Chapter 17

Within the skull, there was no light, just darkness all around, with the remnants of cerebrospinal fluid emitting a strong, putrid odor. It was not the most comfortable environment.

The pink flesh ball  soaked in the slippery cerebrospinal fluid, the sensation of being satiated causing it to lazily close its eyes.

Yet, its vision did not fade; instead, it abruptly brightened. Before it loomed a rock, jagged and stained with splatters of blood, with many mosquitoes and flies buzzing around.

The sensation of a temporal and spatial dislocation immediately prompted the pink flesh ball  to open its eyes. It found itself still within the cramped confines of the skull, surrounded by the darkness and the squelching of fluids.

Perplexed, the pink flesh ball  emitted a confused, low hum, closing its eyes once more.

Its vision lit up again, revealing the same blood-stained rock ahead, with many mosquitoes and flies settling on the still-wet blood, greedily feeding with their straw-like mouthparts.

“Chirp?” The pink flesh ball  let out a startled cry, eyes snapping open.

Surrounded by pitch-black darkness, enveloped in sticky fluid, it realized it was still within the confines of the skull.

Closing its eyes, the vision lit up once more, revealing the massive rock, splattered blood, and swarms of flies…

The pink flesh ball  opened its eyes, closed them, opened them, closed them… After several repetitions, it finally realized that it could not only acquire a prey’s memories by consuming its brain matter but also seize control of the prey’s body by invading its brain.

It was now this elongated worm. Through the worm’s senses, it could see, smell, and hear.

The pink flesh ball  was clever, almost instinctively mastering this new skill without much thought. Closing its eyes, discarding all distractions, it imagined itself as this worm.

And then… it truly became the worm.

The once lifeless body twitched segment by segment, scales scraping against gravel and wild grass, slowly wriggling. The massive, blurred brain suddenly lifted, swiveling around as if observing the world.

This long-deceased water python began to crawl, circling the rock slowly, then heading towards the dark forest. It was somewhat clumsy, bumping into trees or rocks ahead, occasionally getting entangled in vines.

After a dozen minutes, the clumsiness faded away.

The powerful snake tail swept through the undergrowth, cutting through grass and vines effortlessly. Its massive body navigated obstacles with agility, flowing like dark water without restraint.

The colossal snake swam past the forbidden area of the skeleton tree, skirted the edge of the abyss, and ventured into the thick mist. It extended its long, forked tongue repeatedly, sniffing the lingering putrid scent in the air, as if searching for something.

Several hours later, the colossal snake lifted its head, gazing solemnly ahead.

Before it stood a cave, its entrance dark and profound, exuding a murmur of eerie mist. Faint, creepy sounds emanated from within, a mixture of murmurs and stickiness.

After a brief pause, the massive serpent lunged forward into the cave like a dark lightning bolt.

The once faint, sticky sounds turned into a cacophony of clamor.

Rushing into the cave, the snake swam through a pile of corpses, its massive body crushing the grim bones, oozing limbs, and putrid remains weighing hundreds of kilograms.

Under the pressure, groups of carrion beetles emerged from the corpses’ abdomens, akin to a frenzied tide rapidly spreading, emitting piercing screeches. Layer by layer, they covered the colossal snake’s body, biting through its tough scales, burrowing into its tender flesh, seeking the warmth of its belly.

In just a few short minutes, they could consume the water python into a stark white skeleton.

A gigantic carrion beetle crouched on a rock several meters high, watching the scene grimly. Amidst the descendants’ chaotic cries, it remained composed and unmoving, a seasoned presence.

The snake crushed through the swarming carrion beetles, heading straight for the ruler of this group. Carrion beetles continuously crawled in and out of its mouth, nostrils, and even eye sockets, puncturing its tough scales, releasing the pungent scent of blood mixed with flesh flowing outward, creating a thick trail of blood on the ground.

The giant snake was being devoured.

The massive carrion beetle on the high ground squeaked twice, its small eyes filled with triumph and malice. It had been planning to find this prey, but surprisingly, the prey had walked right into its trap.

The snake’s robust body rapidly shriveled, its scaly skin sinking inwards, revealing the rugged traces of its skeletal framework. Its insides had been consumed, leaving behind an empty husk, with one surviving eye cloudy and lifeless, yet still glaring directly at the gigantic carrion beetle.

By all accounts, it should have died already, but it was still wriggling.

The enormous carrion beetle finally sensed that something was amiss. Its bean-sized eyes flickered, yet it did not flee. The rapid expansion of the group had inflated both its ambitions and courage. It wasn’t afraid of this water python.

As it approached, the snake lifted its head, locking eyes with the massive carrion beetle, mouth agape, spitting out a partially eaten tongue.

“Is that all?” the carrion beetle sneered.

In the next moment, a cluster of pink silk threads spewed from the snake’s mouth, ensnaring the carrion beetle like a fishing net.

“Squeak!” The sneer turned into a sudden outcry of shock and anger. The carrion beetle king immediately tried to bite the silk threads with its sharp mouthparts, kick and push with its strong limbs, and scratch furiously.

However, the silk threads were too resilient to break or kick away; they only wound tighter. What was even more terrifying was that these strands, thinner than hair, were alive. Once entangled, they wriggled into the carrion beetle’s mouthparts and eyes, secreting highly corrosive fluid, rapidly decomposing its insides.

