The moment the queen ant was killed, Long Qian immediately began trying to control the army ants. He had initially thought his ability was quite useless, but fortunately, heaven had taken pity on him. At this time, the insect swarms all over the world began to mutate, and his ability was precisely to control insects. Moreover, he controlled insects within an entire range, and the number was not a significant factor. Now, as long as he could successfully control the desert army ants, Long Qian would become one of the top ability users on Earth.
Long Qian then began his attempt. Previously, he had been unable to control these army ants. Even if he controlled a portion of them, the rest would immediately kill the controlled ants. However, this time, Long Qian tried again, and the result was immediately different. This was because the army ants no longer resisted being controlled; instead, they allowed themselves to be controlled by Long Qian, and millions of army ants fell into Long Qian's hands.
Previously, Long Qian had witnessed the power of so many army ants. When countless army ants appeared, no animal could resist them. Furthermore, there were no particularly powerful mutated beasts in the cactus forest. Now, by controlling countless army ants, Long Qian had gained immense combat power.
Shen Feng soon heard the voice from the walkie-talkie. Long Qian excitedly said to Shen Feng, "Quickly retract your tornado. I've already controlled these army ants. Don't attack them. These army ants are now my subordinates."
Before, Long Qian wished for as many army ants to die as possible because their existence was a huge threat. However, at this moment, Long Qian had also discovered that these army ants were his loyal subordinates. If his subordinates suffered heavy casualties, his combat power would also be affected.
After hearing the words from the walkie-talkie, Shen Feng immediately reacted, controlling the tornado on the ground to slowly dissipate. However, he still had a question: "What about the meteorite? Don't forget our real objective. If we can't find the meteorite, all our efforts will be meaningless!"
Long Qian immediately replied, "Don't worry, I've already found the meteorite. However, you need to be prepared, because this meteorite is actually different from the meteorites in the sea, as this meteorite glows."
"Glows? Does it contain radioactive elements?" Shen Feng was shocked and immediately began to inquire. Ordinary stones do not glow, but there are a few types of stones in nature that do. One type is stones containing fluorescent substances; the legendary night-shining pearls are made of this material. Another type is radioactive substances that emit light. When encountering such stones, one must leave as soon as possible, otherwise, they would die.
"I don't think it's a stone containing radioactive elements. I'll retrieve the stone later. After all, these army ants are now under my control, so retrieving a stone is not a big deal," Long Qian replied.
Long Qian did not believe that the stone contained radioactive elements. If it were truly radioactive, the queen ant would not have been able to sense danger and would not have brought the meteorite back to the cave as a light source.
Next, Long Qian began to exert his ability. His first command to the controlled army ants was to bring out the glowing meteorite from underground.
Thus, the numerous army ants immediately began to act. The meteorite had been painstakingly brought underground, but now it needed to be retrieved. The army ants naturally had no complaints. After being controlled, their actions were entirely directed by Long Qian, as if Long Qian were their true king.
The army ants began to dig in the ground and underground, excavating the yellow soil to retrieve the glowing stone from underground.
Shen Feng also descended from the sky at this time, preparing to see the true appearance of the meteorite. Shen Feng had previously found a meteorite containing extraterrestrial elements in New Guinea. His black long sword was forged from meteoric iron, so upon seeing other meteorites, Shen Feng could quickly determine whether they were useful.
When Shen Feng landed on the ground, the army ants had already placed the meteorite on the ground. He then observed it closely and found that the meteorite appeared semi-transparent, solid, and resembled very old glass, with its interior completely indistinguishable.
Long Qian also arrived from a distance and saw Shen Feng examining the meteorite. He then said, "This meteorite truly glows underground, but it's daytime now, so the light is not very obvious. Mr. Shen, I told you I wasn't lying, did I?"
Shen Feng could also sense that the meteorite did not contain radioactive elements. As for the light emitted by the meteorite, it was not harmful; it seemed to be merely a cold light source.
"This thing doesn't seem to contain extraterrestrial elements, but for the sake of caution, let's take it back for material analysis. If it contains extraterrestrial elements, we'll split it equally. If it's just an ordinary meteorite, I'm not interested at all," Shen Feng said.
