Chapter 233: Contracting the Mother Bug’s Heart, Video

Chapter 233: Chapter 233: Contracting the Mother Bug’s Heart, Video

The Heart of the Nest.

The special, crimson-red spider capable of producing Insectoid Monsters.

’Perfect. With this Contract Card, I can finally tame it for real. It’ll be much easier to command, and I won’t have to worry about it feigning obedience or failing me at a critical moment.’

With a thought, Seraphina Sullivan’s form entered the farm space once again.

She quickly found the Heart of the Nest, still in its red spider form, beside a pile of miscellaneous items.

It seemed to sense Seraphina’s approach and twitched its jointed legs slightly, but it showed no obvious hostility or intent to flee.

Seraphina didn’t hesitate, using the [Pet Contract Card] on it directly.

The card transformed into a stream of light and merged into the Heart of the Nest’s body.

Perhaps it knew resistance was futile, or perhaps it had already subconsciously accepted its situation. The Heart of the Nest didn’t struggle at all, and the contract process went smoother than imaginable.

[Ding! Congratulations to Player Seraphina Sullivan for successfully contracting the pet—Heart of the Nest (Adolescent Stage).]

The system notification confirmed the success of the contract.

"Alright, now I can use your abilities with more peace of mind."

Seraphina extended a finger and gently tapped the red spider in her palm, which had become much more docile.

She hadn’t forgotten what this little guy could do.

It could devour flesh and blood to produce three different types of insectoid monsters.

Looking at the red spider in her palm, a thought surfaced in her mind.

’Maybe... the swarm produced by the Heart of the Nest could counter those rabbit monsters that rely on numbers and infinite splitting? A sea of insects against a tide of rabbits...’

Seraphina mused, stroking her chin.

’However, I can’t just jump in and solve this problem myself. That would be too conspicuous and risk revealing too many of my trump cards. I have to wait for the right opportunity, or for the officials to come to me for help, and then act accordingly.’

She looked down at the red spider resting quietly in her palm. The more she looked, the more she found its crimson color to be quite striking.

"I should give you a name," Seraphina said, gently stroking its smooth carapace with her fingertip.

"How about ’Ruby’? You’re all red, so it suits you."

The spider in her palm, the newly christened "Ruby," twitched its antennae, transmitting a faint and complex wave of emotion.

Ruby: ’Can I refuse?’

Seraphina simply smiled without a word.

Inside the safe zone’s command center, the atmosphere was so tense you could wring water from it.

Justin Brooks and Philip Jensen stood before a massive regional map, staring at the location labeled "Kaelen."

The other leaders in the safe zone wore equally grim expressions.

"Unafraid of the extreme cold, multiplies by splitting, bloodthirsty and cannibalistic..."

Justin Brooks repeated the monster’s known traits, his finger tapping heavily on the map.

His worst fear had come to pass: an uncontrollable monster had appeared on Azure Star.

He had been worried about the Insectoid Monsters in Hunter Lowe’s possession before.

However, after Hunter Lowe’s death, he never found the one controlling the Insectoid Monsters.

Since the Insectoid Monsters didn’t reappear, he assumed no one had gained control of them, or perhaps that the ones Hunter Lowe controlled had died out there.

But he never expected another type of monster to emerge.

But now, the focus was on how to solve these problems.

"Philip, in the current environment outside, sending ordinary soldiers or even most Players would be a death sentence. Your Talent allows you to resist the extreme low temperatures. The mission to scout the situation in Kaelen and confirm the monsters’ movements and scale must be given to you."

Philip Jensen straightened his back. "Understood, Captain! I’ll be careful and bring back as much detailed intelligence as I can."

Justin Brooks clapped him on the shoulder, his eyes filled with trust and concern.

"Stay safe. If the situation turns bad, retreat immediately. Intelligence is important, but your life is more important."

He paused, his tone resolute. "In the next mandatory instance, I’ll focus on finding an item or method that can solve or at least mitigate this extreme cold. We can’t just passively turtle in the safe zone forever. Our living space will be squeezed smaller and smaller."

Philip nodded emphatically. "Yes! Leave it to me! You be careful too, the instances are just as dangerous."

While the military was busy deploying countermeasures, Seraphina, having left her farm space, took out her almost-forgotten cell phone.

In the early days of the deep freeze, the communication network was intermittent. Plus, she had been so busy improving her strength and dealing with instances that she had no mind to pay attention to outside information.

Now that she was in a relatively stable safe zone, the signal seemed to have been restored.

On her phone screen, the notification light was blinking incessantly.

She tapped it open and saw that the "Apocalypse Survival Exchange Group," which she had joined a long time ago and which had since gone quiet, was now surprisingly active. Messages were scrolling by at an astonishing speed.

Seraphina casually scrolled through the chat history, a chill running down her spine.

As expected, the group was frantically discussing the destruction of the Kaelen safe zone!

After all, this apocalypse exchange group was formed by people from her city and several neighboring ones.

It was in a state of total chaos.

All sorts of speculation, panic, and cries for help were mixed together.

The cause of the chaos was a video someone in the group had forwarded.

[This is the last footage my relative in Kaelen sent out...]

Seraphina’s fingertips felt cold. She took a deep breath and played the video.

The footage shook violently, filled with screams, cries, and a horrifying, dense gnawing sound.

The person filming seemed to be hiding in a relatively concealed corner, the camera aimed outside through a crack.

As far as the eye could see, a dense tide of blood-red-eyed rabbits surged forward!

They weren’t particularly large, but their numbers were despair-inducing, covering every inch of the ground and walls, even piling up into small hills!

"Help me! AHHH—!"

"Get away! You monsters!"

"Fire! Use fire on them... Argh! There are too many of them!"

The camera captured a Player in the distance, one who clearly possessed a Flame Ability, desperately unleashing a Fireball that instantly scorched several rabbits.

However, as the scorched rabbits died, even more smaller-bodied but equally ferocious blood-eyed rabbits swarmed the Player with greater frenzy.

In just a dozen seconds, the Player’s Energy was depleted. With a final scream, they were submerged by the tide of rabbits, and their voice was abruptly cut off...

The filmer’s breathing grew extremely heavy, filled with despair, and the camera shook even more violently.

The video ended abruptly with the blood-red eyes and sharp shrieks of several rabbits that had discovered the filmer’s hiding spot and lunged toward the camera.

Dead silence.

A few seconds later, the entire chat group exploded like a pan of hot oil:

[Oh my god! What are these monsters?! Why would something like this appear on Azure Star?! These aren’t normal creatures! Wasn’t the natural disaster already impossible to handle? Now this happens, how are we supposed to live?!]

[The Kaelen safe zone... is really gone! Tens of thousands of people! Just gone like that?!]

[My God! We can barely survive the extreme cold, and now there are these unkillable monsters. Is there any hope for us normal people?!]

[Kaelen is so close to us in Vorlag City! If these rabbits are really that terrifying, will we be their next target?! Where are the officials? The military? Do something!]

[@everyone Is anyone in the Vorlag City safe zone? What’s it like in there? Is it safe? I’m outside right now and I’m too scared to move!]

[...]