Bomb Bead: 2 Hours Before the Ghost Ants Ambush Aleck
Two hours before the ghost ants ambushed Aleck.
Monahan hurried toward the tower housing the VVIP room.
"Chung!"
The Mantis Hall warriors he passed on the way spotted him and snapped to a salute. Normally, Monahan would have returned the gesture with proper formality, but right now he barely acknowledged it as he quickened his pace.
Time's running out.
Monahan ground his teeth, recalling the ghost ants' code he'd just deciphered.
In truth, when he'd first seen the initial decryption of the assassination list, he'd half-expected something like this to happen someday. That place had never wanted any truly exceptional talents emerging from the mantis clans.
They hold sway over holding the Sama Battleground tournament every year for that very reason.
It was a fact he'd only learned after becoming the training hall director and rising to a high position within Mantis Hall. The four great lords—whom they casually called the heavens—had no desire for the mantis clans to flourish. They wanted them to maintain just enough power to serve them for life, nothing more.
All those "accidents" among warrior candidates... that was them weeding out any promising sprouts who stood out at the Sama Battleground.
Monahan's eyes grew ice-cold. He'd only had suspicions before, no hard evidence. But thanks to the proof Kind had uncovered, it was now crystal clear that they'd orchestrated the whole string of incidents.
You bastards! Do you have any idea how much we've groveled like dung beetles?
He gnashed his teeth, thinking of Craig, the Amar King Centipede lord—one of those four great lords. The king centipede clan directly dominated the mantis clans.
Now they're not even sparing the young sprouts—they're going after the lord himself!
Monahan bit his lower lip hard, recalling the additional decryption he'd received. It detailed a concrete plot to assassinate Lord Karimru.
Bomb bead...!
They planned to use bomb beads crafted with bomb dust beetles to assassinate the lord. Which meant the flames of those bomb beads could engulf this place at any moment.
Monahan ground his teeth even harder with growing anxiety as he reached the VVIP room entrance.
"Chung!"
"Director, what brings you here?"
The two Mantis Hall warriors guarding the entrance to the VVIP room looked puzzled as they asked. The VVIP room was exclusively for the Mantis Hall lord. No one was allowed entry without his explicit permission—not even high-ranking officials like the training hall director.
"It's an emergency. I need to see the lord. Step aside."
"We're sorry, but you know the rules. You can't enter without following procedure."
"You—! Do you think I have time to fuss over rules right now?"
"But even as director..."
"Article 61, Clause 1 of the Mantis Code: Exceptions. Even places restricted to the Mantis Hall lord alone allow entry in emergencies without invoking Clause 1. And you're telling me a warrior doesn't know this when the director himself declares it an emergency?"
"S-sorry, sir."
The guards recalled the obscure exception clause and stepped aside with chagrined expressions. They'd forgotten about it amid the rarity of such situations.
Rumble!
The warriors hurriedly opened the door to the VVIP room stairs, and Monahan dashed inside.
The lord's VVIP room was on the top floor, the 15th. With every second counting, he channeled his ether and bounded up the stairs.
Damn it! I should have told them to search for the bombs...
In his haste, he'd forgotten to issue the order. No time to go back down now—alerting the lord and evacuating took priority. He clicked his tongue inwardly and kept climbing.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"...!"
On the stairs between the 10th and 11th floors stood a tall woman with flowing dark brown hair.
"...!"
Monahan froze, staring at her.
No presence at all. Could she be...
Monahan's realm was at the entry to Complete Body. For him to sense nothing meant she was at least mid-Complete Body or higher.
Whoosh.
Without a word, Monahan immediately initiated primalization. King mantis form activated. Antennae sprouted from his head, his eyes turned bright yellow, and he scanned the figure before him.
And then.
"Y-you're..."
Sensing her clan scent, Monahan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"My, my. No manners for a lady."
With those words, her brown exoskeleton gleamed as her body swelled massively—and Monahan's vision went black.
* * *
"What the hell's going on?"
"Broadcast just cuts out like that?"
The atmosphere outside the arena was chaotic. And for good reason—the feed had suddenly dropped, and the match was halted.
"Hey! Isn't that the player from the match just now?"
"Yeah... what? The match really got suspended?"
Some spectators spotted me slipping out of the arena and pointed. The murmurs grew louder.
I'd planned to exit quietly through the player lounge to avoid this.
No helping it.
