In an abandoned looking greenhouse hidden among the trees.
"Mm…"
Dohwa cheon was startled awake, this wouldn't be the first time she was tied up in a spider's web but this time felt a lot more displeasant.
"Oh good, you're awake!" A voice spoke from in front of Dohwa, it felt overly friendly, as if the person had too much to hide.
Dohwa looked up and faced the voice.
Shoulder length lavender-white hair and purple eyes, accompanied with a smile that seemed almost too real. The leader of Pet shop, Breeder.
"Who the hell are you?" Dohwa asked, voice full of obvious venom.
"Hmm… let's just say that I'm your benefactor. For now at least." Breeder said in an overwhelmingly friendly tone.
'Benefactor…? The hell's this guy talking about?'
"I don't want to hurt you…" Breeder reassured, "I just want to… persuade you to join my 'team'. So why not forget about Nest and come with me?"
"Fuck off." Dohwa didn't hesitate to reject the man.
"...Hahaha!" Breeder broke into a laugh, this situation wasn't remotely serious to him, "see? I just love that spunk of hers! Wild specimens really are more interesting than home-bred ones."
As he said that to his entourage, a man wheeled in with a tray of food. It seemed rather well prepared. As if it was part of a 9 course meal.
"You must be hungry, here, I've prepared some food for you." Breeder explained.
"Hell no you piece of shit! I'm not eating your shitty food!" Dohwa didn't let her chance to curse him slip.
"...A shame." Breeder said unfazed, "especially after all I went through to prepare him for you…"
'...him?' Dohwa shuddered and looked at the dish in front of her. The meat loomed unfamiliar, less animalistic and more…
"Oh? I see you've caught on to my little trick…" Breeder smiled but his eyes looked sadistically pleasant.
"You sick bastard…" Dohwa realised what happened. It wasn't regular meat, it was a person, cooked to look like hannibals favourite meal…
"I'm not eating that!" Dohwa began to struggle against the webs harder to no avail. But then all of a sudden…
Shk-!
Something pierced her neck, a purple stinger drove right in, a woman walked up behind the dazed Dohwa and wrapped around behind her..
"Calm down darling… it'll be over very soon."
Gayeon sin.
No matter how hard Dohwa struggled, the only movement that could be done was small shaking. She felt overwhelmingly numb.
"Gayeon, I'm happy you came to help us out." Breeder spoke as if he was talking to an old friend.
Gayeon responded candidly, "Whatever you want to show me better be worth it Breeder, or I'll rip your head off."
Gayeon looked at the 'food', "don't tell me this is what you called me for, dabbling in the food industry now are we?"
"It's for feeding. I wanted to show you how to brainwash carnivorous insects through what I like to call feed training." Breeder responded.
"It's simple really, I feed them something they can't resist and after a while I use it to my advantage and turn them into loyal dogs. Your venom is certainly effective, but I would debate that this is a much more long-term method." he explained.
"Of course, there are a few exceptions to this method, but they all tend to serve under me regardless." Breeder was smug, yet carefree, as if the world was just some experiment to him.
"Can you honestly say you're not tempted to try it? With this you could probably get back at those Nest bastards you hate so much."
"Hm…" Gayeon thought for a moment, "I have to admit that I am quite tempted."
Gayeon leaned down to Dohwa's ear and commanded, "Eat it for me."
Dohwa's body moved slowly and shakily, her face looking dazed as she began to lean down toward the plate and open her mouth.
'No.' Dohwa protested but her body still moved.
"The insect's mind is still conscious during the process but… that doesn't really matter." Breeder commented, "Because once they've had a taste, all those bugs gathered at Nest will only look like tasty treats to them."
'NO…!' Dohwa's mind flashed, tears began to spill out, uncharacteristic of her. She didn't want to become one of those monsters, a predator with nothing but meat on their mind.
But she still moved closer, her tongue almost brushing the food, mere moments from becoming just that.
But all of a sudden…
CRASH!
SHATTER!
BOOM!
The greenhouse completely shattered. An unseen force burst through so fast all the glass simply ceased to hold itself together.
The table in the middle of the greenhouse was crushed, the 'food' was reduced to a flattened mess on the floor.
Dust and smoke cleared and revealed someone Breeder knew well, and then a person that he couldn't see the face of but felt really familiar to him.
