Once the car registration was complete and all that remained was waiting for the notification to draw a license plate number, Zeng Shen drove his Wuling RV toward the Trade Building to meet Li Yuqing and the others.
But not long after he set off, a notification sounded in his ears.
[The host passed the botanical garden without disturbing the powerful intelligent race and exotic beasts here. Survival points +10.]
"Oh, right. There's an intelligent race here. I've got nothing else to do, so I might as well take a look."
As he spoke, Zeng Shen sent Li Yuqing a message saying he had something to take care of at the botanical garden. Then he parked outside its main entrance, bought a ticket, and headed inside.
The botanical garden was huge, with many rare and unusual trees more than a hundred years old.
On weekends, the place was crowded.
But it was Tuesday, and there weren't many people in the garden.
"I wonder where that intelligent race is."
Zeng Shen wandered around the botanical garden for over an hour without finding any detailed information on the intelligent race the system had mentioned.
"The pine grove is up ahead. That's the last section. If I still can't find them, I'll have to turn around and search again."
Muttering to himself, Zeng Shen headed toward the pine grove. As he approached an ancient pine, a notification he hadn't heard in a while sounded in his ears.
[Warning, warning. The host is approaching the intelligent race, the Mightyfolk. With the host's current strength, taking another step will result in capture by their tamed beasts and eventual consumption as food. Please leave immediately.]
"Huh? No way. These pine trees are the intelligent race, the Mightyfolk?"
Zeng Shen felt a little bewildered.
If these ancient pines were the Mightyfolk, there was no way he could communicate with them or turn them into believers.
After all, people couldn't even communicate with someone in a vegetative state, let alone a tree.
On one of the ancient pine's needles, a jet-black ant raised its head toward Zeng Shen. He happened to spot it and reached out, venting all his frustration on the black ant as he pressed down on it.
A danger warning immediately sounded.
[The host killed a tamed beast belonging to the tier-four Mightyfolk chieftain, the ant queen: a tier-two exotic beast, a Swift Ant Beast. Gained 10 survival points. With the host's current strength, failure to flee immediately will result in encirclement and capture by her tamed beasts and dependent clan. Please escape as soon as possible.]
"What? The Mightyfolk chieftain is an ant queen? Could the Mightyfolk be a bunch of ants instead of these ancient pines?"
Hearing the notification, Zeng Shen immediately thought of a possibility and looked around the ancient pine for an ant nest.
Soon, he spotted a pyramid-shaped mound of earth, piled knee-high, about a meter behind the tree.
The mound was covered with tiny holes, and numerous ants busily crawled in and out of them.
Zeng Shen's eyes lit up, and he cast Eye of Observation on it.
[Mightyfolk nest]
"Haha, just as I thought! That ancient pine isn't a Mightyfolk. The ants in this nest are the intelligent race occupying the botanical garden."
Zeng Shen was delighted.
If the ancient pine had been an intelligent being, even transplanting it back home would have been difficult. Ants, however, would be much easier.
But Zeng Shen didn't immediately plan to move the ants in this nest back home.
First, he returned to a question he had considered earlier: once he brought this ant nest home...
How would he communicate with the queen in the nest, make her submit to him, and have her lead the colony into becoming his believers?
"Should I buy an ant enclosure now, identify the queen and all the male and worker ants that will become intelligent beings, then pack them into it and take them away?"
At that thought...
Zeng Shen glanced at the faith on his status panel-421 faith points-and rejected the idea.
Judging from the mound this nest had built, the colony contained at least several thousand ants, and possibly hundreds of thousands.
Besides, trying to examine so many ants one by one to determine which were intelligent beings and which were exotic beasts...
That was nothing but a pipe dream. He might as well take the entire colony.
Zeng Shen frowned in thought. The most reliable method would still be to start with the queen.
As long as he could make the queen fear him, submit to him, and worship him as her master...
Then he could have her order all the ants to submit to him and establish him as their god, turning them into his believers, right?
But how could he communicate with the queen?
"Would the Beast-Taming Book work? I could tame her... No, Beast Taming doesn't work on intelligent races, only exotic beasts..."
Suddenly, Zeng Shen stopped mid-sentence, and his eyes lit up.
"Why didn't I think of it? I can have the soldier ants that evolve into exotic beasts pass my demands on to the queen!"
At once, Zeng Shen cast Eye of Observation on a few relatively large worker ants near the mound.
[Intelligent race: Mightyfolk] [Aptitude: Ordinary] [Tier 2: 0/1000] [Name: Unnamed.] [Skills: Not awakened.] [Believer: No faith] [Mood: Wary] [Analysis: All worker ants in an ant colony are female, and this worker ant is no exception. She is hardworking and obedient, naturally as beautiful as all the other female ants, yet possesses a trace of extraordinary strength.]
"Why is the analysis giving me a science lesson? Who does it think I am?"
"Who doesn't know that apart from those few males, all the other ants-the workers-are female? It's practically a kingdom of women."
"Wait."
"How did an ant I picked at random turn out to be an intelligent being? Could this nest have more intelligent beings than I imagined?"
"If so, I've hit the jackpot."
"As long as I win over the queen, all the gorgeous, adorable ant girls in this colony will belong to me alone in the future."
Zeng Shen's eyes gleamed, but he quickly snapped out of it.
"Pfft. What am I thinking?"
"Keeping up with Li Yuqing every day is already wearing me out."
Muttering to himself, Zeng Shen cast Eye of Observation again, this time on another ant that looked a little larger.
[Insect-type creature: Swift Giant Ant Beast] [Aptitude: Ordinary] [Tier 2: 0/1000] [Name: Unnamed.] [Skills: Not activated.] [Believer: No faith.] [Mood: Anxious] [Analysis: An insect-type creature commanded by the Mightyfolk ant queen. She is anxiously relaying the signal emitted by her dead companion to the queen.]
"You're the one."
Zeng Shen immediately cast Beast Taming on the Swift Ant Beast.
[Congratulations, host. Beast taming successful. Acquired pet: Swift Ant Beast. Casual believers +1. Survival points +10.]
"All right! Got her on the first try."
As he spoke, Zeng Shen tried sending her a mental command to come to his feet.
"Come here."
The black ant immediately left the mound and crawled over to his feet.
"Spin around."
The black ant began turning in circles on the spot.
"You're very obedient. From now on, you'll be my number-one general. Your master grants you the name Blackie."
After amusing himself for a moment, Zeng Shen grew serious and gave an order. "Go relay this message to the queen: come out, submit to me, believe in me, and obey my commands, and she'll have endless delicious food. Otherwise, she'll face the wrath of a god."