—
[Your Common★ Undead Ghost Ant has evolved to Common★★★ Undead Spectral Ant]
[Your Undead Spectral Ant has gained the skill {Ghostly Camouflage}.]
[Your Undead Spectral Ant has gained the skill {Ghostly Charge}.]
—
Spectral Ant.
Somehow, just seeing the name made Michael feel like this wasn’t a completely new race.
If his assumption was correct, then it wasn’t that his talent evolved his undead in random ways—it evolved them along a pre-structured path, whether they were connected to the root of that path or not.
This didn’t disappoint Michael.
If anything, he felt excited.
If the evolution of an ordinary creature could yield something exceptional, what would happen when he evolved animals like lizards or snakes?
Creatures that were often said to possess draconic bloodlines or to be linked to dragon-like myths…
Was there a chance he could achieve something extraordinary from such ordinary creatures?
Michael’s imagination ran wild for a while before he hit himself lightly on the head, forcing himself to focus.
“It gained two new skills,” Michael muttered, staring at the panel in front of him. “Judging by their names, they seem like racial abilities.”
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Whether they were or not didn’t matter—he immediately pulled up the details for the two skills.
[{Ghostly Camouflage} (Basic Mastery) Proficiency: 2.324%]
The Spectral Ant can blend into its surroundings, becoming semi-transparent and significantly harder to detect visually.
At Basic Mastery, it becomes almost invisible in dim or shaded environments for up to 15 seconds. However, the effect does not prevent detection by enemies with heightened senses or those trained to detect supernatural creatures.
There is a 30-second cooldown after use.
[{Ghostly Charge} (Basic Mastery) Proficiency: 3.03%]
The Spectral Ant increases its speed by 40% for 8 seconds, allowing it to move in a sudden burst toward a target. After the charge, it suffers a 4-second slowdown, but the skill can be used again after a 20-second cooldown.
“This race seems to be one of the stronger ones among its rank and star rating, and it’s not just ordinary strong.”
This was the impression Michael got about the Spectral Ant after reading the description of its two skills.
But there was something else Michael was curious about.
Not everything was written in the status panel.
Just because the race of the Ghost Ant had changed didn’t mean Michael forgot what it originally was.
An ant.
And what are ants known for?
Their strength.
The ability to lift objects dozens of times their weight.
Michael didn’t dare think too far ahead, but if this trait carried through its evolutions, the physically strongest undead wouldn’t be his humanoid ones like the male orcs.
It would be the evolved Ghost Ants instead.
At the same level, the difference in strength would be too vast to compare.
Michael turned his gaze to the undead Spectral Ant in front of him, observing its appearance.
For one, it was a massive ant.
The Spectral Ant was an imposing creature, standing nearly waist-high on Michael.
Its sleek, obsidian-black exoskeleton shimmered faintly under the light that entered the cave, as though coated in a thin, ghostly mist.
Its legs were thick and segmented, ending in sharp, hook-like claws that dug easily into the ground.
The ant’s mandibles were long and serrated, and looked like they were capable of crushing bones with ease, while its six grey eyes gave off an eerie, otherworldly aura.
Along its back, faint spectral patterns pulsed rhythmically, as if alive.
Its sheer size and the aura it emitted made it look like a creature born from nightmares—an ant that had transcended its natural limits and stepped into something far more dangerous.
For a Common-rank creature, the Spectral Ant appeared far beyond its classification.
In fact, it looked closer to a Rare-rank creature than some of Michael’s other undead.
The ant’s appearance stirred another thought in Michael’s mind.
Ants were social creatures—queens, kings, soldiers, workers—they had a structured hierarchy.
The Spectral Ant didn’t seem like an ordinary Common-rank being.
If it belonged to a colony with such a system, then maybe…
“Nah, I’m overthinking this. I don’t even have an Epic-grade undead yet. Pointless to dwell on it,” Michael muttered, shaking his head.
Refocusing, he decided to test the ant’s strength.
To avoid damaging the cave, which he planned to reuse, Michael stepped outside.
What he discovered left him speechless.
“Did a random experiment of mine just land me some royal monster bloodline or something?” he murmured in disbelief.
Why was he shocked?
“Two tons of strength at level 2. That’s at least seven times the strength of an average human.”
If this had come from a Rare-rank creature, Michael wouldn’t have been surprised.
But this was a Common-rank undead.
A level 2 Common-rank creature rivaling and even surpassing an Awakener’s strength was unheard of.
At least to Michael.
If he had doubts before, now Michael was certain.
With another evolution, this creature might contend with the likes of Lucky and Prince.
While surpassing them might be a stretch, securing third place wasn’t out of the question.
And the best part of it all was that, just like his other undead, Michael could have multiple creatures of the same type under his command.
“Since you’re the first of your kind under me, if I successfully place you in the Netherworld, your name will be Ghost,” Michael said in a semi-promising tone.
However, Ghost didn’t react; its intelligence was still lacking.
Michael didn’t mind and didn’t put much thought into it.
After verifying the undead’s strength, Michael wanted to test its skills, but he was on a tight schedule.
Without hesitation, he returned to the cave and resumed reviving more creatures to evolve.
******
A/N: It’s update time again, my beautiful readers! We’ve passed the 100-chapter mark and are now approaching the 200-chapter milestone. Hopefully, everyone reading this chapter now will still be with me for many more hundreds to come.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts about the book! I know I owe you all some chapters, and I don’t plan on dodging that, so please stay tuned. Thank you so much for your continued support—it truly means a lot!
Also, exciting news: I’ve got an editor on board to help improve the story. Stay with me on this journey!