Junhyeong, looking like he was using every bit of his strength to stay conscious, battered to an almost unrecognisable state.
And next to him was a man encased in a pale grey exoskeleton. His face and skin weren't visible as he held an unconsciously dazed Dohwa in his arms.
Do-Hyeok.
"Oh my." Breeder said, scarily calm, "It would seem we have some uninvited guests…"
Breeder turned to the transporter behind him. To which he bowed his head and began to sincerely apologise.
"I'm sorry master Breeder. It would seem I was followed." said the transporter.
"Now now Pil, no need to be so down. It happens to the best of us." Breeder spoke as if this was just a happy accident.
He turned back to the new arrivals, "It's rather impressive you managed to track down my transporter, mind sharing your secret?"
Junhyeong responded, "You're a spider too, connect the dots."
"Hm… I see, it's a shame you've decided to betray me Junhyeong." Breeder's smile wavered slightly.
"I trusted your vision, Breeder, a world where everyone is equal. But the way you're going about it is wrong. And now Dohwa… that's unforgivable."
"Junhyeong." Do-Hyeok spoke up. Everyone turned to the cold, faceless young man.
"You took me to them, So I'll let you off for now, but don't get involved. That is, unless you want to die?"
It came out as a threat but Do-Hyeok was being genuine, if Junhyeong tried to fight in his state, there's no way his body would hold up for long.
Junhyeong had learned well enough from getting pounded to hell that Do-Hyeok wasn't lying, so he silently moved back out of the way.
"This voice…" Breeder felt it was familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it, "Do i know you?"
"I could ask you the same." Do-Hyeok retorted, "I suck at remembering people who are lower than me too."
Obviously, this was a lie, Do-Hyeok wouldn't forget the man who turned him into what he is now. This was clear provocation, but…
"Hm… Haha! I quite like this guy already!" It wasn't working at all, "Really though, something about you feels familiar, recent even, I wonder what it is…"
"I'm surprised you don't remember me. We had a lovely bonding experience in an alley a while back." Do-Hyeok joked.
Do-Hyeok put down Dohwa gently to the ground, leaving his hands free. And the first thing he did once he stood back up…
Fsh!
BOOM!
"Guh…!"
"I'm not letting you go twice. Take care of the support player first and all that." Do-Hyeok drove a kick straight to Pil's gut, immediately taking him out.
"Oh dear~ that's not very nice now is it?" a woman's voice came from behind and by the time Do-Hyeok turned around he found a massive claw aimed straight for his chest.
"...!" Do-Hyeok moved back, dodging the attack by an inch.
But the attack didn't come from the person who was talking…
"What…?" Do-Hyeok's eyes widened in shock, "...Dohwa?"
Dohwa Cheon had grown massive dark blue pincers from her arms, her face showed an unconscious expression, something was wrong.
"Oho~ Little ant, why so glum. Are you not happy to see me?" The voice spoke again, this time Do-Hyeok turned in the direction.
"Gayeon Sin…" Do-Hyeok spoke coldly, "It's always nice to see a pretty woman, not so much when they're actually mentally deranged though…"
"Who me? How mean~"
"What did you do to her?" Do-Hyeok didn't waste time.
"Hm~? Don't tell me you didn't notice the stinger in her neck, sweetie?" Gayeon explained.
"You're very aware of how my complex works, you've experienced it firsthand…" she said, "My complex allows me to entirely alter an insect's nervous system…"
"You'd be surprised by the endless options I'm forced to choose from~" the fact she continued to ramble on about her complex, shows she's overly confident or just that strong.
"Paralysis, mind-control, and even forced doping of the Insecta complex."
All of Do-Hyeok's attention went back to Dohwa
Although the tail of a scorpion is usually its main weapon it can be more than an auxiliary tool for some species.
In the case of The Emperor Scorpion its greatest weapon is its sheer physical fortitude and size, mainly due to its rock hard exoskeleton.
The enormous pincers are especially worthy of note. Powerful enough to crush even the ironclad shell of a Beetle, these pincers are nothing short…
…of armor fit for the toughest of battles.
The ultimate defence mechanism of the emperor scorpion…
The gauntlet!
It looked like Do-Hyeok was getting a proper fight this time.
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: What do you call an ant that always smells good even after building tunnels all day?
Deodor-Ant!
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