Shen Feng had a walkie-talkie on his waist. If anything unusual was discovered on their side, they could contact Shen Feng through it. Shen Feng was currently intently watching the ground, ready to strike and kill the queen ant the moment she appeared.
However, Shen Feng had been observing for a long time without seeing the queen ant. The queen ant was much larger than ordinary army ants and was white, making her easily distinguishable from the other ants. But with over a million army ants in the current swarm on the ground, and only one queen ant among them, she was simply not visible on the surface.
Fortunately, besides Shen Feng observing the army ants, other eyes were also watching the ground from the sky. The areas constantly flying in the sky were all Dragon Qian's eyes and ears. These bees possessed extremely strong eyesight, and Dragon Qian would be informed the moment the queen ant was spotted.
"My King, I have been leading countless army ants outside for a long time. Have you discovered the queen ant yet?" A message suddenly came from the front line. It was from an esper responsible for luring the army ants, who could no longer hold on. He was driving a very fast off-road vehicle, constantly emitting pheromones.
Logically, with the presence of the car, his speed should have outmatched the pursuing army ants. However, the roads in the cactus forest were too rugged, preventing the off-road vehicle from fully utilizing its speed advantage. Whenever he wanted to accelerate, he would encounter turns, forcing him to slow down. Once his speed decreased, the army ants behind him would rapidly catch up. These army ants seemed to never tire.
The off-road vehicle's engine was overheating, yet the ants, upon smelling the pheromones, continued their pursuit, convinced that the running figure ahead was a delicious meal.
Upon hearing the report from his subordinate, Dragon Qian fell into deep thought. After a good while, he said, "Hold on for another hour. If the queen ant hasn't appeared by then, I will have to take action."
The queen ant's intelligence was clearly much higher than that of ordinary army ants. Ordinary army ants would immediately go into a frenzy of pursuit upon smelling pheromones, but the queen ant could remain hidden in the nest. When encountering danger, she would know that it was not safe to stay outside and would not leave her burrow, regardless of what happened outside.
For the upcoming battle, Dragon Qian spoke into the walkie-talkie to Shen Feng, "Mr. Shen, the ant nest is currently empty. The mantises I've cultivated are extremely powerful and can directly infiltrate the ant nest. However, army ants will surely return during this time. Mr. Shen, you must hold back these ants and prevent the queen ant from receiving reinforcements."
Shen Feng's role at this moment shifted from the main damage dealer to support. He only needed to hold back the lured army ants. The crucial task of killing the queen ant would still fall to Dragon Qian.
Dragon Qian retrieved a box from his vehicle. Inside this box was a mantis. This was no ordinary mantis, but one trained for combat, and it was also enormous, as thick as an adult's arm. After Dragon Qian unleashed his esper ability, the mantis immediately flew into the sky.
Mantises are not insects adept at flight, but short-distance flight is not a problem for them. Mantises generally feed on other insects, and their forelegs, equipped with a pair of pincers, are their sharp tools for hunting.
The mantis quickly found a relatively large opening nearby and burrowed directly inside. Coincidentally, some army ants were active there. After killing prey outside, these army ants were bringing the dissected meat back to the nest for storage, only to encounter the controlled mantis.
The mantis showed no mercy to the mouse-sized army ants. In an instant, the mantis's pincers struck, and the ants at the entrance were brutally dismembered. Even after death, their antennae and six legs continued to twitch.
Next, the mantis charged towards the depths of the burrow. Along the way, many ants attempted to block the charging mantis, but without exception, all of them were dealt with in a single move. The mantis's attack speed was inherently very fast; in all martial arts, speed is paramount. The mantis continued its charge, directly reaching the deepest parts of the ant nest.
The queen ant also sensed that something was amiss at this moment. She could feel that an enemy had entered her nest, and if she didn't block them quickly, she would also be in danger.
