Chapter 1223 - 1220: The Comeback Bug

"Can it transform into a super cockroach? Then... the Thorn Insect is indeed quite troublesome."

"However..."

Master Fuli raised his arm to block, gripping once more, a stinger that had suddenly manifested from the void, revealing a strange expression as he looked at Shasha and asked:

"Just now, it seemed like I heard you mention something about selective breeding and the original wild form."

"In the First Epoch, did you guys perhaps have some secretive tendencies with gadgets?"

Shasha had just opened his mouth to remind himself to be careful, and Ansheng immediately thought of the Second Epoch.

Could it be that the Dragon People accidentally touched the [Perfect Remains] and got infected with what Shasha is calling 'perfect selective breeding'?

"What are we doing with this gadget on a living organism?" Shasha looked at Master Fuli with a strange expression and said:

"A species that's undergone perfect selective breeding naturally possesses reproductive capabilities; otherwise, the genes cannot iterate..."

"But we will restrict their reproductive abilities; if allowed to breed without order, it would lead only to trait degradation."

In a world eroded by perfection, all things are swept up in a tidal wave of evolution, evolving and iterating at an ever-changing pace.

And among billions of its kind, perfection will select a portion of organisms that best represent ethnic traits, endowing them with a trait called [Absolutely Efficient Heritage].

Biological organisms possessing such traits, even though originally capable of laying hundreds of eggs, would find their fertility greatly reduced under the influence of the trait.

However, in exchange, they gain absolute genetic superiority.

The offspring perfectly inherit the parents' talents, while still being able to enhance and iterate beyond those of the parental generation.

Though this may sound reasonable, parallel evolutionary concepts do also apply to creatures.

The Eco-Piercing Insect that descended on Blue Star doesn't belong to the creations of a Perfect Race.

Yet it possesses exceptional talent, forcefully evolving into a superior offspring counterpart through Spirit Particle Catalysis and convergent biological evolution, from an insect that should have been eliminated.

"So... Master Fuli, remember to check its gender when you kill it later, in case the Thorn Insect lays eggs before dying."

"Given the overflowing population here on Blue Star, it's nothing short of a disaster." Shasha explained the meaning of his earlier words.

The original Thorn Insect doesn't have the genetic shackles of perfection, and once it begins to breed, it can lay thousands of eggs per clutch, contributing to trait degradation due to disorderly breeding on Blue Star.

The venom contained in its tail stinger could easily poison tens of thousands or contaminate the environment.

"...Alright! I'll be the pet doctor." Master Fuli retorted with a serious, slightly exasperated expression.

The genetic makeup of the Thorn Insect includes a switch, which allows them to change genders at will.

Shasha's intentions were clear — he meant to remove the bell before the male Thorn Insect turns into a female.

Without the bell, the male can no longer retain seeds within itself, and therefore cannot engage in parthenogenesis.

"Ha... let's toast to the eight directions."

Master Fuli turned around, his form gradually transforming into that of a young man, and with a slight raise of his hand, ordered the Luwu Fighter to open its hatch and deploy the Gravity Hammer.

Master Fuli stood high in the sky, gazing at the Thorn Insect shrouded in the milky white mist.

"Hiss—"

The Thorn Insect, struck hard, raised its stinger-laden long tail high, its body resembling both a beast and a scorpion, swelling to an even greater size as it lifted its large forearms in a threatening posture.

With its long tail stinger tilted up and its rear exposed, it was still difficult to pinpoint where its ovipositor was located.

But Shasha indicated a general area to Master Fuli.

"First, let's remove your bell—"

Master Fuli reached out, grasped the long handle of the Gravity Hammer, and his form instantly vanished from its place.

A milky white light pierced through the void, tearing through the dense mist like a stream, arriving behind the Eco-Piercing Insect.

"Fox Worships the Moon—"

Master Fuli landed, took a step forward, and swung the hammer high to face the mountain-like Thorn Insect, landing a heavy blow.

The Gravity Hammer whirled through the air, drawing in the white mist, its body spinning and causing friction with the air.

A crimson light brightened in the dense fog, resembling the sunrise.

"Boom—"

The white light unleashed from the hammer's body tore through the Thorn Insect's slanted abdomen in an instant, with inexhaustible momentum, flooding and swallowing everything in its path like the unstoppable waters of the Yellow River.

