Were it not for the inherent Zerg sensitivity to living beings, Kelvier would never have noticed the guardian bug, nearly camouflaged by the dust coating its body, blending seamlessly into its surroundings.

  Size alone was enough for Kelvier to confirm that this creature was the most formidable bug he had ever encountered in his life.

  At that moment, nearly a hundred guardian bugs circled a hillock, their deafening buzz still vivid in Kelvier’s memory.

  This was the strongest bug he had ever seen!

  Could he evolve by devouring it? To what extent?

  Excitement heated Kelvier’s heart as thoughts raced through his mind. He climbed onto the guardian bug, first ensuring it posed no threat.

  Only up close did he see clearly that the guardian bug was missing half of its body, evidently a casualty of a nuclear explosion from a month ago. Yet, it had managed to survive until now, its vitality unimaginable.

  With every second he remained outside, vital energy ebbed away from his body, so Kelvier didn’t hesitate. He bit down hard!

  Despite the grating noise, his teeth did not penetrate.

  Currently, his biting force could sever ordinary metal, yet it was no match for the guardian bug’s resilience, a fact that thrilled him internally.

  He began to bite into the guardian bug starting from its wound.

  The guardian bug struggled violently.

  As Kelvier tore off chunks of flesh from the guardian bug, he began to devour it. Within moments, he had burrowed inside the creature.

  Indeed! The rate of energy loss inside slowed dramatically.

  Overjoyed, Kelvier realized, just as he suspected, that the guardian bug’s shell was radiation-resistant; otherwise, it couldn’t have survived such intense radiation for nearly a month.

  After devouring nearly seven times his own weight in the guardian bug’s organs, Kelvier finally felt his energy levels nearing saturation.

  What was most perplexing was that despite such severe internal damage, the guardian bug was still not dead. Its vitality was astonishing.

  Although the guardian bug was radiation-resistant, energy continued to drain at a slow pace.

  Kelvier began dragging it towards the cave entrance.

  But the soil, as if ploughed, was too loose to gain any traction.

  Thinking it over, he decided to call on Number Two from the cave. Clearly frightened of venturing out, but compelled by Kelvier’s status as the “Bug King,” Number Two reluctantly followed.

  Upon seeing the nearly dead guardian bug, Number Two excitedly pounced on it, frantically gnawing at its surface without breaking through.

  Number Two’s actions made Kelvier warily vigilant. Such was the Zerg nature; theoretically, given the guardian bug’s revered status and Number Two being a subordinate, as soon as the guardian bug was dying, in keeping with Zerg survival rules, Number Two immediately attacked.

  Enlightened, Kelvier let Number Two consume some energy first.

  Together, they struggled to drag the body, but with no leverage under their feet, they could not move it.

  After some thought, there was no choice but to dismember the guardian bug.

  It was challenging to bite from the outside, but once inside, it became much easier. When Kelvier bit into the guardian bug's body, a surge of radiation overwhelmed him, causing his internal energy to deplete rapidly. They managed to split the guardian bug into two halves, which Kelvier and Number Two could barely drag. Due to its large size, it got stuck at the cave entrance, forcing them to cut it into four sections to barely pull it inside the cave.

  Kelvier was left speechless by one of the guardian bug's legs from the quartered body, which still twitched from time to time.

  The feast began!

  A surge of uncontrollable excitement filled Kelvier, whose original form was a large, fat nurse bug. However, after devouring too many soldier Zerg, he had grown to resemble a much larger soldier Zerg. Kelvier had a vague idea that whatever he devoured might guide his evolutionary path.

  What if... he devoured this guardian bug...

  As he contemplated this, Number Two had already bitten into the guardian bug's body and was recklessly devouring it. In just a short while, it had devoured an amount of organs double its body weight.

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  Kelvier silently cursed and also dove in. Number Two preferred the softer organs, but Kelvier thought it over and opted to bite into the tougher muscles and the shell, almost as hard as steel.

  As a result, Kelvier's devouring speed was much slower than Number Two's. However, what Kelvier consumed was the essence of the guardian bug.

  Kelvier was surprised to find that normally Number Two could devour about ten times its body weight, but now it could barely manage four times. This demonstrated the extraordinary "energy" contained within the guardian bug. Yet, it was astonishing that Kelvier could fit nearly ten times that amount, suggesting his "talent" was also exceptional.

  In the blink of an eye, two days passed. After devouring the guardian bug, Number Two's leg growth rate increased tens of times. According to the current growth rate, it would be fully restored by today.

  Both bugs recognized the value of the guardian bug and thus kept stuffing themselves. After two days, aside from some scraps of meat, only a hard shell remained.

  Kelvier was now intently staring at the green lines on the shell. If anything on his body mattered the most to him, it would be his wings and the green lines on his shell. Many insects have markings, and some had evolved complex patterns over the evolutionary course, such as eyes and even human faces. Initially, a single green line might not seem significant, but after observing closely, Kelvier realized that within the Zerg swarm, besides the guardian bug and himself, he had never seen another insect with green lines.

  Could this be a symbol of "talent" or strength?

