Something is wrong. He could feel it.

‘The spawns haven't caught any big prey lately,’ Helzar thought. The “big prey” he was talking about were big cockroaches, small lizards, baby snakes, and other such animals.

‘All that my spawns caught for the past few days are some earthworms, springtails, and a few mites. Even then, the number of these prey insects are dwindling…’

A storm was brewing up ahead, Helzar was certain.

‘It’s almost like… I'm in some enclosed space.’ He could almost see dark clouds forming beneath his mind, but he shook it away

‘No, that shouldn't be the case. When I came to be, I was flying mid-air. I saw that I was near a small village, so I shouldn't be isolated,’ Helzar deduced.

‘If I was somehow captured without any of my spawns noticing, then I'm in big trouble… my spawns are not as reliable as I thought,’ Helzar sighed.

‘If the spawns encountered any sort of anomaly, they wouldn't know it's an anomaly,’ Helzar cursed his bad luck. Even though he could sense what his spawns could sense, there was a limit.

The limit was the spawn itself. The spawns had poor eyesight and were near-sighted. They didn't even have a sense of touch.

Spawns have poor vision, but they rely on it to hunt and traverse the landscape. Thankfully, they had a good memory.

‘Anyway, I have to prepare for the worst. If I was caught and contained, I need to ensure I have a stable food supply… That's the only thing I need, realy,’ Helzar looked at the springtails and worms he was pinning down under him.

Both the worms and springtails were tiny, and these two were the only prey his spawns caught today.

‘I also have to hope that whoever is containing me doesn't kill me,’ Helzar felt grim, pushing down on the two bugs harder, making them squirm.

‘If I try to breed these guys, not only would I need at least one more springtail and worm, I also need to give them a basic diet… but I can't do that,’ Helzar bit down on the two insects, cutting them up into small pieces.

‘But I'm an alien, and I have the nest with me,’ Helzar crouched, lowering his body to the floor.

Then, he detached the nest and put it on the ground. Seeing his actions, all the spawns instinctively gathered in and around the underground chamber, protecting it from all predators. Helzar knew nothing about this.

‘I hope this works. Even if it doesn't, I'd still be “eating” the worm and the springtail, but it won't be a profit.’

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Helzar stuffed the insect parts inside the nest.

+++-+++-+++

Meanwhile, three days ago.

“Agent Rex? What happened, where's Agent Dexter?”

“Chief?” Looking up, Rex stared at the man named “Chief.”

Rex was sitting on the ground, his body covered in sticky, blue blood and dried human blood.

“Dexter is over there,” Rex pointed in front of him.

“Hmm,” Chief squinted his eyes, before closing them. Silent ensued, Rex kept staring at Dexter's body while Chief had his eyes closed.

Dexter's body was mangled. His right leg was torn to pieces as though a tiger had mauled it, his hands were crushed into a pulp, his chest had many holes, and beneath him was an ocean of his own blood.

“What happened to Agent Dexter?” Chief asked, finally opening his eyes.

“I used the Blue Pistol,” Rex admitted. “I was dying, but Dexter refused to heal me with…”

“He used the pistol to create that sphere above his body, didn't he?” Chief said, knowing he guessed correctly. Rex remained silent.

“Rex, you're a righteous person,” Chief said, turning to look at Rex. Before he could say anything else, Rex spoke first.

“I'm not. I'm a selfish guy and a bastard,” Rex said, sneering at Chief. He looked at his hands, they were perfectly fine. His leg, and the countless scars on his body were healed too.

The only evidence of his wounds were his ragged clothes.

“Is that so? Then Agent Rex, wield the pistol for me,” Chief commanded, pointing at the worn-out pistol not far from Rex's hand. “With Agent Dexter is dead, you will replace him.”

“...no,” Rex said, standing up and walking toward Dexter. “That pistol is not for any human to use,” he said, crouching before Dexter's body.

“Oh really?” Chief asked, amused.

The pistol was an anomaly. It could do whatever the wielder wanted in exchange for something equal. Chief once used it himself, resulting in his current state.

Picking up the pistol, Chief caressed it gently before looking at Rex.

“Rex, do it for your brother.”

Rex paused. He was about to carry Dexter's body, but he halted. His body tensed, and cold sweat covered his body.

“With the pistol, you can easily ‘heal’ your brother, isn't that right?” Chief said, his voice monotone and devoid of interest. Instead, his eyes were focused on the sphere above Rex. He couldn't see anything apart from the soil and a few plants.

Seeing that Rex had no response, Chief looked at Rex with disappointment.

Using the “Blue Pistol” would mean being Chief's loyal “follower.” Rex views it as becoming a slave for Chief. Not only that, the Blue Pistol would also turn the user into a deranged man if they overuse it.

“Agent Rex, are you betraying the organization?” Chief asked, pointing the pistol at Rex.

Rex closed his eyes, clenching the ragged red gloves in his hand. He silently slipped it under his clothes.

Like the Blue Pistol, the “Phoenix's Gloves” is an anomaly. It grants the user immense strength in exchange for their lifespan, and the gloves itself will never be destroyed. It will always repair itself.

“...yes.”

BAM!

Blood splattered everywhere, and Rex fell to the ground with his right shoulder blown to bits, and his entire arm falling from his body. Meanwhile, Chief looked at the sphere.

“Well done, Agent Dexter. Now, Blue Pistol, obey me,” Chief said, and a mournful cry came out of the pistol. However, with a simple slap, the pistol became quiet again.

“Give me control over the sphere,” Chief said, before firing the pistol. A blue light enveloped Chief's body, before disappearing a moment later.

+++-+++-+++

‘...huh?’

Helzar looked at the abomination before him. It was a worm-like creature, but it had one leg. Its mouth, on the other hand, had many teeth.

‘I’ll call it… Eater,’ Helzar clacked his mandibles together. Then, he pushed a spawn toward the eater. The spawn was nearing the end of its lifespan.

‘Spawns can increase their lifespan through eating, but since there's no food, that's not possible. Furthermore, I plan to conserve energy from here onwards,’ Helzar decided.

Sensing Helzar's intentions, the spawn placed its head into the eater's mouth. The eater instantly bit down, shredding the spawn's head instantly. Using its leg, which had a tiny claw at the end, it picked the rest of the spawn's body and ate it.

‘Now, it should produce food…’ Helzar felt a bit anxious. After creating the eater, he knew what it could do. However, when he created the spawn, he knew it could see and had powerful mandibles.

Turns out, while the spawns could indeed see and had powerful mandibles, they were nearsighted.

Watching the eater in apprehension, Helzar felt his non-existent heart beat faster and faster.

Squirm—!

Suddenly, the eater began to violently twitch. Then, it stuck its own leg into its own mouth!

‘It’s eating itself!’

Helzar froze, but before he could do anything, the eater exploded into a pile of goo!

From the remains of the eater, blue blood pooled on the soil, before being absorbed by it, leaving behind about seven tiny worms.

The worms wiggled about, but it didn't move anywhere. When they emerged from the eater's body, they were less than a third of a centimeter long. But mere minutes later, they drank the blue blood of their “mother” and grew to one centimeter in size!

Just as Helzar exclaimed in joy, the underground chamber shook, before completely collapsing on itself.