Within the orb of light, the outlines of three creatures flickered into and out of view, their limbs and organs beginning to merge and reassemble, emitting crackling sounds.
As the light gradually dissipated, a brand-new creature appeared before Zhou Qi.
It had a tall stature, a broad head, and massive compound eyes that glowed with an eerie light, allowing it to perceive all directions.
Its mouth was filled with sharp fangs, a Fusion of the Army Ant's serrated teeth and the spider's keen fangs, giving the impression of incredible biting power.
It inherited the advantages of the Brazilian Wandering Spider, possessing six thick, powerful legs, making its movements steady and agile.
Its two arms evolved from the forelimbs of a giant water bug, with bulging muscles covered in hard scales; the sharp, curved claws at their ends dripped with a mixed venom that corroded upon contact.
Its back bore three pairs of wings, thin yet tough, with a vast wingspan, and a slender, flexible tail, its tip sharp like a scorpion's, concealing a deadly venom sac capable of launching attacks at any moment.
Zhou Qi looked on with delight and immediately named it by the alias for the giant water bug, which was the He Bo Insect.
He Bo originally referred to the River Earl in the Great Dragon Country's mythology, a revered and powerful deity in the water.
Naming it this way signified Zhou Qi's high hopes for it.
Looking at the newly born creature, which was about the size of Zhou Qi's palm, Zhou Qi reached out his hand, intending to strengthen it.
Unexpectedly, this First-Order He Bo Insect was so fierce that it immediately bit Zhou Qi's hand.
Even with the protection of Zhou Qi's Intermediate Titan Overlord Body, he still felt a stinging pain in his finger; fortunately, it didn't break through his defense, as this little thing's toxicity, after fusing with the Brazilian Wandering Spider, was very strong.
“Good heavens, the Elementary intimacy that comes with First-Order is completely useless on you,” Zhou Qi muttered to himself, pinching the First-Order He Bo Insect's carapace and lifting it.
This also served as a reminder to Zhou Qi that Elementary intimacy was negligible for some inherently vicious creatures.
“Ding, consuming 400 Evolution Points, the He Bo Insect has been strengthened to a Second-Order He Bo Insect. Congratulations, Host, you have gained Advanced intimacy with the Second-Order He Bo Insect.”
......
“Ding, consuming 3200 Evolution Points, the He Bo Insect has been strengthened to a Fifth-Order He Bo Insect. Congratulations, Host, you have gained undying loyalty from the Fifth-Order He Bo Insect.”
“Ding, congratulations, Host, for successfully strengthening a Fifth-Order He Bo Insect and advancing to a First-Order Apostle. You have gained the talents: Water Domain Control, Spider Sense, Limb Regeneration, High-Energy Silk Spraying, Enhanced Venom, and Solid Armor.”
Zhou Qi saw that the Fifth-Order He Bo Insect below him quickly grew to the length of his arm, with six thick, segmented legs, a mouth full of fangs, and a stinger at its rear like a wasp.
Its carapace was matte black and streamlined overall, clearly indicating it was an excellent “swimming champion.”
Zhou Qi opened the light screen:
Apostle: Fifth-Order He Bo Insect
Rank: Intermediate Life Form
Species: He Bo Insect
Genes: Intermediate He Bo Insect Genes
Life Essence: Carbon-Based Life Form
Talents:
Four-Star Talent:
Water Domain Control: The He Bo Insect possesses the ability to perceive and control the surrounding water domain. It can spontaneously create small whirlpools and use water currents to move quickly and conceal itself.
Three-Star Talent:
Spider Sense: Can predict the opponent's movements in advance and significantly enhance sensitivity to danger.
Limb Regeneration: The body's recovery ability is extremely strong; severed limbs can regrow.
Two-Star Talent:
High-Energy Silk Spraying: The strength of the silk spun is significantly increased.
Enhanced Venom: The lethality of the venom is significantly increased.
One-Star Talent:
Solid Armor: Outer shell defense increased fivefold.
Life Strength: 9.0
“I didn't expect this He Bo Insect to have a talent like Water Domain Control; now it truly lives up to its name as a River Earl,” Zhou Qi observed with delight.
He then brought the Fifth-Order He Bo Insect to the Nine-Order Army Ant Queen.
The Fifth-Order He Bo Insect transformed into a faint light and was absorbed by the Army Ant Queen, and a piece of information was fed back to Zhou Qi.
Daily reproduction: 1600 individuals, comparable to the Fifth-Order Four Fiend Insect Soldier.
The Nine-Order Army Ant Queen's One-Star Talent: External Insect Nest already had three slots filled, with two remaining. Zhou Qi had always wanted to strengthen a high-end combat-capable subordinate, but he currently had no clue.
Subsequently, Zhou Qi issued an order to the Nine-Order Army Ant Queen to focus on reproducing Fifth-Order He Bo Insect in the following period, primarily to expand the underground lake, and ideally to capture some creatures from the underground lake alive.
............
November 28, 2016
Current Evolution Points: 43,000,000.
Zhou Qi lay on a lounge chair at the breeding farm, looking at his phone with a somewhat solemn expression.
In their Great Dragon Country Insect chat group, a group member named Gao Peng sent a message.
He and a friend, both insect enthusiasts, agreed to go to Shennongjia to catch some local unique insects. When they reached a deep corner, they unexpectedly saw a “person” squatting on the ground, waving his hand at them.
Gao Peng and his friend thought they had encountered another insect enthusiast or a hiker in this desolate wilderness, so they also raised their hands to greet him.
However, as he took two steps forward, he saw the person squatting on the ground stand up, reaching about three meters tall.
Gao Peng realized that this was no human at all; what he initially thought was black clothing turned out to be its fur or perhaps its skin.
Immediately, he was so scared that he ran down the mountain. Even though they were accustomed to traveling through mountains and rivers all year round and had good stamina, they were still chased by that strange person.
Gao Peng watched helplessly as his friend was pinned to the ground by the monster and soon fell silent. His mind was blank, adrenaline surged, and he fled down the mountain, filled with doubt and fear all the way.
As soon as he escaped the mountain, Gao Peng went to report to the police, as his friend was still held by that monster on the mountain.
When the police arrived and went with him, they couldn't find the strange person or his friend. They then began to investigate whether Gao Peng's claim of a missing person was true.
Gao Peng showed the police the video from his chest-mounted recorder, which indeed captured the strange person, but the content only went up to their greeting, with no video of the two being chased.
The police merely told him to wait and stated that they would continue to investigate Shennongjia.
Gao Peng could sense the police's perfunctory attitude, but there was nothing he could do. Every year in Shennongjia, adventurous enthusiasts would disappear from the depths of the forest.
So Gao Peng began uploading videos to short video platforms, but each time it was taken down, and eventually, even his short video account was banned.
He then started sending it to communication software, specifically their insect exchange group.
Other netizens in the group were constantly flooding the chat, saying all sorts of things.
“Is this a black bear disguised as a human?”
“I think it looks more like Bigfoot; aren't there old rumors of Bigfoot in Shennongjia?”
“How could it be a black bear? I see that black on its body is clearly exposed skin, not fur at all.”
“Folks, anyone want to team up and go to Shennongjia to take a look?”
......
Zhou Qi's eyes were grave; he felt that this indeed didn't resemble a black bear. The video Gao Peng sent was quite clear, showing the strange person with long, slender arms and legs, resembling a long-limbed, dark-skinned person.
While contemplating, Zhou Qi directly applied to add Gao Peng as a friend.