The Answer

While Lin Miao was receiving rewards for the ant colony's military achievements, there were plenty of others on the other side gritting their teeth in sheer hatred as they watched the ant colony destroy everything and continuously expand their nests.

Marquis Hermann, the commander of the Imperial Central Army, was one of them.

Over the past few days, he had been running around non-stop, burning down numerous nests and killing many ants.

“We cannot let this continue. If the capital does not send reinforcements, we will only be slowly eaten away by those monsters.”

But in just a few days, everyone, including Hermann, had come to realize a harsh truth.

Eradicating the now-widespread Great Devourer was simply not something a single army could accomplish.

Furthermore, the Great Devourer would not just sit idly by and wait to be destroyed.

At the slightest lapse in vigilance, they would immediately gather from all directions into hunting squads to launch counterattacks.

And with every counterattack, a massive number of soldiers would become food for the Great Devourer.

“Report all the facts to the Chancellor exactly as they are. If we don't want to abandon half the Empire, we must find another way!”

Having witnessed the horrific state of affairs and its severity firsthand, Marquis Hermann penned a heartfelt report, arguing that they had to set everything else aside and focus entirely on destroying the Great Devourer that had invaded the Empire.

The ministers of the capital who received the report were not actually ignorant of the gravity of the situation.

This was because a massive influx of refugees had already poured into the central region of the Empire.

“...Please wait a moment.”

In the end, Schuber left his seat.

He was not fleeing, but seeking help once again from Astaroth—the god who had always provided him with answers, allowed him to glimpse a fraction of the great magitech civilization, and promised to make him the ruler of a superpower that would dominate all of Terra.

[God of Knowledge: Send contacts to the west and south.]

“The west... and the south?!”

After a long silence, Astaroth had finally pointed out a direction for his servants.

Hearing the command to contact the west and the south, Schuber's eyes widened. He quickly unfurled a map to check the locations.

To the west of the Empire lay the Beastkin Kingdom, established by beastkin who had fled the plains and enslaved local factions, as well as the Dwarven Alliance, formed by dwarves from the Great Mountains who had united with neighboring forces.

And south of the southern part of the Empire, which had been devastated by the ant colony, lay a vast forest and numerous southern kingdoms.

Understanding the underlying meaning, Schuber clenched his fists and let out a sigh.

This meant they had to ally with other forces to escape the current crisis.

[Earth God: Heh, how embarrassing. You're usually so arrogant.]

[God of Knowledge: Shut up... Don't you all see this as an opportunity as well? You have no right to talk.]

In fact, on the Divine Net forum, the deities had already reached a consensus.

Although Astaroth's pride had taken a massive blow, he still suggested to the other deities that this was a golden opportunity to join forces and suppress the Great Devourer.

As for the other deities, although they disliked him, they genuinely believed that the Great Devourer had to be stopped.

After intense calculations and weighing of interests, the deities arrived at this conclusion.

If the Lucadia Empire could hold out a bit longer, or if the ant colony faced more difficulties, the other deities would certainly have continued to watch from the sidelines without interfering.

[Earth God: But you all know, right? We have to deal with those troublemakers in the west first.]

[God of Knowledge: Then when can you arrive? Right now, the front of the high wall is crawling with those monsters. I can't spare any troops to defend the interior of the Empire!]

[Elven God: Alright, alright. I will strike upward from the south.]

Hearing that they had to deal with Kerrigan's migratory colony first, Astaroth was hopping mad, but seeing the Elven God's message, he frowned instead.

While the Empire and the Great Devourer were constantly at war, other factions were also steadily developing.

With the help of their respective deities, they continued to grow internally, conquering their surroundings and rising rapidly.

“Lord Guardian, contact with the human Empire has not been fully established yet...”

“It does not matter. The great Elven God has already given us the answer.”

In fact, at this very moment, they had already begun to move.

