As the spoils of their victory in the war, the ant swarm obtained abundant food and absorbed power from it.
Unlike Lin Miao, who was weighed down by worry, the swarm, having feasted to its heart's content, naturally wanted more.
They were simply that kind of existence.
Insatiable, fearless creatures that only knew endless devouring.
【The Queen Ant believes that now that high-quality food has been obtained, maintaining the original system is an inefficient choice.】
“In the end, she's just urging me to help.”
Lin Miao chuckled softly at the Queen Ant's thoughts.
Through the prey captured in this war, the Queen Ant had obtained enough magic power and holy power to mass-produce mutated species.
This meant that now that she had obtained a large amount of resources, it was only natural for her to want to upgrade her technology tree further rather than simply expanding her numbers.
In fact, the Queen Ant now had the confidence to do so.
Having completed her second evolution, the Queen now possessed the power to prey on insects other than ants and absorb their abilities.
However, Lin Miao was the only one who could provide them to her.
Let's do an experiment.
Actually, Lin Miao was also highly interested in this and filled with curiosity.
Did the Queen Ant's trait after evolving from Tier 1 to Tier 2 really allow her to prey on all insect lifeforms, just as the description said?
From common insects found everywhere around humans, to giant, face-sized monstrous insects dwelling abroad.
The variety was countless and vastly different.
If she could devour and fully absorb them all, the swarm's abilities and strength would surely reach an extraordinary level.
I used to only feed them as fodder, but let's see what happens this time.
The first things Lin Miao tossed in were a few mealworms, which he had always fed to them as fodder.
Then, he watched closely to see if these ants could actually absorb the corresponding ability from these insignificant mealworm larvae.
【Through Predation, the Queen Ant has absorbed the prey's ability. The Queen Ant plans to transplant the prey's digestive capacity to the swarm, allowing them to ingest more food.】
“It worked!”
The prompt that popped up next, combined with the Queen Ant rubbing her face with her forelegs as if highly satisfied with this meal, foretold that the swarm was about to become even stronger.
Lin Miao couldn't help but grin, quickly grabbing his jacket and putting it on.
There were insects everywhere outside.
Although many ferocious bugs came to mind, for now, Lin Miao planned to start with the insects he could find around him and test them one by one.
I'll give them as many as they want.
Lin Miao's role was to be the one who provided them with choices.
As for how to combine these choices reasonably to breed the optimal army, that would be left to the Queen Ant and the swarm.
“Speaking of which, it's almost pitiful.”
While pondering what to start with, the first place Lin Miao went was the flower and bird market near his home.
Whenever he passed by in the past, Lin Miao had noticed that they sold pet insects there.
And what he bought back from there was none other than the larva of a rhinoceros beetle.
Lin Miao's original intention was to give the swarm a massive body and a sturdy shell like a rhinoceros beetle.
“It's really huge.”
The rhinoceros beetle larva that Lin Miao pulled out of the container was on the verge of pupation. It was thicker than his finger and extremely large.
【Your servants have fallen into a panic due to the appearance of a giant enemy.】
Just by putting it into the terrarium, the system popped up a notification that the swarm felt panicked upon seeing that giant body.
And no wonder. Compared to the mealworms he had fed them before, the rhinoceros beetle larva tossed in this time was practically a colossal behemoth.
Its body was several times larger than the ants. Even if he brought over the largest mutated soldier ant in the current swarm, it would look tiny in front of it.
Perhaps only the Queen Ant, who had already grown to the size of a small hamster, could compare to it.
【Your servants have begun to dismantle the new prey.】
However, this poor rhinoceros beetle larva, which had been forcibly dragged out, possessed absolutely no combat capability.
What's more, the ones swarming from all directions, frantically stinging with venomous stingers and tearing at its flesh with their mandibles, were mutated species several times stronger than ordinary ants.
The larva only managed to squirm and struggle a few times before being slaughtered alive, then processed into a meatball and delivered to the Queen Ant.
If such a huge insect appeared in that world...
Watching the Queen Ant devour the meatball, Lin Miao couldn't help but swallow.
