Ricks's Past

That was a long time ago, so long ago that Ricks always feels vague when he recalls it now. Even if he is in this city again, it is difficult for him to find the feeling when he picked up the other person.

"Looking back, time flies by so fast. When I gave you your name, you were still a little girl."

"What are you talking about, Chief? You were younger than me at the time, and Lord Cohen was only a little older than us."

"Yes, he has always been a very powerful person. He saved me." Ricks knew what the other party wanted to know, and took the initiative to bring up this past event. "After I took him away, I wanted to let him go. I'm sorry, Amelia. I know that everyone depends on me, but when I have a choice, I still have selfish thoughts."

Amelia shook her head. "Everyone has it, Chief. You have helped us a lot. If it weren't for you, I would have died in the mouths of the insect people."

"Everyone living in the City of Worms knows not to give up hope, but only a few can persevere no matter what they go through. Although many people are still holding on, their eyes have long been covered with mist. But you are different, Amelia, your eyes are always bright in the crowd."

Ricks said: "Don't call me leader anymore, I am no longer your leader."

Amelia took a step forward excitedly: "You will always be the leader of the resistance!"

"Does the current resistance still exist?"

Ricks asked back, as if he had seen through everything.

"After me, after Cohen, are there new people who take up the resistance? Yes, no one has given up hope, but no one is willing to stand up. I know it's not their fault. The basis of resistance is strength, and after that failure, the Queen's control has become stricter. I'm sorry, it's my fault. I put everyone in trouble."

"You don't need to say sorry,"

Amelia felt very sad after hearing this. She had witnessed the other person's appearance with her own eyes, so she could not accept his loneliness at this moment.

"What happened then? Why did you... become the Queen's priest? Why did you turn your sword against everyone? Didn't you say that as long as we are united, we can win. Humans are a group that will burst out with amazing power in adversity. No matter what happens, you will never give up on us..."

Ricks pursed his lips unconsciously. What a naive statement. It was exactly what he would have said. Facts proved that he was so useless. These were just his delusions. His lips moved and he finally opened his mouth slowly.

"...If you want to leave here, the insects are an obstacle that must be removed."

"After the Queen leaves the palace, her priests will be the highest leaders of the Insect City. In order to ensure control over the insect people, she will leave behind a bug heart. This is my original goal. As long as we take that bug heart, the insect people will transform into our army and protect us until we leave the Insect City and return to the border of humans."

Amelia's eyes widened. "How is that possible? I've never heard of such a thing! Although the insect people disdain us, they are actually very defensive and it's impossible for them to let us know about this."

Ordinary people naturally cannot do these things, but Rex is different. He is the most special person of the Kowtow Bug bloodline. The hierarchy system in the Bug City is clear, and the subordinates are born to please their superiors. The [Insect Queen] is the object of all the insect people's competition for pleasure.

Normally only priests could please the queen, and other bloodlines were too low-level. But Rex broke through the barrier, and it was very easy for him to get information from those high-level insects.

"It's not difficult to find out. All the high-level insects know about this. All I have to do is pry open their mouths. I found out the date the queen would leave the city, made a battle plan, and entered the palace..."

"There, I met the Queen of Insects, who said to me, 'I have been waiting for you for a long time, priest.'"

That was the most desperate moment in his life.

It turns out that his ability, his efforts, and their struggles were not accidental, and the Queen had been watching him all along.

Even Rex himself didn't know that he was the most suitable medicine for the [Queen of Insects]. That was the wound left by the [Queen of Insects] after waking up and adapting to the Black Mist Era. Only endless despair and pain could heal it.

The unyielding, the fearless, the one who never bows his head no matter how many times, are His best medicine.

So eat his parents in front of him, kill his friends, indulge his selfishness, knock him down again and again, and then watch him stand up again and again.

“It was then that I realized that ever since I became a descendant of the Kowtow Worm bloodline, the Queen had been expecting me to stand before Her.

