Chapter 57: Bumblebee and Phoenix

In this underground palace made of plant fibers, moss and beeswax, there is a primitive and rustic atmosphere everywhere.

Although the space inside the cave is not large, it can be said to have everything.

The honeycomb was cleverly divided into several sections, with soft exotic animal fur covering every corner. Even if two adult men squeezed together, they would not feel too cramped.

The environment inside the semi-enclosed cave was humid and warm, and the air was even filled with a sweet fragrance, like fine wine brewed from countless blooming fragrant flowers, making every pore on Huai Mi's body unable to help but breathe in greedily.

At this moment, he ignored the darkness in front of him and could clearly see every texture on Bombbel's body.

This "prey" has tight skin and flesh, a low body fat percentage, and exudes a fresh breath that is rare among wasteland creatures.

That honey-colored hair shone with a silky sheen in the night. This bright color even reminded Huai Mi of the sunlight that appeared in distant memories, an existence that was once engraved in the genes of every living thing...

"Um, are you okay?"

A warm and large hand reached out and gently touched Huai Mi's forehead with the back of the hand, interrupting his somewhat dazed thoughts.

Huai Mi suddenly raised his eyelids. His gaze was direct and explicit. His cold, bloodless face made his black and white eyes stand out even more. They were like two holes poked out on a pale piece of paper. It was inexplicably eerie, but Bombbel was completely unaware of it.

Although the system showed that there was nothing serious, Bombber couldn't help but feel worried when he saw that this weak "human" had not responded for a long time.

When he touched Huai Mi's skin, he felt that this person did not seem like a living being at all, but rather like a piece of cold porcelain.

"You feel so cold, did you just catch a cold..."

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean any harm." Noticing the other person's gaze, Bumblebee immediately distanced himself politely. Then he couldn't help but smile brightly. His two pointed little canine teeth glowed white in the darkness, adding a touch of friendliness to his smile.

"Don't worry, it's safe here. If you need anything, just tell me and I'll do my best to help you!"

"So hungry..."

Looking at the fresh and tempting "prey" in front of her, Huai Mi made a slight swallowing sound, mixed with low bowel sounds, which was particularly clear in the silent cave.

Before he finished speaking, Huai Mi's sticky gaze once again fell on Bombbel's light-colored lips. His Adam's apple rolled slightly, and he repeated in a low voice:

"So hungry..."

At this point, the tentacles within Huai Mi's body had begun to tremble slightly, almost unable to maintain this humanoid form. The desire to eat had begun to erode his sanity, causing him to fall into a restless and dangerous state.

Listening to this low and hoarse voice, Bombbel felt an itchy tingling sensation spreading upwards along his earlobe, making him suddenly feel a little uncomfortable for some reason.

Bombber couldn't help but raise his hand and gently fiddle with his earrings, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He just looked into Huai Mi's eyes and asked sincerely:

"So what do you want to eat now? Exotic beast meat, or wild fruit? I can find either for you."

Hearing this, Huai Mi pulled out a pale smile, and he quietly stretched out his hand——

"you……"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he uttered a word, his words were cut off.

"Ah, food—how could I have forgotten to look for something to eat!"

Before he finished speaking, Bombber jumped up. He knocked his head awkwardly, not really hearing what Huai Mi said.

"Well, you should get some rest first. I'm going out hunting now!"

Then he took Huai Mi's hand and hurriedly stuffed it into the blanket, and rushed out in a hurry, leaving only the tail end of the words "I'll be back soon" echoing in the cave.

…

As Bombbell's footsteps faded away, the cave suddenly became quiet.

Huai Mi, who missed the opportunity again, had to withdraw his hand. He sighed softly, then took off his disguise and collapsed in the soft fur of the alien beast like a boneless mollusk.

His big, round eyes stared straight at the top of the cave, and his dark, lifeless pupils looked extremely empty, like two strange, bottomless dry wells.

The dried mud on the surface of the body was easily peeled off the skin under the flushing of the mucus oozing out of the body, and then quickly seeped into the ground and disappeared without a trace.

At the same time, countless thin plant tentacles followed the direction of the mucus flow and silently took root in every corner of the nest, and then began to grow.

"I'm so hungry..." After a while, Huai Mi buried her face in the fur that Bombubbel had just touched, trying to find some comfort.

As he smelled it, he couldn't help but grin his teeth, carefully biting and swallowing the small piece of fur, as if he wanted to absorb all the remaining scent on it into his body.

As her hunger deepened, Huai Mi's limbs seemed to suddenly have their own consciousness, and suddenly split into countless gentle and elegant messy lines, leaving only the transparent and clean torso still crawling in the same place.

