"Yo, and who might this be? Oh, it's you, you fat dead worm!"
Suddenly.
From the shabby hut just now, a giant locust over two meters tall reappeared, its face full of mockery.
It reached out and grabbed the caterpillar, rubbing and twisting it around.
After playing with it for a while.
It growled viciously, "Spit it out! Who told you to eat my stuff?! You thief! In the Zerg Empire, thieves have their hands chopped off, you know that?!"
"I didn't, wasn't that the discarded, unwanted food scraps?" the caterpillar said fearfully.
But given its size and strength.
It was like a toy, easily manipulated without a shred of dignity.
The giant locust sneered coldly, "Who told you it was food scraps?! Who told you it was?! Huh! A thief acting righteous? Pay up!! If you don't, I'll cut off your arm!"
Saying this, it squeezed the caterpillar's body hard.
It was about to crush it, leaving it in great pain.
"I, I don't have money! Just cut off one of my arms, please, stop squeezing me…"
Its entire body trembled, terrified to the extreme.
Compared to being crushed to death or paying money, losing one tentacle seemed the best choice.
After all, it had over a dozen tentacles; losing one would only make it limp a little, not a big deal.
"Hmph, fine!"
In the next second!
The giant locust broke off all of the caterpillar's tentacles.
A piercing scream escaped from its mouth, nearly making it pass out.
"Aaaah! Lord Locust, why? Why did you break off all my tentacles? It hurts so much!"
"Kekekeke, the rule is to cut off arms, but it didn't say how many! Now scram, and don't let me see you again!"
The giant locust laughed sinisterly, tossing him to the ground.
The caterpillar trembled all over, shivering from the intense pain, almost fainting.
It tried hard to crawl away but couldn't move at all.
The dozens of broken tentacles were oozing green and red slime, and soon it would die.
"Goblin, I can't lead the way for you anymore. If you keep going forward, you'll soon find the path to the Zerg Queen's palace…"
The caterpillar's consciousness was fading, and it spoke weakly.
Lin Tian remained silent.
His face darkened, almost dripping with anger.
Without a word, he opened his spatial ring, pulled out a bottle of Super Recovery Potion, and poured it over the caterpillar.
In the blink of an eye, all of its injuries were healed.
"You…! What is this stuff? It's so miraculous!"
The caterpillar was utterly shocked, never having seen such a thing before.
Lin Tian still didn't reply.
Instead, he looked coldly at the nearby hut and said, "Hey! That locust from earlier, get out here!"
"Who is it? A goblin? What, you lowly creature want to stand out?!"
The giant locust emerged impatiently.
Looking down with disdain, it said arrogantly, "I know you're connected to the Ant Queen! But that doesn't mean you can be arrogant in front of me. I serve the Zerg Queen! Even if I kill you, the Ant Queen won't dare touch me!"
Splurt!
In the next instant.
A heart was forcibly ripped out, still beating in Lin Tian's hand.
The giant locust's eyes were full of shock and unwillingness.
It collapsed to the ground.
Lin Tian tossed the heart in front of the caterpillar.
"Eat this. It's way more nutritious than those rotten vegetables and tree roots!"
"Ah?! I… I don't dare, I don't dare!"
The caterpillar shrank back in fear, trembling as it spoke.
Its eyes filled with disbelief.
"You… you killed the giant locust?! They're one of the Zerg Queen's loyal races! Hurry, we need to leave, there's still time!"
"Forget that, I told you to eat! Are you going to eat or not?"
Lin Tian was growing impatient.
Under the shadow, his terrifying, sinister face grew larger and larger.
Scared out of its wits, the caterpillar quickly started gobbling it down, forcing back its nausea.
But after a few bites, it realized it tasted much better than vegetables.
"Wow! Can I eat the rest?"
It pointed at the giant locust's corpse beside it.
Lin Tian nodded, "Of course, if you eat it all, no one will notice."
In almost an instant.
The caterpillar devoured the entire corpse, leaving nothing behind.
"Let's keep moving."
Lin Tian said after.
The caterpillar led the way ahead, with Lin Tian following behind.
When Lin Tian checked the caterpillar's status panel again, he was surprised to find its strength had increased significantly!
Previously, its battle power had been a pitiful 500, far below the lower limit.
Now it had already reached 600!
It also gained several new titles: "First Caterpillar to Eat Meat," "Carnivore," and "Mutation."
Mutation?
Lin Tian remembered that this creature didn't have this title before.
He felt a bit like gambling—if he kept feeding it flesh, would it mutate into something like a Rayquaza or something?
Though the chances were almost zero, given that they were from two different worlds.
Still, it was worth a try.
It would be like raising a pet anyway.
As he pondered.
Gradually, the number of Zerg around them became fewer and fewer.
Eventually, there was not a single one in sight.
Finally, the caterpillar stopped, trembling with fear.
