Level Up The Colony
Chapter 32: Midnight

Chapter 32: Midnight

Timothy stepped outside to air out the scarf, letting the evening breeze carry away the lingering scent.

As he stood on the porch, he remained seated in thought, staring at his phone.

He had been considering his options for a while now, knowing that if things went south, he might have to contact his siblings for felicitations.

Yet, deep down, he knew he should reach out to his family, not just for his sake but so they would at least know he was alive.

Glancing at the time, he saw that it was already past 6 p.m.

Darkness would soon take over.

He didn’t know how much time he had to put his plan into action, but he could at least make an attempt.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up his repaired phone.

Only now did he scroll through his messages, noticing that the money in his account had arrived.

However, another notification confirmed what he had already suspected, he had been scammed by that woman.

That, however, was a problem for another time.

He navigated to his contacts, his thumb hovering over the dial button of a particular number.

He mulled over his plan and possible contingencies before finally pressing it.

The call barely rang before it was picked up.

"Name and purpose?" A robotic voice came from the other end.

"E-Rank, Timothy Walter. Applying for a raid."

"Understood. Reply with ’accept’ when you receive the confirmation message."

The call ended immediately after.

Timothy exhaled a slow breath and set his phone down.

The plan was simple, if they wanted to question him, it would be on his terms.

If they intended to execute him, he would choose the battlefield.

He believed they would take the bait for two reasons.

One, if they hadn’t caught the female assassin, they were likely still uncertain about who had killed the hunters, which meant they might underestimate him, chalking up his survival to mere luck.

Two, if they had caught her and she had talked, then they would come prepared for a fight.

In that case, he was prepared to make them bleed for it.

At least now, he didn’t have to worry about sneak attacks in the dead of night.

His family still lingered on his mind, but he gave himself an excuse, it was already nightfall.

Calling them now would just disturb their sleep.

While waiting, he decided to test out his new skill.

Mentally activating Colony Genesis, he watched as a faint, bluish-white light enveloped Gray, his termite companion.

The glow lasted only a few seconds before it dissipated, revealing three new termites.

They were much smaller than Gray and visibly frailer, their tiny legs trembling beneath them.

Compared to Gray’s distinctive silver sheen, these newcomers looked like normal termites, perhaps a bit larger than the average insect, but nowhere near Gray’s size.

Gray twitched in surprise, leaping back warily at first.

However, as the mana signature felt familiar, the companion quickly calmed.

What followed was a brief exchange, one Timothy could only describe as a rapid-fire question-and-answer session between Gray and the newcomers.

It wasn’t long before the three smaller termites settled into a state of docile obedience.

Timothy immediately checked his status screen.

The skill had indeed consumed 5 MP, just as the system had described.

Now, he watched the clock carefully, keeping the system panel open to track any further MP consumption.

A full minute passed before he noticed a drop of just one MP.

A slow grin spread across his face.

One mana per minute for all three of them? That was manageable.

Gray suddenly transmitted a thought to him.

"Family?"

The single word struck a small chord in Timothy’s chest.

Slowly, he stared at the three newcomers on the table and nodded.

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. But from now on, you’re in charge of training them, making them more useful."

Gray’s antennae twitched frantically, and immediately, the three smaller termites mimicked the movement in perfect sync.

Timothy wasn’t done experimenting.

Next, he tested the range of the skill, repeatedly summoning and canceling the termites while observing how far they could move before disappearing.

Gray, for its part, grew increasingly confused as its new underlings flickered in and out of existence.

Eventually, after burning through more mana than he would’ve liked, Timothy realized an important limitation, the range had nothing to do with him.

Rather than being bound to his own perception, the summoned termites seemed tethered to Gray’s presence.

As long as they remained near Gray, they persisted.

Even if they left Timothy’s personal range, they would not vanish unless Gray itself moved beyond a certain limit.

