Insects were generally stubborn, so Ying finally decided to stick with her original pn and assassinate the old druid. She wasn't seeking revenge for the millions of grasshoppers that had died, only for Quin.

  System didn't know what had happened between Ying and Quin, and he didn't ask. Since she was so determined, he didn't try to change her mind.

  His conversation with Ying sted for about two hours. During this time, the four gnolls managed to discover their tracks, but Ying easily killed three of them. The remaining gnoll was killed by Shava.

  System also learned the reason for the disaster in the forest through his conversation with Ying.

  It was a story about twin dragons.

  To be precise, it was the story of the Abyss Lord, Ogan the inferno dragon, and the Lord of Gciers, Aura the frost dragon. They were twin dragons, one of ice and one of fire.

  The twin brothers had hatched from the same egg, and their reason for falling out with each other was no longer known. The two dragons had been fighting for thousands of years, and their fights had steadily grown more intense over time.

  The current miserable state of Lilt Forest was due to Ogan attacking Aura again.

  The gnolls System had seen in the forest tely were the inferno dragon's new followers in the main world. Under Ogan's orders, they began to occupy Lilt Forest and clear out the remaining frost creatures.

  As for anything else that was going on, Ying didn't know. She knew nothing about the entanglement between the old druid and Aura three hundred years ago, but System was sure that Aura's disappearance st time must have been reted to the inferno dragon.

  From Ying's mental message, System also learned more about the Swarm Druids far away in the Abyss. He learned that it was just a coincidence that Festantine had sent the meatball to capture him, and there wasn't any connection between that event and the miserable state of Lilt Forest today.

  ...

  Weak insects were experimented on and studied by Swarm Druids in the Abyss. In the main world, Nature Druids hated Swarm Druids, and that hatred carried over to insects as well.

  No matter where they were, the current situation for insects was very miserable.

  Ying told System that after she assassinated the old druid, she wanted to change things for insects, and she wanted System to join her cause.

  System didn't even need to think before refusing.

  There were too many insects in the world, and it was impossible to manage them all. It was already very difficult for him to keep his promise and protect his ant subjects.

  If someone wanted to change how insects were treated, not only was System unable to help, even the powerful Lord of Gciers might not be able to do it.

  Ying clearly understood his words of refusal and also understood and agreed with what he said. However, she still told him that she'd find a way to return to the Abyss ter, rescue some of her companions who possessed wisdom, and bring them to System.

  Ying talked a lot about herself, saying that she wanted all insects to live happily together.

  Perhaps because System had never argued with anyone since coming to this world, he found himself arguing with Ying for a long time about her very superficial views.

  It was simply impossible for all insects to live happily together. The main reason was that some insects existed at higher levels on the food chain than others.

  Even if they were all insects, carnivorous mantises and katydids were natural enemies of grasshoppers and caterpilrs.

  If grasshoppers and caterpilrs were happy and could live without worries until the end of their lives, then mantises and katydids would undoubtedly be miserable and starve to death.

  Ying understood what System said and agreed with his words again, but she still kept talking relentlessly.

  She said that she wanted to capture the druids in the Abyss like Festantine and use them for experiments. As for what the experiments would be and how she'd perform them, Ying couldn't expin the details clearly at all.

  When she realized that she couldn't defeat any of System's points, she flew away in anger.

  However, before leaving, Ying told System that no matter whether her assassination of the old druid was successful or not, as long as she was still alive, she would come back to find him.

  "You are indeed the king."

  After leaving that st mental message, Ying disappeared.

  "..."

  System looked in the direction where Ying had disappeared and shook his head helplessly.

  Although he hadn't accepted most of Ying's suggestions, he had still inexplicably agreed to help her move a butterfly chrysalis.

  According to the images that Ying had sent in a mental message, there was a special chrysalis seven or eight kilometers southeast of here. It was about fifteen centimeters long and seemed to contain frost energy. It should be a butterfly that had recently begun its second pupation.

  Ying hoped that he could take this chrysalis away.

  System said that if he found it, he would definitely eat the butterfly, but Ying still agreed immediately. She just wanted him to take the chrysalis away. He could do whatever he wanted afterward.

  System had no choice but to agree.

  'Let all the insects be happy?'

  System pondered Ying's words. In some ways, Ying was very simir to Quin. Both of them had some very unrealistic dreams.

  However, although System had tried his best to refute Ying's dreams, in truth, he was just like her, still chasing after his own unrealistic dreams. He just didn't have the courage to admit it.

  ...

  After two hours of rest, System's ant subjects had become more energetic.

  According to the mental message Ying had sent, System and his ant subjects slightly changed direction and continued moving toward the southeast.

  At sunset, the ant caravan finally arrived at the location marked in Ying's message. It seemed slightly different from the image Ying had recorded.

  When System saw the tree that the butterfly chrysalis was attached to, he noticed that the frost on the tree seemed to have become thicker. The other trees in the forest were covered in bck ash, while only this tree was white from frost, which was a bit odd.

  He easily found the chrysalis that was covered in a yer of ice crystals.

  According to Ying's description, the icy aura spreading out from the chrysalis was strong enough to cause even Ying's body to freeze.

  However, when System touched the chrysalis with his tentacles, he wasn't harmed at all by the frost energy. Instead, he felt a very friendly and familiar frost aura, which he thought should be from the same source as the frost power in his own body.

  Unlike grasshoppers and ants, adult butterflies didn't have mandibles. They only had a proboscis that could reach deep into flowers to access nectar. System couldn't imagine how a butterfly could enter its second pupation by only drinking nectar.

  This butterfly must have had some sort of fortuitous encounter.

  'Could this butterfly have also gained its frost power from the Lord of Gciers?'

  System used his mandibles to break the ice yer covering the chrysalis, then wrapped his tentacles around it for an inspection.

  He discovered that the frost power inside the chrysalis was dozens of times greater than his own power. If any of the ordinary worker ant knights touched the chrysalis, the body part they touched it with would instantly be covered in a yer of frost.

  Except for System and Shava, who both possessed frost blood, only Meatball would be immune to this powerful frost energy.

  Like all insect pupae, the consciousness of the butterfly inside the chrysalis was very fuzzy. System could only sense vague emotions from the butterfly when he used [Mental Transmission].

  However, unlike ordinary butterflies, the emotions emitted by this butterfly were much weaker, just like Shava's had been during her second pupation. At that time, she'd fallen into a deep sleep due to the injuries she'd received during the mouse attack.

  System stared at the chrysalis, hesitating over whether he should eat the butterfly immediately. After all, the power of this chrysalis was too great, and it could easily threaten his ant subjects.

  In the end, System decided to wait.

  Each insect that entered its second pupation would possess a certain degree of wisdom. If the butterfly wasn't hostile after it emerged from its chrysalis, System would let it go.

  If the butterfly had any ill intentions and posed a threat to System's ant subjects, he'd attack it when it was at its weakest, right after it emerged from its chrysalis.