At the southernmost tip of the southern Empire, the forces responsible for defending this area had long since scattered, and refugees would not flee in this direction. As a result, the ant colony had begun to occupy it bit by bit.

Across a wide river that served as a natural boundary, a bridge of magic glowing with blue light stretched over. An army stepped onto the riverbank, clashing with a hunting squad of the Great Devourer.

【Elise senses a new enemy from an unknown land.】

At the same time, Elise saw them through the eyes of the ant colony.

At first glance, they looked very similar to humans, but they were definitely not.

“...Elves!”

Celia could not help but exclaim in surprise upon seeing them.

Whether they wore armor and helmets or robes and laurel wreaths, long, pointed ears protruded from their hair.

They were an extremely rare and mysterious race that existed only in legends and ancient tales.

The leader smiled and raised a massive bow. “Just as the rumors say, they are truly hideous.”

Celia, Elise, and Lin Miao—who had long known of the deities' conspiracy through the Divine Net forum—all focused their attention there.

The mechanical bow was inlaid with complex gears, and a polished magic stone was embedded in its center.

The moment the elf condensed magic power and released the bowstring, an arrow imbued with immense power split into dozens of giant magical arrows, pouring down like rain.

【Elise asks if that is magic.】

“I... I don't know either.”

Let alone traditional magic, even with the advanced magitech civilization knowledge she had secretly learned in the Silver Twilight Secret Society, Celia had never seen such power.

The arrows fired by just a single elf instantly pierced and shattered the bodies of the mutated ants.

Sensing a power beyond imagination, Elise hastily ordered the ant colony to retreat.

“Advance! It is time to take these monsters down a notch, who have been flaunting their power before the humans!”

The elves marched in unison toward the Great Devourer's nest.

Now that the ant colony, which had started from a tiny nest in the northeast, had grown into such a massive threat, these beings who had been silently gathering strength in the forest to become regional overlords had finally made their move.

“This toxic gas is truly malicious. It is no ordinary poison; there is something else mixed inside.”

“It seems only the power of the World Tree can purify it.”

For the elves, the environment polluted by the ant colony's venom was not a problem at all.

The robed elves pulled a kind of powder from their cloaks and scattered it. The venom-corroded land was instantly purified, regaining its vitality.

As the purified land continuously expanded, a steady stream of new troops poured in.

The ant colony had no choice but to keep their distance from these newly encountered enemies for the time being.

Watching the footage sent back by the scouts, Lin Miao's brow furrowed even deeper.

Although he had anticipated this, the actual situation was worse than he had imagined.

The ant colony's growth rate was indeed rapid, but the other factions still possessed deep reserves that could not be underestimated.

The more Elise grew, the more she needed to prey on larger and more powerful organisms. However, in Lin Miao's view, she had already absorbed almost all the abilities from the food he could provide.

Superb regeneration, potent toxins, hard carapaces, exponential movement speed, highly efficient joint structures, and so on.

Elise was also aware of this. Thus, she was no longer satisfied with merely creating stronger and sturdier mutants. Instead, she had begun developing new strategies, such as building massive transport units to cross the sea and implementing invasive nesting, cornering the vast Empire.

【Elise feels a sense of inadequacy.】

But it was still not enough.

Greater growth and further evolution were pursuits that Elise had never ceased since the day she was born.

Lin Miao also fell into deep thought.

Just like when Elise had acquired the Predation ability and Universal Cells, they now needed something that could fundamentally alter the constitution of the ant colony.

“Mr. William, famous for his ability to consume magic stones and possessing the super trait of Energy Conversion, has visited the Dragon Nation for the purpose of...”

Just then, a voice from the television drifted into Lin Miao's ears.

【The Trait Extraction function is now available for use.】

At the same time, his long-accumulated interference force had finally reached its limit, and a system prompt informed Lin Miao that he could now use his newly acquired ability.

As if he had found the answer, Lin Miao's eyes lit up.