"Hiss—"

A tragic scream erupted from the Thorn Insect's mouth, as the light tearing into its abdomen shattered its spine, continued along its neck, and crushed its back of the head.

The Thorn Insect nearly split down the middle, spewing billions of fragments of its shell and greyish-white blood from within.

"Keh..."

The Thorn Insect turned to look at Master Fuli, its eyes revealing a strange expression, its mouth slightly opened, as if showing a satisfied conspiratorial smile.

The Thorn Insect, having lost its head, went limp and slowly kneeled, its body collapsing sideways onto the ground.

But before falling, the Thorn Insect's reflexive instinct controlled its toxic stinger to ruthlessly pierce into its own body.

"Laughing? You have quite a sunny disposition."

Master Fuli held in his right hand a hammer disproportionately heavy compared to himself, calmly observing everything before him.

And in that instant, the previously discarded shell and flesh of the insect twisted in the void, gradually sprouting limbs and a tail, transforming into countless small Thorn Insects.

On the body of the fallen Thorn Insect, as the toxin rampaged and spread, bulges appeared on its surface, quickly rupturing to ooze pus and remnants of decayed organs.

Endless small Thorn Insects crawled out from the Eco-Piercing Insect's blood and fragments of organs.

At a rough glance, the number was no less than tens of millions.

"Ge....."

The eyes of the Thorn Insect's corpse regained focus in less than a second, its flesh intertwining, its severely damaged physique rapidly healing.

It offered Master Fuli a radiant smile.

The Thorn Insects are not afraid of facing enemies head-on; their forte is their [immortality], endlessly self-destructing to continually divide, creating billions of small individuals.

Although small, each individual possesses the same capabilities.

They all have a one-hundred-percent hit rate with their poisonous stingers.

Billions of toxic stingers attack from different angles; if the enemy exposes one flaw, another will appear.

The Thorn Insect excels in messy battles, and with nearly infinite health, they can wear down any foe.

"You can defeat me countless times.... "

"But if I win once, you're dead..." Though the Thorn Insect didn't speak, the meaning was clear in its eyes.

"Look..."

Master Fuli looked at the confident Thorn Insect and raised a finger pointing forward:

"Your former boss sold you out, traded you for warm prospects and plans to go on vacation next month....."

"Hiss?"

The Thorn Insect's expression froze, its eyes shifting, entirely unafraid of Master Fuli's sly tactics, turned sideways to look past.

There, in front of the fallen insect, had somehow gathered countless white flesh.

They intertwined and entangled, forming a sitting, closed-eyed Nine-Tailed Fox.

The Nine-tailed Fox's demeanor was calm, slowly opening its eyes, its mouth revealing a white abyss within.

"Ying——"

The Nine-Tailed Fox's form let out a soft sound, and with one breath, a vortex appeared before its mouth, sweeping the surrounding land.

"Hiss hiss hiss——"

Each newly divided small Thorn Insect, upon seeing the Nine-Tailed Fox hidden in the mist, showed fear as if realizing something, and immediately scattered.

But that vortex, already anticipating the movement of the small Thorn Insects, swallowed millions of them like a vacuum cleaner.

"Hiss——"

The small Thorn Insects screamed, waving their arms, swimming in the void trying to escape the suction.

It's impossible to measure how many toxic stingers were moving towards Master Fuli's position, like torrential rain.

"Dong——"

Master Fuli stood firm, holding the Gravity Hammer, infusing Spiritual Particles causing ripples to meet the final counterattack of the small Thorn Insects, shaking off the stingers.

"The net is cast, now let me host a feast for the guests from beyond."

Master Fuli chuckled and raised a hand; within the mist, numerous blood-colored Nine-Tailed Foxes gathered.

Shasha jokingly called Thorn Insects as Body Sanctification Insects.

But in Ansheng's view, Thorn Insects should more aptly be called Resurgence Insects.

Immortality, division, gender transition, parthenogenesis—all traits ready for resurgence.

The divided body escaped, ready to rise again another day.

If one defeats the Thorn Insect but leaves behind its eggs, they will soon return.

Yet Ansheng blocked all its means, even the Spiritual Particle Mist on the surface of Blue Star was cut off.