Law of the Swarm

Chapter 16: Cricket Hunting and Leaving
No one is born to hunt, but praying mantises and spiders are born to be, and this is a helpless thing.

However, System's hunting skills can be sharpened gradually. Although there is no inheritance from the blood, but the wisdom of humans and the strong physical fitness of insects, as long as he keeps practicing, he will definitely become an excellent hunter.

As long as he goes through similar hunts a few more times, System will surely be able to catch this cricket with ease.

However, System has no training object. Before he morphed into an adult, he was not strong enough. Challenges to powerful opponents would undoubtedly cause him to be disabled or even killed; Prey is at his choice.

System shook his head, he came to the cricket's hole, and tried to get in.

As System observed before, the narrow opening really couldn't allow his worm head to pass through, and he would definitely have a bloody head if he forced it in. The gain outweighs the gain.

But after carefully observing the tree hole, System's worm head gradually showed a human smile.

The shape of this tree hole is very strange, narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, only six or seven centimeters deep. System even smelled a special earthy smell from the cricket.

As long as the wood near the hole is widened, he can successfully drill into it and prey on the cricket.

And to expand the hole, System happened to have a solution, and that was his biochemical weapon [corroding slime].

This corrosive liquid can easily corrode tree bark, and it is believed that the effect of corroding wood is not bad.

Although the mucus he can spit out is not much, he can still recycle the sap after corrosion to reduce consumption, and it is enough to expand the cricket's tree hole.

The cricket hiding in the tree hole is like a turtle in a urn, and there is no possibility of escape.

Mucus exuding a stench was gradually secreted from System's fangs, and the hole in the tree hole began to melt slowly.

As System used [Corrosive Slime], the cricket that had been standing still in the tree hole became a little uneasy, and its body trembled slightly, moving from side to side from time to time.

Seeing this, System was also more careful, in case the cricket suddenly jumped out of the tree hole and let it run away again.

Ten minutes later, the hole had been half-opened by System, and the cricket in the tree hole calmed down in the tree hole as if resigned to its fate, only the abdomen was still breathing slowly.

After another ten minutes, System successfully bit off the cricket's head.

There was no fight, because System secreted the volatilization of the corrosive liquid, and the cricket was stunned by poison gas before System caught it.

The cricket's uneasiness at the beginning and its sudden quietness after more than ten minutes are logical. It seems that the smell from his [Corrosive Slime] has a certain degree of toxicity.

However, the toxicity of this gas is not strong, and it takes more than ten minutes to stun crickets in a confined space like a tree hole. It is obviously not feasible to use it as a hunting method.

……

System, who was eating, didn't stop. While eating the cricket carcass, he thought about his next prey.

After the rainstorm, food was very scarce, and System thought about it but couldn't think of anything to hunt. In the end, he thought about the two spiders again.

During the process of hunting crickets, System somehow thought of a way to deal with spiders.

He has a unique advantage over spiders, and that is the ability to fly.

The way System came up with was to find a stick, grab the stick, fly up and use the stick to stab the spider.

System certainly didn't think that he could stab the spider through with a wooden stick, what he wanted to do was to stab the spider into the water.

Although the spider can use the silk thread to hang down to prevent it from falling, he can send out two attacks to break the silk thread. The operation is somewhat difficult, but there is a chance of success.

But System can only think of so much. The spider's strength will drop if it falls into the water, but so what, even if the spider drowns unfortunately, he won't be able to fish it out.

……

System, who was thinking, was chewing non-stop with his fangs. After moulting into an adult, the sharpness of his fangs increased beyond recognition, and he could easily chew even the toughest cricket's brain.

Compared with ordinary meat, System prefers this crustacean food. It tastes like crisp milk chocolate, a taste experience he has never experienced in his previous life.

After eating part of the cricket's carcass, System grabbed the remaining carcass of the cricket and flew back to his nest of dead leaves.

After some thought, System finally chose to leave here.

He has become very familiar with the nearby [-]-meter area after passing these days, and he is confident that he can live here safely for two months.

But only by walking constantly can he discover more prey and opportunities, allowing him to prolong his limited lifespan.

System decided to leave the remaining cricket carcasses in the morning to satisfy his hunger, and leave here after eating and drinking.

Compared to the dark night, System finally decided to explore the unknown forest during the day. After all, his body needed proper rest, and the dim sight at night made his exploration efficiency very low.

……

Before dawn, System had already eaten the remaining corpses of the crickets.

In the early morning, System got out of the dead leaf lair on time, chose a direction with slightly higher ground, and began to jump forward.

Because of the huge roar of the wings, System did not choose to fly. Although there were no birds in the vicinity for a few days after the heavy rain, it would be hard to tell if they were far away.

Because he has [Information Read] to observe dangerous situations, System moved cautiously, but his moving speed was not slow. After 5 minutes, he jumped and moved [-] meters, and came to a strange land.

[Information reading] was very efficient, and System found a few taupe mushrooms on a rotten and dead tree.

Mushrooms are undoubtedly a nutrient-dense food made up of fungi.

However, compared to green plants, System's body was very unfamiliar with the smell of mushrooms, and he couldn't tell whether the mushrooms were highly poisonous.

Although the color of this mushroom seemed to be non-toxic, System didn't dare to try it lightly. He jumped on the mushroom to observe for a while, and finally bounced away.

As System gradually moved towards the high-lying area, the water on the ground became shallower and shallower. After a few hundred meters, some puddles gradually appeared on the ground.

Not long after, when System decided to take a break due to the consumption of [information read], System found more than a dozen familiar insects.

They are a dozen or so ants that are very common in the forest. These ants have a dark brown body and are about one centimeter in size. System seems to have encountered this type of ant before.

At this time, the dozen or so ants were biting a tadpole struggling in the mud. This tadpole was about three centimeters in size except for the tail, and had already grown hind legs.

Because the stagnant water subsided, this tadpole was unlucky to be trapped in the mud, even if it was not discovered by the ants, it would not escape death.

System carefully observed the surrounding area, and after finding that there was no danger, he aimed at an ant and rushed over.

With his adult body rushing towards the ant colony, he is no longer a zebra rushing towards the hyena colony, but an elephant rushing towards the hyena colony.

He wants to hunt an ant first to try his current skills!
(End of this chapter)