Chapter 108: The Biological Campaign (5)

“This ant nest is truly… spectacular.”

Catherine stared blankly at the structure before them. The portion exposed aboveground alone stood more than ten meters high, with a radius exceeding five meters. According to what she had read in her textbooks, the underground section of an ant nest was generally more than ten times larger than the part aboveground. It was easy to imagine, then, just how enormous this nest truly was.

The nest’s overall structure resembled a cylinder covered in countless overlapping “scales.” Great numbers of black ants constantly crawled in and out. Not far away, many ants dragged various resources and food back toward the nest, entering through different passages in an orderly fashion under the direction of soldier ants. Everything appeared neat and disciplined—until the troop of soldiers Ling Mo and the others had been following returned, instantly shattering that “order.”

The moment the male Moon-Horn Ant appeared, the entire nest erupted. Swarms of ants abandoned whatever they were doing and surged forward, surrounding the male completely. Their faint hissing merged into a chaotic wave of sound that set one’s nerves on edge.

A large troop of enormous soldier ants pushed through the crowd and surrounded the ants that had brought the male back. Their leader, a super-soldier ant the size of a finger, blocked the transport troop’s path. It waved its forelegs several times, seemingly conveying some sort of order. The ants in the transport troop immediately erupted into commotion. Seven or eight large soldier ants shoved their way forward, emitting faint hisses as though arguing heatedly.

“Not… we… cannot… you… queen… see…”

Catherine and Ling Mo turned toward Vayne in astonishment. Her eyes had become pure white, without irises or pupils—only faintly glowing whites remained. She stared intently at the ants and laboriously forced out one word after another, trying to decipher their meaning.

When she noticed Ling Mo and the others looking at her, she slowly dispersed the power in her eyes and smiled.

“The ants’ ability to express themselves is extremely limited, but I more or less understand them. Their ‘grand commander’ is ordering the transport ants to hand over the male, so that it can present him to the queen. The ants from the transport troop clearly refuse, and the two sides are about to fight.”

“Does this kind of behavior exist in ant society too?” Catherine asked in surprise. “They’re only tiny insects. Can they really be that intelligent?”

“Among animals—or magical beasts—this sort of ‘taking credit’ is fairly common,” Ling Mo explained casually. “Take larger wolf packs, for example. Some wolves specialize in stealing prey caught by others and presenting it to the wolf king to win favor. Among apes, the phenomenon is even more widespread. Individuals who go out to gather fruit must always beware of the ‘bullies’ within their own group. Otherwise, an entire day’s labor will simply benefit someone else.”

Catherine sighed. “I always thought the animal world was simple.”

Ling Mo smiled. “The larger a living group becomes, the less pure it is. Once there is a first mouthful of food left over, internal conflict becomes inevitable. Humans are like that, and so are animals.”

“I see!” Vayne nodded in sudden understanding. “From that perspective, the peculiar behavior of many magical beasts can be explained…”

“You’re a remnant of the Beast Spirit Masters. You didn’t know this?” Ling Mo’s expression grew somewhat complicated.

“‘Remnant’ is a rather unpleasant choice of words, don’t you think?” Vayne said unhappily. “The way you put it makes it sound as though our Rift-Splitting Sect committed some heinous crime. It was all a misunderstanding, we—wait. The ants are arguing even more fiercely now. That soldier ant grand commander is losing patience. It’s about to seize the male by force!”

The finger-sized soldier ant’s voice suddenly became shrill. A trace of red light began to shine from the crescent horn on its forehead, clearly signaling that it was ready to attack.

The soldier ants from the transport troop shrank back slightly, showing signs of fear. But when they turned and saw the half-dead male ant, they immediately straightened their bodies again. They waved their forelegs, displaying their determination never to yield.

Just as the two sides were on the verge of clashing, a deep hiss rang out.

All the soldier ants that had been about to fight froze at once and began to tremble. The worker ants had already prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to move.

Before long, an enormous Moon-Horn Hunting Ant crawled out of the nest. The front half of its body was roughly the same size as the male ant, but its abdomen was another matter entirely. The portion dragged out from the nest alone was more than three meters long.

It was a grotesquely swollen, revolting, deathly pale abdomen, its segments piled one after another like enormous lumps of fat. As the Moon-Horn Ant moved forward, its abdomen, several meters in length, writhed rhythmically, propelling its body onward.

Most horrifying of all, every time the abdomen contracted, more than a dozen pale-gray eggs were squeezed from its reproductive opening. Before long, the eggs burst open, and wet soldier ants, worker ants, and male larvae crawled out from within.

The healthier individuals were carried away by other ants to their assigned duties. Those with bodily defects were killed on the spot by the soldiers, chopped into numerous pieces, and scattered among the busy workers, triggering a bloody scramble.

Without a doubt, this enormous Moon-Horn Ant, more than five meters long, was the ruler of the nest—the true master and mother of every ant.

The complete queen.

As soon as it appeared, it raised its upper body high. Its two tiny eyes swept coldly across the scene from above. Only after seeing every ant prostrate itself on the ground, none daring to meet its gaze, did it lower itself in satisfaction.

It slowly paced over to the male ant that had just been captured. The antennae on its forehead gently touched the male. Suddenly, it froze. Then it let out a high-pitched hiss and began waving all six of its limbs about wildly, as though dancing with excitement.

“Not… offspring… mine… very good… you… reward… did well…”

Vayne pinched the bridge of her nose and struggled to interpret the queen’s meaning.

“She’s delighted! She says this male isn’t her offspring, which is extremely rare. Since he isn’t a close relative, breeding with him will undoubtedly produce superior offspring. The queen thinks the soldier ants did an excellent job and intends to reward them!”

Catherine looked faintly disgusted. “So does that mean this queen used to mate with her own descendants?”

“Don’t make that face. It couldn’t be helped.” Ling Mo patted Catherine on the head. “Moon-Horn Ants possess an extremely strong sense of territory. With a nest this enormous, they must have wiped out every other ant colony in the surrounding area. It would be difficult enough to find even one ant from another colony, let alone a male.”

“All right…” Catherine nodded reluctantly. She observed the scene for a moment before suddenly asking, “What’s wrong with that one-eyed male? It seems rather strange to me. Wasn’t it trembling constantly just now? Why did it stop struggling the moment it saw the queen? Huh? It actually dares to hiss at the queen? Vayne, what does that mean? Is it provoking her?”

Vayne glanced at Catherine.

“Are you sure you want to hear?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? I’m not the only one who’s curious, am I?”

Vayne sighed helplessly.

“Your Majesty, from the first moment I laid eyes upon you, I fell deeply in love. Your enormous abdomen is so soft; your taut reproductive opening is so alluring; the eggs you lay are shaped so perfectly. I long to touch your broad, delicate wings, caress your strong and slender limbs, and kiss your sharp, sensual mouthparts. Though I am somewhat damaged now, I remain extremely vigorous. I am willing to offer you my sperm—my everything! I will never betray you! That is more or less what it means. Ugh…”

Catherine: “…”

Author’s note: This Sunday, the novel will be featured on the homepage in the Sanjiang recommendation section, continuing through next Sunday. Over the next few days, I hope my dear readers can vote for the novel as much as possible. During the Sanjiang period, a single vote for the author will be worth more than five votes at ordinary times. Whether I get to eat meat or dirt depends on this week, so I humbly beg all my readers for your support. Black Tide sincerely thanks you all.