System finally rejected the grasshopper queen because of his lifespan.

  Although the queen still couldn't understand his reasoning in the end, she'd obviously accepted his point of view.

  System and the queen's conversation sted all afternoon. He asked about her experiences and told her some of what he'd gone through after waking up as a grasshopper.

  When it was almost dark, the giant grasshopper with the queen-like aura flew away.

  She was very determined to explore the vast world.

  In a single afternoon, System had obtained a great deal of information from his conversation with the grasshopper queen, including key information about the third metamorphosis.

  Although there were many words she didn't understand, and communication between the two of them was very tedious, System had still learned that the grasshopper queen's lifespan had indeed grown longer after her third metamorphosis.

  According to the queen, after the cycle of leaves falling from the trees and growing back again repeated three times, she would die, which meant she still had three years left to live.

  However, the grasshopper queen herself wasn't very clear on how she'd been able to complete all three metamorphoses in just one summer.

  Unlike System, she rarely ate meat and was basically a pure pnt-eater.

  System specuted that she must have eaten some special kind of pnt, simir to the lizard meat that had given him extra experience, which had caused her body to grow rapidly and undergo special changes.

  Unfortunately, the area where the grasshopper queen had grown up was far away. She said it had taken her an entire month to fly here, so System had to give up on the idea of investigating further.

  After all, it would take too long to get there, and it was undoubtedly very dangerous to spend so much time flying in the sky. It would be much safer for System to keep snatching food from ants.

  Shortly before sunset, a bit before the grasshopper queen had left, System had asked a question he was very concerned about.

  The grasshopper queen knew she had three years of lifespan remaining, and she also knew the lifespan System had left was very short, so why did she want to spend System's st two months traveling together, then mate with him?

  One should know that even if she'd already undergone her third metamorphosis, she would still die soon after ying eggs.

  The answer given by the grasshopper queen had been simple and direct. "Like, wisdom, you."

  The grasshopper queen's confession had been very direct and had caught System a little off guard. Due to his human soul, being told such words by a big grasshopper had made him feel somewhat awkward.

  But his blood kept trembling, and his body seemed to secrete some kind of special hormones, which aroused feelings of happiness and excitement in him.

  Fortunately, System's reason finally suppressed his body's instincts. Compared to mating and producing offspring, his preference was still to live longer.

  The grasshopper queen had finally chosen to leave at nightfall and had sent one st message to System before leaving.

  "I, come back, find you."

  ...

  'Will you really come back to find me?'

  System stared off in the direction the grasshopper queen had flown and subconsciously sent mental messages, but found that after her departure, their mental channel had closed.

  Although he hadn't liked that awkward feeling of instinctively wanting to mate due to his insect nature, System was still very happy that he'd met the grasshopper queen.

  Since he'd now met a fellow creature in this world who could communicate with him, he wouldn't be so lonely.

  And through the grasshopper queen, he'd also learned that the third metamorphosis could indeed increase his lifespan. Perhaps three years was still a short time, but it was more than ten times longer than two months.

  System shook his muddled head. His mind had grown very tired after not resting for so long. He needed to let his brain recover for a while.

  After a few jumps, he secreted some [Corrosive Mucus] near the tree hole, then entered his temporary nest to rest.

  After entering a dormant state as usual, he pondered over and summarized the day's events, then considered his pns for the future.

  The news that his third metamorphosis could extend his lifespan had undoubtedly given him a shot of adrenaline. Compared to relying on the old druid, System believed in his fellow grasshopper and himself more.

  As time went by, the muddy forest gradually dried out after the rainstorm. Fewer of the meat sources the ants had been searching for recently could be found, while certain foods like grass seeds had increased in avaibility.

  Although he wouldn't have any problems in the next few days, the efficiency of snatching meat from the ants was about to get much worse. System knew that he had to prepare early and find more food sources, especially different kinds of insects.

  As long as he could survive for the next ten days, he could easily increase [Molting and Growth] to max level.

  After completing his third metamorphosis, he would no longer need to consume such a wide variety of food. He could catch ants to his heart's content or even return to the tree covered in butterfly chrysalides to rapidly increase his level.

  After the rainstorm, the forest had gradually recovered its vitality. In addition to an increase in the number of mosquitoes, System had often encountered various other insects in recent days, and the chirping of crickets at night had become more frequent.

  However, hunting these newly emerged insects wasn't very helpful to him. After all, the efficiency was too low, and there were only a few easy prey to hunt. If he ate too much of one type, it would lose its effect on improving [Molting and Growth].

  If he wanted to consume a wider variety of food, he could only go out and explore more distant areas. Only by exploring farther could he find more opportunities.

  ...

  The next day, System inspected the ants near the anthill as usual, then stole the best food the workers were carrying.

  After failing to provoke a huge toad by throwing stones from a high pce, he headed out to explore more of the forest.

  The ndscape was simir throughout the forest, with all kinds of trees, vines, weeds, decomposing leaves, and branches soaked in rainwater.

  Due to the humid environment, there were many more mushrooms in the forest now, and System saw a few of them almost everywhere he looked.

  He didn't dare to carelessly try these foods that might contain poison. However, because he kept seeing ants carrying mushrooms back to the anthill, he'd tried eating them several times over the past few days.

  System had used his Derived Skills [Information Entry] and [Information Reading] to analyze the mushroom fragments carried by the ants. In the end, he'd discovered seven kinds of mushrooms he could safely eat.

  Most of these mushrooms tasted much better than pnt leaves, but were still a little worse than meat. They had a faint yogurt fvor and were a good food source if there was no meat avaible.

  After jumping away from a huge white mushroom, System continued his exploration of the forest. His jumps eventually carried him to a strange pnt.

  This pnt had a reddish-brown organ that looked simir to a water bottle, and a leaf above the water bottle seemed to act like a lid. If System's memory from his previous life was accurate, this pnt should function simirly to pitcher pnts that could be found in rainforests.

  The mouth of the bottle was smooth and contained a special digestive fluid inside. The lid secreted a scent that attracted insects and also served as a way to block out rain.

  This was a typical semi-carnivorous pnt.

  Because of the recent heavy rain, the pitcher pnt's bottle was already full of water. System guessed that it was basically impossible for it to catch any unlucky insects in its current state.

  He gave the bottle a bite with his mandibles and found that it was unusually strong. His [Corrosive Mucus] also had no effect on it. It was likely that this kind of pnt, due to being capable of secreting its own digestive fluid, was resistant to corrosive materials.

  He tried to drink a mouthful of the water that had accumuted inside the pitcher pnt and found that it enhanced his [Corrosive Mucus]. However, the digestive fluid of the pitcher pnt had been greatly diluted by rainwater, so the effect was very limited.

  Just as System was about to leave, his antennae suddenly sensed a strange aura.