Ants are absolutely social animals, and within army ants, the hierarchy is strictly enforced. Once the queen ant issued an order, the army ants outside received the message and began returning towards the entrance to rescue their queen. Army ants cannot exist without their queen; if the queen dies, the army ants will gradually perish. Only the queen's existence can maintain the population of army ants.
However, fate is unpredictable. At this moment, ten tornadoes suddenly appeared on the ground. These tornadoes were relatively small and not very large in scale, nowhere near the level of world-ending destruction. However, they were more than enough to deal with the army ants. One by one, the army ants were swept into the sky by the fierce winds, flying continuously and unable to land.
These tornadoes did not appear out of thin air. The person who created them was, of course, Shen Feng. Once the massive tornadoes appeared on the ground, the ants were completely unable to move. To preserve their safety, they could only form spheres. However, once army ants formed a sphere, they lost their ability to move.
When facing powerful tornadoes before, the army ants had formed spheres to prevent themselves from being blown away by the strong winds. But now, the army ants were disregarding the tornadoes in the sky. Even at the risk of being blown away by the strong winds, they had to quickly return to their nests.
Countless army ants were swept into the sky and then violently thrown to the ground. However, as soon as they landed, the army ants would sprint towards the nest without stopping. With such actions, quite a few army ants managed to rush into the burrow.
Seeing this, Shen Feng could only shake his head helplessly. The range of the army ants' burrows was too vast, and he couldn't possibly cover every area. It was easy for many army ants to enter the nest unintentionally.
"Dragon Qian, I've done my best. The rest is up to you. You must find the queen ant within a short time." Shen Feng then informed Dragon Qian of the situation. He was already doing his best to resist the returning army ants, but the effect was not very significant.
"Don't worry, the mission is almost complete. I see a glowing cave! This must be the queen ant's lair!" Dragon Qian exclaimed excitedly at this moment.
The mantis, controlled by Dragon Qian, spotted the light in the distance. How could there be light deep underground? Although he didn't understand it, the mantis quickly flew into the glowing cave and then saw a giant queen ant inside.
The queen ant's obese body made it difficult to move. There were no worker ants in the burrow, so the queen ant couldn't escape. Even if she wanted to escape, she wouldn't be able to evade the mantis's swift claws.
What surprised Dragon Qian the most was not finding the queen ant, but discovering a glowing stone on the ceiling of the cave. This stone emitted a soft light, resembling a luxurious chandelier. The stone looked very strange, with many bubble-like patterns, as if it had been melted by high temperatures.
"It's a meteorite! But why does this meteorite glow? Could this meteorite not be from the same source as the meteorites in the sea?" Dragon Qian was very puzzled upon seeing the meteorite. He knew about the meteorites in the sea; those extraterrestrial meteorites in the ocean did not glow.
However, this was not the time for confusion. The most important thing at this moment was to deal with the queen ant. Only by killing the queen ant could Dragon Qian successfully control the remaining army ants and resolve the crisis facing the city.
The mantis quickly attacked the queen ant. Although the queen ant was the leader controlling the entire ant colony, her own strength was too poor. As long as a powerful enemy approached, the queen ant would be easily killed.
The mantis swung its pair of pincers, immediately slicing the queen ant into three pieces. But immediately after, countless army ants also entered the cave. The enraged army ants swarmed forward and tore the mantis into pieces. However, the queen ant was gone, which meant their future was also gone.
"From now on, I can successfully control so many army ants. My strength has finally taken a leap!" Dragon Qian was extremely excited.
Dragon Qian was very excited. Although he was a scion of a prominent family, he was born to a concubine and was usually not given much attention. He had always dreamed of becoming extremely powerful, which was why he was so envious of espers like Shen Feng and Gong Changfa in the past. Their abilities were far superior to his.
But now, Dragon Qian no longer needed to envy anyone else, because his strength had made a great leap. From the moment he controlled over a million mutated army ants, the entire cactus forest became his domain, and he could move unimpeded within this forest.