Chapter 449: Chapter 449: Instinct Carved into DNA

“Get back! They’re not enemies you can handle!”

The Mother Spiders, big and small, swarmed out, and the Spider Mother tried to stop them, but not a single Mother Spider heeded the Spider Mother’s words.

Inside these Mother Spiders was an instinct, telling them to protect the Spider Mother at all costs.

Over the long years, the behavior of the Black-footed Mother Spiders had evolved closer to that of the true social nature found in ants, where “as long as the Spider Mother survives, the entire clan can continue” had become deeply rooted in the genes of the Black-footed Mother Spiders.

The Spider Mother had gained Wisdom from that adult, and the new generation of Black-footed Mother Spiders also had their Wisdom grow, yet even so, it could not stop the instinct of its own offspring.

In the choice between survival and the continuation of the clan, the young Mother Spiders chose the latter without hesitation, much like innumerable salmon facing untold dangers and traversing mountains, only to lay their offspring in the place they were born.

However, for the Mother Spiders, this situation was reversed.

Countless Mother Spiders of varying sizes stood in front, just to protect the Spider Mother who had the ability to reproduce, nothing more.

To humans, this might be something hard to understand, but this was the choice passed down in the genes of the Mother Spiders as they survived the harsh natural selection.

The Spider Mother tried to use her spider legs to sweep the young spiders into the staircase, but time and time again, the young spiders would crawl out of the staircase and launch attacks toward the culprits that had left their mother in this state.

Taking a step forward, a sinister black Magic Array spread out from under Bai Jin’s feet—Bai Jin had set up the “Ghost Shadow Formation.”

Once the attacking Mother Spiders stepped into the “Ghost Shadow Formation,” their Speed suddenly decreased. Little fiends lurking within the Magic Array took the opportunity to dash out, their red claws leaving deep gashes on the Mother Spiders.

Raising her Magic Wand, she Chanted in a low voice, and a pristine Magic Array formed in front of Bai Jin, blowing out frosty, bone-chilling snow. Smaller Mother Spiders were frozen en masse, forever losing their ability to move.

Those not frozen, Yang Yu swept clean one by one with his butcher’s knife.

Green blood splattered onto the frozen surface, instantly filling the chessboard with a sour stench.

“What are you doing! Why are you killing my adorable children!” The Mother Spider let out a roar, shaking with rage.

“Why are they being killed? Don’t you have any idea?”

Kicking away the corpse of a Black-footed Mother Spider, Yang Yu met the Spider Mother’s eight eyes,

“If you hadn’t accepted the grace of that adult, you wouldn’t have gained this Wisdom, these emotions nearly indistinguishable from those of humans.

Having received Wisdom and Poison from that adult, you became eager to change the status quo of your clan in the desert.

Yet you refuse to acknowledge your identity as a Mother Spider, lacking the patience to submit to your progeny’s instincts.

I’ve heard that the Spider Mothers of the Mother Spiders ensure their safety by hiding in darkness, letting their offspring hunt demons.

You know the dangers of the desert better than anyone.

And now, you step forward to defend your nest, which is far too contrary to the norms of your clan…”

Yang Yu took a deep breath, backed by the cold wind, a stroke of black emerged from behind him, sinking into the Sword Blade,

“Who exactly made you feel that with poison and Wisdom, you could become different, unique, and who exactly has been instilling in you that from now on, whatever he does is right? Just who is responsible for the death of your offspring, and are you planning to pretend you don’t know?”

“Shut up!”

The Mother Spider let out a screech as four sturdy spider legs rose high and stabbed toward Yang Yu.

The ice and snow had frozen the threads and poison liquid on the chessboard, and Yang Yu no longer needed to worry about his feet being stuck by the sticky spider silk, enabling him to fully display his strength.

Nimbly dodging the stabbing spider legs, Yang Yu mercilessly sliced a young spiderling that pounced at him in two.

Before they established their own families, Mother Spiders were kicked out of the group to spend two years on their own—the majority of Mother Spiders died during those two “adulthood test period” years, with only one percent of the spawn surviving to mate.

Those two years were precisely the time for natural selection, with most of the Mother Spiders’ formidable abilities being honed then.

The spiderlings still under the Spider Mother’s care naturally couldn’t possess such strength; there were few Mother Spider spiderlings with Levels over forty and Strength over three hundred.

To the current Yang Yu, these little spiders were no threat at all.

Evading several strong Mother Spiders, Yang Yu swung his sword onto the shattered chest armor of the Mother Spider. The once shattered chestplate splintered into several pieces, drenched in green blood and fell scattered on the ground.

It wasn’t over yet; an orange glow flashed on Yang Yu’s sword blade as he sacrificed his own blood volume for a moment of high output, turning around swiftly to enlarge the cut.

The Mother Spider shrieked nonstop, spitting out strings of poison orbs toward Yang Yu.

Unfortunately, the Mother Spider had used up too much poison liquid previously, and the size of the poison orbs drastically decreased due to insufficient reserves.

Having already dodged the spider silk that filled the skies, Yang Yu simply didn’t regard such attacks as a threat.

“As revenge, don’t you want to share the information about that ‘Lord’ you mentioned with us?” Yang Yu said jokingly while dodging the poison orbs.

“It’s you who should shut up! The decisions I made weren’t wrong. If it weren’t for you, I would have had more time to think and grow! If you hadn’t come here, everything should have progressed toward a better direction.

We could have also had cities like yours, no longer confined to the desert, starving, eating one meal without knowing if there would be a next. It’s all your fault!”

The Spider Mother didn’t fall for Yang Yu’s trick and give up the mastermind behind it; instead, she angrily employed every trick she had to attack Yang Yu.

“What you say is not wrong. Since you and I have become mortal enemies, I can only bring you down,” Yang Yu replied.

Swinging his sword blade, Yang Yu severed an attacking Mother Spider, using its soft abdomen as a cushion to first leap onto the King’s Knight chess piece, then swiftly onto the back of the Mother Spider. He thrust his sword into its vulnerable underbelly.

The mournful wails continued, the Spider Mother shaking its body frantically, trying to toss Yang Yu to the ground. Little did it know that in its panic, it played right into Yang Yu’s hands.

Yang Yu’s own attack power was weak, but each of his strikes gave the Mother Spider the illusion that he was very strong.

The inexperienced Spider Mother had no idea that Yang Yu had entered a period of depleted output; even if he jumped onto the Mother Spider’s back, the attack was merely a light scratch.

The most correct action for the Mother Spider now was to ignore Yang Yu on its back, strike directly at the backline, break through Bai Jin and Iyas, and then attempt to control Yang Yu with its silk.

However, the irrational Spider Mother lost its ability to think calmly, with other wounds on its body so severe that it couldn’t distinguish which injury hurt more.