The Villainous Female Side Character Pretends to Be an Omega in the Apocalypse and Raises a Cat - Chapter 22.1

The ant procession had moved far away, but the image of the swarming black mass still lingered in Meng Qinghe’s mind, sending chills down her spine.

The kitten’s tiny facial features were scrunched into a tight bundle, a sight that tugged at one’s heartstrings.

Meng Qinghe took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the creeping dread in her heart.

She forced herself to recall the outline she had originally conceived, there was indeed a setting for mutated animals.

According to her design, the first to mutate were the aquatic creatures.

These water-dwelling beings, having fed on the decaying flesh of zombies in the water over time, gradually showed signs of mutation, though initially limited to increased size and enhanced aggression.

Other mutated creatures were not mentioned until the latter part of the story, appearing only as the plot neared its conclusion.

Thus, in her setting, the outbreak of mutated animals was both sudden and rapid.

It gave the main characters no time to prepare, becoming their ultimate final challenge.

“Is it because we’re not the main characters that we’ve encountered mutated animals ahead of time?”

Meng Qinghe pondered inwardly, her kitten face full of gloom.

What upset her the most was this:

She clearly remembered that when she had listed the mutated creatures, she had deliberately excluded ants, because ants were nothing short of a childhood nightmare for her.

When she was very young, a treasured jar of candy had been knocked over at some point.

By the time she discovered it, the jar was already swarming with ants, dense, dark, and countless.

The memory of that scene still made her scalp tingle.

Faced with her beloved candy, Meng Qinghe had panicked and reached out to shoo the ants away, only to have her finger bitten hard by an angry soldier ant.

Old folks often said ant bites didn’t hurt, but that wasn’t true.

Moreover, after an ant bite, the wound would become red and swollen, with a burning pain that was truly tormenting.

In short, ants had become an inescapable shadow in her life.

Chi Yingdong’s brow was similarly furrowed, her ice-based ability swirling at her fingertips, she, too, was troubled.

Earlier, when she saw the entrance to the nest, she had suspected it was mutated ants, and it turned out she was right.

Individually, these ants weren’t particularly powerful, but what was terrifying was their endless numbers.

No sooner had one wave been dealt with than another would immediately take its place, it was like fighting an endless war of attrition.

“Sister, every ant colony has a queen.”

Xu Chuyao suddenly tugged at Chi Yingdong’s sleeve, her eyes sparkling.

Xu Chuyao racked her brain, trying to recall the animal documentaries she had watched before.

Every ant colony had a queen, and all the ants followed the queen’s commands.

If they could find the queen and communicate with her peacefully, resolving the situation would be much easier.

Xu Chuyao explained slowly, “Every ant follows the queen’s arrangements.”

The little girl’s tone was very earnest. “My ability is to communicate with animals. Once we find the queen, we can have a proper talk with her.”

After speaking, Xu Chuyao looked up at Chi Yingdong, her eyes full of expectation.

Chi Yingdong gazed at Xu Chuyao’s innocent face and sighed inwardly.

A child’s thinking was simple; they didn’t consider all the complexities.

This building had 45 floors in total, and they were currently on the 40th.

There were still five floors above them, and they had no idea whether those floors had been turned into a nest by the ants.

Never mind how to locate the queen amidst the ant swarm, even if they found her, whether she would be willing to communicate was another question entirely.

Chi Yingdong thought of Qian Ruanruan. Although she had never witnessed Qian Ruanruan’s abilities firsthand, she knew that among powers of the same level, lightning-based abilities were considered the most formidable.

If even Qian Ruanruan was trapped here, perhaps there was something in this building even more terrifying than the mutated ants.

However, Xu Chuyao’s suggestion was currently the best course of action.

After a moment of consideration, Chi Yingdong made her decision: “Let’s give it a try.”

Although the ants were numerous and seemingly endless, Chi Yingdong remained relatively calm.

She assessed the situation coolly.

The worst-case scenario would be being surrounded by the ants.

But with her abilities, breaking through with Meng Qinghe and Xu Chuyao wouldn’t be difficult.

Still, it would be best if they could avoid alerting the entire ant colony.

Meng Qinghe once again heard footsteps and reminded Chi Yingdong and Xu Chuyao to hide.

The two humans and the cat held their breath, pressing tightly against the cold wall.

Soon, a squad of soldier ants marched out from the entrance.

Chi Yingdong noticed that the leading soldier ant had a broken antenna, it was the same squad that had entered earlier.

As the entire squad emerged from the opening, Chi Yingdong observed that the worker ants that had entered earlier did not return with the group. They had been left inside the nest.

Fortunately, it was the worker ants that remained in the nest.

Compared to the soldier ants, the worker ants were practically defenseless.

After waiting a while longer, until the footsteps of the soldier ants had completely faded, the three of them moved deeper inside.

Stepping into the nest, the sight before them left them stunned.

The once orderly office area had been completely transformed by the ants.

A labyrinth of interconnected tunnels sprawled in all directions, the walls coated with a sticky secretion, and the air thick with a sour, decaying smell.

Xu Chuyao looked toward the left tunnel.

