One day, a group of unidentified monsters suddenly appeared in the borderlands.
Before long, all the surrounding forces came to realize that these were not a mere pack of magical beasts, but a highly organized, fearless, and terrifying legion.
“Why did this have to happen near our territory of all places...”
Cunning Goblin Chief Karon was not the only one who felt a crisis of total annihilation looming over them.
The ants paid absolutely no heed to the existing balance of power or common sense, attacking every living thing in their line of sight without distinction. This was something all the neighboring forces had already come to understand all too well.
“Chief, will you accept Chief Karon's proposal of cooperation?” a goblin shaman asked, bowing to the chief seated upon a stone throne.
“Do we have a choice? The Great Venerable Night Moon has also commanded us to join forces.”
To the north of Karon's tribe, Durkan, another goblin chief who ruled over his own thriving tribe, nodded heavily.
In fact, even before Karon sent a messenger with the letter, Durkan had already sensed this.
For during his afternoon nap, a pillar of light had suddenly descended, conveying the will of Venerable Night Moon to him.
【Stop those guys.】
Venerable Night Moon had given them a clear directive.
Before this, Venerable Night Moon had always imparted various forms of knowledge and power to the goblin chiefs through oracles, encouraging them to compete against one another in a survival of the fittest. This time, however, He had commanded them to cast aside their differences and work together.
This was likely a massive crisis capable of overturning everything.
Durkan understood the gravity of this directive all too well; he would never dare to ignore it.
Ultimately, Durkan accepted Karon's proposal and began arming his tribe's forces, preparing for the impending war.
Another neighboring goblin tribe, Adon's tribe, took the exact same action.
They were all through their connection with Venerable Night Moon that they had escaped their original status as low-level monsters, gaining the intelligence and power they possessed today.
Goblins inherently possessed the trait of impregnating females of other races and allowing their offspring to grow and develop rapidly. Driven by this staggering reproduction speed, their forces had expanded swiftly.
Therefore, this war against the invading ant colony was, to them, a holy war to protect their species.
However, the changes and true power of the goblins remained a closely guarded secret to this day.
Most leaders of other factions, aside from the goblins, showed little interest in Karon's proposal of cooperation, finding it utterly absurd and laughable.
“Robert, do you hear what you are saying? Mere wild goblins are actually proposing that we fight alongside them?”
“My Lord Count, I could hardly believe it either, but it truly happened. A group of fully armed goblins riding wolves came to warn us. They claimed that before the ant colony at the border grows any larger, we must unite to fight them.”
Through the communication orb of Count Roland, the supreme lord ruling over this region, the captain of the border fortress defense squad recounted what he had witnessed with a look of sheer absurdity. “I believe I reported those monsters to you previously.”
Count Roland replied carelessly, “I know. I heard things have been quite chaotic over there recently.”
In fact, he had received a report about the ant colony once before, stating that a strange new type of magical beast had appeared at the border and was constantly harassing the surrounding areas.
But that was not all. Just as the term "chaotic era" implied, urgent reports of all kinds were flying in from all directions at this very moment.
Some territory had fallen, a new lord had seized power by force, monsters everywhere were exhibiting abnormal behavior, and so on.
This was a thorough and complete chaotic era, a world that could no longer be judged by past common sense.
“Furthermore, abnormal reports regarding those goblins have also arrived. It is absurd enough that mere goblins are acting like humans. How can we possibly believe a word they say?”
Count Roland was already straining just to maintain the stability of his own domain. Under such circumstances, he naturally remained highly wary of the goblins' proposal.
“No, My Lord Count, I am afraid it is all true!”
Just then, a female voice suddenly cut into the communication orb's transmission.
When Count Roland saw the silver-haired woman on the screen, his body shuddered.
Although he was not very familiar with her, he felt as though he had seen this face somewhere before.
“I am Celia Rehberg, daughter of Baron Rehberg. Please forgive my intrusion,” the woman said, bowing slightly with a solemn tone.
“Ah, I have some recollection. But wasn't the Rehberg domain...” Count Roland paused, stealing a glance at the corner of the screen.
He had heard that Baron Rehberg's domain had been overrun by a band of bandits and was completely destroyed.
In this chaotic era, it was common for small territories to be seized by expanding bandit groups. Many minor lords had simply abandoned their domains to align themselves with grand lords like Roland.
Moreover, Baron Rehberg's family shared long-standing ties with Count Roland's house. Yet, even when they fell, Count Roland had not offered a helping hand.
“Yes. My family was indeed invaded by a gang of thugs who started as slave traders. However, that gang was ultimately and brutally wiped out by those monsters, and the entire domain was razed to the ground.”
Celia's voice trembled uncontrollably as she recounted the tragedy of that day, word by word.
The terrifying scene of those monsters, looking as if they had crawled out of the depths of hell, slaughtering everyone without hesitation—that fear of a mindless, emotionless natural disaster itself—still weighed heavily on her day and night, even after she had fled to Count Roland's territory with her life.
“My Lord Count, I beg you to reconsider. The goblins are not the issue. Those monsters—we must stop those monsters that bring ruin.”
As Celia spoke, she fell straight to her knees before the screen, bowing her head in earnest supplication.
“Hearing such... such vivid testimony is indeed terrifying, but the current situation is unfavorable. Our domain is beset by enemies on all sides, making it unsuitable for a large-scale deployment.”
Seeing her tearful, earnest plea, Count Roland froze in slight fluster.
Yet, even after listening to Celia's testimony, he had never intended from the very beginning to go to war with some unknown monster over this.
As long as he guarded what he currently held and remained passive, he could become a hegemon in this chaotic era. There was absolutely no need to rashly interfere.
