【Your servants are collecting as much loot as possible.】
The ant colony that had clashed with the goblin main force was naturally affected by the hive mind as well.
In other words, inheriting Lin Miao's will, they had fallen into a state of absolute frenzy.
Lin Miao watched as the ants relentlessly pursued the goblins, who had finally broken and begun to rout. At the same time, the majority of the colony remained behind, swiftly gathering loot, prompting him to sigh with emotion.
“Even in a situation like this, they still make sure to collect the loot.”
That loot was, of course, the corpses of the goblins they had just defeated.
The colony was well aware that these goblins, whose bodies contained the unique power of magic power, were precious resources that could accelerate their evolution.
Although the magic power within a single goblin was negligible, when accumulated in such vast numbers, it was by no means a small amount.
Those carefully processed and rapidly transported corpses back to the nest were like precious keys to unlocking their future.
【The Queen Ant is urging for more food.】
The one who craved this loot the most was none other than the First Generation Queen Ant, who had already begun to break free from the shackles of ordinary organisms and ascend to a higher plane.
Since she had realized that constantly gathering ultimate nutrients into herself would allow her to evolve even further, her craving for these nutrients was only natural.
【The colony also realizes they must invest massive resources into the Queen Ant.】
The Queen Ant's growth and contributions up to this point had not been in vain.
The entire colony recognized this, tirelessly delivering the highest quality food to the Queen Ant.
“She's eating non-stop.”
Lin Miao watched the screen as squads of worker ants continuously delivered processed goblin corpses into the Queen Ant's mouth, murmuring to himself.
The flesh of what had once been goblin warriors, shamans, and even tribal chiefs was selected as premium food reserved exclusively for the Queen Ant.
【Having absorbed abundant magic power, the Queen Ant has evolved once more.】
【During the evolutionary process, she was strongly influenced by magic power, and her power has begun to take on a demonic inclination.】
“Already at the third stage?”
In the dead of night, seeing the sudden system prompt pop up, Lin Miao's sleepy eyes instantly snapped wide open, staring intently at the Queen Ant's appearance on the screen.
Stripped of armor and other useless clutter, then chopped into bite-sized pieces—it was already impossible to count how many goblins the Queen Ant had consumed.
Fueled by this massive quantity of food, the Queen Ant, who had completed her third evolution, finally achieved an unprecedented breakthrough, her physical form and intellect taking a qualitative leap.
【The Queen Ant has decided to produce new queens to restore the colony, while aiming for higher goals.】
“So she doesn't plan on being a mere egg-laying machine anymore?”
Lin Miao looked at the Queen Ant on the screen and raised an eyebrow.
The First Generation Queen Ant was now covered in an exoskeleton that gleamed with a faint purplish-red luster, her appearance undergoing an earth-shattering transformation.
Yet, physical changes like her once-massive abdomen flattening to resemble a worker ant's, and her legs becoming longer and more slender, were minor details.
The most shocking thing was that the Queen Ant officially declared she would no longer focus on laying eggs.
【The Queen Ant deems focusing on egg-laying to be inefficient.】
The First Generation Queen Ant claimed she would abandon egg-laying, the most core responsibility of the colony, and announced that she would resolve the issue of species reproduction by producing new queens.
“She wants to become an irreplaceable, unique existence in the colony.”
Lin Miao was surprised by her blatantly obvious intentions.
The Queen Ant intended to redirect the massive energy required for egg-laying toward other purposes: namely, the modification and control of the entire colony.
For the mutated ant colony that had become Lin Miao's servants, this was undoubtedly a major turning point.
The core functions of predation and egg-laying, previously concentrated in the First Generation Queen Ant, were beginning to differentiate into distinct individuals.
Now that this division of labor was complete, the colony would surely be able to fulfill their respective duties more faithfully through a more efficient supply of nutrients.
【The Queen Ant has gained insights from previous battles. She wishes to breed soldiers with an entirely new appearance, requiring greater combat power.】
“Is it because of the beastkin? Their strength was indeed shocking.”