What I needed now was time. My instincts screamed at me urgently: Hurry! If I didn't, something horrific would happen.
Maybe this unease was just paranoia. After all...
Norton's heading to the lord's location too...
That should be fine, right? Part of me thought so. Norton was an absolute powerhouse at Ultimate Body. What could he not handle? Even if a bomb went off, such trifles couldn't scratch an Ultimate Body's exoskeleton—no matter how relatively weaker mantis defenses were compared to offense.
But it still feels off.
I couldn't ignore my gut. So I bolted straight toward the VVIP tower.
Hm...
Arriving at the VVIP entrance in one go, I realized something was wrong. The door to the VVIP room stood wide open, and none of the usual guards or escorts were in sight.
BOOM!
As I hesitated at the door, a massive explosion rocked from above.
...!
Did the bomb already go off? Face stiffening, I stared toward the blast.
"Nooom!"
A familiar bellow echoed as a brown-exoskeletoned woman burst through the 12th-floor wall.
"You're another rude one to a lady. I'll collect on this debt later."
Shockingly, she zigzagged through the air with ease.
"Think you can escape?!"
The bellow rang out again.
Norton!
He'd arrived before me and was already in primalized form, grinding his teeth as he pursued the brown-exoskeletoned woman. But her speed was like lightning. Even at full throttle, Norton couldn't close the gap.
What's happening here?
I hurried up to the 12th floor. But I had to stop short—from the 3rd floor up, Mantis Hall warriors were blocking the stairs and controlling access.
"You! Kid, do you know where you are? Turn back now!"
A man spotted me and barked. He looked tense and irritated, his expression urgent.
Normally I'd back off without a word, but this was no time for that. I shot back.
"What the hell's going on here?"
"Ha! This little brat."
"Talexon, enough. Yelling at some kid won't change anything. Hey, kid—you're in the Sama Battleground, right? It's dangerous here, so head back outside quick. There's a bomb bead planted here that could go off any second."
Another man nearby calmed the yeller and explained gently.
My eyes flashed. Bingo. There really was a bomb here.
But why were they all clustered like this? And who was that woman Norton chased?
From the glimpse, she seemed like centipede clan.
Maybe she was the culprit. The thought crossed my mind.
In that case...
I bowed politely to the man and headed back down to the 1st floor.
I'll scale the walls.
The tower housing the VVIP room was in chaos, which meant they hadn't dealt with the bomb yet. That's where I came in.
In my past life, I could defuse most bombs. Disarming one from 20 years ago was child's play—like a water strider skimming the surface.
Parkour.
Wall-climbing with bare hands. Mantis parkour was legendary, unrivaled—mantises could fight flawlessly while scaling walls. Of course, that ability unlocked gradually from Maturity Stage onward. As an Infant Stage larva like me now? Impossible under normal circumstances.
But I had ether.
Wind Qi Gong.
Whoosh.
Ether circulated through my body following the Wind Qi Gong formula. Feeling lighter, I pressed against the wall to climb.
But there was a problem.
Ugh.
Using ether made my insides churn violently. I'd overused it today—pushing to the limit against the ghost ants, then again rushing here.
Should've conserved it on the way and used it now?
No, pointless what-if. Ether got me here before it was too late. I spotted the mystery woman Norton chased, learned the situation from the warriors inside. Without it, the bomb might have detonated by now.
No regrets about my choices. Just confront reality with my all.
A faint blue glow swirled in my eyes. The A-rank Origin Protection Rune inside me flowed with higher output than usual, gently soothing my damaged circuits and aiding ether use as much as possible.
Let's go.
I gripped a tiny ledge on the tower wall and kicked off.
Thud, tatat-thud, ta-ta-ta-tat!
Anyone seeing me would have been stunned. This tower—home to the lord—was the worst for parkour, utterly smooth with no holds. Yet I scaled it zigzag like flat ground, a sight to inspire awe.
Small size pays off here.
My compact, light body made parkour a breeze. Soon I reached the 13th floor where Norton had broken through.
Thud.
The moment I landed and scanned the room...
"...!"
I couldn't help but be shocked.
First, Monahan—bound head to toe with massive bomb bead wires.
Second, the lord sweating in front of it, fiddling clumsily. His handling screamed total ignorance of bombs—pure recklessness.
Th-that... he's gonna blow it!
I gasped at the wire he was touching.