"Can you imagine that, Amelia? I thought we were all free spirits, but in the eyes of the Queen we are just free reptiles in the garden. She is always laughing at our ignorance and stupidity."

Ricks took a deep breath and spoke faster, with despair and numbness on his face.

"He gave me two choices. Either be imprisoned and watch him slowly kill the people of the entire Worm City; or become his priest, and he will forgive these humans and let them return to the animal shed. I chose the latter. But at the same time, I asked for a gift to send Cohen out. He is a smart man. As long as he returns to the human world, he will definitely tell others about the situation in the Worm City, and then everyone can be saved."

"But Cohen refused."

At that moment, he personally saw Cohen off.

At the door leading to life, his best friend hugged him with tears in his eyes and said in a hoarse voice: "Run, run away quickly. If you are alone, you can definitely escape."

At that time, Rex was still a teenager, or even a child. He was not as tall as Cohen, and he looked up at his friend, his clothes dripping with blood. His friend's tears fell on his face, spreading the wet warmth. The young leader's eyebrows did not even change the arc, he reached out and wiped away his friend's tears, his tone was very gentle.

"Cohen, where can I escape to? If I leave, what will happen to the people here?"

"Go to human society." Cohen's fingers dug into his shoulders. "No one is responsible for anyone else. If you stay, the Queen will destroy you by any means necessary. She is a pervert and a lunatic. You can't stay!"

“He won’t kill me.”

The young leader replied calmly that his eyes had abnormal double pupils. The insect transformation stripped him of some of his emotions and sense of touch, which allowed him to confuse the high-level insect people outside and allow the two sides to communicate here without restraint.

"The Queen of Insects needs my pain to fill the wounds she left behind. She will not kill me until I completely lose the will to fight."

"That's why we can't let you stay. The Queen is already terrifying now. If she heals the wounds, how can we defeat her?"

Cohen's hands slammed on the ground with a loud noise, and there was fire in his eyes, but the young leader felt no pain. The deputy stared into his eyes, and spoke every word with a strong voice.

"Only you can find a way to kill the Queen of Insects and save everyone. You are our leader, if even you can't do it, who among us can do it?"

"Besides, like you, I have selfish motives. I want my best friend to escape and not be tortured by that monster. Staying here is worse than death."

"Listen to me, we will all transform into insects. I will go back for you, and you will escape for me."

This is an extremely risky thing. Cohen's bloodline level is also high, but it is far inferior to his. If he is discovered, he will definitely die.

Young leaders can control their transformation to a level that allows them to change back after a high-level mutation, but Cohen is different. If he wants to pretend to be a leader, he must change to a worm. Once he changes to a worm, he will inevitably go crazy and die.

He wanted to retort, but Cohen's face was covered with insect scales. He did not leave any room for maneuver, his expression was resolute and cold. It was like a blazing flame, dancing in front of him with all its might. Even the young leader who had transformed into an insect could not help but hold his breath and was moved.

If the structure of the insect people's bodies can be considered beautiful, then the kowtow worm bloodline people look more like monsters after they are transformed into insects.

But Cohen's expression was very calm, as if what was about to happen was not death, but a promised future.

He stared at the leader: "You have to live, and one day, you will see the victory of this battle for me, right?"

No, no. I want you to live, I...

Before he could finish his words, Cohen patted his head to stop him from continuing. The two men passed each other, and the deputy walked behind him. He just walked out the door without giving the leader a chance.

Watching friends die in despair while being imprisoned in a cage for eternity is undoubtedly an ending that suits the monster's preferences.

The queen had indeed taken into account many things, except human nature.

Since then, he has never seen Cohen again. The Queen soon discovered the abnormality and sent many insects to hunt him down. But just as Cohen expected, no one could catch the escaped leader.

The ability of the kowtow bug is not only effective against bug people, but also against all monsters. Under the protection of the monsters, the escaper avoided danger again and again, stumbling to an unknown place.

