"Warwick, whoever wins the fight between these two ants, you will immediately catch that one and run towards our ship, okay?"
Before the winner was even decided, Mio had already formed his plan.
On this trip to Insect Island, just one of these two mutant ants would be enough. Sure, he might find something even better if he kept exploring, but he didn't have the luxury of time. He needed to head for Cazorla Island soon, and it was quite a distance away.
After all, he planned to use Doflamingo's intelligence network to help pinpoint the location of Vegapunk.
Out in the clearing ahead, the two ants were still locked in a savage battle.
It was an odd scene, even for Mio, and he found himself watching with both curiosity and a bit of surprise. The massive swarm of ants surrounding the battle let out strange noises—almost like cheers. Even from where he was hiding, Mio could hear their strange insect calls.
He and Warwick waited and watched for nearly half an hour before the tide of the battle finally turned.
The silver ant had bitten off one of the golden ant's legs, and its aggression only grew fiercer from there. It followed up with a series of brutal attacks, tearing off several more legs. The golden ant was soon on the verge of collapse, unable to fight back and clearly dying.
"Warwick, go!" Mio ordered sharply.
Without hesitation, Warwick burst from their hiding spot and sprinted into the clearing, with Mio right behind him.
In the chaos, Warwick grabbed the silver ant while Mio scooped up the dying golden ant.
They didn't stick around.
With the ants in hand, they bolted straight toward the shore.
But what made Mio's scalp tingle was the sudden shift in the black ant horde. The swarm that had been calmly encircling the battle now exploded into a frenzy, chasing after them at terrifying speed. Trees along their escape route were devoured in seconds, consumed and turned into mulch.
During the mad dash, Mio glanced back—and instantly regretted it.
A massive gray rabbit had stumbled into the swarm and was devoured in an instant, reduced to nothing but white bones. There was only one word that could describe the sight: horrifying.
"Hell no!" Mio gritted his teeth and picked up his pace.
If they got caught, they'd be shredded alive. There were just too many of them.
"Maybe only some Logia-type Devil Fruit users could deal with this many," he muttered under his breath.
The way back was slightly different from the path he had taken when they first arrived, and something on a nearby tree suddenly caught Mio's eye.
He skidded to a halt just long enough to snatch it and shove it into his shirt before continuing the mad sprint to the boat.
Soon, they reached the vessel.
Once they were aboard, Mio immediately kicked off from the shore, sending the boat speeding away from the terrifying beach, where the horde of ants now gathered, just seconds too late to catch them.
Breathing heavily, Mio wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the item he'd grabbed in the chaos.
A wide grin spread across his face.
"Good harvest."
Two mutant ants and… a Devil Fruit.
That's right—a purple Devil Fruit. He'd noticed it growing near the tree while escaping and hadn't expected to stumble upon something so valuable.
A completely unexpected bonus.
"I don't know what kind of ability it holds, but… it'll work," Mio said, holding the fruit up to the light.
He had decided long ago that Devil Fruits were best used as gene catalysts. Each one could be traded for a single pull in the gene lottery, which gave him a chance to extract genes from various worlds.
One Devil Fruit = One gene extraction.
But there was no rush.
The more immediate priority was the two mutant ants.
Warwick held the silver ant firmly in his claws. Despite being a mutant, the creature was clearly no match for the werewolf's overwhelming strength. The golden ant in Mio's hand, on the other hand, was already on the brink of death.
With calm determination, Mio ended its life.
He pinched the golden ant's head and twisted sharply.
Snap.
The golden ant died instantly.
[Congratulations on collecting the 'Ancient Mutant Ant' gene!]
The prompt flashed in front of Mio's eyes, making him grin.
Then he turned to Warwick and gestured at the other ant. "Warwick, cripple that one—but don't kill it. We'll need it for cultivation."
"Warwick got it," the werewolf replied with a nod and began the task immediately.
With that handled, Mio pulled out the Devil Fruit from earlier and activated the gene lottery panel.
A massive roulette wheel materialized before him, glittering with possibilities.
Each slot on the wheel represented a different bloodline or power source:
Godzilla genes
Alien genes
Ultraman genes
King Kong genes
Ghoul genes
Even Otsutsuki genes from the Naruto world
Mio's eyes lit up when he spotted the Otsutsuki panel.
"If I get that, does that mean I could develop a Byakugan or even a Sharingan?" he whispered with a hint of excitement.
It felt entirely possible.
"Draw!"
Mio hit the button without hesitation.
A prompt popped up.
[Devil Fruit detected. Convert to lottery attempt?]
"Yes, of course!"
The Devil Fruit dissolved into a faint light and vanished into the system.
[Draws remaining: +1]
The wheel began to spin.
It started slowly, then picked up speed, rotating faster and faster. The pointer flew past gene after gene—some familiar, some mysterious. Mio held his breath and silently prayed.
Please let it be something powerful… something that'll give me a chance to survive without always relying on Warwick.
Of course, if Warwick were a woman, he wouldn't mind sticking close forever. After all, he wouldn't be opposed to the idea of being a pampered gigolo under the right conditions.
But back to business.
The wheel began to slow.
The pointer ticked its way across the final few options: Otsutsuki gene… Tailed Beast gene… Biochemical Ghost gene…
Then it stopped.
The screen flashed.
[Congratulations! You have drawn the 'Swordsman' gene.]
Mio's eyes gleamed.
"Swordsman?"
Yes—the Swordsman gene came from the Arad Continent, a profession from the world of Dungeon and Fighter. In particular, it referred to the Female Ghost Swordsman, a terrifyingly strong fighter who could even slash through space and time at higher levels.
"Hell yes. This is a great gene!"
With excitement bubbling inside him, Mio turned toward the disabled silver ant. Warwick had already finished the job—crippling it without killing it.
"Perfect timing," Mio muttered.
He took the silver ant, opened the cultivation interface, selected the creature, and began the fusion process.
The silver ant disappeared into the culture tank.
To the right of the interface, all previously obtained genes were listed.
Mio pulled the Swordsman gene into the tank and combined it with the ant's base structure.
Then, with a single tap, he pressed—
'Cultivate'.