Inside a pit dimly illuminated by faint light, there were five eggs, but two of them were broken.

  The pit smelled of blood. Four hours had passed since Alexander had accepted what he now was, and he felt the need to eat again. He consumed everything that remained of the corpse and felt completely full.

  He hesitated when he began eating. After all, his instincts were no longer controlling him, and after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that what he was doing was cannibalism. Not just cannibalism, either, he was eating his own biological sibling on top of that.

  In the end, however, he abandoned this human way of thinking. He knew the nature and living conditions of this species, he had designed them himself, and at the moment he was too small to hunt. If abandoning what remained of his human morality would ensure his survival, he saw no problem in doing so.

  It was already dark, and with the comfort that came from being full, he had no problem resting for a few more hours. During that time, he thought about his situation and his future.

  “I still don’t know where I am, and I’m physically weak. On top of that, I can’t produce Drones yet because I’m biologically too small to do so. It will take about two years for my body to develop enough, which means I’ll need time to form my own swarm and grow stronger. Still, maybe I can use Genetic Assimilation to trigger the release of my growth hormones earlier.”

  Alexander had many ideas about evolution, but he decided to proceed calmly, slowly, and safely. He had drawn a rough roadmap for himself, now all that remained was to put his plan into action.

  “I guess it’s time to see the outside world. Besides, this pit smells disgusting.”

  The sun was rising; he could tell from the beams of light entering the pit. Alexander climbed up without much difficulty, the pit wasn’t completely vertical, slanting slightly to one side.

  When he finally lifted his head out of the pit, the first thing he saw was a vast, relatively flat landscape stretching as far as the eye could see, mostly covered in tall yellow grass with many scattered trees.

  “So… I was born in the savanna…”

  But the moment he raised his head, he froze in astonishment. The sky was a pale green with faint purple hues. The light gently rippled, creating small, aurora-like waves, and in the sky he saw two suns, but one of them was not like an ordinary sun, instead a point of light pulsing rhythmically.

  Alexander was clearly mesmerized by the beauty of the sky and couldn’t take his eyes off it, until he heard a growl from behind him. A sudden fear filled him, and he quickly turned around.

  What he saw frightened him at first, but then he understood the situation and relaxed. Standing before him was an adult male Nuxali, and when he looked around, he saw two more of them.

  The adult Nuxali approached, rubbed its head against Alexander, sniffed him, and then released a small roar into the air. Alexander instinctively felt that this was a way of saying welcome, a celebration.

  Alexander responded with a roar of his own. He didn’t know why he did it; it simply came from within, and he felt that he had conveyed his emotions that way.

  After a few low growls and rubs, the adult Nuxali left him alone and lay down at the base of the tree right next to the pit.

  “Looks like my mother, the Queen, isn’t here yet. She probably took the swarm with her and she went out to hunt for food. My foolishness, I should have realized she was far away from the faint sense of her presence in my mind.”

  Alexander spent the next few hours around the pit.

  At first, he was cautious, but then he began to get used to the environment. He ran, stopped, then ran again, tracing circles through the yellow grass of the savanna.

  The adult Nuxali watched him. They didn’t stay too close, but they didn’t keep their distance either. The bond between them was silent, no words, no coercion. Sometimes one would come over, rub against his shoulder, then retreat back into the shade. Alexander perceived this not as supervision, but as acceptance.

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  The first day passed like that.

  When night fell, the sky once again took on deep purplish-green tones. The light of the rhythmically pulsing star spread over the savanna like a faint vibration. Alexander returned to the pit. Hunger made itself known again. Without hesitation, he broke one of the remaining eggs and ate what was inside. This time there was no pleasure and no guilt, only necessity.

  The second day passed.

  The mother had still not returned.

  Alexander spent most of the day observing his surroundings and mimicking the movements of the Nuxali. He noticed how they stood, how they reacted to the wind, how they listened to their surroundings even when there was no immediate danger. It wasn’t training, but there was a transfer, silent, instinctive learning.

  When hunger returned, he consumed the second egg as well.

  Now only a single egg remained in the pit.

  On the third day, the savanna was restless.

