IMPERIUM INSECTUM

I stopped dead in my tracks.

<I swear I heard someone call out for help>

I looked around the forest, searching for what possibly could have called for help. But there was nothing except the sounds of birds and the tree leaves swaying in the wind. It Must have been my imagination. I Turned my attention back to the hive management screen of my status and started walking again.

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• Population of hive: 200

• Resources: 150

• Total amount of Eggs: 15

Unspecified Eggs: 15

Specified Eggs: 0

• Unit types.

[SELF IMPREGNATION] [HOST IMPREGNATION]

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I felt a heat begin to grow from my crotch as I stared at the 2 impregnation options. The thought of growing my family filled me with a sence of joy I couldn’t even begin to describe. I quickly closed the hive management screen and stopped walking to calm myself down. If I didn’t, I feel like I would have done something very unwise. After A few minutes,I reopened the hive management screen and pulled up the descriptions of everything in there.

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• Population of hive: 200

The current population size of the hive.

• Resources: 150

Resources is the term given to describe the nutrients, proteins and all other essential building blocks to specify a unit. These Resources can be obtained from what you eat. Certain types of foods are more rewarding with resources than others.

• Total amount of eggs

This is the amount of eggs stored in your body. Eggs are created automatically and are put in storage to await specification. Specification is the process of assigning the unspecified eggs their roles. This is done in the unit types section.

• Unit Types.

You will find all possible drones you can make listed here, with a description of their abilities, gestation time and how many resources are needed to create an egg. This is where you will specify the eggs.

• Self impregnation

Choosing this option allows you to impregnate yourself and give birth to new members of the hive.

• Host Impregnation.

Choosing this option allows you to impregnate another living creature via oviposition. The benefit of this, is that it allows for the egg to inherit abilities and even magical power from the host, creating a new variant of the unit. This variant will be put in a sub-menu under the unit it is based off.

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I let out an exasperated breath. There was a lot of information to unpack here. I let out a sigh. Reading this has just left me with more questions than answers. Like can my children inherit resistance as well? How can they use magic, but I cant? I rubbed my bald head in frustration. I guess I’m just going to have to experiment to find out the answers.

I moved my attention to the unit types section. It was filled with a long list of the units I could make. Each entry had a picture of the unit itself. However, one peculiar thing I noticed, was that the majority of the units, except four, were greyed out. I selected one of the Greyed out units, called “stalker.”

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• Stalker

A combat unit that is not meant for frontline combat but more for accurate, silent attacks Behind enemy lines. As the name implies, stalkers are experts at tracking and being unnoticed. Stalkers work better alone or in small packs. To aid in its task, the stalker comes with an improved sense of smell, the ability to see heat and can camouflage with its surroundings.

Gestation: 10 days

resources: 10,000

WARNING: YOU DO NOT HAVE THE NECESSARY FOUNDATIONS TO SUPPORT THIS UNIT.

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I let out a deep sigh. It makes sense. As much as I would like to have one, it would die within a few days because I wouldn’t be able to feed it. But what does it mean by foundations? I focused on the word.

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• Foundations refers, to the amount of food, space and workers your hive has. If you do not meet the minimum requirement for this, the system will Grey the unit out. And stop the user from specifying an egg into it.

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Well, that is helpful and saves me a lot of hassle Of calculating that myself, But it sucks that I can’t choose what I want. I guess I’m just going to have to expand my hive until it's big enough to support Everything. Out of curiosity, I scrolled to the bottom to see what the biggest and baddest unit’s I had was.

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• World Devourer.

This unit has the ability to eat entire continents and, if given enough time, could eat an entire planet.

Gestation: 3650 days

Resources: 90,000,000,000,000

WARNING: YOU DO NOT HAVE THE NECESSARY FOUNDATIONS TO SUPPORT THIS UNIT.

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My mouth dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. This unit was downright Crazy and expensive. There is no possible way I could ever hope to earn this, especially with those requirements. I quickly scrolled up to the 4 actual units I could make, to see what they were all about.

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• Royal Fly

Whilst almost identical in appearance to a regular housefly. Internally they are completely different. Royal Flies possess both impressive speed and agility compared to regular flies. Additionally, Royal flies also boast a large amount of intelligence. Royal flies work as an extension of their queen and, as such, will be able to share certain abilities that she has. Royal flies can only exist inside the Queen's living hive and will reproduce automatically.

Gestation: 10 per 1/hr

Resources: 100

• Worker unit.

The backbone of any functioning hive. The role of the worker is to build, repair and maintain the hive. They can also fulfil simple logistical roles for the hive as well. Workers have the ability to create a form of wax that they can shape and mould into whatever the queen or hive desires.

