Jealousy

【Elise begins designing a brand-new mutated species】

Even if she could not fully understand the principles behind it yet, it did not matter.

Elise had watched and recorded Celia's every movement throughout the entire process. For her, perfectly replicating those movements was child's play.

The only thing she needed to do now was create a new mutated species specifically tasked with this work.

For ordinary worker ants, who could only use their mandibles to solve everything, magic stone processing was far too complex, delicate, and sensitive of a task.

Therefore, Elise decided to create a brand-new mutated species dedicated solely to magic stone processing within the colony.

Naturally, this new mutated species would also be a member of the Tyrant series—equipped with a magic heart and shattering the limits of biological life.

Watching the new mutated species slowly grow as its cells continuously divided, even Lin Miao, who was already accustomed to all kinds of bizarre sights, could not help but frown.

It had a plump, translucent body like a giant caterpillar.

Its body was constantly covered in a layer of yellow, slimy mucus.

On what could barely be considered its face, there was only a massive mouth, devoid of antennae or any other sensory organs.

It had many short, hard legs resembling those of a crustacean, which it could normally use to crawl.

But most of the time, these legs would retract in reverse into its body, transforming into countless precise mechanical arms responsible for crushing and processing the magic stones that entered its body.

【Elise is highly satisfied with the appearance of this mutated species】

But Elise herself was extremely fond of this appearance, which perfectly realized all the functions she had designed.

Its total length exceeded several meters. Its mouth consisted of three overlapping layers of irregular, sharp teeth, and its lower jaw could dislocate like a snake's, opening completely like a flower petal to swallow a giant magic stone as large as its own body in a single bite.

Once the magic stone was swallowed into its body, it would undergo all the processing procedures, much like passing through a factory assembly line.

Finally, the processed, finished magic heart would be expelled from the outlet at its rear, just like laying an egg.

Utilizing every ability she had devoured up to this point, combined with the limit-breaking magic heart, Elise was pushing her own potential to the absolute limit.

'It seems calling them some kind of "ant" won't make much sense in the future.'

Lin Miao dropped another magic stone into the terrarium, wanting to test the performance of this new mutated species while starting to think about what to name it.

In truth, the concept of names did not exist in the colony at all.

They only had classes and types divided by their division of labor. Every individual was identical, ultimately serving as merely a part for the colony until they died.

Elise also only recorded the various mutated species she created using specific codes known only to her, never giving them names.

It was precisely because of this that Lin Miao's bestowal of True Names upon Elise and Kerrigan, who were originally just ordinary Queen Ants, had produced such a profound impact across the entire insect army.

Now, within the entire colony, only Elise and Kerrigan were beginning to gradually understand the importance of names.

“What should I call it?”

But Lin Miao was different.

He was not connected to the hive mind, and names were something completely natural to him.

Thus, from the very beginning, he liked to give various ants names to distinguish their appearances and functions.

Gladiator ants, jumping ants, decapitating ants, and so on.

He had always followed his own rules to give them names that intuitively reflected their appearance and function, organizing them into an observation log.

Even now, he still maintained the habit of keeping an ant observation diary.

But starting from when they devoured horsehair worms to create the parasitic Gene Stealers, his naming system had begun to gradually lose its effectiveness.

Because more and more mutated species no longer looked like ants at all.

'But it makes sense. With so many abilities, they will eventually move beyond the category of ants.'

Lin Miao also knew that Celia had given the entire colony a new name—the Great Devourer, a name originating from an ancient demon.

Before joining the colony, Celia could not have imagined that these terrifying monsters actually originated from a tiny ant.

Evolving from an insignificant ant into a brand-new race, the "Great Devourer," was an inevitable process.

Lin Miao smiled, accepting this fact.

“Let's call it the Heart-Spawning Worm. Though, I suppose I'm probably the only one who will call it that.”

After thinking for a moment, he gave this new mutated species a very straightforward name.

True to its name, the brand-new mutated species created by the ant army—the Heart-Spawning Worm—took the magic stone delivered by a worker ant, swallowed it in one gulp, and began processing it within its body.

...

Count Merlin said in disbelief, “You mean she memorized all of your movements and then created a new mutated species that can perfectly replicate them? It's only been a few days!”

Celia nodded calmly. “This is the power of the Queen, and the source of the Great Devourer's growth. In fact, the mutated species she created can truly swallow a massive magic stone in one gulp and directly produce a finished magic heart.”

After all, from the symbiotic carapace ant covering her entire body to the Gene Stealers parasitizing inside her, these were all biological weapons that defied common sense.

“Then... what about the future? If the Queen no longer needs you, will you be discarded?”

Count Merlin asked in a low, uneasy voice.

Although he did not say it aloud, in his heart, he had always regarded Celia as half a monster.

Especially after seeing the symbiotic carapace ant detach from her body and witnessing how she communicated with the colony, he could no longer look at her the same way as before.

Yet, through their cooperation over the past few weeks, Count Merlin had also clearly recognized the value of Celia's existence and her importance.