“Excessive worry is not good. We are different from those ordinary bandit groups that occupied the Baron's domain. Even if the number of those magical beasts increases slightly, we will never join forces with creatures like goblins. On the contrary, if the goblins, who have recently grown in power and acted with impunity, fight them and both sides end up mutually destroyed, that would be a good thing.”
“But My Lord Count!” Celia urgently tried to protest.
“I have heard of your story before, as a highly gifted mage. I will treat you well. Come to my castle to soothe your grief. Perhaps your fear will fade, and your thoughts will change.”
Celia was trying her best to persuade him, but as Count Roland looked at her beautiful face, he couldn't help but swallow hard. In an extremely tender tone, he invited her to his castle.
“Why can't you understand? Doom is coming!”
After the communication was cut off, Celia let out a heavy sigh and stood up unsteadily.
She knew all too well that if she went to the castle like this, helpless as she was, she would surely be trifled with by the Count, who was about the same age as her father.
For a lord to have mistresses was nothing strange in this era, let alone an influential grand lord like Roland.
The butler, Sebas, who had escaped with her, looked at her with a pitying gaze and softly advised, “What do you plan to do, Lady Celia? In my opinion, it would be better to go elsewhere...”
Sebas's older brother was currently serving as an administrator in Count Roland's territory.
“No, I am going to the Count's castle.”
However, Celia had already made up her mind.
Because right now, she had to obtain a power that would allow her to survive, no matter what.
Most importantly, she wanted to get as far away as possible from the ant colony that brought doom.
【Your servants have sensed a certain trend through the information they gathered.】
This system notification popped up during a leisurely weekend afternoon.
Lin Miao was dropping some newly bought mealworms for the colony in the terrarium.
Even though he could observe the movements in various parts of the otherworld through the screen in the corner of his vision, he only had two eyes after all, and could not possibly see everything happening everywhere.
【The Queen Ant has synthesized the observations of countless scouting teams and determined that the enemies scattered across various regions are converging into a single force.】
“...Is that so?”
Lin Miao raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the system prompt.
But the colony was different from him. Through their increasingly powerful hive mind, they exchanged all information in real-time, analyzing and utilizing it.
Things that Lin Miao could not even see were captured clearly by them. Now, their ability to make comprehensive judgments using this information was also improving rapidly.
In particular, the first-generation Queen Ant's ability played a decisive role in this.
The Queen Ant, having undergone two evolutions, had become increasingly intelligent—a fact that had already been proven countless times.
Restricting the brain development of the offspring Queen Ants to prevent them from threatening her position;
Using the data accumulated from the venomous ant experiments to produce higher-performing venomous ants.
These were all spearheaded by the first-generation Queen Ant. Her continuously expanding self-awareness was also transmitting her will to the entire colony with growing intensity, guiding them to act according to her wishes.
For a Queen Ant with such capabilities to analyze the synchronized observations of countless scouting teams and discover abnormal movements was only natural.
【The Queen Ant predicts that the combat force, primarily composed of goblins, is pointing its spearhead at them.】
The colony used scouts spread far and wide, putting all their effort into searching for more prey.
And what these scouts discovered was not just food, but also external dangers that could threaten the colony's survival.
“It's confirmed. Those guys who tried to set us up against the human forces... seeing that we're completely fine, they want to take action as soon as possible?”
Lin Miao sneered in his heart. Those goblins had already begun to guard against the colony, while also harboring a deep, bone-chilling fear of them.
In Lin Miao's eyes, the growth and reproduction speeds displayed by the colony were terrifying. Given enough time, they would only grow stronger.
If the enemies were also aware of this fact, they would never waste time and would surely strike as soon as possible.
“I wonder if there's enough time,” Lin Miao muttered softly.
【Your servants have reacted to your will, but they do not know what that emotion is and are very confused.】
Those goblins, who had once wanted to reap the benefits by exploiting the conflict between the colony and the human forces, were exactly the ones Lin Miao had been wanting to teach a lesson for a long time.
He spoke his thoughts aloud, and this system notification popped up immediately after.
【In response to the Queen Ant's warning, your servants have dispatched more scouting teams and concentrated their hunting forces toward the northwest.】
The colony had also officially begun preparing for war.
The scattered hunting forces were quickly assembled in one place, ready to deploy at any moment;
At the same time, more small ants were sent out on scouting missions, closely monitoring the enemy's every move.
Now, Lin Miao's mutated ant army, including the vastly increased number of venomous ants, had grown into a massive force. If he wished, he could instantly deploy thousands of troops.
“I should make my move as well.”
The corners of Lin Miao's mouth curled up slightly as he also began to prepare for the coming war.
At this moment, in the test tube in his hand, several ants were crawling around. Their bodies were covered in sharp barbs.
If he let the colony absorb the abilities of these ants, known as barbed ants, their strength would surely reach another level.
【Your servants are dealing with the new invaders.】
And the colony had already grown accustomed to the brand-new types of ants Lin Miao introduced into the terrarium.
In order to utilize these invaders as materials to strengthen themselves, they showed no panic whatsoever and immediately launched an attack on the barbed ants.
The hard bodies and sharp barbs of the barbed ants easily brought to mind the armored goblin warriors or human knights who had once given the colony a hard fight.
“So that experience actually turned out to be helpful?”
Watching the colony skillfully spread out their formation, bite onto the limbs of the barbed ants, and dismember them in an instant, Lin Miao couldn't help but smile.
Even with their powerful mandibles, the evolved colony still found hard metal armor to be a troublesome obstacle.
However, through their battles against armored enemies, the colony had accumulated a wealth of experience in dealing with hard-bodied foes, which was why they could subdue these barbed ants so easily.
And now, they too were about to obtain that hard armor and those sharp spikes.
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