"I can only go this far. If you keep walking ahead, do you see that palace on the mountain in the distance? That's where the Zerg Queen resides."
Following his gaze.
On the distant horizon, atop a towering mountain, stood an enormous palace.
It was completely pitch-black, with jagged, claw-like protrusions.
It was massive.
A conservative estimate would place it at over three thousand meters tall.
"But I hope you don't go there, because it's extremely dangerous. Ever since I was young, my tribe has warned me to never get close. The Zerg Queen and her kind will devour other Zerg."
The caterpillar continued, his face full of worry as he looked at Lin Tian.
"Alright, you've been pretty honest. Here's some gold coins for your trouble."
Lin Tian didn't hold back, taking out one hundred gold coins to improve the caterpillar's life.
If he used them sparingly, it would last him a good ten years or so.
However, the caterpillar didn't seem excited at all.
"Forget it, even if you give them to me, they'll just be stolen."
This guy…
Lin Tian asked, "Are you interested in becoming my pet?"
"You… you can't insult a Zerg like that…"
Upon hearing this, the caterpillar looked hurt.
Lin Tian sneered, "I'm not insulting you. The Zerg Queen you're so afraid of will eventually just be my toy. Being my pet is already a great honor for you."
Before he could finish his sentence.
The caterpillar had already turned to leave, muttering, "Are all goblins insane…"
"You fat little worm, are you looking to die?"
Lin Tian quickly caught up, threatening him.
The caterpillar sighed helplessly, "Someone like me would be better off scavenging for scraps. Why do you even want me as a pet? You're not some pervert, right? Do you want me to warm your bed?"
"In your dreams. You're not even fit for that. Fine, if you want to leave, go ahead, but know you won't escape from my grasp."
Lin Tian didn't bother with him anymore.
He figured he could catch him when they left the Zerg Empire.
Looking at the vast and imposing Zerg Queen's palace in the distance.
Lin Tian began to move forward.
He had only taken a few steps when several black beetles suddenly appeared, blocking his path.
"Beyond this point is the Zerg Queen's palace. Take another step, and you'll die!"
These beetles were all part of the Demon Zerg.
However, they were clad in tough armor, each with a distinct shape.
They were soldier bugs.
Unlike the Ant Tribe, the Demon Zerg soldier bugs came in various forms—some could fly, some could run, some could burrow underground, and others could spit water or fire.
In contrast, the Ant Tribe's soldier ants were more uniform, only distinguished by their larger size.
Lin Tian cautiously replied, "I am the King of the Goblin Empire. I wish to meet your Zerg Queen."
"The King of the Goblin Empire? What a joke! Take another step, and you're dead!"
The soldier bugs threatened coldly.
Their dark, bead-like eyes fixed on him with hostility.
Lin Tian was puzzled.
Something wasn't right.
According to his previous life simulations, the Zerg Queen should have received him.
Why wasn't she giving any orders?
Could it be because he killed her loyal giant locust?
Quickly, Lin Tian said, "I'm here to surrender to the Zerg Queen. I wish to offer my allegiance to the great Zerg Empire…"
Sure enough.
The soldier bugs, upon hearing his words, relayed the message directly to the Zerg Queen's mind.
Moreover, the Zerg Queen could issue commands remotely.
The soldier bugs immediately moved aside.
"Follow us. The Zerg Queen says she will meet you."
Lin Tian smiled with satisfaction.
This was exactly what he wanted.
Feigning surrender would make them believe he posed no threat, and by offering his territory, he could gain time to develop.
After all, even if Lin Tian fought to the death, there was no way he could take on the hundreds of millions of Zerg soldiers in a short amount of time.
When they reached the massive palace.
What appeared to be fierce, decorative tendrils loomed over the castle.
But upon closer inspection, Lin Tian realized—
Those weren't decorations, but actual antennae!
Towering into the sky!
As he entered the palace, the sight before him was overwhelming.
This towering castle, several thousand meters tall, was the Zerg Queen!
Her body was pitch-black, her torso resembling that of a centipede, with layer upon layer of black armor encasing her.
On either side of her torso were thick, muscular legs—hundreds, even thousands of them!
Each leg embedded in the ground, causing the earth to crack and crumble.
Her head was spider-like, covered in countless red eyes, and she had three pairs of powerful mandibles.
She was as enormous as a mountain that no one could ever hope to scale!
Over two thousand meters tall and more than three thousand meters long!
Underneath her, Lin Tian seemed so small that it was hard for him to even breathe!
However, this massive body shared a similarity with the Ant Queen—there was a normal-sized form growing from the top of her head.
It was incredibly small.
But exuded immense pressure.
Her entire body seemed wrapped in black bandages.
Long antennae extended from both sides of her arms and head, fluttering behind her in the wind.
Her figure was fairly full, clearly indicating she was female.
After all, she was the Zerg Queen, not a Zerg King.