Lin Miao quietly responded to the system prompt.
The First Generation Queen Ant immediately set to work modifying the individuals of the colony, breeding them based on all the data she had accumulated so far, as well as the genetic information gathered through predation.
Until these eggs fully hatched and grew, Lin Miao would have no way of knowing what form of ants would emerge from the eggs the descendant queens would lay after receiving this information.
【The Queen Ant looks forward to new ants falling from the sky.】
“Are they even prompting me now?”
Lin Miao couldn't help but chuckle as he read the prompt.
Since the colony was fully aware that everything falling from above the terrarium brought them immense benefits, it was only natural for them to look forward to it.
Of course, at the moment, it was purely a simple expectation, as the concept of a “conscience” did not exist for them at all.
When food and new ants fell from the sky, they would simply accept them all, and then instinctively express their gratitude—nothing more.
Lin Miao was well aware of this fact, so he merely smiled with a hint of indulgence.
“Well, it's not like it's for anyone else. Ultimately, this is all for me.”
Lin Miao thought to himself. He had already decided what kind of assistance he would provide to the colony next.
He took advantage of a break during work, taking a detour in his car to pick up a test tube containing some newly sourced ants from a seller.
“What kind of ants are so expensive?”
Lin Miao couldn't help but complain in his mind as he looked at the few worker ants inside the test tube.
He had paid a hefty sum for just these few ants.
Because the species he was looking for this time was legally banned from being kept as pets, making them not only difficult to find but also requiring a higher price.
“Isn't it ridiculous? What era are we in, yet they're making such a big fuss over a few ants...”
Lin Miao recalled the words of the seller, whom he had easily found online to complete the transaction, and shook his head.
The seller's attitude seemed to mock the country's laws for getting in the way of his business.
“Monsters are rushing out of the contaminated zones and making a mess of the cities, aren't they? Instead of worrying about ants, they'd be better off taking back the occupied lands.”
The seller had shaken his head, complaining that the regulators had no real ability yet made the process so troublesome.
Lin Miao listened to these words without saying a thing.
Since he had already obtained what he wanted, there was no need to say anything more. Besides, he was technically colluding with the seller now anyway.
The seller had once teased him, saying that taking only a few worker ants without a queen wouldn't achieve anything.
“Does that guy really think I just want to observe ants? Well, technically speaking, it is observation. I've gone to a lot of trouble for you guys, so now it's time to get to work.”
Lin Miao placed the ants from the test tube into the terrarium, murmuring to himself as he watched the swarming worker ants instantly surround and slaughter the newcomers.
He had specially sourced and prioritized these ants for his servants—they were leafcutter ants, famous for their farming abilities.
【The Queen Ant has discovered new information from the preyed-upon new individuals.】
Just as Lin Miao had expected, the Queen Ant, having consumed the leafcutter ants, successfully unlocked a brand-new ability for the entire colony.
...
In the end, despite suffering some losses, the victorious colony was rapidly recovering its strength, planning a brand-new future to grow even larger and stronger.
Meanwhile, the defeated side did not even have the strength to pick up the pieces.
“Chief...” a goblin shaman spoke in a weak voice, looking at Karon beside him.
“Shut up and move! We don't know when those monsters will catch up. We must retreat to a safe place first and establish a new stronghold there.”
Karon tightly clutched his bandaged arm, gritting his teeth and barking sharply at the subordinate shaman's words.
I've lost everything. No, not quite everything, Karon thought, gritting his teeth in fury.
The direct confrontation with the ant colony had ultimately ended in an absolute, crushing defeat.
Although they had fought to the death, killing over a thousand ants and demonstrating impressive potential, that was all the final result amounted to.
The goblin joint coalition, which had united all the goblins in the region across three tribes, had completely collapsed. Chiefs like Durkan and Adon had also perished under the merciless onslaught of the ant colony.
The only surviving chief was Karon, who had fled a step ahead.
