Bck ran to the entrance of the nest and stared out for a long time. After seeing that the king and Shava still hadn't returned, she headed to the huge, empty chamber where the queen ant, Linda, lived.

  Bck knew that the queen was the mother who had given birth to her. As long as she saw the queen, she would feel very friendly and loving emotions toward her.

  When Bck was younger, she'd enjoyed staying by the queen's side. However, as time passed and she steadily grew smarter and gained more knowledge, she'd began to prefer spending time with the king.

  Bck had even started to feel a little alienated from the queen. There wasn't any ill will between them. Bck had simply realized one day that the queen's level of wisdom was far lower than her own.

  While Bck couldn't repce Shava's position beside the king, she felt that she could completely repce the queen.

  With the queen ant's shallow wisdom, she wasn't suited to be the king's assistant. Bck filled that role much better than the queen ever could.

  However, as Bck had gained more knowledge, she'd eventually learned that she was only a worker ant. Worker ants were born worker ants and would remain worker ants for their entire lives. No worker could ever become a queen.

  Even if Bck wanted to become a queen ant, the minimum qualification was to be capable of reproduction.

  'When the heavens take away one thing, they will always grant another.'

  Over and over again, Bck silently repeated the words that the king had told her. Although she felt very unwilling, she still sorted out her emotions and informed the queen that the worker ant team had captured a mouse.

  While the king and Shava were out, Linda was responsible for everything that happened in the nest.

  Meanwhile, Bck's position was even lower than the four soldier ants. She also knew that after the next generation of ants completed their second pupation, her status in the nest would decline even further.

  'I don't know when I'll be able to master the [Mental Connection] ability.'

  As Bck mented silently in her heart, she went to a remote, empty chamber in the underground nest where she'd previously hidden some frost slime.

  The king had found out about Bck hiding slime more than ten days earlier, but he'd seemed to be okay with it. Ever since then, whenever the king had brought back any frost slime, he'd given Bck a little extra.

  But Bck knew that she was still a disappointment to the king. No matter how much she ate, her body stayed thin, as if she would never grow up.

  After eating until her abdomen bulged, Bck quickly ran in circles around the empty chamber so that she could digest the slime more quickly.

  ...

  System didn't know what Little Bck was thinking back in the winter nest. Even if he knew, he wouldn't be bothered, but would instead smile in relief. It was a good thing for Little Bck to have such lofty ambitions.

  After System and Shava had spent all night searching for the strange creature near the nest without success, System remembered that he'd pnned to meet with someone today.

  He fpped his wings and grabbed onto Shava with his tentacles, then started flying toward the goblin vilge located more than ten kilometers away from the nest.

  Long ago, he'd secretly compined about these stupid goblins who worshiped the Lord of Gciers. Once winter arrived, there would be no chance for the goblins with their simple living conditions to survive.

  Unexpectedly, the Lord of Gciers had used some special means to turn every goblin in the vilge into a giant frost goblin more than two meters tall. They were all covered in icy blue armor and wielded ice crystal weapons.

  The first giant frost goblin that System had met had been a member of this goblin vilge. System hadn't learned that fact until a full month after they'd met.

  He'd visited this goblin vilge many times over the previous few months.

  Because they were both members of the Winter Legion, the giant goblin was always very friendly to System. Every time System showed up, the goblin offered him drinks.

  Wine didn't taste the same to System as it did to the goblins. To him, its fvor was closer to mango juice, but with an unusual salty tang. He actually liked it quite a bit.

  Since System was carrying Shava while he flew, he gradually started to feel a little tired. The st time he'd carried Shava to the goblin vilge had been two months earlier. Back then, Shava had just completed her second pupation and had still been very small.

  However, after two months of continuous growth, her body had grown much rger. Her current length reached nearly forty centimeters, even bigger than System's own body.

  He didn't know exactly what kind of influence she was under, but after her second pupation, her body had gotten kind of strange.

  System estimated that eighty percent of the strangeness was due to Shava's mind being poisoned by the knight images that he'd shown her, which had led to her body transforming into such an unusual shape.

  If System had to describe it, her body's current shape was very simir to the centaurs that he'd seen in fantasy stories in his previous life, especially those centaurs that had worn thick, heavy armor that covered their entire bodies.

  Shava's formerly huge head was now much smaller, and her entire upper body looked like a human knight's upper body that was covered in armor.

  Her massive mandibles had transformed into two weapons that looked like sabers or swords, and they were now attached to her forelegs.

  Her forelegs were somewhat simir to the pair of scythes on the front limbs of a mantis, only the twin bdes on Shava were obviously bigger and sturdier than the scythes on a mantis.

  As for Shava's remaining four limbs and her lower body, they weren't much different from before, though her limbs were now clearly thicker and stronger.

  And it wasn't only her body shape that had changed, because Shava had also heard the Voice of the World during her second pupation.

  Unlike System, who had gained the auxiliary ability [Perception], Shava had gained an extremely powerful combat ability.

  In System's opinion, if the two of them fought, even if she only exerted half of that ability's power, she could easily crush him into pieces within seconds, even if he was in his [Frost Form].

  While Shava, like System, hadn't yet completely transformed into a magical life form, her new combat ability should have already reached the level of a magical ability. It was so powerful that System couldn't fully expin or understand it.

  ...

  Fpping his wings, System slowly descended from the sky. His wings hadn't improved much in the past six months, and flying while carrying Shava was far too strenuous for him.

  After flying fewer than two kilometers, System was already forced to nd on the ground and rest for a while.

  When she saw System's exhausted appearance, Shava hesitated for a while before sending him a mental message.

  "King, you look very tired. How about you fly in the sky and I run on the ground?"

  System showed a confused look and stared at Shava for a while.

  His insect face transformed into a strange expression, and he replied, "Right, why do I have to carry you? Shava, why didn't you say something earlier? I remember also getting tired when I flew with you a few days ago."

  When she heard System's words, Shava's face showed an uneasy expression. It was clear to System that she'd thought about this much earlier. She just hadn't told him about it.

  As he looked at Shava's nervous appearance, his mandibles twitched unconsciously. He didn't expect her intelligence to have increased so much after her second pupation. She'd actually learned to make fun of him.

  However, the mental message Shava sent him a moment ter made his expression turn even weirder.

  Shava sent back, "Because it feels good when your tentacles hold me."