Chapter 3
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This chapter is edited by eldar aziz. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 3: They Were Born
Before her were ten identical, white eggs. Their surfaces were rough, covered in small craters and bumps, somewhat resembling the moon’s surface.
Lin Yu observed them for a long while but couldn’t quite figure out what exactly she had given birth to.
If only I could check their status like before…
The moment she thought this, her vision suddenly brightened.
________________________________________Name: None
Species: [Weak Ant] (Egg)
Aptitude: None
Rank: None
Level: LV.1
HP: 1/1
MP: 0/0
Skills: None
Attributes:
● Strength: 0
● Agility: 0
● Intelligence: 0
● Physical Resistance: 0
● Elemental Magic Resistance: 0
● Status Resistance: 0
________________________________________
So weak… Must be because they’re still eggs. They should have better stats after hatching.
But what is [Weak Ant] supposed to mean? It doesn’t sound very strong…
Hmph, weaklings! I could crush ten of these!
***
It seemed she had to wait for the eggs to hatch.
Since she had nothing better to do, Lin Yu used the rest of her MP to lay two more batches of eggs.
This time, she was smarter about it. She stayed near the pile of eggshells and, just before her abdomen swelled to the limit, quickly bit into an eggshell fragment.
Crunch, crunch…
Sure enough, when the magic circle disappeared, the hunger was much more bearable.
Her HP didn’t drop this time, but the eggshell pile shrank noticeably.
Two more flashes of white light. Twenty more white [Weak Ant] eggs appeared.
After finishing, Lin Yu checked each of her eggs one by one and noticed a difference.
Among the twenty new eggs, two had an aptitude of D.
D-Aptitude should be better than none, right?.
Now, all she could do was wait for her “children” to hatch.
So boring…
I miss video games, novels, anime…
Lin Yu lay on the ground, resting her ant head on her two front legs, her gaze fixed on the dark, deep tunnel ahead.
She couldn’t feel at ease without knowing what lay beyond that passage.
***
Time passed, second by second.
In the darkness, drowsiness crept up on her.
Aside from watching the eggs, she had rechecked her status panel multiple times.
She had also attempted to check the status of what seemed to be her deceased mother ant.
Climbing onto the corpse, she tried to activate her status panel, but this time, no window appeared.
So I can only see my own status?
But I can check my children’s status, so… is it because of [Unique Skill—Ant Queen]? Or do Ant Queens naturally have this ability?
Forget it. No point overthinking something I can’t prove.
Lin Yu climbed down from her mother’s corpse.
Comparing their sizes, she realized she was to her mother as a human was to an elephant. But since this was another world, she still didn’t know how big she really was.
About two hours later, Lin Yu noticed that her HP and MP had recovered by one point.
________________________________________HP: 4/10
MP: 1/12
________________________________________
Based on this, she estimated that it took a little over three hours to recover one point.
To restore enough MP to use [Egg Laying] again, she would need to wait another nine hours…
Meaning she wouldn’t be laying more eggs anytime soon.
Another hour later, the first batch of [Weak Ant] eggs showed signs of movement.
crack– crack–
A faint sound echoed as the eggshells began to fracture. The cracks widened, and tiny fragments started to fall.
They’re hatching?!
Lin Yu sat up, eyes glowing red with anticipation.
When she had first laid the eggs, she had mixed feelings. But after the second and third batches, all she felt was excitement for their hatching.
After all, if she applied real-world biology, ants were almost always female.
Finally, she saw a small, black ant break free from its shell.
It was about the size of Lin Yu’s head. Its entire body was black including its eyes. It resembled the common ants she had seen in her old world.
Why are they black? I’m completely white, and their eggshells were white too…
Lin Yu was momentarily stunned.
Before she could think further, a surge of information flooded her mind.
[Unique Skill—Ant Queen]: Grants absolute command over all offspring created through [Egg Laying]. This skill includes three main effects:
1. The skill holder can view all the status information of their offspring.
2. The skill holder can establish a mental link with their offspring, enabling full or partial control over their bodies.
3. The skill holder can copy and bestow their own skills onto their offspring. However, [Unique Skill—Ant Queen] and [Egg Laying] cannot be transferred. Each skill can only be granted once, and success rates depend on the offspring’s aptitude.
So that’s how this skill works.
The first effect I have already used. The second effect I can test right now. The third effect… Since I have no other skills yet, I can’t try it out.
After processing this information, Lin Yu turned her attention to the newly hatched [Weak Ants].
Their antennae twitched, and their black eyes stared directly at Lin Yu, seemingly recognizing her as their mother.
Even though she knew they were absolutely loyal to her, being stared at by ten pairs of insect eyes still made her feel uneasy.
She checked their status panels one by one.
________________________________________Name: None
Species: [Weak Ant] (Growing)
Aptitude: None
Rank: None
Level: LV.1
HP: 3/3
MP: 0/0
Skills: None
Attributes:
● Strength: 0
● Agility: 0
● Intelligence: 0
● Physical Resistance: 0
● Elemental Magic Resistance: 0
● Status Resistance: 0
________________________________________
3 HP… Still so weak…
But together, their total HP is higher than mine. Wait, does that mean if all ten attacked me, I’d lose?
A strange mix of security and unease settled over her.
Still, all of their other stats were zero. Pfft, the daughters are weaker than their mother!
After laughing to herself for a bit, Lin Yu attempted to establish a link with one of them.
It worked effortlessly.
Controlling it felt as natural as moving her own limbs. Lin Yu instantly understood what the second skill effect meant—
With full control, she could move the [Weak Ant] as if it were her own body. She could also fully perceive its emotions and thoughts, issuing commands through their link.
With partial control, she could limit her influence, for example, only controlling its eyes while leaving its body independent, or simply monitoring its emotions and thoughts.
And right now, the only thought coming from the [Weak Ant] was—
‘Hungry.’
acheronevil
Seeing a couple small errors, “If I need 12 points of Magic to lay more eggs, I’ll need at least nine more hours to recover fully…” should be 4 points, based on previous chapter. Other small grammar things I’ve noticed, but I think that was the biggest thing.