Ethan stood in awe. He hadn't expected that Anti-Bone Boy's combat power would skyrocket to an astonishing 308 stars.
Now a Gold-ranked Destroyer Ant, Anti-Bone Boy had not only received significant stat boosts, but more importantly—two brand-new purple-grade skills.
Yes, purple.
Until now, Ethan had never encountered a purple-grade skill. In most cases, green and blue skills were already considered rare and valuable.
To get two purples from a single evolution?
Unheard of.
One skill was passive. The other was active. But both were game-changers.
The passive skill, "Destruction", wasn't just a simple damage booster. Sure, it added 30% real damage, meaning it bypassed all defenses.
But that wasn't the scary part.
It came with a devastating effect: wounds caused by it couldn't be healed by medical treatment.
That meant if an enemy lost a limb from Anti-Bone Boy's bite, they wouldn't be able to get it back—not through medicine, healing abilities, or regeneration.
Permanent damage.
Ethan chuckled, "Imagine the look on their faces when they realize their arms aren't growing back."
This wasn't just physical pain. It was psychological trauma.
Future opponents would likely walk away from battles with Ethan not just beaten—but haunted.
Then there was the active skill: "Army Breaker."
At first glance, the description seemed absurd.
> "Increases body size by 100,000% with no cost or cooldown."
"Wait, what?" Ethan blinked. "That's… a thousand times bigger?!"
If length, width, and height were all scaled by ten times, Anti-Bone Boy would go from knee-high to house-sized.
And the most shocking part?
He could activate it at any time. As often as he wanted.
No cooldown. No mana. No energy drain.
Ethan could imagine it now: a tiny ant suddenly ballooning into a massive beast towering over the battlefield, crushing everything in sight.
Compared to the Mountain-Moving Ant path he almost picked earlier, this was clearly the better choice.
The Mountain-Moving variant probably stayed in its large form permanently and focused on endurance. But Ethan didn't need another tank.
He needed a killer.
And Anti-Bone Boy now had fangs—and size—to match that title.
---
The transformation was visible too.
Anti-Bone Boy's once modest, simple features had changed.
A purple shimmer now coated his exoskeleton, and his jaws had transformed. They no longer curved in a soft arc; they had twisted, jagged edges now—like crackling lightning bolts, sharp with menacing sawtooth ridges.
What once looked like a humble creature now resembled a monster out of a nightmare.
Ethan laughed. "From a Saitama look… to full JoJo vibes."
He was more than satisfied.
---
Next Target: The Queen Ant
Without pausing, Ethan jumped into his next evolution project—his Queen Ant.
She had long been one of his most reliable support summons, particularly for her egg-laying and army-generation abilities.
But now it was time to bring her to the next level.
On the left panel, he placed the Queen Ant. On the right, he dropped 328 copies of "Silver Rank · Vine Essence" and one rare "Silver Rank · Ancient Vine Tree Core" from the last dungeon boss.
These materials were known for their tremendous vitality, perfect for a creature like the Queen Ant whose entire role was to spawn and support an army.
> "Infinite Alienation Initiated… Please select evolution result."
This time, the system gave two options:
---
Option A: Evolve into Wasteland Ant Queen
→ Strengthens base skills and increases combat strength of offspring.
Option B: Evolve into Army Ant Queen
→ Focuses on raw stats and improves reproduction speed.
---
A tough choice.
Ethan was conflicted.
The Queen already had the green skill "Gather Sand into a Tower," where the more offspring she had, the stronger their collective power became.
That made Option B look attractive. More babies = more destruction.
But there was a catch.
Ethan had spent the last few days observing the actual combat power of the Queen's ants. The Desert Giant Ants she regularly produced only had 6-star power.
Even with large numbers, they were fragile and fell apart under real attacks. Against stronger enemies, they were like paper soldiers.
Sure, he could breed an army and overwhelm weak targets.
But in the long run? That strategy had a ceiling.
Ethan shook his head. "I don't need numbers. I need quality."
He selected Option A: Wasteland Ant Queen.
This evolution would not only enhance her core skills, but also make sure the ants she produced would be tougher, stronger, and more useful.
And even better—Option A still improved the Queen's breeding ability, just at a slower pace.
---
Alienation Complete
> Bronze-ranked Desert Giant Ant Queen → Upgraded to Gold-ranked Wasteland Ant Queen.
> Stats Boosted:
Strength: +160
Constitution: +2800
Agility: +60
Spirit: +60
> New Skills Gained:
Nurture (Blue): Can now lay 9 wasteland ant eggs per day.
Consecration (Purple): Sacrifices some of her own power to grant offspring 30% of her base stats.
Ethan opened the full stat panel:
> Summoned Beast: Gold Rank · Wasteland Ant Queen
Maturity Level: Mature
Lifespan: 28 Years
Strength: 358
Constitution: 3212
Agility: 96
Spirit: 86
> Skills:
Crush (Green)
Nurture (Blue)
Gather Sand into a Tower (Green)
Consecration (Purple)
> Combat Power Rating: 180 Stars
---
A New Queen, A New Army
While the Queen's raw combat power was lower than Anti-Bone Boy's 308 stars, her true value was in her brood.
Thanks to the Consecration skill, every ant she produced would now inherit 30% of her stats.
That meant each new Wasteland Ant had a combat rating of around 60 stars.
That was a tenfold increase from before.
Ethan grinned. "Nine 60-star ants per day… that's over 500 stars of damage on standby."
And the best part?
Most students couldn't even reach 60 stars themselves.
A single Wasteland Ant was now enough to secure admission to one of the top ten universities in Longguo.
Ethan's satisfaction peaked.
This wasn't just a minor upgrade—it was a leap forward.
---
A Pause from Dungeons
With both his summons upgraded, Ethan took a short break from dungeon diving.
He spent the next two days researching other insect-type wild monsters that might have synergy with his Zerg build.
Unfortunately, most of the leads turned out to be rumors or dead ends. The sources weren't reliable, and the data was outdated or vague.
He was just starting to feel stuck...
---
Then—A Call
Ethan's phone buzzed.
It was a call from the RT Runhua mall's personal shopping assistant.
> "Mr. Ethan, we've finally located the origin of the Blade of the Great Sword Mantis."
Ethan's eyes lit up.
"Now we're talking."
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[End of Chapter]
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