"A bizarre machine, and... three monsters at least two meters tall?!"
"But none of these things moved, as if they were inanimate objects. Did I see it wrong?"
What Jiayan glimpsed earlier was actually a square-shaped enormous machine with a silvery-white exterior, standing about three meters tall and wide.
At its base were dozens of pipes rooted underground.
As for more specific details, Jiayan couldn't see clearly.
In the fleeting moments, he also saw three monstrous creatures crouching beside the machine!
All three monsters were standing next to the machine, each in the same posture, lined up in a row, unmoving.
Due to Jiayan's fast flight past the area, he only roughly knew that these three monsters all had six legs.
Then, without seeing any more details, it all flashed by!
Buzzing—
Countless giant beetles formed a massive army, like ferocious fighter jets charging towards the enemy.
They shot out from the corners one by one, with some even crashing directly into the walls of the cavern without turning in time!
The noise produced by these huge flying creatures snapped Jiayan out of his shock.
"Regardless of what those are, I need to evade the immediate danger first!"
Seeing that the beetles were still relentless, Jiayan had no choice but to spread his wings and accelerate to the fastest speed again!
The scenery around him rapidly receded!
The giant beetles trailing behind him were also gradually thrown far away!
In the open space of the underground world, Jiayan didn't have to worry about the cramped environment like in the cavern. Combined with the flying method he had devised earlier, his flying speed now reached another level of enhancement!
In no time, he dived into the cavern leading to the crevice passage!
"Just a bit further, and I'll reach the crevice. I'll be able to emerge from the workshop of the Northeastern Tiger soon!"
Originally, Jiayan didn't intend to reach the surface so soon, but it seemed that the ruler of this underground world didn't appreciate his uninvited presence. He had no choice but to leave.
"Here we are!"
Jiayan saw in the distance the top of the cavern area, where there was a fissure crack, the very place where he had descended.
Jiayan was about to fly towards that spot!
But a strong flapping sound behind him drew his attention!
With a glance from his compound eyes, Jiayan noticed a purple figure swiftly breaking away from the massive beetle army, accelerating towards him at more than twice the speed of the other beetles!
"A purple beetle!" Jiayan's heart shook!
Being pursued by such a purple beetle was definitely not a pleasant experience! Jiayan could almost be certain that these nearly half-meter-long purple creatures possessed formidable combat capabilities. If he were intercepted by them, he might very well meet his end!
Not to mention, there were nearly a thousand beetles behind him!
"Escape!" Jiayan took just one glance and immediately flapped his wings, swiftly flying towards the crack in the ceiling.
The super-sized purple beetle, like a true warrior, exuded an aura of seasoned battle experience all over its body. It followed Jiayan along the passage without any hesitation!
Whoosh!
The howling wind surrounded him, making it difficult for Jiayan to discern the path amidst the occasional glowing algae.
But the purple giant beetle behind him seemed unhindered, accelerating its pursuit without any slowing down, gradually closing the distance.
Clang!
With his vision obstructed, Jiayan finally collided with a protruding rock in the passage. What annoyed him was that this rock was where the dead beetle had been placed just a few days ago. It had lingered there for some time, so how could he now panic and collide with such a memorable spot?
In the split moment of collision, the purple beetle had already caught up to Jiayan!
Its foreleg reached out, aiming to grab Jiayan's body in mid-air.
However, the purple giant mosquito hadn't expected Jiayan's hind legs to be even longer than its own body, and these legs were incredibly powerful!
As it reached out with its foreleg, Jiayan aimed his hind legs directly at the purple beetle's forehead and kicked hard!
The super-sized purple beetle didn't expect Jiayan's hind legs to be so long. Before its foreleg could hook onto Jiayan's body, its head was already kicked.
It was sent flying backward in the air!
Using the force of the kick, Jiayan once again increased his flying speed. He zoomed past the protruding rock and swiftly flew upwards!
As for the purple beetle, after chasing for a while, it seemed to be obstructed by an invisible force. Its compound eyes, as cold as ice, stared at Jiayan's retreating figure.
