most delicious delicacies System had eaten. They were smooth and chewy, and their taste reminded cheese but much better than that.

Soon, a strange idea popped up in System’s mind. “Hmm, after my tentacles grow back out in the future, I should eat some of them in my spare time. Since I have [Limb Regeneration], they’ll grow back shortly after…”

System simply could not understand why he even had the time to think of such things at such a crucial moment that his life was in danger.

However, the notion of eating big portions of his scattered body was undoubtedly the best way for his body to recover some Health.

System gave up on making a move against that pupa. Instead, he made use of his abdomen and the remaining limb to turn his body and move to the other side. Half of his broken eye and a broken thigh, which would tremble occasionally, were there.

At the same time, [Corrosive Slime] was secreted yet again from the gland in his throat. He controlled those slimes to crawl and wrap the small pieces of his body parts on the ground, as well as the blood that had flowed out from his body previously.

System did not plan to waste any ‘food’ dropped from his body and decided to eat all of them; his thigh, half a wing, the broken exoskeleton of the wing, half an eye, and a limb…

The body parts System had found were incomplete as some of his limbs were too far from him. Thus, he decided not to waste his effort to get them. As for the others, since he was unable to find them, they should have been destroyed when he collided with the tree branches.

Soon, by eating and digesting this portion of his body, System’s Health recovered slightly and stabilized at 43%.

System’s injured body felt itchy, and in just half an hour, the numerous injuries on his body all clotted into scabs. Unfortunately, he had yet to escape danger. If it were summer, as long as he took note of hiding from predators, he would have the confidence of restoring his body back to its peak state.

However, now…

System’s next move was the key to whether he would be able to survive or not.

The falling snow did not seem to stop at all, but instead, it got heavier and heavier.

As time passed, the temperature dropped lower, while the ground started to turn gray here and there. Before the previous snowflake that landed could completely melt, the next snowflake had already fallen from the sky and covered the previous snowflake, which had yet to melt.

System was aware there was not much time left. When night fell, the temperature of this forest would most likely drop lower than zero.

With his current body, it was simply impossible for System to return to his temporary nest, which was a few kilometers away. The only thing he could do now was to make use of that pupa and activate the [Cold Resistance] within [Insect Adaptability].

It was a pity that System did not have any remaining tentacles, as he could enhance them with [Perception]. System was unsure if he could successfully obtain [Cold Resistance] now. Also, he was in the dark as to how effective [Cold Resistance] would be after obtaining it.

However, he already had no other choice.

…

System struggled to move his body in the muddy pile of dead leaves. He aimed at the correct angle and shot his [Corrosive Slime].

The angle that the slime was shot out deviated slightly—it was still three centimeters away from the pupa.

However, after the third molting, the distance which System could control his slimes had increased. He could control slimes two meters away for about three minutes already, and the slimes would not lose their activeness.

The corrosive slimes easily melted the thread that fixed the dark brown pupa to the tree bark, and the pupa successfully fell from the tree.

Luckily, the fallen pupa rolled toward System. When it finally stopped, the pupa was a little more than ten centimeters away from System.

System had to twist his body and crawl for less than five minutes before arriving right in front of the pupa. He could sense the pupa’s anxiousness due to falling to the ground. It kept on turning and twisting.

System had eaten pupae before, so he secreted [Corrosive Slime] to corrode the pupa’s hard exterior first. The pupa’s dark brown shell was quickly corroded into a light yellow color.

As System observed the slimes corroding the pupa, he stopped what he wanted to continue to do. If he just wanted to eat this pupa, then he just had to use his mandibles to bite it and suck big mouthfuls.

However, it was challenging for him to check the pupa and activate [Cold Resistance] with reference to the ability within the pupa without his tentacles.

After considering, System tore off the scab on his remaining femur, and as blood flowed out of the limb, he stabbed it into the pupa.

System’s last method—he would use the blood in his body to feel the pupa’s blood!

After his third molting, besides his tentacles that were highly perceptive, his blood had also come to possess a certain degree of his [Perception].

System started to concentrate on sensing the pupa…

In the past, he had wrapped his tentacles around and tied up similar pupae twice, so this time his inspection was much easier than he had imagined.

In just a few minutes, System could feel the [Cold Resistance] ability within the pupa.

Soon, System discovered that his grasshopper bloodline and [Cold Resistance]’s compatibility was extremely low. It looked like grasshoppers were not a type of insect that was suitable to make it through winter.

As the old saying went, “A grasshopper at the end of autumn—its jumping days are numbered…”

If he had yet to complete his third molting, it would have been utterly impossible for him to obtain such an ability.

…

Due to the sudden return of the Lord of Glaciers, it had suddenly started snowing in Leyte Forest.

After five days and four nights of the invasion of snow, Leyte Forest was just like the Leyte Mountain. The whole forest was covered by a layer of thick accumulated snow, which was a total of half a meter in height.

System, who was studying the pupa deeply, was also buried within the thick snow. Ever since System had stabbed half of his femur into the pupa, his body had been there the whole time. It was as if he had already died.

However, that day, there was a sudden, subtle movement on the snow’s surface, where System was buried. Then, a brown tentacle was stretched out from the accumulated snow!