Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

"boom--!"

Another deafening gunshot rang out as an armor-piercing incendiary round precisely pierced the thick, special bulletproof glass of the fourth-floor conference room.

The glass shattered suddenly, scattering shards that revealed the interior of the large conference room.

When Bai Shuyuan looked through the scope at the chaotic conference room, her pupils involuntarily contracted slightly. The "queen bee" she had anticipated did not appear; instead, there was a group of bloated, inflated humans.

Although those people were still twitching slightly, they appeared to have long since lost consciousness, though their faces still bore the marks of pain. The corpses were bloated even more than giants, like orange balloons inflated to their limit, as if they might burst at any moment.

Their skin was a sickly waxy yellow, with numerous bulging vesicles on the surface, through which one could vaguely see the peristalsis inside. The abdominal cavity of each corpse was bulging high, and something seemed to be growing inside.

This is how "human bees" reproduce.

It has completely the habits of a parasitic wasp.

"Interesting." Bai Shuyuan quickly pulled herself out of her emotions and began to analyze the situation at high speed.

Judging from the appearance of the "human bees", they can only devour and merge with two kinds of creatures: the native hornet subspecies and humans.

However, this parasitic behavior of laying eggs in other organisms, obtaining nutrients from them, and then emerging from them is not something that ordinary wasps or humans can do; it is more like the behavior of parasitic wasps.

A bold and horrifying hypothesis emerged in her mind—when this monster devours and merges with Earth's organisms, it obtains more than just biomass; it seems to possess some mechanism that can read and even activate specific gene fragments!

Bai Shuyuan knew that during the long process of evolution, organisms would "annotate" many genes that were no longer needed, so that they would no longer be expressed.

However, this does not mean that these genes will disappear completely. Just like the diseases that humans occasionally suffer from, such as hirsutism and accessory breast tissue, these are caused by the incorrect expression of genes that originated from "ancestors".

All bees, ants, and even the entire suborder Apocrita, have ancestors that were parasitic wasps.

Their iconic slender waists were originally evolved for the purpose of more accurately delivering eggs into the host's body.

The so-called social nature is actually a later evolutionary achievement after they abandoned parasitism as a way of survival.

This means that these monsters, which she calls "aggregates," can even awaken ancient genes that have already been annotated and re-express them through some incredible mechanism while devouring other creatures.

The adaptability of these "aggregates" to this planet, and their evolutionary potential, far exceeded Bai Shuyuan's expectations. This disaster may be worse than her worst-case scenario.

A slight ripple finally appeared on Bai Shuyuan's face. She narrowed her eyes slightly and continued to observe the situation through the sniper scope.

She quickly snapped out of her thoughts, swiftly adjusted her focus, and used the drone to call out to Xiao Lü and Xia Zhaozhao:

"Mayfly, Shrike, the target is in the fourth-floor conference room, but deep inside. I need you to lure it from the depths of the conference room to an open area near the window."

"In addition, the current 'human bees' are showing strong signs of retreat, and their aggression has temporarily decreased."

Xiao Lü and Xia Zhaozhao exchanged a glance and then, without further hesitation, leaped through the blasted window on the third floor and landed steadily in a corner of the cafeteria.

The pungent smell of burning lithium batteries assaulted their nostrils, but the two had no time to care. They rushed towards the stairwell, which was now crowded and filled with the buzzing of numerous soldier bees.

Clearly, the explosion on the third floor made them feel a great threat, and under the influence of pheromones, the swarm of bees tried to retreat to higher floors.

The two did not attack the retreating bees.

Xiao Lü simply waved her right hand, and with a soft "crack," the smooth ice surface quickly froze on the steps of the stairwell.

Those "human bees" that were rushing upwards, trying to retreat with the queen bees, had no time to react. They immediately lost their balance, making a chaotic and comical collision sound, blocking the upward passage.

They flew overhead, skillfully maneuvering around the chaotic swarm of bees and avoiding their attacks.

"Hoo~ This is interesting. This is much more interesting than just standing there blocking the door," Xia Zhaozhao complained.

"...You're anchoring yourself to 'Guardian,' right?" Little Green was somewhat speechless.

They quickly rushed up to the fourth floor. The conference room was a mess, but they skillfully avoided the massive, chaotic swarm of bees and bypassed the deformed, swollen human masses.

Finally, in a corner of the conference room, where a swarm of soldier bees were tightly clustered together, they found the so-called "queen bee" that Bai Shuyuan had mentioned.

The queen bee is twice the size of a regular soldier bee. Its cephalothorax is no different from that of other individuals, but its swollen abdomen accounts for almost 90% of its entire body, and the exoskeleton covering it has an eerie black halo.

The queen bee's enormous body appeared unusually clumsy at this moment, as if she was anxiously rubbing her short limbs against the ground, frantically searching for an escape route.

"Wow, it's huge! This must be it!" Xia Zhaozhao recognized the queen bee at a glance and was quite excited.

"Don't waste time, just force it towards the window!"

Xiao Lü held nothing back, unleashing her magic like a tidal wave. With another crisp "click," countless eerie blue specks of light exploded around her, completely blocking the only path from the conference room to the bank's interior.

The queen bee, with its enormous abdomen, immediately sensed the threat and let out a piercing, sharp hiss. At the same time, it seemed that some information was being picked up by the soldier bees around her.

The soldier bees instantly went berserk, rushing towards the two of them without regard for their own safety, trying to defend their mother.

The two knew they couldn't waste time here.

No longer needing to hold a particular position, Xia Zhaozhao skillfully dodged and weaved amidst the chaotic and dense attacks of the soldier bees, occasionally parrying or restraining them, but always staying outside their attack range, simply guiding them towards the window.

Little Green continued to channel her magic from a distance, emanating a powerful chill around her.

A chill spread out, and although it didn't have any direct lethality, the freezing temperature still made the queen bee feel threatened.

The enormous queen bee was clearly frightened by the low temperature. It nervously pawed at the ground with its short limbs, twisting its body as it clumsily crawled toward the broken window that was not covered by the cold.

"Wow—it's so convenient, just like that stun gun that farmers use to herd pigs!" Xia Zhaozhao exclaimed.

"..."

"Little Green, Little Green, that big guy has climbed far enough! Can that drone riddle-maker you hired even reach that far?"

Little Green mentally estimated the relative positions of the Queen Bee, the window, and the White Kite. "It should work. We've succeeded. Retreat!"

Without hesitation, the two turned and quickly left the conference room. The very next second after they left—

"boom--!"

Another loud bang. The fourth armor-piercing incendiary round struck the queen bee's massive abdomen with pinpoint accuracy.

The queen bee's abdomen, which was covered with a thick exoskeleton, was now as fragile as paper, easily torn apart and pierced.

The warhead detonated the instant it made contact with the exoskeleton, and the burning material inside ignited rapidly. A blazing fireball exploded from the queen bee's body.

The high temperature and shockwave spread outwards, and the queen bee's huge body was instantly torn to pieces, with most of her chest and abdomen turning into dust.

The queen bee's mangled body emitted a mournful and unwilling cry. It tried to use its remaining limbs to crawl towards the window, but gradually twisted and melted in the flames, eventually turning into a pool of black slime. It was then gradually dried out, turning into a charred, unidentified substance that stuck tightly to the ground.

The flame in the bank's conference room was accurately reflected in Bai Shuyuan's amber eyes.

"...Objective achieved."