Gestation: 3 days

Resources: 500

• Basic combat unit.

These are the basic combat drone. They exist as the sword and shield of the hive and will make up the vast majority of a hive's combat forces. The basic combat unit may be the weakest combat unit that the hive can have, But what they lack in offensive power, they make up with quantity due to their incredibly short gestation period.

Gestation: 1 day.

Resources: 250

• Nursing Unit.

Nurses are responsible for raising future generations of the hive by looking after and raising the larvae after it hatches. Nurses have specialised organs that allow them to do so.

Gestation: 5 days

Resources: 750

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Hmmm, It wasn’t much, but you know the old saying. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, and I feel these units are just what I need to start my hive. I closed all the menus and started skipping through the forest. I can't wait to start my hive properly.

A few hours later…..

“fInally!” I yelled, as I took my first step on the orange dirt road. I never thought there would be a day that I would be excited to see a road, but that’s life for you. I looked up at the sky. The sun was approaching sunset. I walked down the road, taking the time to appreciate the sights of the Forrest. An orange glow filtered through the tall, dark trees giving them a renewed beauty. I kept walking down the road, minding my own business, taking in as many of the sights as possible. One sight that got my attention, was a flower I hadn’t seen before on my journey. The flower's stem, leaves, and petals were completely gold. Inside the petal sat a gold stone that shone brightly in this light. I went over to pick the flower. However, as I did, I felt a tingling feeling coming from behind me. I quickly moved my head to the right as a silver dagger flew past my face and buried itself deeply into the tree bark.

“You’re a fast one, aren’t you”. I turned towards the voice, and watched as 3 people crawled out of the bushes by the tree line. One of them was a large Shirtless brute of a man, who carried a war axe on his shoulder; another was a woman who wore light leather armour with a black cloak and leather face mask. The Final man was normal-sized and wore just leather armour. However, what made him stand out was that he had a makeshift bow in his hand and a quiver full of black arrows.

“What the hell is that?” The brute asked. Pointing his fat fingers at me.

“That’s a face only a mother can love! It looks like it crawled out of a demon's asshole.” The archer said. I took a deep inhale. I’m going to make sure he suffers the most.

“Shut your traps! The both of you! And stay sharp! Whatever IT is. We’re taking it alive. I know the boss back home would like to have a look at this. I feel like we will make a lot of money if we sell IT on the black market.” The woman said. The faces of the bandits twisted into greedy smiles.

If there was any part of me that wasn’t going to kill these guys, it just shrivelled up and died. I deployed all four of my pincers and charged at all of them, not giving them any chance to get ready. The girl reacted the fastest, dropping a grey pellet onto the ground. The pellet erupted into a large plume of smoke, Covering them all. Something like this would work on humans but not on me. I activated my [insect vision], which allowed me to see them through the smoke. The woman had disappeared, leaving the brute and the archer.

The archer let out a flurry of arrows from inside the smoke. Thanks to my enhanced reaction speed, I dodged in between them with ease. Seeing he missed all his shots, the archer ran out of the smoke, leaving the brute, who started charging at me. This is child’s play. I activated [Venomous constitution], and I felt venom rush through my pincers all the way to the tips.

The brute rushed up to me and swung his war axe. I dodged underneath it and shot my pincer straight through his stomach, causing the brute to scream in agony. I jumped away as the brute keeled onto the ground. He held His stomach as he tried to stop the blood from pouring like a waterfall out of him. In his blood, I could see bits of green venom. He was done for. But I didn’t want to risk it.

I charged at him with the intent to finish him off, but just when I was about to stab my pincer through his heart, I felt something quickly approach my head. I jumped backwards and watched as a set of arrows and blades flew past me. I looked to the left and saw it was the archer and the woman. They both got ready to launch more weapons at me.

<Keep them busy!>

Suddenly a swarm of insects flew out of me. My children let out a large battle cry as they charged towards them both. The 2 started swatting at my children. Trying to stop them from biting them. I looked at them with pride as the attempts to stop them were unsuccessful. But that lapse in concentration was a mistake. The brute lunged up from the ground, and grabbed me in a bear hug.

“You Fucking ugly bitch! ” His eyes were filled with rage, and sweat poured from his head.

“I don’t know what you did to me, but if I’m dying, I’m taking you with me!”

He started to squeeze me harder, sending sharp sparks of pain through my chest and back.

