“You… what, what are you doing?”
Worm Mother’s voice trembled slightly.
“I’m thinking about how much you’re worth. Your original form is valued at 400,000 on the market, and this one… well, even if it’s not as valuable as your original body, since it’s a type that’s never appeared before, it should still fetch a good price, right? Oh, by the way, can your will escape from this body?”
Lu Liang snapped a photo of Worm Mother.
“I am the swarm, and the swarm is me. As long as I wish it, I can erase the will of any of my Guardians at any time and descend upon their body.”
After saying this, the insect body inhabited by Worm Mother’s will fell silent for a long time, then finally struggled to speak again:
“Honored and mysterious monster, those unreasonable humans actually dare to put a price tag on my body at the market?”
It had considered that Lu Liang might ask about its plan, and even thought about recruiting Lu Liang into it, but never imagined that the first question Lu Liang would ask would be this.
As Worm Mother, the king of insects in the Subway, it felt a bit insulted.
Although very angry, as the dignified Worm Mother, it warned itself to maintain the grace and poise befitting a queen; it needed to keep up appearances and maintain the upper hand in negotiations:
“Mysterious monster who fails to focus on the key point, aren’t you at all curious about the purpose of those strange insects in the Subway, my Twelve Guardians, or my exceedingly dark Evil Plan?”
Its tone was eager and forceful, practically begging Lu Liang to ask, “Hurry up, ask me, just ask and I’ll tell you.”
“Mm, go ahead,” Lu Liang replied perfunctorily.
Compared to Worm Mother’s Evil Plan, he cared more about how much the parasites could be sold for.
“Those strange insects are all mass-produced dependents of mine. I have named them [Mortal Cicada]. Each Mortal Cicada shoulders the responsibility of bringing wealth to the Insect Hive. In one month, they usually generate sixty to eighty yuan in wealth for the hive.”
Hiss…
Lu Liang sucked in a breath, now genuinely a bit interested in the topic.
“Not bad. What’s their lifespan?”
“A whole month.”
Worm Mother replied proudly, seemingly misunderstanding the word “whole.”
Lu Liang’s initial excitement immediately deflated; all the money these insects make in their lifetime isn’t even as much as selling themselves would bring.
“Honored mysterious monster, do not underestimate this. I now produce as many as 1,400 Mortal Cicadas.”
Sensing the shift in Lu Liang’s mood, Worm Mother’s tone became a bit anxious.
“That’s indeed impressive.”
Lu Liang replied absentmindedly.
That is, if these insects could actually live out the month and if there were really enough coins in the Subway for 1,400 bugs to collect.
But such an ideal situation was too hard to achieve; there’s a huge conflict between productive materials and the insect population, and uneven coin distribution was inevitable.
As for those so-called Twelve Guardians, now there should only be ten left, so they’re hardly a threat anymore.
Lu Liang glanced at the Mantis Monster’s corpse. In the end, the mind of an insect is just too simple, exposing its greatest trump card so easily.
These insect-type monsters were also rather weak, useful against ordinary people perhaps, but up against a Magical Girl, they’d be wiped out instantly. Taken individually, they probably weren’t even at the level of a B-class monster.
After coaxing some intel out of Worm Mother, Lu Liang roughly understood the organizational structure of these Subway monsters.
The leadership consisted solely of Worm Mother, with every insect in the Insect Hive operating around this single leader.
The mid-level were intelligent parasites created by Worm Mother to protect herself, able to parasitize soulless biological armors like the Mantis Monster.
The lower level consisted of numerous Mortal Cicadas, produced to be used as livestock, no different from most humans. Besides scrounging for lost coins in the filthy Subway, they had no other abilities; even children could catch them easily, but their strength was in their overwhelming numbers.
After obtaining this information and understanding the hierarchy of the Insect Hive, Lu Liang asked the question that had long puzzled him:
“What are you collecting all this money for?”
Previously, Worm Mother had answered all of Lu Liang’s questions without reservation, but now it fell silent for once. After a moment of contemplation, it finally spoke:
“Curious mysterious monster, I have already told you many secrets about the Insect Hive. If you wish to know more about my Evil Plan, you will have to pay a price.”
“Become my Guardian and protect my safety. In exchange, I will grant you the Guardianship Authority to manage the Mortal Cicadas, allow you to join my Evil Plan, and also bestow upon you much money.”
As its words fell, it seemed to want to demonstrate sincerity. From another passage in the Subway, came the rustling sound of insect legs crawling on the ground.
Lu Liang turned his gaze toward the dim corridor. His blazing red pupils whirled eerily, and within his line of sight, two strange figures appeared in the corridor—
One was a cockroach-like insect monster, and the other was a locust-like insect monster.
When they reached Lu Liang and the parasite, the shells on their heads split open, and two nearly identical parasites crawled out from the cracks, their bodies curling.
This kind of display was extremely risky. They truly weren’t afraid of Lu Liang striking them down as they exposed their true forms.
