This marked the second evolution for Kelvier.

  During his first evolution, he had transformed from the plump and hefty nurse bug into a formidable, unnamed creature. What would this new transformation bring?

  Just like the previous time, Kelvier had shed a layer of skin, resulting in a body slightly smaller than before.

  A carapace was beginning to form subtly on his back—a beetle's exoskeleton.

  Kelvier's most pressing desire was for a complete carapace to protect his back. The last encounter with two larvae nearly burrowing into him had left a deep mark of caution.

  Another wish, perhaps more a luxury, was to grow wings. Realistically, he knew that while some King Bugs could fly, they could only manage short bursts, similar to locusts. If it were otherwise, King Bugs would have overrun the entire planet by now.

  This evolution had significantly enhanced Kelvier's speed.

  He had wreaked havoc on approximately 15,000 more hosts than the previous day—an increase of half.

  Eating while causing destruction, just as Kelvier had anticipated, triggered another evolution!

  Despite the intense pain, Kelvier was overwhelmed with joy.

  His body had significantly reduced in size again, now resembling a mahjong tile in both size and shape.

  The emergence of a hard carapace brought him immense joy. Beneath that dark layer, he discovered a pair of tiny wings, to his surprise and delight.

  Learning to flutter these small wings was a challenge; clearly, they were too small to lift Kelvier off the ground. Yet, the mere presence of wings suggested a future possibility of flight—an age-old dream of humankind.

  At that moment, Kelvier almost forgot he was now a bug.

  The current wings were translucent and seemed rather fragile.

  Deciding not to risk damaging them, Kelvier carefully tucked them away beneath his carapace. He then resumed his grand mission of extermination.

  The good news was that Kelvier was now slaying over 4,000 pupae daily, with his destructive capability nearing 20,000 per day.

  The bad news, however, was that signs of hatching were evident among the pupae.

  Over the next two days, several insects had emerged from their pupal stages.

  Kelvier had not evolved further, which slightly disappointed him.

  The emerged insects, now mature bugs about the size of corn kernels, astonishingly resembled Kelvier, albeit with only six legs and significantly smaller in size.

  The newly hatched insects emerging from their cocoons seem to have lost their aggressiveness. They either fall to the ground directly after emerging or crawl down themselves, then buzzing erratically and scrambling around in clusters.

  This is a strange phenomenon, and although the adult insects appear less vicious than before, Kelvier takes no chances, having already dug a small hole in the cave wall to bury himself in.

  For about half a day, all the adults have emerged from their cocoons. Suddenly, there's a slight noise from the ceiling of the cave.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Kelvier's heart stirs, unable to suppress a mysterious tremor. Could it be... finally time to leave?

  The noise from the ceiling grows louder, and suddenly, with a "crack," a clump of dirt falls from above.

  A beam of light pierces down.

  Kelvier's heart quivers: "Light! Light!"

  Being deprived of daylight, he feared he'd spend his entire life in this place!

  As the cave opening enlarges, several of the insects below begin to open their wing cases. Random buzzing sounds intensify, and many of the insects start to fly.

  If it were a human, suddenly seeing light after so long in the dark would require some adjustment, but Kelvier feels none of this. Now, he sees that the cave entrance is actually being destroyed by a few insects resembling mantises, wielding four "scythes."

  One by one, the insects fly out.

  At its peak, the buzzing sound inside the cave is deafening.

  Then, the insects gradually begin to thin out.

  And Kelvier, too, grows anxious.

  Should he leave? Going out poses a great risk for him, possibly being mistaken for a foreign species and killed.

  But... if he doesn't leave, he might die trapped here!

  The priority is to confirm first.

  But... how to confirm whether the bugs will treat him as a foreign species? With a thought, Kelvier sneaks out, swiftly approaches an insect about to take flight, and stabs it.

  The insect's wings break, crashing before it can fly.

  It looks at Kelvier confusedly, seeming to recognize him not as an enemy, and then tries to fly again.

  Kelvier is reassured that this King Bug harbors no hostility towards him. After testing a few more with the same result, even skipping the confusion, Kelvier feels secure. He decides to crawl out.

  At that moment, several King Bugs fly into the cave entrance, causing Kelvier's heart to skip a beat!

  He knows these bugs all too well—they're the same species responsible for the deaths of billions of humans!

  Kelvier now understands that the King Bugs have a clear division of labor, and these particular ones are evidently the warrior class meant for slaughter.

  Warrior bugs... tasked with slaughter...

  Kelvier cries out in alarm and scrambles to a recess in the cave wall, stabbing wildly at the earth until he is securely buried under the crumbling dirt. Just as he anticipated, the warrior bugs commence their grim task of clearing the area.

  In the brutal world of the King Bugs, there is no room for mercy. To them, these King Bugs, unable to fly out, are of no value.

  Thus, the slaughter begins.

  The insects barely struggle against the onslaught of the warrior bugs, and soon, all are dead. Their bodies are not wasted; some are devoured on the spot by the warriors, while the rest are carried away.

  Gazing upon the now-empty "insect chamber," Kelvier feels a sense of the absurd. But before he can dwell on this feeling, he hears something.

  A loud buzzing sound heralds the arrival of several large bugs, each the size of a human palm, stirring up dust as they fly. Astonishingly, each one is clutching a plump, white nurse bug.

  After disappearing around several bends in the cave, this scene repeats with several more of these large bugs, each depositing a nurse bug every few meters.

  Kelvier watches in awe.

  Soon after these palm-sized King Bugs leave, another type of King Bug enters, this one carrying a spherical bubble on its back. The bug's broad wings and the thin bubble hint at something inside.

  As it flies close to a nurse bug, the bubble on its back slowly opens, revealing it to be a backward-grown elytra. The most surprising thing is that the bubble contains a bunch of sticky eggs!

  The bubble bug drops these eggs near the nurse bug without any entanglement, like dew falling on a lotus leaf.

  The nurse bug, dragging its hefty body, methodically starts to arrange the eggs. Meanwhile, the bubble bug continues to fly in and out, quickly piling up a mound of eggs about the size of half a chicken next to the nurse bug.

  Eventually, the earlier palm-sized bugs return, each bringing a heap of white material and dumping it beside the nurse bug. Kelvier now understands that this white material is brains—although it's unclear if there are brains from other animals involved.

  Kelvier's shock is indescribable.

  In just a few minutes, he has witnessed such a precise division of labor among the King Bugs:

  - The mantis-like bugs responsible for digging;

  - The warrior bugs tasked with slaughter;

  - The palm-sized bugs responsible for transporting nurse bugs;

  - The bubble bugs tasked with transporting eggs.

  Their organized and calm demeanor clearly indicates that these behaviors are instinctively ingrained.

  Kelvier is still processing this when another astonishing event occurs. Several bugs with unusually large mouthparts appear at the cave entrance, spitting mud and saliva as they begin to seal the entrance.

  Kelvier exclaims in his mind, "You've got to be kidding me! Now there's even a mason bug!"