She might seem to possess no strength or authority, but that was far from the truth.

It was precisely because of her existence that the surviving humans had not been attacked by the colony and were able to preserve their lives.

In other words, Celia's standing within the colony was directly linked to the fate of all the survivors. Thus, it was only natural for Count Merlin to worry about her.

“As long as I can continuously prove my value, the Queen will keep me around. I need to buy time... and wait for an opportunity.”

Celia let out a helpless sigh.

She knew very well in her heart that Elise, who had once hated her to the bone, had only spared her and kept her alive until now to exploit her.

Elise had no affection or attachment toward her; once she lost her utility, she could be disposed of at any moment.

Of course, Lin Miao would not allow such a thing to happen.

But as a mere servant, Celia had no way of knowing the true thoughts of this supreme deity.

Just then,

Celia's eyes suddenly widened as she felt a brand-new power surging into her body.

【Elise feels bewildered. The power of the Great One flowing through the connection is not heading toward her, but is instead streaming into Celia】

At the same time, Elise, far away in her nest, also snapped her head up.

【Vassal Appointment】

'It is time.'

Following his original plan, Lin Miao utilized his divine interference force to officially appoint Celia as his vassal.

This granted her a status equal to Marianne, who had become an Apostle, and the heroes of the beastkin race.

Servants who were specially favored by a deity would receive greater attention.

Even if no additional power was bestowed upon them, this status itself was a formidable power.

“Great One...”

Having personally witnessed those special individuals chosen and appointed by the Goddess during her time in the Church, Celia immediately understood what was happening to her, and tears of deep emotion welled up in her eyes.

To her, this was nothing short of an absolute shield against death.

As a defeated prisoner and sinner, she had always believed she was atoning for her sins within the colony.

She had always believed that as long as she accumulated enough merit, the god Lin Miao would acknowledge her.

And now, Lin Miao had fulfilled his promise.

She had obtained the deity's recognition, shedding her status as a sinner and prisoner to officially become a member of the colony.

The heavy boulder that had been weighing on her heart finally lifted.

【Elise cannot understand why the Great One would pay attention to an insignificant byproduct like Celia】

Naturally, Elise was completely unable to accept the situation before her.

Up until now, all of Lin Miao's attention had belonged solely to the colony—specifically, to Elise, who ruled over it.

In fact, within the terrarium, she was the only one who could directly face Lin Miao from the outside world.

Although Kerrigan was a new competitor, she was far away, only able to communicate with Lin Miao indirectly.

Yet now, Celia had actually snatched away the attention and power that should have belonged to her.

'Mine! It's all mine!'

As someone whose first awakened emotion was an intense desire to devour, Elise plunged into a massive panic the moment she felt her possession being stolen.

The anger that had previously awakened because of Celia now intertwined with a strange, unfamiliar emotion, continuously surging within her heart.

She did not yet know that this emotion was called jealousy.

“Celia is now an honorable, upright member of the colony. You still have many things to learn from her. I only hope you can discover this on your own.”

Watching Elise's reaction, Lin Miao showed a hint of helplessness.

Training Elise, this willful tyrant, into a qualified servant who would obey his commands was a process he had to go through.

'Since you are becoming smarter and smarter, you must also learn to bear the corresponding responsibilities.'

Back when Elise was no different from an ordinary ant, Lin Miao could not be bothered to manage her.

After all, no matter what he said, she would not understand and would only go wild blindly.

But now, Elise was becoming smarter, and her self-awareness was growing stronger. Lin Miao could finally begin to "educate" her in the truest sense.

And the first step of this education was to make her clearly realize who the true master was.

“Please calm down, Your Majesty. That Great One still regards you as His most important servant.”

Fortunately, Celia immediately grasped Lin Miao's intention and stepped forward to mediate.

Capable of understanding both Lin Miao's will and Elise's thoughts, she successfully soothed the chaotic Elise.

“That Great One has always rewarded those who perform meritorious deeds. This time is no different. This is His recognition of my contribution in creating the magic heart for the colony.”

Celia awakened Elise's memories through the hive mind, reminding her of how every time she performed well, Lin Miao would give her new food and mealworms as rewards and praise.

'Merit... War... Victory!'

Elise's eyes instantly lit up.

From her countless past experiences, she understood that the only way to reclaim Lin Miao's attention and rewards was to win the war.

【Elise orders the entire army to prepare for war】

She immediately issued orders to fully unleash the power she had been accumulating for so long.

The colony, which had previously gone into temporary dormancy to gather strength out of wariness for the enemy's growing power, now possessed the brand-new biological weapons equipped with magic hearts—the Tyrants.

There was no better time to counterattack than now. The massive colony, like a precision machine, instantly began operating with high efficiency at this moment.

Such a fierce reaction from Elise completely exceeded Lin Miao's expectations.

'The effect... is even better than I anticipated.'

Lin Miao stared at the screen for a long time without looking away, feeling deeply moved in his heart. It turned out that Elise's obsession with him had actually reached such a profound level.