In Need of More Knowledge

After the beastkin fled westward in their entirety, Kerrigan led the migratory colony in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, the main nest colony, which had marched south across the empty plains, finally launched an assault on the high wall built by the Empire.

For the ant colony, fighting against high walls was already second nature.

Their siege tactics—coordinating aerial units, jumping ants, and spider ants—had become their specialty.

If the Empire had simply built a high wall and expected to fight the ants using conventional methods, the wall would have either been turned into a trap by the colony or easily breached by sheer, overwhelming force.

“Magic artillery targeted... Fire!”

However, long before the Holy Kingdom fell and the beastkin were driven away, the deity Astaroth had been hiding within the Empire, doing everything in his power to elevate the civilization and technological level of the entire nation. Now, his efforts were finally bearing fruit.

【Elise was shocked by the enemy's firepower.】

Countless magic artillery pieces fired simultaneously.

Shells tore through the sky, raining down upon the dense ranks of the ant colony, and violent explosions instantly swallowed vast numbers of ants.

This magic artillery was fundamentally different from the older models, which required multiple mages to operate in coordination.

It required only a single mage to operate, boasted a faster rate of fire, and possessed far greater accuracy.

Constructed with magic circles and structural formulas far superior to anything before, this new type of artillery represented an advanced technology generations ahead of old-era magic.

Its firepower was so immense that the ant colony, which originally held an absolute numerical advantage, began to visibly thin out.

Astaroth watched the scene and smiled triumphantly.

The beastkin, who pinned their hopes on a handful of heroes, and the Church of the Holy Kingdom had both ultimately failed to stop the tide of ants, meeting a disastrous defeat.

Astaroth firmly believed that to counter an ant colony that relied on numbers and precise collective tactics, one had to elevate the overall scale of their faction. He felt immense joy at his correct choice.

“They're climbing up!”

Of course, even with the fire support of the new magic artillery, many ants still managed to scale the high wall.

To deal with them, the waiting soldiers raised their massive shields in unison.

The moment the soldiers channeled magic power into the shields, which were inscribed with complex magical incantations, blue protective barriers unfolded, keeping the ants at bay.

“Fire!”

At the same time, they raised the short wands in their hands and cast spells simultaneously.

These short wands, which allowed even non-mages to use stored magic, were another symbol of the Lucadia Empire's rising magical civilization as it marched toward becoming a magitech empire.

【The furious Elise ordered a temporary retreat.】

Ultimately, Elise calculated that continuing the battle would consume far more resources than they could gain, so she ordered her forces to temporarily withdraw.

This battle took a completely different turn compared to the brutal war of attrition fought beneath the high walls of the Holy Kingdom.

“Press the advantage! Deploy the golems and pursue them!”

Seeing this, the imperial commander smiled with satisfaction and immediately ordered the standby golem units to charge out of the high wall alongside the main army to pursue the retreating ants.

The golems marching forward with heavy steps were no longer the prototypes that had been easily crushed by large mutated species like the heavy-armored ants.

These were a new generation of combat golems, boasting technology far superior to their predecessors. Varying in size, both their materials and mobility were several times stronger than before.

Unlike the golems of the past that relied solely on strength and weight, their bodies were covered in incantations, and they wielded massive weapons—products of a brand-new civilization capable of reshaping the battlefields of Terra.

...

The long-hidden strength of the Lucadia Empire was far greater than the ant colony had imagined.

“This is troublesome... With our current level, we don't seem to stand a chance at all.”

Watching the ant colony get pushed back, Lin Miao was also rendered speechless with shock.

It seemed the big talk he had seen on the forum earlier wasn't entirely boasting.

At the thought of how their servants were growing stronger at such an unnatural pace under the intervention of deities, Lin Miao felt it would be difficult to catch up using conventional methods.

What kind of animal would the ant colony have to devour to create a mutated species capable of rivaling this intense firepower and these new combat golems?

Although the ant colony had been invincible by relying on its unique abilities, contrary to everyone's misunderstanding, they were not the creations of some Outer God.

They were merely a group of rapidly growing servants; they were bound to have weaknesses and bound to face setbacks. And now, that moment had arrived.

“To think such powerful magic existed in this world...”

However, Lin Miao and the ant colony weren't the only ones shocked.

Celia, who perhaps understood magic better than anyone else, trembled all over after sharing the battlefield information through the hive mind.

The more she understood, the more shaken she became.

The shock Celia received was definitely far greater than Lin Miao's.

“T-To think it has reached this level...”

In the laboratory, Celia, who was looking over research data with Count Merlin, set the documents down and shook her head repeatedly. “This is absurd. It's equivalent to completely overturning and rewriting all the magical knowledge we've researched and accumulated over hundreds of years.”

Celia had originally planned to transplant the application methods of magic power and magic to the ant colony, but now, she felt as though she had hit an insurmountable wall. “With the help of deities, their magic will only keep growing stronger.”

“It really is disheartening. The knowledge we spent hundreds of years learning and researching is treated like worthless stones on the roadside in the eyes of some,” Count Merlin sighed, slumping into his chair.