After struggling frantically for several seconds, the massive carrion beetle suddenly froze in place. The pink silk threads gradually stuck together, forming a semi-transparent membrane that enveloped it.

The giant snake was now lifeless, its head still held high. A clump of pink flesh twisted and turned in its open mouth, laboriously shifting until it eventually spurted out with a thud, landing dizzily on the rock.

It grew two large pincers, propping up its chubby, soft body. Its single large eye blinked groggily a few times, then turned towards the carrion beetle wrapped in the membrane. Its tiny mouth opened, its forked tongue extended, as it childishly and proudly muttered a curse.

“Damn you!”

The carrion beetle remained silent and still, no longer able to make any raucous noise.

With a thud, the massive water python suddenly collapsed, its skin undulating, enveloping the carrion beetle.

The pink flesh ball paid no attention to the elongated worm, heading straight for the massive carrion beetle. Its two pincers swiftly tore off the membrane, forming a pink ball and popping it into its mouth.

The carrion beetle’s belly turned over, its limbs stiff, having long been deceased.

After consuming the membrane and reclaiming a portion of its body, the pink flesh ball dragged the massive carrion beetle over. It used its pincers to crack open the beetle’s head, extracting a brain the size of a soybean from the skull.

The brain matter was pink, still pulsating, emitting an extremely faint sweetness.

Lifting the brain matter, the pink flesh ball  gently sniffed it, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. After a while, it slowly realized that this was a part of its own body.

The carrion beetle’s relentless pursuit was caused by this very piece of flesh!

Understanding the cause and effect, the pink flesh ball  became furious, immediately sprouting two sharp venomous fangs, viciously piercing through the brain.

Being too close, the intense pain from the piercing was shared. It quickly released its teeth, swiftly stuffing the brain into its mouth, swallowing it whole.

Memory fragments burst out like marbles from the dissolved brain matter. The pink flesh ball  hastily closed its eyes to digest the vast amount of information.

How to lure females, how to mate, how to construct nests, how to hatch offspring, how to control the colony… All the secrets lay in pheromones.

This gigantic carrion beetle possessed the most potent pheromones. Once its scent was detected, the entire colony willingly succumbed to its command.

Opening its eyes, the pink flesh ball  instinctively secreted the exact same pheromones. The sweet scent, detectable only by carrion beetles, spread through the cave, its concentration rivaling the damp mist of a forest.

Upon detecting the pheromones, the largest few female carrion beetles immediately climbed onto the rock, while the rest of the carrion beetles scattered in groups, retreating.

The pink flesh ball  half-lay on the rock, lazily tapping its round belly with its two large pincers, resembling a king awaiting his concubines.

Several females approached from all directions, emitting appeasing sounds.

Rising up, the pink flesh ball ‘s large eye swiveled around, selecting the plumpest female. It extended its pincers, gripped the female’s head, gave a firm tug, opened its mouth, and swallowed her whole, causing its already rotund belly to expand.

Witnessing one of their own devoured, the remaining females emitted fearful cries, yet they were firmly subdued by the overpowering pheromones.

The pink flesh ball  licked its mouth with its slender, forked tongue, then turned its attention to the next plump female.

After a few minutes, nothing remained on the rock. The pink flesh ball  patted its now bulging belly before leisurely descending.

As it emerged, the carrion beetles covering the cave walls immediately dispersed, creating a path. The pink flesh ball  crawled slowly along this path, before suddenly seizing a nearby carrion beetle with its pincers and swiftly devouring it.

The surrounding carrion beetles squeaked and shrieked, retreating even further, their bodies tightly packed together, layers upon layers, visibly terrified.

“Phew! Not very tasty! Such poor energy!” The pink flesh ball  spat out the carrion beetle, feeling rather uninterested as it walked away.

Back when it was newly born, it ate anything, like a starved ghost. Now that it had grown stronger and more discerning, it had learned to be selective. Large insects held more energy, so it might take a few bites, but those wax-like small bugs – it wouldn’t even bother looking at them in the future!

With this thought, the pink flesh ball  sprouted a thick snake tail, taking confident strides, nonchalantly leaving the cave.

Wherever it crawled, the snake tail swept behind. It casually severed the pitcher plant that had once nurtured it in half. Picking up a few leaves, it licked off the venom, finding the taste bland and disdainfully discarding them.

Passing by the skeleton tree, it called out with a chirp, releasing a crimson-red secretion.

As it passed by the abyss, the pink flesh ball , refraining from chirping, instead muttered fiercely, “Damn you!”

Like a little tyrant, it leisurely patrolled its territory. Along the way, it came across a pit filled with rotting corpses. Seeing something shiny reflecting inside, it descended, stumbled, and reverted back to its fleshy ball form.

Rolling down the slope, the fleshy ball tumbled right next to the shiny object.

A block-shaped object, thin and smooth, with a black front and a silvery back.

The pink flesh ball  used its pincers to fiddle with the block, unaware that its body was continuously emitting a bioelectric current being absorbed by the object.

Suddenly, the black side emitted a bright light, followed by a clang.

Startled, the pink flesh ball  jerked, causing the block to fall to the ground.

“Welcome to the Infinite Reincarnation System. Your intelligent assistant is here to serve you.” An incomprehensible voice echoed through the mist-shrouded forest, carrying an eerie and chilling atmosphere.