Moreover, using his Pheromone Communication skill, he found that he could give them simple commands, which they followed immediately.

However, when he attempted more complex instructions, the tiny termites hesitated, looking up at Gray for clarification.

That realization made Timothy pause.

"Wasn’t I the summoner here?"

It seemed the link between Gray and the summoned termites was deeper than he had initially assumed.

While he could give orders, the smaller termites still relied on Gray for interpretation.

That was an interesting and potentially useful discovery.

Timothy recalled that Gray had also struggled with communication before acquiring a mind-based skill.

That raised another question: was his pheromone skill too weak? He doubted that.

Or perhaps, all of them would eventually evolve a mental communication skill?

Either way, it seemed like Gray was already in charge of the new recruits before Timothy had even decided to assign him that role.

Curious about how the system classified his new colony members, Timothy opened the Colony Tab.

---

[Colony (4)]

Silverback Termites:

Soldiers (1)

Workers (0)

Drones (3)

---

Expanding the tabs, he found that Gray was listed as a Soldier Termite.

He wasn’t sure what the rank signified, but if it followed military structure, it was a promising start.

As for the three new recruits labeled as Drones, it seemed the system didn’t consider them significant, probably viewing them as disposable.

This gave Timothy two important insights into his skill, though they were just hypotheses for now.

First, Gray could level up the termites like him, which aligned with his existing plans.

He had more important things to focus on, so as long as they could leech some benefits off him, it was fine.

Second, his Colony Command skill might level up through direct use, but that would require frequent activation, and he wasn’t keen on that.

Mana was a resource he didn’t have in abundance.

It was better for the termites to sustain themselves through biomass, raw organic matter.

"It’d be a nightmare if they all had Gray’s appetite," Timothy muttered.

Just then, his phone beeped with a message.

---

[MESSAGE FOR: TIMOTHY WALTER]

Position: Porter

Team: 5

Gate Rank: C

Status: Uncleared

Location: Ibeto Street, Town

Time: Midnight

Payment and other details will be communicated at the meeting point.

---

A smirk crept onto Timothy’s face.

"They took the bait, huh?"

It was all too easy.

Bullies loved flaunting their superiority, and when faced with someone seemingly harmless like him, they wouldn’t resist the urge to humiliate him.

He checked the time.

There was still a while before midnight, and unlike the last raid, this one was much closer probably half the distance.

Setting an alarm for 11:30 PM, he let himself drift off to sleep, his only thought being:

If this is my last day on Earth, then let me live it without regrets.

---

Time passed quickly, and soon, his phone alarm blared persistently, pulling him out of sleep.

With a groggy sigh, he lazily sat up and peered outside the window.

The moon was absent from the sky, as if too shy to show itself.

It felt like preparing for a night vigil, except he hadn’t been to church in years.

Irritation flickered in his eyes, no one liked having their sleep interrupted.

He locked the doors, grabbed his scarf, and didn’t bother changing clothes.

He had only one decent pair left, and he wanted to keep them intact.

The house was so neatly arranged it almost felt like he was leaving on a long journey.

Turning around, he spotted Gray still diligently feeding the new recruits.

The termites were noisily crunching on leaves, which they had clearly stolen, not that insects had a moral compass.

Checking his Mana Points (MP), he confirmed that his reserves were full again.

That meant the termites were entirely sustained by biomass, which was a relief.

The downside? They had been eating for hours.

Gray took their training seriously, and while that was a good trait, Timothy hoped it wouldn’t become counterproductive.

With a thought, he deactivated his Colony Command skill.

The termites dissolved into light particles.

Leaving a pile of food for them would have been easier, but that was exactly what he didn’t want, a lazy, dependent colony.

"If they want to eat, they’ll work for it," Timothy muttered.

He glanced at Gray, who was still scanning the area as if searching for the vanished recruits.

Then, as if sensing something, the termite turned toward him and shook its head.

Timothy understood immediately.

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