【The Queen Ant sensed that the power contained in the food she consumed was completely different from the types of power she already possessed. She instinctively absorbed and utilized that power.】
This was the core ability the colony had obtained when they awakened as servants: Predation.
This ability was far more than mere devouring; it allowed them to completely absorb and thoroughly analyze what they consumed, dismantling and reorganizing it to make it their own.
An ability so absurdly overpowered that even Lin Miao, the master of the colony, found it shocking, yet these ants were utilizing it instinctively and masterfully.
【The Queen Ant confirmed that the newly absorbed power possesses the property of amplifying other powers, and utilized it to accelerate her own growth.】
The moment the system notification refreshed, Lin Miao looked at the text on the screen and muttered to himself, “Amplification?”
Lin Miao suddenly recalled the scene of the priests utilizing holy power to strengthen the soldiers and paladins. The Queen Ant was instinctively employing the exact same logic to complete her own reinforcement.
Because of this, the Queen Ant completed another molting process, evolving into a brand-new form.
Her body became even more massive, and her appearance gradually broke free from the physical limits of ordinary ants.
Now, in the Queen Ant's private chamber at the bottom of the terrarium, this behemoth had grown to roughly the size of a hamster compared to the ordinary mealworms Lin Miao had thrown in.
【The Queen Ant has successfully adapted and combined the newly absorbed power with her existing powers, deriving a formula to breed powerful individuals with much higher efficiency.】
Having achieved further growth, the Queen Ant displayed the ability to freely mix and blend powers of different attributes.
This meant that as long as the worker ants fed the larvae in precise proportions according to the Queen Ant's design, each newborn individual could achieve faster and stronger targeted growth.
Lin Miao opened his notepad file to edit, adding new observations while correcting some old information. He carefully organized the data on the colony's power system, sorting it out in his mind: magic power, which could unleash immense strength in small amounts but was extremely unstable; blood vitality, which was stable and highly versatile but had slightly weaker destructive force; and holy power, which possessed great scalability and could counter magic power.
Thanks to the colony running around and gathering countless pieces of information—both actively and passively—Lin Miao could rapidly piece together the full picture of that otherworld one step at a time, even without leaving his house.
In particular, as the First Generation Queen Ant, who had grown into the colony's evolutionary monarch, continued to gain intelligence, the system notifications became increasingly detailed, and their refresh rate spiked significantly.
Synthesizing this system information and combining it with the dialogues of the people fighting the colony, Lin Miao could discern many of that world's secrets while just sitting at home.
Yet, a lingering doubt remained in his mind as he pondered: Are these powers actually the same as the power systems I know of?
Carrying this doubt, Lin Miao turned on the television and played a video.
In the video, the most influential man in the Dragon Nation was talking endlessly about the essence of magic power and holy power during an interview with countless media outlets.
Lin Miao stared blankly at the video, the corners of his mouth gradually curling upward. Feeling a deep interest spark within him, he muttered softly, “How can I thoroughly figure out the connection between them?”
In any case, he had known that other worlds existed in this universe ever since monsters invaded Earth twenty years ago.
The otherworld where the colony was currently active, along with the existence of the Divine Net, also made Lin Miao realize that such supernatural occurrences were not uncommon.
If so, there would bound to be overlaps and commonalities between the power systems of different worlds.
Lin Miao firmly believed that the power terminologies automatically analyzed by the Divine Net were by no means a coincidence.
If he could uncover this core secret, he would have another crucial way to assist the colony.
【The Queen Ant instinctively craves a richer variety of food samples.】
【Bloodline Adjustment LV2: Can utilize genetic information obtained from predation to adjust bred individuals and recreate entirely new classes.】
【Current analyzable biological information: Limited to insects.】
Of course, there were more pressing matters at hand.
Having undergone several evolutions, the Queen Ant had finally broken through the innate limitations of her species and seemed ready to prey on entirely new creatures.
Now, she was truly about to transcend the limits of the ant species, transforming into some even more powerful and terrifying existence.
However, whether she could acquire the traits and abilities of other races that were completely different from ants by preying on them remained to be seen.
Lin Miao made up his mind; this was also worth a try to see where the results would lead.
Unfortunately, the sun had already set outside the window, and late night had quietly arrived.
If he wanted to start a new experiment, it seemed he would have to wait until after the sun rose tomorrow.
Thinking of the colony that was continuously breaking through their evolutionary limits with his help, Lin Miao couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement, a long-lost thrill stirring in his chest.