Of course, Worm Mother also likely knew that her Guardians were no match for Lu Liang; whether they revealed their true bodies or not made no difference, so she might as well try to win some favor.
“We greet you, Insect Queen’s will. We also greet you, powerful mysterious monster.”
One had to admit, these bugs were rather polite. They even bent down and bowed, though with their insect forms it looked a bit comical. Who knows where Worm Mother had picked up such etiquette.
After greeting, the parasites crawled back into the bodies of the Cockroach Monster and Locust Monster.
Although he’d already seen a similar scene with the Mantis Monster, Lu Liang still couldn’t help but marvel at the sight.
Such massive creatures, and yet their real selves were mindless puppets entirely controlled by the parasites.
Insect Technology, pretty magical, isn’t it!
After the greeting, the two parasites returned to their hosts. One moved toward the shattered remains of the Mantis Monster, clearly intending to haul the corpse back to the hive.
The other respectfully opened its shell to Lu Liang, revealing layers of coins piled inside.
Lu Liang took a glance, estimating their value at over three hundred but less than a thousand yuan.
He fell silent.
So this… this was the money Worm Mother was trying to buy him with?
What kind of monster couldn’t resist such temptation!
Lu Liang felt quite conflicted; he felt insulted, but not enough to be truly offended.
The local monsters had no manners, not a shred of decorum.
Worm Mother, on the other hand, felt quite pleased with herself. Noticing Lu Liang’s silence, she inquired in a good mood:
“Tempted mysterious monster, what is your answer?”
“I refuse.”
Without a trace of hesitation, Lu Liang flatly rejected Worm Mother’s proposal.
This answer took Worm Mother by surprise. The goodwill from the two insect-type monsters toward Lu Liang vanished, replaced by faint hostility.
If the pair were a match for Lu Liang, they probably would have turned hostile right then.
“Unromantic mysterious monster, can you tell me why?”
Worm Mother dropped her façade and asked.
Lu Liang looked calmly at the group of monsters, lifted his chin, and said disdainfully:
“Your employees wanted to make a meal out of my employee. That really pissed me off.”
“Uh.”
Worm Mother understood that Lu Liang was referring to the Mantis Monster almost eating Li Bing. That was indeed Worm Mother’s fault:
“Penny-pinching mysterious monster, I am very sorry about that. The biological armors need sufficient protein to operate. Without it, their bodies can’t function properly.”
“That’s not my concern. I don’t champion so-called justice. If you eat others, I won’t bother with it, but if you mess with my people, the only outcome is death.”
“Terrifying evil monster, do you mean to declare war on me?”
Hearing this, Worm Mother grew a little flustered. Lu Liang’s strength was terrifying, and her Guardians clearly weren’t his match. If a fight broke out, both the Cockroach Monster and the Locust Monster would likely fall here today.
If she lost a third of her Guardians in one go, how could she defend herself the next time a Magical Girl came into the Subway?
“No, for now, I don’t want to kill you.”
Lu Liang dismissed Worm Mother’s concern. Fighting Worm Mother right now would do him no good; at best, he’d kill the two insect monsters present, but who knew where Worm Mother’s true body was hiding? If she survived, killing all her Guardians would be pointless.
If he completely fell out with Worm Mother now, it would only bring trouble for his Dujing Group.
“Strange mysterious monster, then what do you mean?”
Worm Mother couldn’t understand Lu Liang’s thinking. As an insect, her logic was too simple to grasp the deeper meaning in his words.
“I’m interested in your plan, but your chips aren’t enough to move me.”
Lu Liang began spinning a grand tale for the bug:
“What you’ve offered is only enough for me to drop my hostility for now, nothing more. As for whether we cooperate in the future, that depends on your performance.”
“Greedy monster, I understand.” Worm Mother paused, then said:
“I’ll offer a chip that will satisfy you.”
“See that you do.”
Lu Liang smiled mysteriously, then rather unceremoniously climbed up the ladder toward the manhole above.
“I think you’re a clever insect, not one to do anything foolish.”
This time, Worm Mother didn’t answer Lu Liang’s words.
Not until Lu Liang had left, and the Subway returned to darkness and silence, did the two insect monsters stand dazed for a moment. Only when they lost contact with a certain parasite did they belatedly realize:
“Greedy mysterious monster, when did it take Worm Mother’s will (the parasite) away?”
“Despicable Outsider of the Well, when did it do that?”
Just as the two monsters were about to climb up the well after Lu Liang to retrieve the stolen parasite, Worm Mother’s weary voice suddenly echoed within their bodies:
“Let him take it. You are no match for him. That insect body carries a portion of my will, so it can serve as my tool for communicating with him. Do not show hostility toward the mysterious monster. The Insect Hive does not wish to gain a powerful new enemy.”
“Yes, Insect Queen.”
The two insect monsters immediately withdrew their hostility and carried the remains of the Mantis Monster back to the hive.