The sound was a little muffled and extremely weak. If not for Hao Xuan's extremely sharp ears, there was no way he could have picked it up.
He jumped down and followed it slowly. It came and went every now and then and even though he was basically right next to it, it took him several minutes to pinpoint the exact location.
It was coming from below the largest creature that resembled a beetle. Using the glaive Hao Xuan tossed the severed body parts aside until he saw the source of it.
*Scraaatch~*
It was an ant. A white ant, no larger than a couple of feet.
Unlike the normal ant warriors, this one wasn't bipedal and looked extremely normal.
It looked like an ant back from earth, just a few hundreds of times larger.
Half of its body was stuck under one of the hind legs of the beetle. It was trying to struggle free from the weight of the leg and the scratching sound was coming from these attempts as it tried to do everything in its power.
Unfortunately, it was far too weak.
When it saw Hao Xuan, it suddenly froze.
Hao Xuan stared it for a few seconds but it was completely frozen. It was obviously still alive but didn't move an inch.
*Beep*
"Place your hand over it," Baracus "requested" of his own accord.
Hao Xuan didn't say anything and obliged. The ray of blue light fell on the ant, startling it. It had four minuscule simple eyes on to the top of its head and two clusters of multiple compound eyes below them.
The compound eyes didn't move but Hao Xuan could see the panic in the four simple eyes above them.
If it could, it would probably be sweating right now.
Hao Xuan smiled. It looked rather cute pretending to be dead.
"Analysis complete," Baracus reported a second later, "Class S, Hive Prince. Two mutations and one anomaly detected. 5 hours old."
"Class S? Hive Prince? What anomaly and mutations?" Hao Xuan didn't know what any of the terms meant.
"The Formarchian society adheres to strict caste systems, with the Queens being at the top. A Hive Prince like this should be right below the queen."
"The striations and the discoloration of its body suggest it was hatched fairly recently. It has an extra eye and two extra pairs of wings, although they are not fully formed yet. An unknown energy source is hidden inside its body."
"Thorough research is required. Please capture the specimen for further studies," Baracus finished.
This was the first time Baracus had made such a request.
"Capture it how? Is it weak?" Hao Xuan asked while extending his left hand towards it, "Can I just knock it out and store it in a beast toke-"
When his hand was just a meter away from the ant, it moved. The mandibles around its mouth opened wide and a stream of white liquid sprayed out like a jet.
Hao Xuan did not see it coming at all. He only felt a tinge of pain from his hand. When he looked down, there was an inch-wide hole in the middle of his palm.
"The fuc- AAARGH!"
The pain suddenly intensified by many tens of folds. It felt like he had put his hand in a vat of acid and it was slowly eating away at his flesh.
The wound didn't increase from its initial size but the pain most certainly did.
"MOTHERFU**ER! What the FUCK! Holy shit!" every single curse word Hao Xuan knew was used in the next minute or so.
He fell down to his knees. The pain started spreading, making him feel as if he was being burned alive from inside out.
"What the hell is happening?!" he shouted out loud.
Seeing as its attack was effective, the ant's fight of struggle intensified as well. It was doing everything in its power to break free.
*Beep*
"Please do not approach any class B or higher rated Formarchian without ample preparation. They are extremely dangerous."
"Shut the fuck up! What's happening to me?!" Hao Xuan roared in pain and anger.
"It seems to be a type of nerve agent. More research is required."
"STOP THE PAIN! For fuck sakes, just stop the pain!"
"Affirmative. Cutting neural links from the left hand."
As soon as Baracus finished speaking, the pain vanished.
Hao Xuan was caked in sweat from top to bottom. He was breathing heavily.
*Urgh*
He keeled over, vomiting several mouthfuls.
"Oh….my….god…that was…horrible…"
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate it? Ten being the same level as having your skeletal system being restructured," Baracus asked curiously.
He chose a scale of measurement custom made for Hao Xuan since he had gone through those things.
"WHAT?!" Hao Xuan barked back but took a few breaths to calm down.
"14 then. It was much worse than that. I have never felt anything like it…"
"Good. Perhaps that will teach you to act responsibly in the future."
"….."
Hao Xuan was too tired to argue back. His body felt like it was coming apart.
He looked at the wound on his hand, it was already healed halfway.
Although Hao Xuan was lacking in many ways, the one thing no could argue about was the sturdiness od his physical body.
Yet a creature born barely five hours ago was able to melt a hole in his hand as it was completely normal.
He looked up and glared resentfully at the little white ant doing everything its power to get out from underneath the beetle's leg.
"You piece of shit, I thought you were cute and was going to help you, and this is how you repay me?" he mumbled while getting back on his feet.
The ant noticed that and froze again.
"This little…" Hao Xuan was at a loss for words. It was pulling the same trick again.
"Should I just kill it?" he spoke through gritted teeth.
"I would advise against it. Even if you were to sell it in the Galactic market, the price would be enough for you to buy several medium-sized planets within the protected space. Not to mention the numerous other uses it has."
"?!? This little thing is worth that much??" Hao Xuan's mouth fell open.
"Indeed. It is a Class S Hive Prince. If you were to compare just its raw fighting power, it could grow endlessly and reach an extremely high level. Not to mention that only a price of its Class is able to mate with a queen and give birth to another one."
"In recorded history, there have only been two transactions where a being of this level was traded in the open market."
"Why? Are they hard to come by?"
"Negative. They are simply 'hard' to take alive. Considering a mature prince's combat strength, it is understandable. The last time such a feat was attempted, Four Heavenly Emperor's lost their lives and a full galactic fleet was sacrificed."
All the anger and resentment Hao Xuan had towards the little ant vanished in an instant.
He looked at it with sparkling eyes and a smile that would send a cold shiver down the spine of even the vilest of creatures.
"My….precious….." Hao Xuan whispered in a raspy voice.