"Why isn't it chasing?" Jiayan wondered.
But he quickly realized the reason!
"Oxygen! Seems like it's feeling a bit oxygen-deprived! Can't exert force anymore!"
Jiayan quickly slowed down his speed in the passage and took a moment to rest on a rock surface.
He finally understood why the purple beetle stopped chasing him. Even a mosquito like himself, who had only lived in the high-oxygen atmosphere of the underground world for a few days, would feel a bit suffocated when approaching the surface. The purple beetle, with its much larger body and adaptation to the high-oxygen environment of the underground world, would naturally hesitate to pursue too close to the surface!
But Jiayan was different. Although he had undergone mutation and consumed mysterious fluids twice in the underground world, his body was still essentially based on the template of external creatures. At least in terms of adapting to low oxygen, he would be more adaptable to the outside environment than underground creatures!
"No worries, I can adapt! The respiratory organs mutated by the transformation have also changed. I just didn't need to use this kind of change when I was in the underground world..."
Normally, mosquitoes rely on the respiratory holes on the sides of their abdomen for involuntary breathing. But after the mutation, Jiayan's respiratory organs had undergone some basic changes. Some muscles on the side of the respiratory holes slowly extended, forming a muscle combination with a closing mechanism!
Although this was a simple basic change, Jiayan found that after closing these muscles, he could use the muscle combination inside the respiratory hole to 'inhale' air from the outside world.
And after breathing in the air, the oxygen conversion rate of the body's functions also far exceeded before. This was why he didn't activate this 'autonomous respiratory mechanism' until now and could still approach the area near the surface.
Feeling that his mutation had allowed the 'autonomous respiratory mechanism' to work normally without activation, Jiayan tried closing the muscles on the side of the respiratory hole.
"Indeed, I can breathe in air. It's just that I didn't have an autonomous respiratory organ before. Now I have to get used to the feeling of constantly breathing like humans. It's troublesome and uncomfortable. But since I used to be human, getting used to this feeling should be easy, just need to persist for a few days!"
After activating the autonomous respiratory mechanism, air was 'inhaled' into the 'combined organs' of the body faster, and then distributed to the various organs by the mutated combined organs, quickly providing oxygen.
This roughly solved the problem of oxygen deficiency!
Of course, with Jiayan's colossal body, it was almost impossible to completely solve the problem of insufficient oxygen with such a simple
'respiratory organ'. He would have to minimize oxygen-consuming movements in his daily life or rest more.
As for whether his body could undergo further mutation in the future, gaining a stronger respiratory mechanism, or even surpassing humans, reaching a level beyond 'respiration', only time would tell!
At least Jiayan had hope. His mutation path seemed promising.
"All right, I've been in the underground world for so long. Now that I've been driven out by the owner, it's a good time to go out and see if there have been any changes. Just hope that being driven out from there doesn't mean the outside owner won't welcome me either. Otherwise, there might not be a place for me in this world."
When Jiayan spoke of the outside owner, he naturally referred to humans.
Although he said so in his heart, he understood very well that with his current exaggerated colossal body, going out into the world would definitely cause a sensation.
So he had to be careful.
As someone who used to be human, Jiayan understood very well that provoking humans was far more terrifying than provoking the purple beetles of the underground world!
"This time going out, I estimate that the number of creatures in nature that can threaten me will be very few. The only potential enemy I might encounter will be humans!"
Because the rulers of the underground world were unwelcoming, Jiayan could only choose to temporarily forget about it.
Waiting for a plan to go out, only then could he possibly return to face the massive beetle army.
And those bizarre machines, as well as the terrifying creatures beside them that seemed to show no signs of life.
There were still many mysteries in the underground world, but Jiayan would have to become stronger before he could explore them.
It wasn't a good idea to keep lying in the passage. After preparing himself mentally, Jiayan moved!
Flapping his wings, he soared towards the passage above! The pipe leading to the factory boiler was not far!