Looking at the scene on the screen, Lin Miao couldn't help but mutter under his breath, “Capture them alive to interrogate them for information... Telling them that is completely useless, isn't it? Seriously.”
The ant colony, which now completely overwhelmed the goblins in sheer numbers, slaughtered them in the blink of an eye.
Naturally, the goblins had fought back desperately. Huddling close together, they frantically brandished their weapons in an attempt to hold out.
But they were like grains of sand swept away by a tidal wave, completely crushed in an instant under the onslaught of the ant colony.
Thrust spears were blocked by the ants' massive mandibles. Then, another worker ant would scramble over its companion's body to pounce, pinning them to the ground with its forelegs before tearing them to pieces with a single snap of its mandibles.
This was a complete and utter slaughter. Void of any mercy, they ripped their prey's bodies apart alive, shredding them into clumps of minced meat.
If Lin Miao could precisely command the ant colony's actions—even for the most minor details—he would have had them spare a survivor to interrogate for the crucial information they currently lacked.
But unfortunately, concepts like capturing prisoners and interrogation simply did not exist for the ant colony.
In their eyes, once something was deemed an enemy, there was only one outcome: attack, and then turn it into food.
“No! Great Venerable Night Moon!”
The last remaining goblin captain finally lost his grip on his sword. As the ants swarming from all directions tore his limbs apart, he let out a shrill shriek before taking his very last breath.
Once the battle was over, the ant colony naturally treated the hunted enemies' corpses as a fresh batch of rations and began carrying them back to the nest.
Watching this play out, a wave of complex emotions welled up in Lin Miao's heart. Just how long have they been doing this sort of thing?
Whether it was the goblins' terrified reaction upon seeing the ant colony, or his own awakening as a god through his role as their keeper, it all suggested that the colony had been repeating this kind of hunting behavior in the otherworld for quite some time.
Even if Lin Miao had miraculously gained the ability to fully control the ant colony's behavior, the fear and hostility toward the ants had already spread in that world, and it wouldn't be easily dispelled.
【Your servants are rejoicing in acquiring special food!】
At the same time, the ant colony was extremely excited about obtaining the special food, having clearly gotten a taste of its benefits.
Lin Miao knew very well that the system's notification window had previously explained that 'special food' referred to food containing magic. The bodies of those goblins clearly contained this power.
Naturally, this food—which was far more special than the fish food and mealworms he provided—was all delivered directly to the queen and the larvae.
【They have awakened a power entirely different from magic.】
Seeing this notification, which was slightly different from the previous ones, Lin Miao froze for a moment and let out a soft grunt of confusion. “Huh?”
Just as the queen devoured the meatballs made from the goblin corpses, the system's pop-up notification changed, mentioning a brand-new power.
What on earth is going on here?
Filled with confusion, Lin Miao scratched his head and sighed softly.
Since he couldn't just ask the ants directly, he could only keep observing them to figure out what the difference actually was.
In his mind, Lin Miao questioned the system, “What kind of power did my servants actually obtain?”
The system immediately provided an explanation:
【Servants directly influenced by a god will embark on a path of development and evolution completely different from their original species.】
Only then did Lin Miao realize that so-called servants were never just entities that received a god's commands.
Simply by becoming a god's servants, they had already gained the qualification to evolve.
As Lin Miao casually shoveled down a makeshift lunch, he turned this sentence over in his mind while constantly switching the screen's perspective to observe the ant colony's every move.
In other words, even if these ants that had become his servants looked no different on the outside, they were already completely different from ordinary ants on the inside.
【Influenced by the magic absorbed earlier, a brand-new servant has been born!】
The best proof of this was the newborn worker ants that had just chewed through their pupal cases and hatched.
Looking at the appearance of the newborn ants on the screen, Lin Miao couldn't help but gulp, crying out in his heart, How did they grow so big?
They had seemed unusual even during their pupal stage. Now that they had hatched, they were a full one and a half times larger than the original worker ants beside them.
A faint, eerie blue luster gleamed across their pitch-black bodies, and their exoskeletons appeared much harder than those of the original ants.
With just a single glance, one could tell they were brand-new individuals that had completed a round of evolution.
【The newborn servants possess a magic sensitivity far superior to previous servants. Their emergence will further strengthen the hive mind.】
As soon as these evolved individuals appeared, they began driving changes across the entire colony.
It wasn't just that their bodies grew larger and harder; from the moment they emerged, the actions of the entire colony began to shift bit by bit.
Even Lin Miao could clearly see that their movements had become more precise and highly coordinated as a collective.
Whether it was repairing the nest and fortress, processing food, or precisely transporting provisions to where they were needed, all of their activities were noticeably faster than before.
Could they keep evolving like this in the future just by eating prey?
To make future comparisons easier, Lin Miao began recording their behaviors while letting his imagination run wild with the possibilities.
The emergence of evolved individuals was solely because they had absorbed magic through their food.
Lin Miao didn't know if this was a normal part of biological evolution or an ability unique to these ants, but even to a layman like him, this capability seemed so absurd it was practically like a cheat code.
Moreover, an ant's generational cycle wasn't particularly long to begin with.
【They crave more food.】
With the expansion of the colony's size and the appearance of the evolved individuals, the ant colony naturally required more food to sustain its operations.
Lin Miao tossed more mealworms and fish food into the terrarium than usual.
While food containing special power that could evolve their offspring was important, the worker ants' staple diet still consisted almost entirely of the items Lin Miao provided.
As long as Lin Miao kept supplying basic food, the colony wouldn't have to waste effort searching for sustenance elsewhere. This allowed them to pour all their saved energy into expanding and developing the colony.
So just by feeding them, I've actually become the key figure supporting the entire ant colony.
At that thought, Lin Miao couldn't help but chuckle.
Though it was just simple feeding, what he was doing was clearly a crucial task that sustained the operations of the entire ant colony.
Rate on N.U.