Even ordinary worker ants without mutations were already beasts comparable to wild wolves in that world.
The soldier ants were even capable of serving as siege weapons and chariots. If they started mass-producing forces with the size of rhinoceros beetles, they could completely be used as tanks.
“Hmm?”
【The Queen Ant has fallen into confusion while analyzing the rhinoceros beetle.】
But things did not go completely smoothly.
The Queen Ant, who had been preying on the larva alone, suddenly spat out what she had eaten. At the same time, a notification popped up indicating that she was confused and at a loss.
【The Queen Ant deeply feels that her own growth level and that of the swarm are insufficient to analyze this giant prey.】
The Queen Ant was not an all-powerful computer.
This meant that her ability, which needed to expand from just ants to the entire insect spectrum all at once, had to be unlocked step-by-step. The rhinoceros beetle was a prey she currently could not conquer.
Moreover, the swarm's own capabilities had to be considered.
Even if the Queen Ant could create a rhinoceros beetle-level individual, the cost required to maintain and nurture it would have to be borne entirely by the swarm.
As long as the actual strength of the swarm as a whole did not grow, theoretical upgrades were meaningless.
So she wants me to keep trying.
Seeing this, Lin Miao felt a sudden surge of stubborn competitiveness.
In any case, there were plenty of prey he could find for them; they were everywhere.
He would just catch test subjects one by one and throw them in—subjects that could help the swarm and that the current-level Queen Ant could prey on and absorb without any pressure.
【The Queen Ant feels the limit of her own strength; with her current level, the types of prey she can consume are simply too few.】
“Isn't this quite interesting?”
Conducting this experiment in the small terrarium in his living room was truly a lot of fun.
To be precise, Lin Miao now had to provide them with test subjects that could achieve the optimal conditions and highest efficiency under the swarm's current limitations.
How much benefit would there be in throwing in a cockroach?
Hearing the faint screams of the woman next door whenever she saw a bug, Lin Miao shook his head.
There were many choices, but opportunities were limited.
The swarm had already evolved into mutated species that broke through the limits of ordinary insects.
Throwing in mediocre prey would yield very little benefit and only waste opportunities for nothing.
Every choice had to be made with absolute care, and this was something only Lin Miao could do.
“...Actually, I've felt for a while now that they really need wings.”
Hard exoskeletons, massive sizes, stronger toxins, faster mobility, vitality, and so on.
There were many abilities to consider, but in Lin Miao's eyes, what the swarm needed most right now was the ability to fly.
For some reason, even though the Queen Ant had wings, she had never created winged soldier ants.
Perhaps they themselves felt they didn't need the ability to fly, or perhaps, in the process of awakening as servants and evolving into mutated species, they had completely forgotten about it.
Even if they couldn't fight while flying, it didn't matter.
Even if they could only do aerial reconnaissance, the information they could gather would be vastly superior.
And Lin Miao, who could see everything they saw and even more, would also benefit.
“Giving them flies right from the start is a bit...”
As the weather gradually warmed up, flying insects became more common around, but Lin Miao completely ignored them. His focus was on wasps.
They possessed an ecology similar to ants and could even fight in the air if necessary.
“Tiger-head hornets, huh? I should be able to get some this season.”
Since he was going to throw them in, Lin Miao decided to start with the strongest individuals among them.
He didn't need to personally run out into the mountains and fields just to catch tiger-head hornets to use as fodder.
After all, in this day and age, as long as one had the internet and money, anything could be accomplished.
“You should be able to eat this, right? Even if it's a tiger-head hornet, it's still smaller than you, after all.”
After ordering the tiger-head hornets, Lin Miao hung up the phone and chuckled at the Queen Ant in front of him.
Even though there were some limitations at the moment, he didn't mind.
Having met and observed the swarm until now, the only thing Lin Miao could be sure of was that they never had a set, correct answer, let alone a so-called limit.
As long as I feed them slowly, as long as it's within their capacity, they will naturally produce results, just like now.
If their current strength was insufficient, then accumulating more food and experience in the future would be enough.
When the time came, they would surely use it as nourishment to break through their limits and evolve once again.
Rate on N.U.
