The Blood-Scythe Ants’ antennae froze in mid-air, their six legs rooted to the spot, and their scythe-like mandibles parted slightly, revealing the dark-red interior of their mouths.
They were receiving a signal they hadn't felt in a long time.
Su Wan took a deep breath, and her mental power continued to spread.
Command.
【Assemble.】
That signal emanated from her consciousness. Through the pheromones simulated by her mental power, it entered the perception of every Blood-Scythe Ant.
Within three hundred meters, all the Blood-Scythe Ants turned at once.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, like puppets controlled by the same hand.
Six legs moved in unison, surging toward Su Wan’s location.
On the ground, the humus was scraped away by countless claws, revealing the black soil beneath.
Vines were crushed, rubble was pushed aside, and even the thick roots of the great trees groaned under the weight of the crushing swarm.
A blood-red tide converged from all directions.
Su Wan stood in a relatively open clearing, watching the ants pour out from the gaps in the vegetation, piling up layer upon layer in front of her.
Thousands of Blood-Scythe Ants crowded together, their antennae swaying slightly and their scythe-like mandibles opening and closing with a faint, dense rustling sound.
They were waiting for orders.
Su Wan’s mental power acted like invisible threads, connecting to the perception of every ant.
The feeling was strange.
It wasn’t control, but guidance.
It was like commanding a well-trained army; you didn’t need to tell every soldier what to do. You only needed to issue a clear directive, and they would execute it by instinct.
Su Wan retrieved the Shadow Crystal from the system space.
The fist-sized, purple-black crystal appeared in her palm. Inside, a liquid-like substance seemed to flow slowly, emitting a dark and alluring glow.
The light flickered slightly under the gray sky, like a star in the dark night.
The surrounding ants became restless simultaneously.
Their antennae swayed frantically, and their mandibles opened and closed even faster, producing an increasingly urgent rustling sound.
The energy fluctuations emitted by the Shadow Crystal were a powerful stimulant to them.
However, Su Wan’s command suppressed their instincts.
Not a single ant lunged forward to snatch it.
They were merely restless and uneasy, their compound eyes fixed intently on the stone that radiated such an alluring light.
Su Wan ignored their agitation.
She placed the Shadow Crystal on a relatively flat stone slab and took a step back.
【Transport.】
She issued another directive.
A dozen of the largest Soldier Ants stepped out from the ranks.
Their bodies were a full size larger than the ordinary Worker Ants, their mandibles were sturdier, and their carapaces were thicker, gleaming with a dark-red luster in the dim light.
These Soldier Ants cautiously approached the crystal, gently gripping it with their mandibles before turning to head deep into the ant nest.
Su Wan’s mental power followed them all the way down.
The main tunnel of the ant nest was spacious and deep, its walls covered in fine scratch marks—traces left by countless ants crawling day after day.
The air was humid and sweltering, thick with the scent of soil, rot, and pheromones, creating a unique atmosphere exclusive to the ant nest.
Carrying the crystal, the Soldier Ants traveled down the main tunnel, passing several junctions, bypassing the Brooder Room and the Storage Room, and finally arriving at the deepest part of the nest.
It was the Core Chamber where the Queen resided.
The chamber was large, covering over a dozen square meters. The ceiling was dome-shaped, and the four walls had been polished smooth by the swarm.
The Blood-Scythe Queen’s massive body loomed in the center of the chamber, her abdomen bloated like a ball, and her six thick legs were buried deep in the soil.
Her body writhed slightly as she continuously produced white ant eggs from her tail, which rolled into a pit specifically designed for brooding.
The newly produced eggs piled up like a small mountain in the pit, their surfaces shimmering with a warm luster. One could faintly see the outlines of developing larvae inside.
A few Worker Ants were busy at the edge of the pit, using their antennae to gently nudge the eggs, adjusting their positions and orientation to ensure each egg received the proper temperature and humidity.
Su Wan’s perception settled on the Queen.
Since losing the Swarm Command ability, the Queen’s state had changed significantly since Su Wan’s last visit.
Her body was no longer as tense as before, her six legs were slightly relaxed, and the rhythm of her abdominal contractions was much slower.
The invisible sense of oppression that had once shrouded the entire swarm had vanished.
However, the Queen had not fallen into chaos.
Her antennae swayed slowly in a steady, rhythmic frequency, each movement accompanied by an extremely faint release of pheromones.
Those pheromones were like invisible threads, connecting every Blood-Scythe Ant inside and outside the nest.
Su Wan could clearly perceive that although the actions of the Worker Ants, Soldier Ants, and guards scattered throughout the nest were no longer as perfectly synchronized as before, they still maintained a basic order.
The Worker Ants in the Brooder Room were still tending to the larvae, those in the Storage Room were still organizing food, and those in the Waste Disposal Area were still clearing refuse.
Patrol teams moved back and forth through the tunnels, and guards stood watch at key positions.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Su Wan’s heart stirred slightly.
This was the Queen’s other ability—Pheromone Perception.
The Blood-Scythe Queen could perceive the location, status, and number of her swarm within a thousand-meter radius, coordinating and directing the overall actions of the colony.
Although she had lost the active ability to command the swarm, the Queen’s sensory capabilities remained.
She could sense the position and status of every ant and receive the messages they transmitted through pheromones.
The Worker Ants, Soldier Ants, and guards, while no longer absolutely obedient to her every command, still instinctively acted according to the “information” the Queen transmitted via pheromones.
It wasn't a command, but guidance.
It was as if the swarm had lost its brain, but the nervous system was still functioning.
Every ant was a node in this nervous system, connecting and coordinating with one another through pheromones to maintain the operation of the swarm together.
Su Wan withdrew her thoughts and issued another command through her consciousness.
【Guard.】
The dozen Soldier Ants placed the Shadow Crystal in a hidden nook beside the Queen and then formed a circle with their bodies, sealing the nook tightly.
Their antennae swayed slightly, their compound eyes scanned the surroundings alertly, and their scythe-like mandibles parted slightly, ready to tear apart any creature that dared to approach.
Su Wan then mobilized even more Soldier Ants.
One hundred, two hundred, three hundred...
The sturdiest, thickest-shelled, and sharpest-jawed Soldier Ants converged from all parts of the nest, arranging themselves in layers around the perimeter of the Core Chamber.
They blocked every tunnel leading to the Core Chamber, set up sentries at every junction, and placed ambushes at every corner.
The entire Core Chamber was surrounded by the swarm, sealed so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.
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