His young body couldn't stand the fierce battle, and he fell to the ground covered with wounds. He could almost foresee his own end. A new hunting team would arrive soon, and all efforts would be in vain, and he would be brought before the queen again.

Even thinking of such a scene, the child's face remained expressionless. The emotionlessness brought by excessive insectization was the biggest support for his escape. The child struggled to get up. There was still some collected fire bug mucus, which would burn when it came into contact with plants.

He grabbed some dry grass from the ground and poured some sticky liquid on it, and the flames started to ignite. The young leader pressed it against the wound on his lower abdomen until the smell of burnt meat spread.

The brutal and direct means of stopping the bleeding took effect quickly. You had to run, escape, and bring the message to the human race. You couldn't stop or think. Any hesitation would lead to failure.

He ignored the pain signals from his body and continued to trek across the field, leaving behind a row of footprints, some deep and some shallow. Just as he was about to faint, the child finally saw someone.

The patrol team looked at this creature in astonishment, which was almost indistinguishable from a human or an insect. It stood not far away, and most of its body maintained a human shape. It was covered with a layer of dense insect scales, and the place where the wings should be was completely broken, with wounds on its body.

Maidan, the leader, frowned and approached the other side cautiously. The thing slowly raised its head as he moved, and its cloudy insect pupils moved slightly. In the tense atmosphere, the thing stared at them without blinking, and a tiny sound came out of its throat -

It said: "Please save Bug City."

It also said, "I am a human being."

A weird, twisted body that looks more like a monster than a mutant.

A hoarse, bloody, cold sound mixed with the chirping of insects.

But the little monster was very determined and believed that he was a human. Maidan looked at it and was silent for a long time before answering: "Okay, come with us, kid, you need to rest."

The little monster showed an almost indistinguishable smile on his face. He fell forward the moment his insect transformation was lifted and fell into the man's arms. Only then could one tell that this bloody thing was a human. He looked like a cub, and he was carrying the hopes of too many people on his shoulders. Myrdan looked at him in surprise and shouted for others to come and help.

Amid the noisy noise, the young leader closed his eyes and thought with a weak breath.

Cohen, I did.

When he woke up, he was lying on an incredibly soft bed. Mai Erdan, who had heard the news, stood in front of the bed and asked, "Kid, what's your name?"

The man lying on the bed shook his head. According to the tradition of his hometown, he would not get a real name from his parents until he was 12 years old. But before that, they came to the City of Insects.

After his parents died, his name was only "Little One", "Hey", and "Little Devil". Later, more and more people began to call him "Chief". In the end, Chief became his name.

Mai Erdan rubbed his head and said, "Then let me pick one for you. If you want a new name in the future, you can pick one for yourself."

Maidan, who was still the Marquis, thought for a moment and said, "When I saw you, you were standing there alone, like a warrior who would never bow his head. So you should be called Rex, which means [invincible]. No matter what you encounter in the future, as long as you stick to your will as a human being, you will definitely win."

Many of the things that happened afterwards were not difficult at all compared to this one. Rex recalled it and lightly mentioned the key points. But it was enough to make people tremble with fear.

Amelia's eyes welled up with tears. "Many people think that you are enjoying yourself in the Queen's palace and have completely abandoned the rebels. They are wrong! Chief, prove it to them. As long as you tell them these things, they will understand you!"

Rex shook his head: "I am no longer the leader. My name is Rex now. Saving the Bug City is much more difficult than I thought. We have made a lot of preparations and finally restarted the Black Mist counterattack plan. Knowing my identity will only arouse the resistance of the remaining people. Years of misunderstandings are not so easy to resolve, Amelia."

"But there are still people like me who are willing to believe in you." Amelia answered firmly. "There were still some people left at that time, and we always believed that you would not betray us. I have never seen anyone as fearless as you. The insect people called us kowtow insects, and everyone sacrificed something to survive, but you never bowed your head."

