The creature's blood drenched him head to toe. It didn't matter — insect blood wasn't toxic, and his visor and eye covers were sealed tight. Nothing got in.

The instant his feet touched ground he was already launching back up, driving in for a follow-up strike. Kill one first. Deal with the other after.

But the creature's reaction speed far exceeded what he'd anticipated. Before he could complete his jump, it had already leaped clear — carapace spreading, two pairs of wings beating, carrying it ten meters straight up. While it was airborne, the second creature moved to cover, surging forward with its sickle-legs working in coordinated patterns — up, down, left, right, cutting from every angle simultaneously.

Shen Cong's mind had gone very quiet and very clear. He assessed each attack and each defensive option with cold precision.

Seventeen-bull strength. Not just raw power — everything else that came with it. If he used it properly, he could meet these creatures head-on. He was a powerful lifeform capable of generating a pressure aura. What he needed now wasn't to batter harder — it was to find his fighting instincts. To stop reacting and start hunting.

I have to reduce the pressure from both of them. Otherwise I won't hold.

In that same instant, he remembered his new weapons. Pepper Water. Spiny spines.

The corrosive materials harvested from the Spicy Eye caterpillars had replaced Activity-Killer Venom and Super-2 Ant Acid as his primary area of research these past few days. He'd developed two delivery systems.

The first: Pepper Water decanted into glass vials, thrown by hand or launched with a slingshot, to drench the target.

The second: spines bundled tightly into small clusters, formed into blowgun darts, fired through a tube. On release, the bundle spread in an arc mid-air — a fan of corrosive needles. A needle storm.

More sophisticated weapons were still in the design phase. Limited materials, limited time. These would have to do for now.

He dodged an incoming strike, reached into his jacket, came out with three small vials of Pepper Water, and hurled them…