Empowered, the cockroach underwent a transformation. Its eyes sharpened, senses heightened, and the range of its perception expanded at least two-fold. A modest increase in size accompanied these changes, and its cognitive processes quickened, with thoughts flowing more smoothly. The cockroach also sensed a heightened strength in its willpower. Curious about the massive blue screen that had initially greeted its arrival, it willed it into existence, expending only a small amount of its newfound willpower in the process.

  The screen had expanded in size, much like the values it displayed. The cockroach remained uncertain about the exact meaning of these values, but they had undeniably increased. Could they be a measure of its essence and the transformations it underwent? Was this screen a representation of its being and the extent of its power? The cockroach refrained from making hasty conclusions, as it was not one to jump to judgments without careful consideration.

  A sudden barrage of vibrations from below jolted its contemplative state. The cockroach looked around, confused about the sudden assault of vibrations, when the cold stone below it exploded outward, sending it hurtling in the air. From the hole emerged something the cockroach never expected to see—something it both loved and hated immensely: an ant, covered in shimmering thick crystals and plates.

  The massive Ant whipped around to its direction and spread its crystal mouth wide, mandibles clicking in delight as the cockroach fell into its crystalline mouth, the cockroach felt the mouth of crystal close around it and it knew no more.

  The cockroach regained awareness of its surroundings, only to be met with the sight of a colossal ant charging towards it. Reacting swiftly, the cockroach took flight, narrowly evading the ant's thin yet razor-sharp, glass-like mandibles. However, the ant countered with a release of potent pheromones, instantly overwhelming the cockroach's senses. In the blink of an eye, the ant leaped off the ground, effortlessly bridging the gap between them. Its sharp mandibles sliced through the air, cleaving the cockroach in two and abruptly ending its life.

  The world solidified, accompanied by a distinct tingling sensation as the cockroach underwent a transformation. It sensed a newfound lightness, an innate understanding that dodging would now be somewhat easier for it. A short distance away, the ant that had previously ended its life was indulging in a meal, likely the cockroach's own body. Seizing the opportunity, the cockroach surged with newfound speed, closing in on the massive ant's abdomen – a less protected region. It spread its mandibles wide and delivered a forceful bite upon contact, managing to barely cut the skin of the vulnerable area. Before it could ready itself for another strike, the ant violently shook, effortlessly dislodging the cockroach. Swiftly turning around, the ant retaliated by swiftly cutting the cockroach in half with its razor-sharp mandibles.

  Upon its resurrection, the cockroach found itself just a few inches away from the persistent ant. Reacting quickly, it took to the air, deftly evading the imminent mandibles of the predator. The ant attempted to overwhelm the cockroach with pheromones once more, but the agile insect skillfully maneuvered out of harm's way, ascending higher with each evasion. Mindful not to fly too close to the ceiling's deadly spikes, the cockroach's compound eyes scrutinized its surroundings for the slightest movement, while its antennae remained vigilant for pheromones or subtle shifts in air pressure. Before long, it sensed movement right above itself.

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  The cockroach knew no more after that, death claimed it before it even knew how.

  Caught off guard, the cockroach found the ant closing in before it could fully comprehend its position. Despite its attempt to dodge, the relentless charge of the ant proved too much, resulting in the loss of most of its legs and half of its body. Death swiftly claimed the insect once more.

  The cockroach, anticipating the impending charge, skillfully dodged the massive crystal ant and took to the air. Swiftly moving behind the creature, it dashed toward the vulnerable spot where it had previously managed to bite. Landing on the target, the cockroach sunk its mandibles with all its might. The ant's skin yielded to the relentless force, and the cockroach felt a warm splash on its face as a small trickle of what it assumed to be blood leaked from the bite wound.

  The world spun and twisted a second later as the cockroach was violently shook off and crushed by the ant.

  Power flooded the cockroach as it came into being, its exoskeleton and internal body parts and organs rapidly shifted as the blue screen made alterations to its body. A second later, the feeling of being changed faded and the cockroach felt normal once more. This time, the ant didn’t rush towards it; instead, it was trying to stop a bleeding wound that stubbornly refused to close. Blood oozed from the wound constantly, and the crystal ant thrashed around, splashing the leaking contents all over the stone floor below. After what felt like forever, the massive ant grew tired and weakly dropped to the floor, its crystal skin breaking like glass before shattering as the life left it.

  Power enveloped the cockroach, and the world faded; a sprawling black void unfolded before it, and a massive blue screen with the image of a cockroach, oddly similar to it, popped up before its eyes.

  The understanding of what the screen said slammed into the cockroach before it faded, replaced with another.

  Instantly, the cockroach understood that these were what made most of it, these were the elements of its material body.

  The cockroach thought for a while, brushing its mind over each of the materials listed and parsing through the pockets of information that came with each. It instantly eliminated the first five as they were too vague and didn’t resonate with the insect at all. When its mind swept over carbon, something deep inside of it reached out, urging it that this material had great potential. It got the same feeling when it passed over calcium but to a lesser extent. The cockroach made its choice known, and the system responded.

  The cockroach thought about it for a while. Many systems were available, but almost all of them were currently useless to it. Only the last two called to the cockroach at all. It selected those, and the screen faded away, replaced by another.

  A ripple passed through the void and the screens around the cockroach flickered before changing.

  The void suddenly tore apart, and the cockroach felt the system reaching out to it, stripping away everything it wasn’t supposed to know about the system and the understanding given to facilitate evolution. Then, it sent the cockroach back into the realm of the physical.

  When the cockroach finally regained consciousness, a dome covered it as soon as it became aware of the real world once more. It stretched and morphed, growing thicker by the second until the cockroach could no longer see the outside, and the world went dark. A blue screen popped up the next second.

  Pain, the likes of which the cockroach had never experienced before, began spreading through its entire body. The insect screamed and kicked as a power, the magnitude of which it could never hope to comprehend, washed over its small evolution chamber. Its body liquified like wax before the flame, bit by bit, piece by piece, all melted away, forming into a hot boiling liquid that constantly released brown steam hovering in the evolution chamber.

  The liquid and the steam suddenly began to shift rapidly as another wave of power washed over the evolution chamber. Colors melted away, and a jet-black yet somehow transparent material soon formed, slowly shaping into the silhouette of a cockroach.