Rebirth: I Became a Maggot 2

With the arrival of the referee, all the insects on the wrecked ship fell silent, waiting for the dragonfly's reprimand.

"First of all, I'm very happy to be your referee. Actually, you'd better not try to cheat in the game I'm monitoring. If I catch you, I guarantee I'll crush your heads, squeeze out your hiding places, and hang you on a tree to dry for three days, understand?" the dragonfly referee shouted loudly.

This guy isn't a referee, he's a ruthless instructor from the Wild Wolf Special Forces!

"I understand!" someone around shouted, and I echoed, "I understand!"

What kind of penalty could I possibly incur? It's just flying like my life depends on it. I'm just here to go through the motions; if I lose, I'll leave.

So I acted indifferent and just waited for the referee to explain the rules.

However, while the referee was explaining the kneeling rules, I actually saw a familiar face – the father and son who had been with flies before.

However, they clearly didn't see me; they were listening intently to the referee's instructions.

"Your route is to fly around the village. Only those who come back alive at the end are the winners, and the first ones to arrive are the real winners."

"Anyone who wants to quit halfway through can untie the ropes binding their hands and leave the competition, then they can come back here. But I want to tell you that it will be a disgrace, so I don't want any of you to quit."

"Damn, are they going all out? But it's okay, I'm not a fly, I'm just here to go through the motions," I thought to myself smugly.

The route was already agreed upon; it's just a loop around the village. What's so difficult about that? I thought there would be something more complicated.

"Now, please welcome the representative of the Fly Empire to speak." As soon as this was announced, all the flies looked up at the sky.

Then the fly from the judge's name flew into the air and said, "You are warriors, keep it up!"

It was simple and clear, and thankfully, it didn't ramble on.

"Now, please welcome the representative of the Great Dragonfly Empire to speak." As this announcement rang out in the air, all the dragonflies looked up.

Without even thinking, I knew it was the judge's dragonfly that flew out: "You guys are the best, keep it up!"

"Next, please welcome the representative of the Butterfly Tribe to speak."

Then a beautiful butterfly flew up and looked at the butterflies below, saying, "Let them know that we are not only beautiful, but also powerful."

A thunderous roar of wings immediately filled the air below...

"Now, let's have the bee speak on behalf of the company."

One of the judges from before, a bee, flew up and said: "We have sweet honey for our friends, sharp stingers for our enemies, and a strong determination for the competition, all for honor."

"For honor!" Immediately, a thunderous roar of wings erupted from below.

After the four mentors finished speaking, the referee loudly announced, "I hereby declare the 114th Flying Competition officially open."

As the last one began to shout, almost all the insects flew out, leaving a perfect trail on the water's surface as they flew towards the shore.

And I was still being silly and didn't set off immediately. It wasn't that I didn't want to leave, it's just that they were too fast, and the strong wind they took off blew me all over the place, and I ended up sitting on my bottom.

It felt like a tornado had struck.

"Haha, what an interesting kid tonight!" came the laughter of the butterfly-shaped judge from above.

"That's interesting. Is he new to this field? But he's young, so let's just consider it training." The Dragonfly judge said.

"Hurry up and chase after them! What are you standing there like an idiot for?" the fly judge shouted anxiously.

"Yi Mao Er, are you alright?" Da Fu, who had already flown away, flew back and asked with concern.

"You wouldn't have guessed they were a young couple," the mentor, Bee, chimed in.

I was annoyed. Did the animal kingdom also have a habit of scheming and fighting? I couldn't be bothered with them, so I took Dafu and flew outside.

It's probably too late to catch up now, but at least we can fulfill Dafu's dream.

As I flew behind Dafu, I thought to myself.

After flying for a while, a large number of insects appeared ahead. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were the same insects that had been flying so desperately before! Why were they all stopped flying? Were they waiting here?

Was it just to show the fairness of the competition that they were waiting for me? But it doesn't seem like it, why did they all stop?

"What's going on? Why has everything stopped?" I asked, puzzled.

"There's a cowshed ahead. According to the race route, we have to go through here," Dafu explained from the side.

"Just put it on, what are you waiting for here?" I asked, quite curiously.

"There's a bull locked up in there. One swipe of its tail could kill countless mosquitoes, and one swipe of its mouth could blow away just as many. How could we possibly get past it so easily?" Dafu said from the side.

Holy crap, they even have a cowshed-turning event? Isn't it just a flying competition? A cowshed part too? And there's going to be a fire ring or something later, right? Is this some kind of death game?

"Then let's give up, it's too dangerous. Let's keep going," I said quickly.

“If we can’t even pass the trials here, how can we go out into the wider world?” Dafu said very seriously.

I realized that Dafu was right. If we can't even get through the trials in the countryside, how can we go out and find the truth?

I ultimately decided to stay and see what these trials were all about.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" I asked in a very low voice.

"I don't know, but surely everyone has a solution?" Dafu looked around and said softly.

I looked around and saw that all the insects were gathered together, discussing something. They were basically divided into four groups, while Dafu and I were the rare ones who didn't have a group.

"I didn't expect you guys to come too. Why don't you join the group?" a voice called out.

I looked toward the sound, and there it was—the fly that had eaten breakfast with us earlier! I never expected to run into him here.

"Isn't it because no one's invited me? I've been single all this time. What? Have you guys come up with a solution?" I asked, quite curiously.

"No, at least there's no way to get through this, so we're stuck here," the big fly said, quite speechless.

"Then what should we do? Are we just going to give up like this? Isn't it an annual event? How did last year go by?" I asked curiously.

"The routes and exam questions are different every year, so there are no shortcuts. The only thing to do now is to figure out a way," the big fly said, quite frustrated.

I was still annoyed that the big fly hadn't come to visit me this morning, so I didn't want to spend much time with them, let alone try to figure things out together.

I was just about to say that I would figure something out myself when, at that moment, the bee team seemed to have come up with a plan and flew towards the cowshed...