Ricks just smiled bitterly: "I am now using Cohen's identity in front of other people. But it seems that they already know it now."

As Amelia stared blankly, he took a rice-sized mechanical insect from his clothes. He sighed and said to the mechanical insect, "Supplies are hard to come by. Turn off the control yourself and don't waste resources."

The black bug moved, then fell down with a snap and stopped moving. Rex carefully put it away. Amelia was very nervous: "Chief, am I causing you trouble?"

Ricks waved his hand and said, "No, it relieves their worries. I have been hiding these things from them, so it is understandable that they are suspicious."

In the dilapidated hut, three people gathered around the machine that Aga had just put together. The latter pressed the power button and the machine went silent.

Flynn was very depressed: "It turns out that Ricks has such a story, he never told me."

The red-haired young man patted his shoulder and turned to Aga: "Rex's suspicion should be cleared. His understanding of this place is due to his background, not because he has become a traitor."

"It's up to you to decide. I'm only responsible for telling you what I know."

"I believe that we are all doing this for the future of mankind."

Not long after, Ricks came back with food. He looked at his companions and said calmly, "I brought breakfast back. Eat it quickly. The rest can be left for the people here."

Aurelius took two bites and suddenly said, "I'm sorry."

The priest apologized sheepishly: "Sorry, Ricks, we doubted you,"

Flynn said, "I'm sorry, but you didn't tell us about this, so we're even now."

Aga nodded to him as well: "I'm sorry."

Ricks said frankly: "It's a good thing to be able to solve the hidden danger. I know everyone may have doubts. The queen is very powerful and this plan is quite risky. But since we are here, I only have one wish. That is that we can all go back safely."

The red-haired young man looked at him and smiled: "You really look like a leader now."

"Eh? Really? I've long forgotten what I was like back then."

With Ricks's deliberate teasing, the atmosphere became relaxed again. After everyone finished eating, Ricks talked about the news he had found out in the morning.

"I originally wanted to use the token of the higher-level Zerg to bring you into the central area. This is safer than transporting goods. Today, I deliberately took a look around and found that the system in the central area has changed. Middle and low-level Zerg are not allowed to enter unless they are servants. In this way, the plan of using the token to enter is ruined. I can sneak in by myself, but you are too conspicuous."

"The good news is that although the Queen acted as if she didn't care before, she still took countermeasures against the rebels' previous attack on the central area. This proves that the previous plan was effective. Then I can make a new plan."

Rex pulled out a recorder from his pocket, which was only half the size of a palm. It was a high-tech product produced by the Mechanical City. He raised his lips and was in a good mood: "So I went into the central area to take a look, and guess what? There are Black Mist followers living inside!"

Black Mist Believer!

This term immediately attracted everyone's attention. Flynn showed a disgusted expression: "Why do we see these guys everywhere?"

Aga said: "After all, they have dealings with the monsters in the black mist. It is not surprising that the [Queen of Insects] is a monster that interacts with humans."

"It's a good thing to meet them at this time. After we go in, we can attack a group of Black Mist followers and steal their clothes."

"Higher insects use smell to identify other creatures, so disguise is not very useful."

"Aren't there medicines here? Priest, the north is the center of medicinal plant cultivation. You should be good at making medicines."

The priest smiled complacently: "No problem, leave it to me."

The group decided on a plan in a few words. Before leaving, the Cangsang man gave them some medicines for research. Ricks pointed to the route recorded by the recorder and explained it. The group began to prepare and waited for the night to fall.

Meanwhile, in the dark fog.

Dan shook off the blood on the bone blade, his eyes showing a fierce murderous look. He licked the wound at the corner of his mouth, turned around and asked, "What's going on?"

"No, the bleeding won't stop..."