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New resistance: Pain Resistance (Weak)

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Not now! The box blinked out of existence. The force he was applying to me kept increasing and increasing. This sort of strength shouldn’t be possible. I felt all the air rush out of my lungs. Dammit, I refuse to let this idiot get the better of me! I extended out my pincers as far as I could , and then drove them into his back. The man let out an ear-piercing cry. But I didn’t stop there. I started rapidly stabbing him in the back, going deeper and deeper with each stab. Blood, flesh and chunks of bone spewed out from him every time I pulled out my pincer. After countless stabs, he finally let me go and collapsed to the ground in a puddle of his own blood and flesh.

I looked away from his body and towards the other 2. I could see they were covered in blood from bites from my children. I felt very proud of them. I got ready to dash over to help them when I saw the woman pull out a sheet of paper. I have a bad feeling about this. I started running, but it was too late. Smoke plumed into the paper, before Igniting into a fireball.

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-150 Royal fly

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< HOW DARE YOU!>

I charged straight into the woman, delivering a swift blow to her stomach, catching her off guard. However, my assault didn’t stop there. I delivered 2 more solid blows to her head. Knocking her unconscious.

<THE REST OF YOU, GET BACK INSIDE!> My children obeyed instantly and flew into me at record speed.

“Fuck! I ain’t dying here.” The archer Turned tail and started running like the wind. Like It would help him. None of them are walking away from here alive.

I charged at him at full speed, crossing the distance between us in a matter of seconds. He had just enough time to turn around before I stabbed all 4 of my pincers into his body. 2 into his shoulder and 2 into his thighs.

He let out an earth-shattering wail; that filled me with joy.

“PLEASE!, PLEASE!, STOP! I’ll give you anything you want. Money, food, and information. Just don’t kill me.”

His blood-soaked shaky arms slowly reached into his pockets, Pulling out a small brown bag. Which he then threw at my feet.

When he saw my eyes didn’t even notice it, He started begging and mewling for me not to kill him. It was very annoying.

“SILENCE! VERMIN! No amount of money could ever replace what you took from me. The only thing that can even hope even to begin to calm me down is seeing you dead!”

I started spreading my pincers apart, moving them in opposing directions of each other, causing his body to stretch in opposite directions. Bones snapped, and his skin tore, causing blood to flow freely. The painful wails he made. I drank them in. It was like music to me.

“SHtooop. YoUr…..tEARing…mE…..in…t….OOO”

“That’s the idea.”

I kept on pushing and pushing, causing his body to stretch and distend in ways that weren’t supposed to. His screams filled the air around Me, getting louder and more incomprehensible as time went on, until finally

*SNAP*

His body was torn in 2, squirting blood all over me, turning my vision dark red. His torso and legs flopped lifelessly on my pincers. His intestines, followed by all his other organs, made a wet slapping sound as they landed on the ground. Blood gushed out of his 2 halves like a waterfall straight onto the ground, staining it; a dark crimson. I made a disgusted noise, and hurled his remains into the tree line.

I turned my attention to the unconscious woman, and started walking towards her. I could feel my pincers tremble with eagerness, ready to finish the job. However, On my way there, I was drawn to the scorch mark left by the fireball.

<No….>

I fell to my knees. Amongst the soot and blast marks, there were the charred remnants of my children. I moved closer, and what I saw made my heart sink. Among their burnt, unrecognisable bodies, there was one that stood out. It was him. His yellow and green stripes were barely visible, but I knew it was him. My hand shook as I reached out to pick up his body. Gently as I could, I tried to scoop him into my palms, but as soon as my hands grazed the dirt around him, his body crumbled into nothing and blew away in the wind.

I stared at the ground in a trance. My mind was filled with a mess of thoughts and emotions I couldn’t even begin to process. However, there was one clear thought throughout all of the noise. Why? My mind began to bubble and seethe with anger. Why dammit WHY!

<WE NEVER ASKED FOR THIS?>

I howled Into the sky Letting the world know of my grief. It was humans that did this. It was humans that betrayed and murdered me. It was them that attacked me for minding my own FUCKING business. My fist smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater in the earth.

I can't, no, I refuse to let this happen again. But How? How do I stop this from happening again? I thought, but no answer came. I looked up towards the girl, my body filled with a Burning, unyielding rage, a rage so intense I could feel it in my soul. It was only when I felt that rage that the answer to my question came. An answer so simple I’m amazed it never came to me sooner.

Kill. Them. All.

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• New title awarded: Fanatic Xenophobe

The idea of other races living in the same world as you and breathing the same air as you fills you with disgust and extreme hate

(This title awards you with 20% bonus damage to races that aren’t your own. You also harbour extreme Prejudices towards other races. This effect of this title is shared with your Hive)

• New title awarded: Sadist.

Inflicting Physical and psychological pain on others. Fills you with joy

(The pain you inflict on others is amplified by 15%, and any psychological damage you inflict lasts longer.)

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