Chapter 353: Race Against Time

At present, the red mist boss could only transform ordinary zombies into Elite Zombies. It seemed that it still could not transform zombies that were already Elite Zombies themselves.

However, if it were allowed to continue growing stronger, perhaps it would eventually be able to transform Elite Zombies as well.

Therefore, Joo Joowon understood that he had to move quickly. The longer he delayed, the more thoroughly he could prepare, but at the same time, would that not also give the red mist boss an opportunity to solidify its advantage?

Both sides were racing against time.

Therefore, Joo Joowon did not plan to sleep for the next few days either. As soon as he returned, he immediately went to find Byeol.

...

Because of her extremely light weight, Gaemi directly floated above the Energy Pool.

She comfortably took a deep breath and felt that the cocoon had already begun to show faint signs of softening. At once, she stopped worrying about anything else and began using energy to slowly wash over and soften the cocoon.

Since she could use energy from the outside world to emerge from the cocoon, there was naturally no need to use her own strength.

If she consumed her own energy, then even after Gaemi managed to emerge from the cocoon, she would suffer a severe loss of vitality. She would need to consume even more resources to recover, and she would also delay her ability to lay eggs. That would be a very poor trade.

If it were not for that voice that had constantly existed beside her ears, Gaemi would never have chosen to put herself in such an awkward state.

The period when queen ants left their ant nests was precisely their period of rapid development. The gift left behind by the previous queen ant allowed them to quickly pass through their initial weak state.

After all, the previous queen ant had been a transcendent creature, so she naturally had some feelings for the first generation of princesses she gave birth to after becoming a transcendent. Therefore, when she sent them away, she had not simply left them to fend for themselves. She had even allowed them to eat a crystallized heart before they left.

The abundant energy contained within them ensured that they would not be targeted by other Mutated Beasts immediately after leaving, leaving them powerless to resist and allowing the beasts to enjoy a full meal.

However, because of that accident, she was still only Level 1 even now. All the energy the queen ant had left for her had been used up to transform her self into a cocoon.

The more Gaemi thought about it, the more indignant she became. If she ever found out where that voice was coming from in the future, she would definitely capture the other party and eat it!

She would first tear it into pieces to vent her anger, and then eat it!

However, now was not the time to think about such things.

Gaemi gathered her wandering thoughts and patiently used the energy to dissolve the cocoon. Everything went smoothly at first, but before long, she discovered that the energy around her had begun to disappear, and she often reached out only to grab nothing.

She opened her eyes, somewhat annoyed.

When she turned her head, she saw that the area where Hwi was located had already become a huge whirlpool, sucking in all the surrounding energy like a whale swallowing water.

Gaemi could not help freezing for a moment.

Was this soldier ant perhaps a little...

She did not know how to describe it. In her inherited memories, aside from the conventional path of developing an ant colony, the previous queen ant had also passed down some untested ideas to them.

For example, there was the "Hero" path, the "One-Soldier" path, and the "Elite Soldier" path...

Gaemi had never paid attention to the Hero path. She could not understand things like NPCs or what a Hero’s Proof was, so she did not want to waste her brain trying to figure it out.

As for the One-Soldier path, it meant that after leaving the nest, the queen ant would not develop an ant colony. Instead, she would focus on strengthening herself and only occasionally lay a few eggs to serve as worker ants and take care of her.

The Elite Soldier path meant not producing weak ants, choosing quality over quantity.

Seeing Hwi like this, Gaemi naturally assumed that he was an "Elite Soldier" cultivated by Joo Joowon.

After all, an ordinary soldier ant definitely could not create such a commotion.

But what if he abandoned the traditional path of the queen ant and followed this untested path instead, only for it to be proven in the end that it was inferior to the traditional path?

Gaemi was still wondering about this when she suddenly felt an extremely powerful pulling force suck her toward something. Before she could even struggle free, she found Hwi’s scarlet mouth already right in front of her.

Gaemi could not help letting out a scream.

"Wait! I’m one of your own ants!"

Hwi opened his eyes. His clear golden cat pupils were completely clouded, with almost no reason left in them.

[ System Notification: You are currently using the skill [Fervent Embrace] on yourself. Current random base bonus: 80. ]

[ Warning! Your Mental Power is too low! ]

Hearing Gaemi’s scream, Hwi moved closer and sniffed her.

A violent and frenzied aura rushed over her, making Gaemi press herself tightly against the cocoon. She suddenly felt that perhaps carrying this turtle shell around on her back forever was not such a bad idea after all.

Hwi’s enormous cat head grew larger in front of Gaemi’s eyes as he kept sniffing her body, as if trying to determine whether she could be swallowed as food.

Dad’s scent...

I want to eat her so badly...

If I eat her, then Dad will be mine...

I...

He stuck out his tongue and licked Gaemi, his clear golden eyes becoming even more confused.