The medic on their team was sweating profusely, his palms emitting a faint green glow as he healed the injured man's broken limbs. The entire right leg disappeared, leaving only a cross-section of blood flowing crazily.

The injured former member of the Black Mist team was very calm: "Don't save him, give me a branch, you guys keep going, I'll attract attention."

"You will die!" The Bloodline Healer suddenly raised his voice, forcing it down as if he was afraid of disturbing something. He punched the ground hard. This person had lost a leg to the monster because he was trying to protect him. "It's not the last moment yet. We still have medicine."

"We haven't reached our destination yet."

The injured said their faces were very pale.

"Each team has to have two members of the Black Mist team so that one can lead the way in case of an accident. We don't know what we will encounter next. After we set the coordinates, we need to prepare supplies for our return. The bloody smell on me is too strong, and it will soon attract the surrounding monsters, which will make our situation even more dangerous."

As he spoke, he began to cough unsteadily, his expression still grim.

"Ahem... don't think too much. I saved you because you are more useful than me. Don't get too emotional in the dark mist. We are just here to complete the parts of the device. If one is broken, just replace it with another. All I can do is make your journey smoother."

Dan's face was gloomy. He knew, of course he knew that during his training at the Black Mist Border, he had bid farewell to countless comrades for this reason.

Damn decision - but someone has to make the decision. From the moment they enter the black fog, they have only one mission: to reach the destination with the anchor and activate it.

Therefore, no matter how many people died, as long as the mission was completed, it was a victory. Dan cast his eyes on another member of the Black Mist Team. The other person had a sad expression, but he did not deny the words of the injured person.

He took a deep breath and made a decision.

"I have ten minutes before I have to pay the price. We need to move to a safe location before then. Give him a branch and let's go."

The Blood Vein Medic stood up with red eyes. The members of the Black Mist Squad found branches, and the injured man stood up crookedly, looking at everyone's face.

Another team member put his fist on his shoulder and whispered, "May we meet again after the black fog clears."

The injured man finally showed a barely perceptible smile. He also clenched his fist, put his hand on the other man's shoulder and spoke softly.

"May we meet again after the dark fog has cleared."

Then he activated his blood vessels without hesitation and left in the opposite direction. The people in the Mechanical City watched the scene in silence. Dan wiped his face and left quickly with the others. The painful roars and trembling sounds of humans changing soon came from behind.

How can humans fight monsters with their seriously injured bodies?

The answer is to turn into a monster. Everyone in the team has this realization.

Ten minutes later, they successfully found a place to rest. Everyone was in a low mood, but the man from the Mechanical City stood up straight and said calmly, "You made the right decision."

"Don't you feel guilty?!"

The Bloodline Medic glared at him, but Fang Si remained unmoved: "According to my calculations, traveling with him will reduce our chances of survival by three percent. His sacrifice increases the chances of completing the mission, which is worth it. The team is still intact and will not affect the next journey."

"you--"

"Okay, take a break."

The blond kid sitting next to him rubbed his temples. He had overused his blood this time and he would probably stay like this for a while.

"We can't stay here for too long. How far are we from our goal?"

The people in the Mechanical City quickly calculated: "According to the current speed, if nothing unexpected happens, we can arrive tonight."

"I understand. We'll try to arrive tonight." Dan nodded and added, "Control your temper. I don't want my men to start fighting before we even get there."

"I have controlled my words and actions." The other party replied expressionlessly. "According to my judgment, this is a reasonable explanation."

"...Have you guys all got your brains screwed? Will you die if you say sorry?"

"I don't understand what you mean by mentioning other members of the Mechanical City, but I believe that if they were here, they would agree with me. This is the most reasonable conclusion."

“…”

Dan waved his hand weakly, signaling that he could shut up. The Mechanic City team member followed his instructions calmly. He was like a real machine, calm, efficient, and simple.

Oh, what is going on...

The blond nobleman scratched his hair and took a big bite of the jerky passed to him by his companion.