Those tentacles slowly wriggled in the cave like nimble little snakes, trying to snatch every trace of the remaining sweet smell, but in the end it was just better than nothing.

Time passed by bit by bit, and Huai Mi sucked the fur in her mouth which gradually became bland and sticky, feeling extremely bored.

As a result, a huge monster a hundred meters away suffered a great misfortune.

It was trying to dig the ground with its claws to find food. Its clumsy body moved impatiently in the bushes and accidentally stepped on a delicate plant.

Suddenly, the seemingly ordinary plant suddenly erupted! Countless tentacles wrapped in slime suddenly shot out from the plant's roots, and then swarmed over, tightly entangling the giant beast in the blink of an eye.

Before it even had the chance to struggle, it was devoured at an exaggerated speed by the digestive fluids released by the plant glands, leaving not even a trace of flesh and bone, only a slightly messy piece of land in its place.

After the absorption was complete, several fragile, tiny flower stems suddenly emerged from the moss in the honeycomb. These buds, only the size of rice grains, looked very harmless and inconspicuous in the cave.

"It tastes terrible..." Huai Mi closed his eyes and let out a breath. His hunger did not subside after eating, but became even stronger.

It was a desire that went deep into his bones, burning wildly in his veins like a wildfire in a dry wasteland.

…

【Host! How could you leave a stranger alone at home? 】

On the other side, the system was almost furious at this naive person in front of it. It tapped into Bumblebell's mind with a look of dismay:

"Look at his state just now. He's clearly not normal. Are you going to throw away the nest you worked so hard to build so easily?"

"Whatever he wants to eat, go out and find him right away. What if he's up to something bad? No, I want to tell you about Mr. Dongguo and the wolf—the wasteland world isn't your simple, crude insect nest!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just trying to complete the mission..."

Despite the system's barrage of criticism, Bumblebee remained unfazed and remained cheerful. He danced and walked, his face displaying two shallow dimples, his eyes narrowed into crescents.

The soldier bug wiggled its antennae and said excitedly, "Let's go, let's go quickly and come back quickly—"

Seeing this, 030 could only sigh in resentment: [He walked and stammered...]

Not long after, the extremely efficient Bombber was on his way back.

He first flew to the surrounding areas at the fastest speed to collect some edible wild fruits, and carefully hunted some less polluted exotic beast meat. Then he hurried back in the direction of the nest, without any intention of collecting more food for storage.

When passing through a wasteland, Bombbell's tentacles trembled slightly, as if it had received some familiar information factors.

His perception was very sharp, and he quickly identified that the source of this aura was the pioneer he had met by chance last time.

[The host is human! ]

At the same time, the system's urgent voice suddenly exploded in the consciousness space, and Bombbel's footsteps paused slightly, but it was only a brief pause.

He just glanced in the direction of the pioneer, took out a piece of chalcedony from his body and placed it gently on the ground, then strode towards the direction of the hive without hesitation.

[Wait, host! He hasn't run away yet, why did you run away? ]

The system couldn't help but yell again, and kept urging Bombbel in his mind:

"I know it's tough to keep getting beaten, but think about our mission! And the tribe! The hive!"

"No, I don't have the ability to take care of more family members right now. I'm already satisfied as long as I can take good care of the human in the nest."

Upon hearing this, Bombbel shook his head firmly. While responding, he did not slow down his pace at all and soon left the wasteland far behind.

What's the difference between one and two? The more humans, the better. The system was a little confused, still trying to convince Bombbell, "If you miss this opportunity, you'll miss it. Are you really not going to give it another try?"

"Of course not—choosing a housebug and establishing a bond is a very serious matter."

As he spoke, Bombbel showed an innocent smile, but his ice-blue eyes were particularly pure and bright, as if they could penetrate the unchanging darkness ahead.

He explained seriously, "Every encounter with life is a rare fate. If I can't give my house insects the best treatment, then I'd rather not start."

…

In the wilderness, Pioneer 517 once again saw the precious chalcedony not far away, but this time he waited for a long time but still did not find any strange traces.

He thought deeply about it, and after a moment's hesitation, he finally bent down and picked up the chalcedony.

“Gudong——”

After confirming that everything was correct, 517 numbly stuffed the ore into his throat. With a familiar prompt tone, he knew that he could now return to the nest.

"Hmm, cough, cough—!"

The feeling of swallowing a foreign object was not pleasant. 517 pinched his own neck, muffling all the heart-wrenching coughs in his throat.

Physiological tears blurred his vision. The pioneer looked at the dark and gloomy land before him and murmured hoarsely, "Intelligent creatures..."