Shen Feng's search for meteorites was solely for extraterrestrial elements. However, if the meteorite they obtained did not contain extraterrestrial elements, Shen Feng could only choose to give up. A useless meteorite was too much trouble to carry back, so why bother?
After completing the mission of killing the queen ant, Shen Feng and Long Qian prepared to return. Long Qian was overjoyed. Even if the meteorite contained nothing, he had obtained over a million army ants. The combat power of these army ants was not to be underestimated. From now on, he could expand his kingdom, and even leave the cactus forest to obtain more resources from the outside world.
Upon returning to the city, the two immediately announced their victory. Afterward, Shen Feng had people conduct material analysis. Shen Feng only wanted to know if the meteorite contained extraterrestrial elements. Meanwhile, Long Qian needed to hold a celebration banquet to announce his power to the city's inhabitants.
However, at this moment, an unexpected piece of news spread through the city: Atuya and a man had gone missing!
Atuya was Wang Feiying's fiancée. They had just gotten engaged not long ago, but within a few days, his fiancée had run off. Wang Feiying had been undergoing treatment recently and was unaware that his fiancée had eloped with someone else. Someone immediately reported this matter to Shen Feng.
When Shen Feng heard this, he was furious. His disciple had reluctantly agreed to a marriage alliance to secure the meteorite for him, but now this woman was ungrateful and had eloped with another man. If Wang Feiying found out, where would his pride be?
Therefore, Shen Feng directly borrowed a group of people from Long Qian and set off to apprehend the two eloping individuals.
When Long Qian learned of this news, he also felt that his reputation was at stake. He had not expected such a thing to happen. He had recommended someone to Shen Feng's disciple, yet this woman did not know how to repay him and had eloped with another man at this time. It was as if she were saying to Long Qian, "Your judgment of people is poor."
Long Qian initially wanted to help. If he used his ability, countless bees could fly into the sky, and no matter where Atuya ran, she could be easily found. However, Shen Feng refused.
Shen Feng's reasoning was simple: "This is a minor matter, I'll handle it. Besides, if you intervene, many people will know about it, which will have a very bad impact on Wang Feiying's reputation. So, I'll handle it. You should continue with the celebration banquet. I will bring the people back."
Shen Feng did not want his disciple to be cuckolded. Any normal man could not tolerate his wife's betrayal. Shen Feng also wanted to resolve this matter quietly at this time; making a big fuss would be counterproductive.
Shen Feng then set off with his men. Someone had seen Atuya and a man heading south towards the cactus forest, so Shen Feng led his men in pursuit. Shen Feng flew in the sky, while ordinary soldiers walked on the ground, armed with firearms. As soon as they caught the two eloping individuals, they could act.
Shen Feng flew in the sky, and from his vantage point, it should have been easy to see the situation on the ground. However, the cactus forest was quite dense at this time, making it difficult to see the ground. Fortunately, the local soldiers accompanying Shen Feng had rich tracking experience. After discovering footprints, they searched rapidly and indeed found two sets of footprints on the ground. They followed the footprints.
Finally, the two individuals who wanted to elope were caught up. The soldiers held their guns, shouting as they pursued, "Stop running! Hurry back with us!"
As the man led Atuya to escape, he roared, "We are truly in love, don't try to break us apart!"
"Bang," the man's words were answered by a hot bullet. When the bullet hit the man's chest, Atuya was stunned by the scene. She never expected the man she deeply loved to die like this.
Shen Feng descended from the sky. Upon seeing this scene, he could only shake his head helplessly. He hadn't expected these soldiers to act so decisively, killing the man upon first encounter.
"Take her back! Take the body with you as well, don't leave it in the wild for animals to eat. Find a place to bury it," Shen Feng said to the soldiers after landing.
Upon hearing Shen Feng's instructions, the soldiers rushed forward, bound Atuya, and took her back. As for the man's body, they dragged him by one leg towards the city.
This place had a religious faith, and women were heavily restricted. Generally, an engaged woman who eloped and was caught would be subjected to a whipping and paraded through the streets. However, the situation was special now. This humiliating punishment was waived, but in its place, the adulterous partner was shot dead.