Any ordinary person would probably feel an overwhelming sense of loss and powerlessness.

These servants chosen by the deities could acquire vast amounts of knowledge and immense power simply by being chosen, easily staying ahead of everyone else.

Lin Miao used to be the same, feeling incredibly envious whenever he heard about the success myths of Tier 1 Awakened or news of young CEOs miraculously running Awakened companies.

It was only after Lin Miao learned that everything was secretly aided by those deities within the system that his envy completely cooled.

“...If we can steal their knowledge, we might be able to break through our current bottleneck.”

Yet, far from being disappointed, Celia's eyes lit up.

She actually proposed to infiltrate the Empire, steal their technology, and then apply it to the ant colony.

“Who's going to steal it? You?” Count Merlin looked at Celia, who was pointing at herself, and sighed in disbelief. “In your current state?”

“...The symbiotic carapace ants can detach from my body, as long as the Queen agrees.”

Celia touched the hard exoskeleton covering her entire body and mentioned Elise.

“The Queen is very angry right now. She is bent on crushing those strengthened enemies and devouring them all. As long as it can appease her wrath, she will definitely listen to me.”

【Celia established a connection with Elise.】

She quietly closed her eyes and began trying to communicate with Elise.

Celia understood Elise even better than Lin Miao had imagined.

The current Elise would definitely do whatever it took to defeat the Empire's magical civilization.

【Elise accepted Celia's proposal.】

Sure enough, Elise, who was struggling to find a way to deal with the Empire, accepted Celia's suggestion without hesitation.

Lin Miao thought the same.

Without Celia personally infiltrating the Empire to steal their technology, the ant colony would likely never close the widening technological gap.

“Since the Great One has also agreed, we can't afford to waste any more time.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the symbiotic carapace ants covering Celia began to squirm slowly, detaching themselves from her body.

Regaining her freedom, Celia took a deep breath and calmly dressed herself in front of a dryly coughing, embarrassed Count Merlin.

Afterward, she put on a hood and set off on the road toward the Empire.

It would still take a long time for Celia to infiltrate the Empire and accomplish her goal.

Furthermore, although the imperial army had chased them past the high wall, they quickly retreated back inside. It seemed the Empire had no immediate plans to launch an offensive.

Therefore, Lin Miao decided to take advantage of this period to find some helpful new food for the ant colony.

【Elise was highly satisfied with the new food and the devoured abilities.】

Right now, Elise was gnawing on the flesh of a small tortoise dissected by the worker ants, absorbing its abilities.

Following the chameleon, Lin Miao had begun feeding them reptiles and amphibians that were relatively easy to obtain, all of which could be purchased from the smuggler he frequently visited.

Elise was using these newly devoured abilities to strengthen the mutated species as much as possible within their limited resources, such as creating harder exoskeletons to withstand enemy fire or increasing the size of the mutated species.

And that wasn't all.

By observing Celia's research, Lin Miao knew she needed something else.

Magic stones. In that otherworld, it referred to ores containing magic power.

On Earth, however, it was the collective term for any ore containing special energy.

Naturally, such things existed in Lin Miao's world as well.

...

Lin Miao pulled a small stone out of his drawer.

This ore, which looked like an amethyst and emitted a faint purple glow, was one of the “gifts” Lin Miao had received when he first joined the company.

Magic stones were also an extremely precious and special resource on Earth.

Although they were difficult to acquire, Lin Miao suddenly wondered what would happen if he threw one into the terrarium.

A magic stone that was only the size of a walnut to Lin Miao was larger than the bodies of the ants themselves.

This meant Lin Miao could obtain the magic stones they needed much more easily and quickly than in that otherworld.

【Elise reacted.】

Lin Miao opened the lid of the terrarium and tossed the magic stone inside.

Through the eyes of a worker ant outside the nest, Elise immediately noticed it.

【Elise received the gift of the Great One and understood its meaning.】

In truth, the ant colony had long since begun collecting captured magic stones and magical tools from the battlefield.

Although they did not yet know exactly what these things were used for or how to use them, they had gathered them all anyway.

But Celia said that these alone were far from enough.

After all, magical tools were scarce to begin with, and according to Celia, reprocessing magic stones that already had incantations and seals carved into them would be highly inefficient.

“Just a tiny piece like this costs several thousand dollars...”

But the problem was, it was also difficult for Lin Miao to get his hands on large quantities of magic stones.

And it wasn't just a matter of money.

In this day and age, to legally acquire and trade magic stones, one had to be involved in the relevant industries.

Because of this, Lin Miao had no choice but to re-enter the Awakened industry he had once left behind.

[Crimson Dragon Emperor: I'm planning to wash my hands of this business. Anyone want to take over my company and my Awakened staff on the cheap?]

[God of Compassion: With a scale as small as yours, I suggest you just give up entirely.]

However, Lin Miao certainly wouldn't go back to being a mere employee.

At the very least, he needed to climb to a position where he would be privy to all inside information and could act with complete freedom.

And now, as Lin Miao opened the Divine Net forum, he saw an opportunity to achieve this very goal.