Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 7: First Instar and the Giant-toothed Ant

"Click, click!"

"Who's so rude, knocking so loudly on the door?"

Ye Zhi was startled awake by a sudden clicking sound. He instinctively thought someone was knocking on the door, but when the tentacles appeared in his eyes, he realized what was happening. He smiled wryly to himself and tried to get up.

But then he suddenly felt that something was wrong with his current state. He twisted his body a couple of times and heard a sound like an eggshell breaking. When he turned around, he saw that the shell on his back had cracked open.

Ye Zhi was terrified. He struggled for a moment, but felt as if his real body was being restrained. He continued to twist and turn, and his new, fair body emerged from the shell below!

"This is... molting? But ants don't undergo complete metamorphosis; they're already adults, so why would they molt?"

Before the questions in his mind had completely dissipated, Ye Zhi suddenly felt that, apart from the original human memories, countless new pieces of information were flooding into his mind in a chaotic manner.

"The Force Astral Plane, protected by the true gods of nature... Insects absorb Force, and after entering the adult stage, they continue to molt and grow, advancing to Force-based life forms..."

Holy crap!

This information seems to be etched into the mind through the edited form of DNA genetic material, and is "activated" by some means as changes occur within oneself, becoming part of "instinct." But right now, Ye Zhi's focus is clearly not on this.

The amount of new information appearing in his mind was truly overwhelming—at least now he could confirm that he was most likely no longer in the world he had lived in before.

As his newly formed exoskeleton hardened rapidly, Ye Zhi realized that his body seemed to have grown significantly larger than before, from just over one centimeter to nearly two centimeters.

It seems I've accidentally "evolved" once. According to the extra memories in my mind, I should now be called... a first-age beginner warrior?

"Evolved insect warriors possess life sacs, capable of collecting plant seeds and nurturing them into 'life seeds'... If they obtain wild divinely bestowed seeds, they will receive further enhancements after nurturing..."

But then, the information that appeared in his mind startled Ye Zhi - a divinely bestowed seed!

According to the description, this seems to be a more advanced existence, similar to the "insect warriors," which originated from ordinary plants. It is extremely rare and is therefore called a gift from "gods."

Descriptions of the "divinely bestowed seed" in my memory include things like the fact that it causes the mother plant to lack nutrients when it is born, leading to the death of other flowers on the same plant, and that it has special patterns.

Ye Zhi is now basically certain that the strange pitcher plant flower he saw earlier was a "divinely gifted seed" that was being born.

At this moment, he didn't care about anything else. He immediately tore apart the ant silk in front of him, crawled out of the hollow cage-like vines where he was living, and moved his six limbs to quickly approach the "tent" he had built earlier.

"Click, click!" But just then, a crisp clicking sound, as if something was knocking against each other, rang out again, clearly reaching the antennae!

Ye Zhi suddenly realized that he had heard the sound once when he first woke up, but he was still groggy and even thought it was a knock on the door, so he didn't pay attention. But now, he felt something was wrong and immediately turned his head to look down.

At that glance, his heart sank – beneath the two-meter-tall pitcher plant, a giant ant, half a meter long, was looking up, its compound eyes fixed on the top of the plant!

Its body is slender, but its head is very distinctive, square in shape, with a pair of long and straight upper jaws, with tooth-like protrusions only at the ends, and a huge range of opening and closing. At this moment, its jaws are open horizontally to 180 degrees, and then suddenly close, and that clicking sound is made from this.

Ye Zhi recognized the species of the large-toothed ant from his past life memories. Subsequently, his newly awakened "inherited memories" also gave it a specific genus and species name - Dark-bellied large-toothed ant!

This size is absolutely impossible for a normal arthropod to achieve. It is undoubtedly at the same level of Force life as him now. With its huge size, it is probably at least at the level of "advanced warrior" in the inherited memories.

Before he could even think about why the name given to it in his inherited memories was the same as in his previous life, "Giant Toothed Ant," Ye Zhi looked in the direction of the extra-large Giant Toothed Ant's gaze and saw the "small tent" he had set up earlier.

At this moment, one corner of the "tent" was slightly damaged, and it seemed that a faint aura was emanating from it, radiating an indescribable attraction.

Ye Zhi then realized that his accidental evolution during his rest must have taken several days. It seemed that the rain or something else had caused damage and leaked his aura, which attracted this giant toothed ant.

Anxious, Ye Zhi disregarded everything else, spread his membranous wings and took to the air, flying straight towards the location that had previously covered the strange flower, or rather, the "divinely bestowed seed of the pitcher plant."

After a molting evolution, his deformed and bizarre body finally became somewhat more coordinated. Although his jaws were not yet completely symmetrical, at least his flight muscles were repaired, and he could now take off and fly normally.

Following the crack, Ye Zhi immediately saw the slender capsule that had split into four petals along the original calyx pattern. He didn't know how long he had been in a dormant evolution, and during that time, the fruit had actually ripened.

Originally, the inside should have been full of seeds, but as the shell cracked and the seeds scattered, only one seed remained, which was exceptionally large and plump. The familiar special patterns were still on it, but they had become almost invisible - without a doubt, this was the "divinely bestowed seed".

The large-toothed ant below seemed to have noticed Ye Zhi's presence. It vigorously pounded its mandibles, making a continuous clicking sound that almost deafened Ye Zhi's auditory receptors on its antennae.

I discovered this seed first, and I can't let that giant ant get there first. Ye Zhixin steeled herself, bit off the long, thin awns at both ends of the seed that were originally meant to carry it further away on the wind, and swallowed it down into her "life pouch" using the method she had inherited from her memory.

He felt his newly born special organ, called the "life sac," immediately envelop him completely. Then the sac's opening contracted, as if the gestation process had begun. Without further hesitation, he leaped out of the opening, his membranous wings spread, and he took flight.

In front of that powerful ant with at least a high level of power, he, a mere novice who had just entered the realm of Force creatures, was no better than an ordinary ant. The two-meter-tall pitcher plant could not give him the slightest sense of security.

The only option now is to run away as fast as possible, taking advantage of his ability to fly to escape the scene quickly and find a safe place to land temporarily. While thinking, Ye Zhi suddenly flapped his wings and flew towards a small tree nearby.