Lin Miao couldn't help but mock himself: Was I always the type of person who enjoyed this sort of thing?
Honestly, putting aside the fact that they preyed on humans without mercy, watching them crawl around in the terrarium and constantly evolve was indeed far more interesting than raising ordinary pet ants.
◆◆◆
“The vanguard was completely wiped out? How is that possible? Does that even make sense?!”
Inside the main tent of the subjugation army's camp, a general slammed his hand on the table, rising to his feet as he roared at the messenger who had brought the news.
The messenger trembled violently, replying with a sob in his voice, “I-It is absolutely true. Fewer than ten people managed to escape the ants' jaws alive.”
While the colony's god celebrated their victory and began drafting blueprints for their future evolution, and while the colony laid a solid foundation for their further evolution at the cost of this victory, on the other side, the main force of the subjugation army was plunged into immense shock and panic upon hearing the news of the vanguard's total annihilation.
They had been preparing to launch a full-scale offensive against the colony's territory, but this sudden disastrous news threw the entire army into a state of panic.
“It's simply unbelievable. Monsters that are immune to holy power actually exist?!”
Baron Radion of the Church of the Goddess of Light—a high priest promoted through the Goddess's blessing—shook his head in disbelief, his face filled with shock.
The news about the gladiator ants brought back by the survivors shocked the entire high command of the subjugation army.
Even if thousands of ants had launched a sudden attack, their well-equipped vanguard should never have ended up completely wiped out.
Especially the clergy from the Church of the Goddess of Light who could wield holy power; even if they were defeated, they should have at least been able to carve out a path to escape.
Baron Radion looked in disbelief at Daniel, who had remained silent the entire time, and questioned loudly, “Does this make any sense? The evil servants of the Outer God are clearly spawned by magic power, so how can they be unaffected by holy power?”
Because according to their calculations—no, according to the oracle they most firmly believed in and followed—ants based on magic power, like all other magical beasts in the world, could not possibly be immune to the counter-effects of holy power.
The moment their greatest advantage, the elemental counter-effect, completely vanished, the entire high command of the subjugation army was inevitably shaken.
The colony was undoubtedly a terrifying enemy with immense combat strength and exceptionally tight organization. Without holy power to offset their advantages, this battle was destined to be extremely difficult.
Sensing the increasingly heavy atmosphere inside the tent, Celia shrank back into a corner, quietly observing everyone's reactions.
Disregarding the fear engraved deep in her soul, she had insisted on following the subjugation army just to witness the eradication of the colony that was destroying the world.
And not long ago, seeing the forces of the Church of the Goddess of Light drive away the ants with holy power had once sparked hope in her, making her think that they might truly be the ones to save this world.
Baron Radion took a deep breath and spoke in a heavy voice, “No one can say for sure what the situation is ahead. Let us temporarily halt the subjugation, retreat the entire army, and thoroughly investigate the background of these monsters afterward.”
Daniel, however, suddenly stood up, gestured for the Baron to follow, and said, “That won't do. Baron, please step over here for a moment.”
He called the Baron, who advocated for halting the campaign and investigating, out of the main tent alone.
Seeing this, Celia immediately thought to herself: Go eavesdrop.
She quietly summoned her familiar. A tiny flying squirrel slipped out of her bosom and stealthily crept into the tent where the two were talking.
From inside the tent, Daniel's voice drifted out clearly: “Since the Goddess has given no special instructions, we cannot back down. Besides, we didn't come here just to kill those monsters, did we?”
Daniel insisted they could not retreat just like this, a stance clearly entangled with undeniable political considerations.
He continued, “We must seize this opportunity to bring this entire area completely under the Church's control. If we retreat with our tails between our legs now, all of our previous plans will go awry.”
Baron Radion's eyes widened, and he snapped back, “Daniel, you are absolutely insane! If anything goes wrong, our entire army will be wiped out!”
Daniel suddenly laughed, his tone turning ice-cold as he said, “Most of them are just commoners and mercenaries recruited from the surrounding areas anyway, aren't they? Considering that, rather than retreating, it might be better if they are wiped out entirely.”
The Baron's pupils contracted sharply, but the smile on Daniel's face only grew wider.
In his eyes, the total annihilation of this ragtag army did not matter at all.
The only thing that mattered was whether they could take complete possession of these northern territories in the future.
What was important was that after this battle, the local residents would beg the Church in tears to take them in. That was the real reason the Church could establish a foothold and expand its influence here.
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