Moving

【*Limited to certain arthropods】

Lin Miao stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at the ability the Queen Ant had acquired through her latest evolution.

“Arthropods?”

In an instant, countless creatures flashed through Lin Miao's mind.

From common spiders and centipedes to crustaceans like crabs and lobsters.

The range of creatures the ants could prey upon had instantly widened by a massive margin.

“No way... If I put a giant centipede in there, wouldn't they become invincible?”

However, the word “certain” in the prefix caused Lin Miao to suppress his excitement.

Even a brief thought made him realize that the category of arthropods was far too vast; the restriction of “limited to certain arthropods” surely existed for a reason.

Even if there were restrictions, it didn't matter.

At the very least, he now had new options, and the ants that consumed these creatures would continuously unlock new abilities and grow increasingly powerful.

【The servants are satisfied with the battle and are temporarily retreating】

In the brutal battle before the high wall, the ant colony ultimately failed to breach it and chose to retreat, but the battlefield was already a gruesome sight.

Countless corpses lay scattered across the ground.

The sections of the high wall damaged in the battle needed to be repaired, and the depleted supplies and physical strength of the soldiers had to be replenished as quickly as possible.

This was an extreme war of attrition.

And just as the colony desired, such battles would continue to play out before the high wall.

Some might argue that the colony, having lost a massive number of ants, suffered losses as well.

But this was exactly the kind of life-and-death war the colony wanted.

Relying on their precise and rapid collective coordination, the colony persistently transported the acquired food and the corpses of mutated individuals back to the nest, whether in the heat of battle or during a retreat.

Regardless of race, they devoured beings possessing special powers, directly absorbing their strength.

Just like the Awakened who were famous for their ability to prey on monsters.

Even the corpses of their own kind were no exception; the colony risked everything to retrieve the remains of mutated individuals for recycling.

But the humans fighting the colony were different; what could they possibly gain from the leftover ant corpses?

Although some would occasionally harvest the ants' sharp stingers and mandibles, that was the extent of it.

“This is terrifying...”

Lin Miao murmured under his breath, his expression stiffening.

To the colony, every single ant was merely a tool.

They were fingernails, claws, and teeth that could be sacrificed at will for the development of the collective.

But humans were different.

As a human himself, Lin Miao naturally understood this.

No matter how strong-willed a person was, as long as they had a heart, they would have weaknesses.

Therefore, in a continuous deathmatch against an ant colony that fought solely on collective instinct and feared no death, only the human side would suffer.

Perhaps this was true for all intelligent creatures, including the beastkin.

This was a gap born from their fundamentally different natures.

...

While the ants attacked the high wall, and the Church of the Goddess of Light under the Goddess Hestia fought desperately to defend it amidst ongoing brutal warfare...

The moving helper set down the luggage as requested and asked, “Are you really going to pack all this yourself?”

“It's no big deal.”

Lin Miao nodded. Since he lived alone, he didn't have much luggage, and organizing everything for the move would take him just a single day.

【The servants are confused by the sudden changes in the world】

The most important item, the ant terrarium, was personally moved into the car by Lin Miao.

Lin Miao placed it in a pre-prepared styrofoam box, covered it with an insulating layer, and carefully drove it to his new home.

【The servants are puzzled by the ground and the movement of the sun, which are different from usual】

【The Queen Ant believes this is the power wielded by the 'presence' that protects them】

The system prompts popping up lately all carried an unusual tone.

To the ants inside the terrarium, Lin Miao's act of moving it was nothing short of the earth shaking and the sun moving wildly across the sky.

It was somewhat amusing just thinking about it.

A swarm of monsters that was infamous and ran rampant in that otherworld was actually trembling in fear because of a single action of his.

Fortunately, the Queen Ant, whose intelligence had increased, made her own deduction, so the chaos wasn't too severe.

The Queen Ant attributed all the unknown changes in the world—or more accurately, inside the terrarium—to Lin Miao, which was indeed the truth.

Even if they felt terror toward inexplicable natural disasters, knowing it was the work of a god would lead them to believe there was a profound meaning behind it.

“Phew.”

Even before unpacking his personal belongings, Lin Miao finished converting the smallest room, which he had selected beforehand, into a dedicated space for the ants.

Knowing very well that the ants he raised were by no means ordinary, Lin Miao busied himself searching online, making phone calls, purchasing materials, and learning how to build things.

Rather than using ordinary metal sheets, he bought thicker acrylic panels to build a much larger enclosure.

Lin Miao placed the old terrarium inside this new setup, which was several times larger than before, and filled the surroundings with soil to create a new environment.

The lid required the most effort.

Unlike before, where he had simply covered it with a makeshift lid, Lin Miao installed a heavy, transparent cover that required considerable force just to pry open a small gap.

【The servants are highly alert to what is about to happen around them】

They seemed to sense that Lin Miao was busy working on something all around them.