  The grass seemed to sway not with the wind, but with anticipation. The adult Nuxali rose more frequently, turning their heads and ears toward the distance. Alexander felt it too. Deep in his mind, a faint but familiar pressure formed, a weight, a sign that something was approaching.

  He was hungry.

  He looked at the last egg. He raised his claw. This time he hesitated, not out of morality, but because of a sense of timing. Still, he didn’t wait. The moment he brought his claw down,

  His mind shook.

  Like a wave.

  Alexander lifted his head. His mind was forcing him to leave the pit, and he didn’t resist. He submitted to his mother’s will.

  There was movement on the horizon. Black silhouettes rose from the yellow grass. One, two, three, their numbers grew. Their breathing, their steps, the pressure in their minds became clearer with every moment.

  The mother had returned.

  A total of thirteen Nuxali entered the savanna. At the center, larger than all the others, the Queen advanced. There were a few wounds on her body, but her bearing was still heavy and imposing. Right behind her was a presence Alexander had never felt before, sharp-minded, with a distinct pressure.

  A sub-queen.

  A larger version of himself.

  The swarm eventually reached the pit and spread out, each Nuxali finding a place to settle down and lie in. But the Queen’s gaze locked onto Alexander. She saw the broken shells and the missing eggs inside the pit. The mental connection hardened for a moment.

  Alexander felt the pressure in his mind, the Queen was angry. He felt as though his head were splitting from the pain.

  After several minutes of punishment, the Queen released him. She was angry about the eggs, but a queen consuming her own offspring was not entirely abnormal for this species. What angered her more was that he had eaten her offspring without her permission, weakening the future strength of the swarm. In the end, however, she chose to let him go.

  Alexander now knew.

  The Queen was here, and he had no choice but to submit to her. She was the master of this swarm; her will was the only law.

  After that, the area fell silent for a moment. Not long after, one of those who had returned from the hunt dragged a corpse into the center of the area, a creature resembling a deer, but with six legs and four eyes.

  It was time to eat.

  It took Alexander some time to recover after his punishment. During that time, the Nuxali Drones that had been left behind to guard the hatchlings while the swarm was hunting had already begun to eat.

  “So what you bastard, was I supposed to starve to death until you got back?” he thought angrily.

  Irritated, he walked over to the others. They had already torn the corpse apart, exposing its internal organs. Alexander gave in to his hunger and began consuming the body as well.

  Midway through the meal, Alexander started to feel something strange in his abdomen. His stomach churned, producing odd sounds, and it was working harder than usual to digest the meat.

  Alexander felt a signal in his mind and immediately opened the system.

  [Genetic Assimilation] – Active

  Foreign DNA structure is being digested and analyzed.

  [PROGRESS] – 0.02/ 100

  Warning!

  Foreign DNA may not be fully learned, and there is a possibility that the process will fail. INT and CON statistics increase the success rate and processing speed.

  A smile formed in Alexander’s mind.

  “Finally, my evolution is beginning.”

  Alexander’s thoughts were interrupted when a hatchling roughly his own size approached him and began ravenously attacking the deer’s flesh.

  The last egg he had left untouched cracked open, and from it emerged a newly hatched queen-class Nuxali.

  The poor hatchling queen was completely unaware that, had she been even a little later, she would not be alive right now, and she continued eating her meal without a care.

  What surprised Alexander, however, was something else entirely.

  “Three sub-queens in a single swarm? Looks like our cruel dictator really wants to grow her swarm big, huh… Fuck, now I get it! I didn’t pay any attention while eating, but if the three eggs I consumed were also queen hatchlings, then I ate eggs that the Queen had produced over months, spending enormous amounts of Biomass!”

  Realizing the magnitude of his stupidity, Alexander silently thanked his luck and thought:

  “I’m really lucky she left me alive. I practically shattered her dream of building a massive and powerful swarm.”

  Alexander watched the hatchling in silence.

  The swarm ate.

  The savanna breathed.

  Above them, the strange sky pulsed softly, indifferent to blood, birth, and ambition.

  He lowered his head and continued feeding, his thoughts settling into something cold and focused.

  

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