Chapter 85: Chapter 085: Earnest Admonition from the King (Part 2)
(The release time is noon at 12 o’clock. Sorry, I got it wrong. I’ll post one free Chapter first, and the rest will be updated at noon.)
On the left bank of the mountain stream,
Thirty Large Soldier Ants, arranged in groups of three, fanned out in a line, searching downward. As soon as they discover prey, they immediately relay the information back.
The other Soldier Ants are divided into five major combat clusters,
The first, second, and third combat groups are each composed of thirty Specialized Soldier Ants, five per small group, responsible for besieging large prey.
The fourth and fifth combat groups consist of five Specialized Soldier Ants and twenty-five Medium Soldier Ants each. The Specialized Soldier Ants carry the Medium Soldier Ants while marching, cooperating to hunt small insects and small animals.
Giant Cypress walked in the center of the ant army, constantly receiving information sent back by the Scout Soldier Ants ahead, assigning combat teams to strike in an orderly manner.
Dragon Cypress led Spiked Cypress, along with Worker Ants and Blue Ants, following behind the ant army.
"Great King, why are we bringing so many Specialized Worker Ants?" Spiked Cypress asked.
"That question should be for me to ask you..."
Dragon Cypress’s tentacles twitched, scolding angrily, "Even such a simple question can’t get through your head?"
"I get it... let me think..."
Spiked Cypress realized he was about to get hit again and bolted away.
He dashed into the forest, and after a while, came back carrying a toothless mole.
"Great King, please have some meat!"
Dragon Cypress understood then—teaching Spiked Cypress patiently is useless, hitting him doesn’t help either. He sighed helplessly and gently guided, asking, "What if we can’t finish all the food we hunt?"
Spiked Cypress: "We brought twenty Specialized Blue Ants!"
Dragon Cypress asked, "What if the Blue Ants get full and can’t run anymore?"
Spiked Cypress suddenly realized and said, "Great King, I get it now! The Specialized Worker Ants are for digging ant nests. We’ll dig a temporary ant nest at the foot of the mountain, so the Blue Ants can refine food and rest inside the nest while waiting."
"Correct!"
Dragon Cypress said, "Spiked Cypress, remember this hunting route. In the future, just follow the stream and small river to hunt for food."
Spiked Cypress: "I’ve got it..."
Dragon Cypress asked again, "What if the Specialized Blue Ants are full and can’t run, how do we get the food back to Xianglan Mountain Ant Nest across the Origin Force vacuum area?"
Spiked Cypress thought and probed, "Great King, maybe let the Specialized Blue Ants carry a bit less? Or use Medium Blue Ants and let Specialized Soldier Ants carry them."
Finally showing some cleverness.
Dragon Cypress twitched his tentacles and said, "Currently, we don’t have enough Medium Blue Ants in the ant nest, so we only brought twenty with us this time. Later, I’ll increase that number to fifty."
"Every time we go on long-distance hunts, we can also bring twenty to fifty Specialized Blue Ants, letting them carry only a fifth of their capacity so running speed won’t be affected. If we hunt too much food, we can have the Specialized Blue Ants temporarily stay in the nest here and make several runs to carry it back."
"Understood! Great King, you’re so wise!"
Spiked Cypress praised sincerely.
Turns out, there are so many things to pay attention to when hunting far from home. He never considered any of them, but the Great King had thought through everything before setting out.
...
...
...
Giant Cypress commanded the ant army, sweeping down along the stream all the way to the foot of the mountain.
Dragon Cypress observed the terrain, studied the geology, chose a steep slope, and ordered the Specialized Worker Ants to start digging.
The Soldier Ants brought over their catches—there were all kinds: earthworms from underground, chicks from treetops, tiny just-hatched locusts, and even...
Giant Cypress’s personality was the opposite of Spiked Cypress. He was cautious to a fault, always fearing for the safety of the Soldier Ants, so the largest prey caught was only a toothless mole.
The Ant Army swept through, seizing every edible animal—even crabs hiding in rock crevices were dug out.
Large Worker Ants stepped up to dismember the carcasses, chewing them to feed the Blue Ants.
The Blue Ants began refining the food, storing it in their abdomens.
"Giant Cypress, get back here!"
Dragon Cypress shook his tentacles to summon him.
"Stop—"
Giant Cypress waved his tentacles in response and ordered the scouting Large Soldier Ants in front to halt.
"Giant Cypress, you’ve done well! Take a rest."
"Spiked Cypress, it’s your turn. Command the Worker Ants to continue, follow the river, and sweep through the forest on the left bank. Remember my warning—not to provoke any large prey that might cause Soldier Ant casualties. Also, don’t spread the sweep range too wide or the Medium Worker Ants might get separated from the group."
"Understood! Great King, rest assured!"
Spiked Cypress was full of confidence, his energy high. He waved his tentacles flamboyantly, rallied the Soldier Ants to assemble, line up, and set out.
"Giant Cypress, you did well."
Dragon Cypress started by praising, then changed tone, "If it was wild hunting, your command would be great. But if our territory was invaded, you can’t be so conservative. You also can’t care so much about Soldier Ant casualties. Territory safety is above all else."
"I understand..." Giant Cypress answered apprehensively, both tentacles not knowing where to put themselves, swinging around aimlessly.
Dragon Cypress: "..."
