Crunch! Tastes like crab meat!

"Screee!" The giant beetle let out a terrified shriek and tried to duck its head, but Ryan wasn't about to let it go. With a twist of his wrist, the blade of his alloy longsword came down hard, striking the beetle's horn.

"Crack!" With Ryan's immense strength and the sword's razor-sharp edge, the beetle's horn snapped clean off!

"Screee!" The loss of its horn sent the giant insect into a frenzy of pain. It thrashed wildly on the ground, its massive body rolling back and forth as though suffering unbearable agony.

"Strike while it's down!" Ryan didn't hesitate. Spotting an opening, he plunged his longsword straight into the beetle's exposed wound, aiming to put it out of its misery once and for all.

The blade sank deep into the beetle's brain, but to Ryan's surprise, it didn't die instantly. Instead, it flailed even more violently.

"Still not dead?!" Ryan gritted his teeth, gripping the sword handle with both hands as he clung to the beast's back, enduring its wild spasms.

Even with the strength boost he'd gained from the Zerg bloodline, Ryan still felt puny against this towering two-meter-tall monster. It wasn't going down easy.

"This can't go on!" Ryan thought grimly. The beetle might be nearly finished, but this was Zerg territory. If its screams attracted a swarm, he doubted he could pull off a legendary seven-in-seven-out like a war god from ancient Earth—especially armed with just a single sword.

"Die already!" Roaring, Ryan twisted the sword with all his strength. The beetle finally stilled.

"Ssshh…" Dark green blood oozed from the wound, hissing as it hit the ground and corroded a large patch of soil. This beetle's blood was clearly far more toxic than the average drone.

"Shing!" Ryan yanked the sword free and stumbled back several steps, careful not to let the corrosive blood touch him.

He wiped the blade clean on a nearby tree. Luckily, the alloy was high quality—no corrosion, still sharp as ever. But just then, he noticed something that made his heart skip a beat—a tiny drop of green slime was on the back of his hand.

"Sh*t?!" Ryan panicked. This was Zerg blood—it should've burned through his flesh instantly. Instinctively, he wiped it off with his other hand. But then he realized… nothing happened.

"Wait… am I immune to Zerg toxins?" Ryan's mind raced. He remembered how, back when he lost his arm, he'd been drenched in Zerg brain matter. By all logic, that should've been the end of him—but he'd survived. Now it seemed that near-death encounter had fused his blood with Zerg biology in some bizarre way.

"Heh, another unexpected bonus." Ryan chuckled to himself. He'd already gained a ton from the Zerg bloodline. Immunity to their poison? Just icing on the cake.

"Let's move." Still riding the high of his victory, Ryan turned to the two girls, who were now staring at him in stunned silence.

"Oh my god, he's so hot…" Lucia's eyes sparkled. At her age, any guy who was strong and cool was already crush material. But one who could take down a three-meter-tall bug with a sword? That was straight-up hero territory.

"Is he even human? Our instructors couldn't do that…" Even Nicole, the hardened special ops soldier, was in awe. She used to think her drill sergeant—built like a tank—was the strongest man alive. But even he would've needed power armor to take down a Zerg beetle. And this one was a commander class!

"Snap out of it! If we don't leave now, the swarm will find us!" Ryan barked, breaking their daze.

"R-right!" Both girls nodded reflexively. Even Nicole no longer saw him as just some burden of a cook. This was a man who could kill Zerg commanders with cold steel. A living war god.

Strength naturally commands respect—and now Nicole was instinctively following Ryan's lead.

"Grrr…" Sadly, Ryan's heroic aura didn't even last three minutes before his stomach growled like thunder. The girls looked at him, their awe replaced by barely suppressed giggles.

He scratched his head awkwardly. He'd been starving ever since regenerating his arm, and after half a day trekking through the jungle, he was running on fumes. That flashy fight had drained his last reserves. Right now, everyone looked like food. He was practically seeing pancakes with legs.

"You got anything to eat…?" Ryan asked sheepishly.

"Nope…" Lucia and Nicole both shrugged. They weren't ground troops, after all—medics riding evac shuttles didn't usually pack rations.

"Oh…" Ryan sighed, visibly disappointed.

"Boom!" Just then, the beetle's corpse collapsed entirely, its heavy body settling with a crunch. Some of its legs snapped, exposing white muscle tissue beneath.

"Shing!" Ryan's eyes lit up. Instinct screamed at him: That meat's delicious!

"Ryan, what are you doing?" Nicole noticed his look and grew wary.

"Just grabbing a snack." Ryan casually made his way over to the corpse, long sword in hand.

"Slice, slice, slice…" In no time, he hacked off four or five of the beetle's legs. Even the small ones were as thick as a grown man's thigh.

"Wait—you're not seriously going to…" Nicole caught on immediately. Jungle survival was part of her training, and she realized exactly what Ryan was planning. But—Zerg meat? Wasn't their blood toxic?

"Look, there's no green blood in these parts—probably safe." Ryan explained, though he wasn't worried either way. Poison? He was immune.

"Lend me a lighter." He walked over and borrowed Nicole's mini flamethrower—normally used to burn bodies or clear brush. Now it would serve a nobler purpose: barbecue.

"Fwoosh…" Under the intense heat, the yellowish beetle meat soon turned red, and a mouthwatering aroma began to waft through the air.

Ryan cracked open the shell, blew on the steaming meat, and took a bite.

"Mmm! Not bad! Tastes like king crab!" he said with genuine surprise. The snow-white flesh was tender, rich, and bursting with flavor—even without seasoning, it melted in his mouth.