Laws of the Insect Hive

Chapter 45: Higher On The Food Chain

The relationship between the high and mighty Gnolls and the cowardly Goblins was like that of a Lord’s tax officials and the farmers using the land, respectively.

In reality, it was so too.

Not long after, System noticed a group of Goblins pulling a worn-out wooden cart. The cart was filled to the brim with the fruits of some plants and a small portion of meat, probably, cow meat.

Evidently, the old and worn-down wooden cart had been used for quite a long time. System could see that the iron shaft of the cart’s wheels was full of rust. That cart was clearly not something Goblins could have made. Who knew where they had obtained that from…

System stopped overthinking and concentrated on listening in on their conversation.

Although System was unable to understand the Goblins’ and Gnolls’ language, he could understand what was transpiring from their actions, expressions, and tones. Maybe, it was due to his [Perception] and [Mind Transmission], the two unique abilities.

From what System gathered, the two creatures’ intelligence was relatively low, and their communication was straightforward, unlike humans, who could be deceiving at times.

System’s hypothesis was accurate, as the Gnolls had come to the Goblin Village to collect food.

The Gnolls thought that the amount of meat in the Goblin’s food cart was too little, and there were too many fruits. Thus, they growled in dissatisfaction.

The Gnoll leader seemed to be saying, “You despicable cunning green-skinned smelly bugs actually dare to deceive the brave Gnoll warriors!? I will kill all of you!”

The trembling Goblins snuggled together, not daring to speak out their discontent.

The intelligence of the Goblin village’s leader seemed to be slightly higher, so he revealed a smile, trying to flatter the Gnolls. Then he tried explaining to the Gnolls the reason why the amount of meat was so little.

However, in the end, the Goblins did not come to terms with the Gnolls.

The Gnolls revealed their tongues, which were flowing with saliva, and at the same time, showed a greedy smile.

System did not know what they said, but the gathered Goblins became even more panicked.

Besides the Gnoll leader, the other two Gnolls suddenly lay on the ground and started using their noses to sniff around. They revealed a sinister smile.

The two Gnolls swiftly headed towards a pile of weeds…

Initially, System thought that the Gnolls had discovered the food that the Goblins had hidden, but they found three baby Goblins in the pile of weeds instead.

Unexpectedly, the Gnolls twisted off the three Goblin babies’ necks!

The Gnoll leader saw what the other Gnolls did and also chose two of the slightly older Goblins.

Under the numerous Goblins’ panic-stricken eyes, the Gnoll leader used its sharp claws to pierce through the two old Goblins’ heads. After that, the Gnoll leader licked the red liquid on its hand in front of those Goblins. It was an extremely bloody scene.

Under the Goblins’ gaze, the Gnolls threw the Goblins’ corpses onto the cart full of food.

Soon, the Gnolls howled. The three Gnolls walked in the front while behind them, there were five young Goblins, pushing the cart filled with food through the forest trail. They seemed to be heading to the grassland that was tens of kilometers away.

After seeing the Gnolls leave, the remaining Goblins revealed relaxed expressions. They faced in the same direction and knelt on the ground, making a special gesture. They seemed to be performing a particular kind of ritual or a type of prayer.

The Goblins kept on repeating a phrase as they chanted. That phrase had also been mentioned many times in the conversation between the Goblin leader and the Gnolls.

“Lord of… Glaciers?”

System connected the tone and emotions of their conversation and the Goblins’ act of kneeling down toward the glacier mountains a few thousand kilometers away. Soon, that phrase could not help but appear in System’s mind.

Maybe it could be Lord of Glaciers, King of Ice, or God of Winter.

In short, it was the combination of an adjective describing the cold and a noun, which carried the meaning of leader.

System continued observing the Goblins for a while, but he found that there was nothing else to take note of, so he spread his wings and left.

…

Initially, System thought that he might feel uncomfortable from watching the bloody scene, where the Gnolls had brutally killed the Goblins, but he felt almost nothing.

If it had to be described, then System looking at the Gnolls killing the Goblins was just like looking at frogs swallowing mosquitoes. He basically did not feel anything.

The only other emotion he felt, if there had to be one, was his admiration for the Gnolls’ actions, which seemed rough but actually filled with wisdom.

They were using cold and bloody means to keep the Goblins captive and provide food for them. To maintain the maximum amount of food, when they realized that the Goblins’ food was lacking, the Gnolls killed the old and weak Goblins without hesitation.

The Gnolls had done so to make the weak and old Goblins their food and reduce the Goblins’ food consumption. Also, such a terrifying and bloody method was enough to intimidate the Goblins.

It looked like the Gnolls were quite successful in rearing the Goblins.

System realized that his emotions seemed to have become abnormal. However, he did not reflect or was in doubt like previously. Now, he only cherished the emotions of being human from his previous life.

Ever since the old Druid had used a trap to kill millions of locusts, his point of view had changed unknowingly.

In System’s point of view, Goblins and Gnolls were obviously amongst the higher ones in the forest’s food chain. Although these two types of creatures knew how to speak a language and had superficial intelligence, they were uncivilized.

The Gnolls might be better, but the Goblins were still struggling to survive in the forest. They were just slightly higher in the food chain.

Fortunately, for the time being, there would be basically no interactions between System and them. It was just like how mosquitoes would become the food of frogs, poisonous snakes would eat frogs, and eagles would eat snakes, but the eagle would not be interested in mosquitoes.

System left the Goblins’ gathering ground and returned to his temporary nest. Then he patrolled near his temporary nest while flying.

System may temporarily not have the ability to take revenge against the old Druid, but the mouse, which had barged in during his third molting, was another case. He decided to find it!

His close-death experience and the feeling of helplessness from seeing the mouse torture Shava turned into great hatred. Therefore, System had to find that mouse and kill it!

After his third molting, System’s strength had increased. Thus, he felt that he should have the advantage if he faced that mouse. He might get injured, but the possibility of killing that mouse was high.

It was just unknown if he could find that mouse.

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System had found 11 mouse holes within a 100-meter radius near his temporary nest.

Due to the heavy rain previously, most of the mouse holes were now empty. Who could know in which hole that that mouse lived?

System did not consider entering each of the mouse holes to search as it was not smart to face the mouse in its turf.

System looked at the sky and noticed it was already near dusk. Most likely, after an hour, the sky would turn dark.

Mice were typical nocturnal creatures, so as long as the mouse left its hole to search for food because of hunger, System would definitely spot it since with his vision, nighttime was as bright as day to him!