On the ground, dozens of insects swarmed a worm. In just a few minutes, the worm was cut into tiny bits, before completely disappearing as it was dragged underground.

‘Awesome!’

Helzar exclaimed, watching as the spawns returned into the nest. After three days, his swarm now numbered more than fifty, and the prey they brought home daily was astonishing.

‘Even ant colonies can't grow this rapidly,’ Helzar couldn't help but feel proud. With the steady supply of food, he was able to improve the quality of spawns he produced.

‘With the new improvement, each spawn can live for three days, and they're also a tiny bit tougher. I didn't upgrade their strength yet, it's not necessary right now,’ Helzar deduced. After the upgrade, the new spawns were now 1 centimeter in size just like him.

‘I wonder when I should create a new type of bug?’

The spawns were the best design he could produce because when he created them, he had no idea what was going on. He even nearly died afterward.

‘I’ll wait until the swarm is in the hundreds before doing anything,’ Helzar planned.

His spawns mostly hunted small insects and sometimes, fruits. Unfortunately, fruits are hard to digest and turn to usable energy.

+++-+++-+++

While the spawns were hunting another spider, Dexter finally returned to their headquarters with Rex.

“Chief,” Dexter called out to his superior, a bald man covered from head to toe with a black cloak. Underneath, his whole body was bandaged up, and he was wearing mechanical armor with glowing blue eyes.

“Agent Dexter, give me the bug you discovered,” Chief ordered, and Dexter wasted no time fulfilling it.

“Hmm,” observing the bug and confirming that it was dead, Chief placed the test tube on a glass container before opening it with small, slow, but precise mechanical arms inside the container.

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“Be alert, we don't know what will happen now,” Chief ordered, prompting Dexter to sigh. It was just a dead bug, he couldn't understand his paranoid Chief.

Nevertheless, he obeyed and pulled out a modified pistol. It even looked worn out, but its power is undeniable.

‘I hope I don't use this thing today, I'm not ready to lie in bed for three days again,’ Dexter lamented.

Seeing Dexter “geared” up, Chief opened the test tube and tilted it. The dead spawn slid out of the test tube, but nothing else happened…

BLIP.

“Hmm?” Chief looked down on a digital tablet. It had a lot of data all over the screen, but they were all set to zero, apart from a few lines.

[Contamination: 0.0001]

[Threat Level (Estimated): 0]

[Growth Level (Estimating): 1… 2…]

[Growth Level (Estimated): 10]

“A growth level of 10?” Chief raised his voice, before looking toward Dexter. “Agent Dexter, find that bug and bring it here, now!”

“Understood,” Dexter replied with a salute, his face grave. Bolting out of the enormous secured room, he saw Rex waiting outside at the end of the extremely long hallway.

“Rex! Uh, help me find that bug!” Dexter smiled, his face as bright as day. After rushing out so wildly, he was a bit winded and sweaty.

“Huh? Why?” Rex asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Chief found something about the bugs that can help heal other beings, it doesn't even spend the patient's…” Dexter began rambling, but Rex waved his arm, lightly tapping Dexter's shoulder.

“Before you ramble away… can that bug really heal people?” Rex asked in a serious tone.

“Yes, the Chief said so, but it may take a long research time,” Dexter sighed, but Rex was already dragging him into the truck.

“Doesn't matter, I'll help you find that bug. Just keep your promise,” Rex said. When both men entered the truck, the truck vanished.

+++-+++-+++

Time passed by quickly, and another day was spent.

Currently, in between grass blades, a baby snake hissed. It was a baby grass snake, reaching 8 centimeters in length. However, it was surrounded by over sixty bugs that were one centimeter in length. The gathering of bugs surrounded the snake, and inched forward with each second passing by.

The spawns in front barely moved, as they were being watched by the vigilant snake. On the other hand, the spawns behind the snake rushed toward it, and two seconds later, they were already climbing the snake’s body.

Feeling the spawns on his back, the snake twisted, rolling on the ground. Unfortunately, it did nothing but serve as a signal for the rest of the spawns to join the murder.

HISS!

The spawns bit the snake's body, forming cuts that were flooded by red blood instantly. They all bite repeatedly in the same place, forming deep wounds on the snake's body, causing it intense agony.

It took them a few minutes, but the snake was eventually killed, and was butchered like a pig in a slaughter house.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Celebrating their victory, the remaining survivors clacked their mandibles together before swiftly cutting up the snake. They couldn't carry it all, but they managed to bring back half of the snake’s body in one go. When they returned, no bird swooped in and they were able to carry back the other half.

It took Helzar three hours of continuous feasting to devour the snake, though he left some for the spawns to eat.

During the hunt, few spawns died, but thirty were eaten by Helzar. They all lost a limb or two, rendering them useless. Furthermore, they belong to the old batch of spawns, and they were all half a centimeter long.

Despite the losses, Helzar smiled all day. Beneath him, a pile of spawn eggs formed a small mound. In an hour, all of those would hatch to spawns, bringing the population of the swarm far above 100.

‘Maybe I can evolve my main body sooner than I thought,’ Helzar nearly danced in a jovial mood.

The maximum size of the creatures he can produce depended on his maximum size. If he was 2 centimeters long, and 1 centimeter thick, that would be the maximum size of his creatures. In this case, that would be his spawns.

‘Patience, Helzar. Just a bit more.’

And just like that, two more days passed by like the wind.