“Chief, everything we had was taken by those monsters. What do we do now?” a goblin warrior asked, his voice filled with despair as he looked at Karon.
“No, let's not fight those monsters anymore. We can't win!” another goblin soldier screamed in agreement, trembling all over.
By Karon's side, only the remnants of his original tribe remained. Even including the survivors from the other two tribes, their numbers were few. His dream of once ruling the region had completely shattered.
What was worse, regardless of their status, they had all been thoroughly crushed by a profound terror.
Fight those ants that were like crazed killing machines again?
Just surviving was already a miracle; doing so was simply impossible now.
“Calm down. The great Venerable Night Moon will surely guide us.”
Karon unconsciously looked up toward the sky.
He firmly believed that, just like when he first awakened his intelligence, Venerable Night Moon would once again show him the way.
“Damn it... Damn it!”
However, Karon had no idea just what kind of anger and panic the deity watching over him was currently experiencing.
To provide the correct answer, He still needed more time.
The Divine Net forum was a system available to awakened deities. Subordinate to the Divine Net, it was an exclusive communication network where all deities could interact anonymously.
As the god of the goblins on the Terra continent, Nicolas, known as Venerable Night Moon, was one of the users of this system.
[Venerable Night Moon: Whoever you are, say something! Ant deity causing trouble in the northeastern part of the Terra continent, follow the rules!]
Furious, Nicolas left a post on the Divine Net forum.
The content of the post was precisely about the mysterious monsters clashing with a portion of his servants, the goblin forces in the northeast.
[Goddess of Light: What is he raving about now?]
A comment quickly appeared beneath the post.
Looking at the comment, the veins on Nicolas's forehead instantly bulged, and he immediately posted a reply in counter.
[Venerable Night Moon: That deity, whoever they may be, has violated the rules. They refused a declaration of war and rejected basic proposals for negotiation, launching an attack directly.]
[Earth God: I think I understand what this is. I recall seeing a similar post not too long ago.]
Beneath Nicolas's counter-post, comments continued to pile up one after another. After all, Nicolas was not the only one who knew of the existence of this ant colony.
[Goddess of Wisdom: You sent a message through the Divine Net, but you were ignored from the very beginning? There is only one possibility: that fellow had absolutely no intention of listening to you. No, they probably couldn't even hear it.]
Just as Nicolas was frantically cursing the deity of the ant colony—Lin Miao—someone appeared, clicking their tongue as they revealed a harsh truth to him.
[Earth God: It must be an Outer God. Those rootless, wicked outlaws who reject the rules of the Divine Net and cause wild chaos.]
Outer God. Seeing this term, Nicolas's eyes instantly widened.
They were crude, gloomy, profound, and dark existences who rejected cosmic order in pursuit of chaos—Outer Gods that even the deities themselves had to constantly guard against and band together to keep in check.
Sure enough, this identity perfectly matched those terrifying, slaughter-machine-like servants.
[Venerable Night Moon: Since it's confirmed to be an Outer God, shouldn't we gather all our forces as quickly as possible to subjugate it?]
[Goddess of Wisdom: That is a problem to be resolved in the world you are currently active in. Go and convince your competitors. If you can manage it, that is.]
Yet, even with things having reached this point, not a single deity was willing to immediately extend a helping hand to Nicolas.
After all, the Terra continent He was currently on remained a place where countless deities continuously competed and fought to seize hegemony and claim it as their own territory.
“These damned bastards... I intended to keep the vast northeastern lands as an important source of resources for the future...”
Nicolas looked at Karon's rapidly shrinking tribe on the screen, letting out a heavy sigh as he shook his head.
He had thought Karon was smart enough to be of great use, but now all His plans were completely disrupted.
In stark contrast to Karon's desperate hope for divine assistance, Nicolas planned to temporarily withdraw from the northeast and turn His attention to other regions.
He reckoned that since He had already issued a warning, those who were even more anxious would be the first to lose their patience and make a move.
Rate on N.U.