Dragon Cypress’ heart twitched, asking, "Giant Cypress, did Spiked Cypress threaten you?"
Giant Cypress: "No..."
Dragon Cypress: "If he dares bully you, tell me—I’ll smack him to death."
"No..."
Giant Cypress was a bit frightened, lowering his head and knocking his forehead to the ground, tentacles drooping.
Seeing this, Dragon Cypress sighed helplessly. With a flick of his tentacle, he called, "Giant Cypress, come with me. I’ll quiz you and see how well you know wild plants."
Dragon Cypress assigned the Blue Ants to continue refining food and rest on the spot, and had the Specialized Worker Ants keep digging. Twenty Large Worker Ants cooperated to move soil.
He led Giant Cypress, following behind the Ant Army, observing Spiked Cypress’s command and hunting.
"Giant Cypress, what plant is this?"
Dragon Cypress tapped gently with a tentacle, pointing at random.
Giant Cypress was at a loss. Afraid.
Dragon Cypress: "Wood Callicarpa."
Dragon Cypress briefly introduced, "Most plants in the Callicarpa family are shrubs or small arbors, but Wood Callicarpa is a Great Tall Tree. However, its fruit is like other Callicarpa, very small berries—edible, but hard to eat."
Giant Cypress: "Got it..."
Dragon Cypress: "I knew Spiked Cypress didn’t teach you properly, or maybe he hasn’t learned it himself. Giant Cypress, you need to study hard. Wild mountain berries are also one of our Ant Nest’s important food sources."
Dragon Cypress twitched his tentacle, pointed at another bush, "Giant Cypress, what about this one? Do you recognize it?"
Giant Cypress mustered his courage, "No, I don’t."
Dragon Cypress: "Some kind of Honeysuckle, probably Hairflower Honeysuckle. Blooms late spring to early summer, spherical berries with bright red fruit. They ripen from late summer to early autumn. We can collect and refine Ant Honey from them; the taste is average."
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid once spent lots of time researching the taste of Ant Honey refined from various edible wild berries in the mountain forests.
They taught it to Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress, so they could also lead the Worker Ants or Soldier Ants to gather during the season, enriching the Ant Nest’s food variety and reserves.
...
By mid-afternoon, Spiked Cypress led the ant army to sweep the area to where the spring stream meets the river.
"Spiked Cypress!"
"That’s enough, bring the game back to the Ant Nest first."
Dragon Cypress waved his tentacles to call out.
"Understood, Great King."
Spiked Cypress shook his tentacles vigorously, gave the order, and the ant army regrouped and lined up neatly, carrying food, heads held high, returning the way they came.
"Great King, how did I do?" Spiked Cypress ran up, looking for praise.
"Very good."
Dragon Cypress paused, then said, "Last time, you and Round Cypress were right—spring is the season when all things grow, so we shouldn’t over-hunt."
"Let the Soldier Ants rest. I’ll take you and Giant Cypress to familiarize yourselves with all kinds of plants. Once the temporary ant nest here is finished tomorrow, we’ll return to the mountain."
"Let’s finish off the stored food first. At the end of spring, I’ll bring you and Giant Cypress here again, and we’ll go downstream along the river for a large-scale hunt."
"Understood, Great King!" Spiked Cypress answered loudly.
Giant Cypress: "I understand too..."
Dragon Cypress paused for a few seconds, then said gravely, "Actually, I’ve always hesitated about whether to come hunt here. The main reason is..."
Dragon Cypress lifted his forelegs and pointed toward the distant Divine Force Barrier, "On the other side is the Ten Thousand Nations Continent, a land inhabited by fierce and warlike Ant Clans and Bee Clans. What I fear most is, if some Ant King or Bee King sends a team over here to search for rare plants or something, and then discovers our trail..."
"Especially if they discover Xianglan Mountain, realize it’s rich in Origin Force, and even has the Divine-Given Seed. That would be catastrophic for our Kingdom!"
"Our neighbor is a Patterned Fierce Ant Kingdom called ’Lychee Ant King’, it’s Lord-Level. Just by sending a single Soldier Ant, it could wipe out our whole Kingdom..."
Giant Cypress was so scared his legs went weak and he trembled all over.
Even Spiked Cypress was a little shaken, and nervously asked, "Great King, what should we do then?"
Of course, Dragon Cypress wasn’t about to tell him that the Patterned Fierce Ants have no size differentiation, and Lord-Level Worker Ants can’t get here anyway.
Dragon Cypress was quite satisfied with Spiked Cypress’s reaction. Even though he’s a bit reckless and dim, at least he knows fear.
Dragon Cypress reassured, "But there’s no need to worry too much. The Ant Kings on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent are usually busy—planting in spring, irrigating in summer, harvesting and storing food for winter in autumn. Only in winter do they have leisure, and might send Worker Ants over to this side of Cloud Trace Continent to explore. We should ban hunting in winter to avoid running into them."
Dragon Cypress: "If we do encounter them, don’t hesitate—run. But never flee towards Xianglan Mountain. Lead them south... keep running south; the end of the south is the ocean. With our current marching speed, it will take 15 to 20 days to reach the seaside. Try to shake them off along the way, and I’ll come looking for you later with the Dominating Throne and bring you back."
ps: Sorry everyone, I got it wrong. The release time is noon at 12 o’clock. Here’s one free Chapter first.