On the ground, dozens of spawns swarmed a worm. In just a few minutes, the worm was cut into tiny bits, disappearing as it was dragged underground.

  ‘Hehe, awesome!’ Helzar exclaimed, watching the spawns returning to the nest.

  After three days, the spawns grew to more than fifty, and the prey they brought daily was getting bigger and bigger. Not to mention, their hunting speed drastically increased.

  It was to the point that he was almost eating all the time, unable to keep up with the prey being brought in. Of course, he loved this "problem" he had.

  ‘Even ant colonies can't grow this rapidly,’ he felt a little proud. With the steady supply of food, the quality of spawns also improved.

  ‘With the new improvement, each spawn can live for three days, with tougher exoskeletons. As for individual strength... it's not necessary right now,’ he deduced. After the upgrade, the new spawns were one centimeter in length, just like him.

  ‘I wonder, when should I create a new type of bug?’

  The spawns were the best design he could produce because when he created them, he had no idea what was going on. He even nearly died afterward.

  ‘I’ll wait until the swarm is in the hundreds before doing anything,’ he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

  His spawns mostly hunted small insects and sometimes, fruits. Unfortunately, fruits are hard to digest and turn to usable energy.

  'I should tell them to ignore fruits for now.'

  +++-+++-+++

  While the spawns were hunting another spider, Dexter arrived at the headquarters with Rex. The secret laboratory is underground, with the entrance located deep inside a cave.

  Entering through the hidden entrance, one must navigate an intricate labyrinth full of traps. Only then could they reach the "real" entrance, which was heavily guarded.

  Of course, for special agents like Dexter, such troubles were trivial. Soon after entering the real entrance, they went to an elevator, descending even deeper underground. There, they finally met their boss.

  “Chief,” Dexter called out to his superior, a man covered from head to toe with a black cloak. Underneath, his whole body was bandaged up, and he was wearing mechanical armor with glowing blue eyes. But in the bright room, with white walls, floor, and ceiling, it was barely noticeable.

  “Agent Dexter, give me the anomaly,” Chief ordered, and Dexter wasted no time handing over a test-tube.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Hm," Chief brought the test-tube to his face, confirming that it was dead. Then, turning around, he walked to a glass tank in the middle of the room. It was placed above a metallic desk, and inside the glass tank, there was a mechanical "arm".

  It was a small, frail thing with three limbs. Each limb less than a finger thick, and at the end of it were its claws, which was even thinner. As Chief neared, the mechanical arm awoke, stretching its limbs to open the glass tank from the inside.

  It was slow, but precise, like a calculating sloth.

  After the tank was opened, Chief glanced at Dexter, who was behind him. "Be alert. We don't know what might happen," he said.

  Dexter nearly sighed. It was a dead bug, what could go wrong? He couldn't understand Chief's paranoia.

  Nevertheless, he obeyed, pulling out a rusty pistol. Pull the trigger, and you'd think that it'd fall apart in your hand. However, don't be fooled, this gun reaped the lived of many.

  ‘I hope I don't use this thing today, I'm not ready to lie in bed for three days again,’ Dexter lamented. Of course, with such power, there came a price.

  Seeing Dexter “geared” up, Chief reached inside the tank, placing the test-tube inside. Then, the mechanical arm gently closed the tank, before opening the test-tube that Chief placed.

  Slowly, the mechanical arm reached inside the test-tube, carefully dragging the dead spawn out and holding it with all three of its limbs.

  BLIP.

  With a sound, a bunch of data suddenly appeared on the metallic table. Chief looked down, watching as the data was finalized. Most of it remained at 0, but some had a value.

  [Contamination: 0.0001]

  [Threat Level (Estimated): 0]

  [Growth Level (Estimating): 1… 2…]

  [Growth Level (Estimated): 10]

  “A growth level of 10?!” Chief raised his voice, hurriedly turning toward Dexter. “Agent, find that bug and bring it here, NOW!”

  “Understood,” Dexter replied with a salute, his face grave. Bolting out of the enormous secured room, he saw Rex waiting outside at the end of the extremely long hallway.

  “Rex! Uh, help me find that bug!” Dexter smiled, his face as bright as day. After rushing out so wildly, he was a bit winded and sweaty.

  “Huh? Why?” Rex asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Chief found something about the bugs that can help heal people, it doesn't even spend the patient's…” Dexter began rambling, but Rex waved his arm, lightly tapping Dexter's shoulder.

  “Before you ramble away… can that bug really heal people?” Rex asked in a serious tone, his eyes twinkling with delight. Dexter secretly smiled.

  “Yes, the Chief said so, but it may take a long research time,” Dexter faked a sigh, but Rex was already dragging him into the truck.

  “Doesn't matter, I'll help you find that bug. Just keep your promise,” Rex said. When both men entered the truck, the truck vanished.

  +++-+++-+++

  Time passed by quickly, and another day was spent.

  Currently, in between grass blades, a baby snake hissed. It was a baby grass snake, reaching 8 centimeters in length. However, it was surrounded by sixty spawns, each a centimeter in length. The swarm surrounded the snake, inching forward with each second passing by.

  The spawns in front barely moved, as the vigilant snake watched them like a hawk. On the other hand, the spawns behind the snake rushed toward it, and two seconds later, they were already climbing the snake’s body.

  Feeling the spawns on his back, the snake twisted, rolling on the ground. Unfortunately, it did nothing but serve as a signal for the rest of the spawns to join the murder.

  "HISS!" The spawns bit the snake's body, forming cuts that spat a spurts of blood. The spawns bit repeatedly on the same cuts, rapidly deepening the wounds on the snake's body. The snake slithered as fast as it could, but blood rapidly left its body.

  In less than a minute, the snake was killed. Its body was split into several pieces, butchered like a pig in a slaughter house with its flesh spilling onto the ground.

  "Clack! Clack! Clack!"

  Celebrating their victory, the spawns clacked their mandibles above the snake's body. They couldn't carry it all, but they managed to bring back half of the snake’s body in one go. When they returned, no bird swooped in and they were able to carry back the other half.

  It took Helzar hours of continuous feasting to devour the snake, though he left some for the spawns to eat.

  During the hunt, a few spawns died, but thirty were eaten by Helzar. They all lost a limb or two, rendering them useless. Furthermore, they were the old spawns, being half a centimeter long.

  Despite the losses, Helzar smiled all day. Beneath him, a pile of spawn eggs formed a small mound. In an hour, all of those would hatch to spawns, bringing the population of the swarm far above 100.

  ‘Maybe I can evolve my main body sooner than I thought,’ Helzar nearly danced in a jovial mood.

  The maximum size of the creatures he can produce depended on his maximum size. If he was 2 centimeters long, and 1 centimeter thick, that would be the maximum size of his creatures. In this case, that would be his spawns.

  ‘Patience, Helzar. Just a bit more.’

  And patience he practiced. In the blink of an eye, two days passed by like the wind.