Astral Cockroach

A spring rain lasted for two consecutive days before ceasing.

A warm wind gently blew, and the bright morning sun shone down, the water droplets on the grass reflecting a dazzling light.

The jungle seemed to suddenly awaken, with insects chirping and birds singing, and tender green buds sprouting on the branches, full of vitality.

Spring had arrived.

However, the *Akainu* Tribe warrior was nowhere to be found. The rain washed away its scent, and bold birds came to the mountain peak, circling and searching for food.

Seeing the situation outside clearly, Banbu canceled his plan to go out and test his flying ability, lazily lying at the entrance of the cave, enjoying the bright spring sunshine.

He waited until late at night when sparse cockroaches crawled out from their hibernation nests, relying on memory to come to the vicinity of the mountainside to observe, and then left in disappointment.

Banbu dared not venture out far. Some rats with fluffy long tails were audacious enough to come to the mountain peak to forage.

"It left before I went to sleep. Calculating the time, it has been more than 5 days. Could something have happened to it?"

Banbu thought silently, feeling somewhat worried.

He guessed that the *Akainu* Tribe warrior must have gone out hunting, and worried that it might have died in an accident.

Without the protection of a strong individual, safety was not guaranteed. Losing the free food supply meant having to find food on his own, and once he left the nest, his life would be in danger at any time.

Another 5 days of waiting passed, but it still did not return, nor did any other *Akainu* Tribe warriors from the vicinity arrive.

The *Akainu* Tribe warrior had been missing for more than 10 days!

Banbu completely gave up hope and, under the pressure of survival, began to consider self-reliance.

After observation, he determined that the darkness before dawn was the most suitable time to go out foraging, as nocturnal animals were returning to their nests and diurnal animals were still asleep.

His foraging target was locked on the moth larvae that were eating tender leaves on the large trees in the mountains. They were very good at camouflage, their bodies being brown and having patterns similar to the tree trunk. When motionless, they were almost indistinguishable from the tree trunk.

Their clever camouflage allowed them to escape the search of the sharp eyes of birds, but unfortunately, they could not escape Banbu's pursuit.

When searching a large tree, Banbu first checked the condition of the newly grown buds on the tree. Once he found serrated marks where they had been gnawed, he would immediately go forward, searching carefully inch by inch, and he would definitely find something nearby to feast on.

While hunting, Banbu unexpectedly discovered another weak insect in the jungle that could be preyed upon – the longhorn beetle larva.

These chubby white fellows made holes in the tree trunks and burrowed inside to gnaw on the wood. The slender body of a male cockroach was just right to pass through the hole.

They were all fat guys with zero combat power. Killing one was enough for a whole day's meal, and the tree holes where they hid were the safest shelters. Banbu simply stopped returning to the mountain and lived a nomadic life from then on.

Life was not pleasant. Without the protection of the *Akainu* Tribe warrior, the activities of large predators such as birds, snakes, and rats on the mountain became increasingly rampant.

Banbu witnessed several times his kind being preyed upon while traveling at night, and even saw a super-large feline animal that resembled a lynx, or perhaps a cheetah.

Ordinary cockroaches were merely at the lowest end of the food chain in this jungle. Without protection, they revealed their true form and became complete food. The large number of cockroaches living in the mountains meant a large amount of food, so various predators were attracted.

"Dong, dong, dong…"

Banbu was awakened from his nap.

Waving his antennae, he identified the scent. It should be some kind of bird "knocking on the door."

The visitor was not friendly!

Carefully peering outward, immediately, a hard, sharp bird beak pecked over like lightning, followed by a slender tongue sweeping over.

Banbu also quickly made a move, waving his forelegs, the sharp tips of his toes slamming hard on the tongue.

The bird quickly retracted its tongue in pain.

Banbu was frightened and quickly retreated, all the way to the depths of the tree hole.

"Dong, dong, dong…"

The knocking became more frequent.

"TMD, is it a woodpecker? I…"

Banbu, still in shock, calmed down, but then lost his temper and became uneasy.

Currently at instar 19, with a body length of about 12, he was much stronger than ordinary adult cockroaches. However, compared to the woodpecker outside, they were not in the same weight class at all. The length of the bird's beak that had just pierced into the tree hole was more than 12. There was no possibility of frontal confrontation.

"Dong, dong, dong… Crack…"

The tree trunk was actually pierced by the bird's beak. The bird's tongue coiled inside the tree hole, its sensory acuity precisely locking onto the target's location, retracting, and then probing out, coiling towards Banbu.

Just a tongue…

Banbu retreated, while waving his forelimbs, attacking at a faster speed, stabbing forcefully, creating two bloody holes.

"Glug!"

"Dong, dong, dong…"

Outside the tree hole, the woodpecker cried out in anger, and then angrily continued pecking at the wood.

"It's still going against me!"

Banbu was depressed, but no longer frightened. After carefully examining his current situation, the depth of the tree hole was about 20, just right. The bird's beak could not pierce in, and the length of the tree hole was about 100, providing a relatively wide range of activity.

The woodpecker should be eating by coiling with its tongue. If the insect hides deep, it needs to open a hole in the corresponding place. Under normal circumstances, opening two or three holes would definitely be able to eat the insect hiding in the tree hole.

However, now it was an abnormal situation. Banbu was not a worm with no ability to resist.

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"Crack…"

The woodpecker put in a lot of effort and finally opened another hole. This time it learned its lesson, carefully extending its tongue, probing Banbu's location, and then, attacking like lightning, coiling towards Banbu.

Banbu saw through the woodpecker's hunting routine, moving its position in the first instance, its forelimbs ready to strike, exerting force from the side, stabbing hard, again creating two bloody holes.

"Glug!"

"Dong, dong, dong…"

The woodpecker screamed miserably, extremely angry, and pecked at the tree trunk even more frantically. It wanted to overturn Banbu's nest.

Banbu looked out at the sky, completely relieved.

Opening two holes took a lot of time. It was impossible to peck off the entire area of the tree trunk that had been蛀掉 by the longhorn beetle larvae.

"Goo-goo, goo-goo…"

After being busy for a while, the woodpecker suddenly jumped onto a branch and called out loudly.

Banbu immediately felt uneasy, and soon his uneasy guess was confirmed.

"Goo-goo, goo-goo…"

Another woodpecker flew over. The two birds briefly communicated on the branch and then started working with their beaks.

"Dong, dong, dong…"

"Crack, crack, crack…"

"There's a helper! It's going against me!"

Banbu was miserable.

With two woodpeckers together, they would definitely be able to peck open the entire tree trunk, and then there would be nowhere to hide.

Forcibly maintaining composure, his mind raced, searching for a solution.

After thinking about it, there was only one conclusion: certain death!

"My soul has been mutated by the radiation of the metal core. I don't know if I can be reborn after this death."

"If I can, I hope to be a more powerful life form next time."

Banbu couldn't think of a way out, so he began to consider what would happen after death.

He hated these two woodpeckers so much. He had worked so hard to grow from a cockroach nymph to an adult. Recently, he seemed to be able to faintly feel the existence of Origin Power, often feeling tired and sleepy, showing signs of sleeping and evolving.

He was about to become an Origin Power creature standing at the top of the food chain, but he was about to fall short at this critical moment.