  The shell of the guardian bug gently shook, which was Number Two trying to shave off some scraps of meat from the shell.

  Kelvier was tempted to devour this shell, but its hardness was daunting. After much effort at a broken spot, he managed to grind off a little powder. Swallowing this powder, he discovered that its energy content was not as overwhelming as expected, only slightly more than the muscle.

  Though it was slow, Kelvier had no choice but to munch on the shell pieces left, treating it much like cracking sunflower seeds to pass the time. Number Two had already fallen into a deep sleep without forming a cocoon, leaving Kelvier uncertain if it was about to evolve.

  Kelvier had spent several days attempting to master Number Two's technique of "listening to the wind to discern position," yet he always struggled to grasp the concept, sometimes ending a day without catching a single small insect. Frustrated, he resigned himself to slowly grinding the bug shell with his mandibles. Fortunately, his internal energy reserves were abundant, allowing him to relax for several months.

  Given that nuclear radiation would take thousands of years to dissipate, unlike waiting out a flood, Kelvier decided it was best to set out as soon as Number Two awakened.

  While contemplating their departure, Kelvier bit into the area where the green line was and swallowed. To his astonishment, a massive surge of energy filled his body — that tiny amount of powder provided him with half the total energy inside his body!

  What shocked Kelvier even more was the influx of information that came with the green line — information about the Zerg!

  Kelvier was astounded by the structure of the Zerg. As he slowly devoured the "green line," he gained a general understanding of the Zerg hierarchy, organized by status:

  At the top was the Queen, akin to a "Bug King" in human terms, with only one per Zerg swarm. Like bees, a new queen's emergence would typically prompt the swarm to split, though strangely, both swarms could coexist peacefully, each Queen managing her own subordinates without conflict.

  Next were the mutated guardian bugs, emerging from regular guardian bugs but several times more powerful! These were rare, with only about a dozen in a swarm. Kelvier named them "Royal Guards."

  From the residual information in this guardian bug, Kelvier also learned that these Royal Guards occasionally mutate into a Bug Emperor. Unlike the Queen, known for laying eggs, this Bug Emperor does not reproduce but is immensely powerful, though the specifics of its strength remained unknown to the guardian bug.

  It was like a favorite novel ending abruptly, leaving Kelvier cursing in frustration: "Damn it, keep updating!"

  Could the distinction be that the Emperor is male, and the Queen — the Bug King — is female, possibly a pairing relationship? Kelvier was forced to think with his human mindset.

  He learned that these mutant Bug Kings are even rarer than regular Queens. To date, no Bug Emperor had been spotted on Earth.

  Equally rare was the Brain Bug — a name Kelvier adopted from watching Starship Troopers. According to the guardian bug's "memories," Brain Bugs are weak in combat but can drastically enhance the strategic capabilities of a Zerg swarm under their command.

  Kelvier reasoned that culture could be more frightening than brute force. A Zerg swarm with a strategic leader would see its destructive power increase significantly.

  Next were roles Kelvier recognized: the Masons, the Bulb Bugs responsible for transporting eggs, the Syringe Bugs that hasten maturation, and many others he had not encountered. The lowest in the hierarchy were the nurse bugs like himself.

  Realizing he was at the bottom of the Zerg hierarchy filled Kelvier with a poignant mix of dismay.

  The guardian bug's memory frustratingly described all those mighty Zerg using the single term “powerful,” leaving Kelvier exasperated at the Zerg's limited vocabulary.

  Piecing together the clues with some guesswork and deduction, Kelvier summarized:

  Guardian bug → Royal Guard → Bug Emperor. These entities formed a hierarchy, each subsequent form mutating from the former, with the latter being exponentially rarer than its predecessor — to the extent that the Bug Emperor currently existed only in legends.

  Another entity as rare as the Bug Emperor was the Brain Bug, or the strategist. Kelvier wondered if it resembled the bloated, obese figures from Starship Troopers.

  While gnawing on the guardian bug's shell and digesting this information, Kelvier occasionally froze in place, puzzling Number Two, who seemed to wonder why his leader had suddenly become motionless.

  By the time Kelvier had fully processed the information, Number Two had disappeared, likely off hunting earthworms.

  With nothing else to do, Kelvier started biting into the thickest part of the green line at the rear of the guardian bug’s head. As he bit down, he was stunned.

  All this time, he had been grappling with his place within the Zerg swarm. With this bite, Kelvier finally understood:

  He was an Aberrant Bug!

  Born of the Zerg yet sustaining himself by devouring Zerg! Because only by devouring Zerg could he continue to grow stronger!

  A powerful Aberrant Bug was the nightmare of a Zerg swarm! Given enough time, an Aberrant Bug that developed sufficiently could become a formidable force...

  Any role within the Zerg swarm could potentially give rise to an Aberrant Bug, and different roles could evolve into unique variations over time.

  How powerful is an Aberrant Bug? Just how mighty could it become?

  The narrative ended without elaboration.

  Just "powerful."

  Kelvier felt like his favorite novel had been abruptly canceled again, and he cursed inwardly in frustration: "Damn it, just update! Update! Update! Update!"