But before long, they would understand that all of this was for their sake.

Everything was ready.

Lin Miao picked up an electric drill and bored a hole in the wall of the old terrarium, opening up a passage for the ants to access their new territory.

【In the new territory, the servants recall familiar memories. The ancient memories possessed by the colony】

All preparations were complete.

Lin Miao had not even unpacked a single piece of his personal luggage yet; he just quietly stared at the enclosure.

Receiving the colony's command, the worker ants quickly mobilized and went out to scout.

They continuously waved their antennae, approaching the hole in the transparent wall that hadn't been there before, and peeked their heads out.

As the first worker ant stepped through the hole Lin Miao had drilled, the entire colony welcomed yet another new world.

【The Great One who controls the sky and the sun has created a new earth and sky. The presence protecting them possesses such immense power!】

Even if an individual died, the experience it accumulated would remain within the colony. This was their ability.

There was no need for written records or spoken words.

At this moment, the ant colony was writing its own history.

Looking at the assessment provided by the Queen Ant—the core of the colony—which perfectly matched an ant's perspective, Lin Miao chuckled.

After all, to creatures as microscopic as those in the terrarium, even an ordinary human like Lin Miao was like a great deity.

Even if they were called the minions of doom in that otherworld for reasons unknown, the giant mutated ants were still only the size of a fingernail in front of Lin Miao.

“Now that things have come to this, the deeper their misunderstanding of me, the better. Only then will they be more obedient to my commands in the future.”

Lin Miao's primary goal was to help the colony grow. Since he could not communicate with them clearly yet, he could only assist them by accommodating their desires.

And to achieve this, the most important thing was to figure out what they needed.

From Lin Miao's perspective, what the colony wanted most right now was undoubtedly special food they could continuously consume.

Their only path to gaining power was through predation and devouring, so it was only natural that they were so obsessed with it.

Lin Miao, based on the information he had gathered, opened a simplified map of that otherworld on his phone.

To the south was the region where the human kingdoms lay, controlled by the Goddess Hestia, while to the west lay various factions, including the beastkin.

According to information from the Divine Net forum, the deities entrenched in other regions were currently growing rapidly without any interference.

Even the deity who had supplied Hestia with a large number of golems was one serving under the powerful faction known as the “Empire” across the sea, and that deity was continuously expanding its own servants.

The colony was currently focusing all its efforts on conquering the south, but Lin Miao, who was aware of the deities' existence and intentions, felt it was necessary to start keeping them in check now.

Once the deities formally established their spheres of influence, the colony—which was already regarded as a public enemy—would only face harder battles in the future.

This line of thinking also took into account the colony's trait of growing stronger through combat.

“You want army ants?”

“I recall they're extremely aggressive by nature. They don't build nests and excel at mass migration.”

“That's true. Although the rumors are somewhat exaggerated, they are indeed a terrifying colony.”

Lin Miao found the insect dealer whom he had become well-acquainted with over the past few months.

Though he called himself an insect dealer, he was actually involved in illegal wildlife smuggling as well.

Having grown quite trusting of Lin Miao by now, the insect dealer nodded upon hearing his request. “But these ants can't be raised in captivity. What do you want something you can't keep for?”

“Just like before, one or two will do. Can't you get them even with money?” Lin Miao immediately pressed.

The insect dealer hesitated. “It's not that I can't get them...”

Ultimately, it was all a matter of money. This world was run by money, after all.

Upon hearing the price Lin Miao offered, the insect dealer's eyes lit up. He immediately changed his tune and promised to find a way to get the army ants.

“Would you like to take a look at some other things?”

Blown away by the potential profit, the insect dealer smiled and led Lin Miao to tour his workshop, which was disguised as an ordinary shop.

Lin Miao wanted army ants because if the ants, who had already preyed on locusts, could acquire the migratory and combat abilities of army ants, they would be able to expand beyond the southern region.

Unlike other deities who directly issued commands and bestowed power upon their servants, this was the only thing Lin Miao could do for his ants.

For the ants, who had previously struggled even to clear the area around their nest, their current strength was now more than sufficient.

“Sure, let's take a look.”

Since he had made the trip, he planned to bring back a few more species.

After all, the ants' range of prey had expanded significantly now.

Even within legal bounds, there were all kinds of creatures raised in captivity.

There were plenty of fierce creatures here that could serve as food for the ants, but the time was not yet right.

Lin Miao was confident that it wouldn't take too long for the ants to grow to that level. Their past achievements had already proven this.

Floating on one side of Lin Miao's vision, invisible to others, was a screen.

On the screen, the ant colony was still moving tirelessly at this very moment.

Even with their numbers exploding into the hundreds of thousands, their evolved hive mind ensured their actions were completely free of inefficiency or chaos, strictly following the plan.

Not a single ant was slacking off.

Because of this, their baseline productivity and activity level already held an absolute advantage.