For no particular reason, she felt they should take this path.

Nervously, she pointed to the left tunnel, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum, “Sister, can we take this path?”

Making this suggestion made Xu Chuyao uneasy.

She had previously promised not to cause trouble, yet here she was, making demands about their route.

Chi Yingdong ruffled Xu Chuyao’s hair, her tone unusually gentle.

“We’re a team now. You’re not a child, you’re my teammate. You can voice your opinions whenever you have them.”

To Chi Yingdong, every path was equally unknown. Choosing one was no different from choosing another.

But since she had brought Xu Chuyao along, Xu Chuyao was her teammate, and it wasn’t appropriate for her to remain so timid.

Moreover, intuition could often save lives.

The two humans and the cat proceeded down the left tunnel.

Their journey along this path went smoothly, without encountering any danger.

At the end of the tunnel, two soldier ants stood like statues.

Chi Yingdong acted decisively. Ice spikes precisely pierced the vital points of the guard ants, the entire process unfolding in complete silence.

The two soldier ants froze in place, unable to sound an alarm, the light in their compound eyes gradually fading.

Chi Yingdong bypassed the ants and entered the inner chamber. The space inside was vast.

This appeared to be the ants’ incubation room.

Rows of computer desks had been repurposed into incubation beds, with translucent ant eggs neatly arranged in rows.

Worker ants moved mechanically, their mandibles continuously secreting nutrient fluid, which they applied to the eggs to ensure successful hatching.

Although the worker ants noticed their presence, they continued their tasks uninterrupted.

They paid no attention to the intruders, their focus solely on the eggs before them.

Chi Yingdong felt something was off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Logically, worker ants, though not as aggressive as soldier ants, shouldn’t completely ignore intruders like this.

It was as if they were being controlled by something, mechanically carrying out the tasks assigned to them.

Meng Qinghe’s gaze fell on the ant eggs. She was the type who was easily scared but couldn’t resist looking.

The eggs were visibly swelling, and the wriggling larvae inside could faintly be seen.

Meng Qinghe’s pupils contracted at the sight, and she buried herself deeper into the crook of Chi Yingdong’s neck.

Chi Yingdong had noticed earlier that the kitten was afraid of ants, but the kitten hadn’t said anything.

Now, desperately burying her head in the curve of her neck, it was clear she was terrified.

There were only two paths in the incubation room.

One was the way they had come, and the other lay deeper inside the incubation room, leading to an unknown destination.

Chi Yingdong held the kitten tighter, maneuvering around rows of incubation beds as she headed toward the inner passage.

They walked through the passage.

Inside was yet another incubation room, but this one was for ant pupae.

The scene in the ant egg incubation room was something Chi Yingdong could still handle.

But the sight of the pupae made her stomach churn slightly.

The walls of the incubation room were covered in sticky silk-like webs.

Ant pupae at various stages of development hung from the webs. Some of the pupae had undergone noticeable transformations, turning black as if armored.

Suppressing her discomfort, Chi Yingdong scanned the surroundings.

She noticed a plaque beneath a section of the web-covered wall.

The web was too thick to read the words on the plaque, so Chi Yingdong took a broom from her storage space and brushed the webs aside.

“Experimental Group No. 47.”

Chi Yingdong was stunned. This place had once been a laboratory.

Something flashed through her mind, but it passed too quickly for her to grasp.

The two of them and the cat continued along the dark, deep corridor, passing through several more incubation rooms.

The air was thick with the damp smell of mold and the distinct, pungent odor of formic acid.

Meng Qinghe buried her face in Chi Yingdong’s shoulder and neck, trying to catch her scent to calm herself.

Pressed against Chi Yingdong’s neck, she could clearly feel the pulse of her carotid artery.

And she caught a faint, cloyingly sweet fragrance.

This scent…

Meng Qinghe’s nostrils twitched as she sniffed carefully.

It was sweeter than Chi Yingdong’s usual scent.

Where had it come from?

But it smelled rather nice.

Meng Qinghe buried her head even deeper.

However, after inhaling the scent for a while, her body grew hot, and her throat tightened.

It was toxic!

Unable to resist, the kitten stuck out her tongue and gave a light lick.

In a corner Meng Qinghe couldn’t see, Chi Yingdong’s steps faltered.

The sensation of the kitten’s tongue against her gland sent a tingling, indescribable feeling spreading from her neck throughout her body.

Chi Yingdong gently patted the kitten’s bottom. “Stop fooling around.”

The embarrassment of being spanked snapped Meng Qinghe back to her senses.

She abruptly turned her head, pressing her cheek against Chi Yingdong’s shoulder, and tried hard to hold her breath.

Noticing the kitten’s unusual behavior, Chi Yingdong softly patted her back in silent reassurance.

They walked through the passage, and at the end stood a large metal door.

The electronic lock on it had long since failed.

Originally requiring triple verification, iris scan, fingerprint, and password, to enter, the door now slid open silently with just a gentle push.

Xu Chuyao was the first to push open the heavy door.

“We’re here,” Chi Yingdong whispered to the kitten.