Cheat Ability (Part 2)
Although the first ant that successfully had an impact died, Xiang Kun's experiment found the right direction.
Next, he set his sights on the ant species he had encountered in the mountains and forests—the Pseudo-caryopsis ant—and began to make continuous attempts.
In the first few times, he was in a "Hyper-Sensory State" and used "Super-Linked Object" to continuously influence a single ant, causing some changes in its body and habits, and was able to begin to guide its behavior to some extent.
But none of these ants lived for long; the longest one survived was only three hours after the transformation before it disappeared.
Then, relying on his interpretation of cognitive information under "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun finally succeeded in bringing an ant into the "Super-Sensing Item System" after more than ten attempts.
It's unclear whether this ant was too unintelligent or its integration method was too crude and direct, but its connection with Xiang Kun was very weak, and it didn't have the same close feeling as it did with "Gold Glitter" and "Egg Pie".
However, after the ant was integrated into the "Super-Sensing Item System", it became much easier for Xiang Kun to influence it, and he could also give it various commands more clearly.
Of course, these instructions are still limited to where to go, what to eat, and what target to attack—relatively simple and direct types.
But Xiang Kun clearly sensed that the ant still had a strong sense of panic. Unless it was given orders, it remained in a near-manic state, constantly trying to attack other creatures around it.
After discussing it, Xiang Kun and Lao Xia concluded that it was probably related to the characteristics of ants. All ants live in social groups and have a very strong social instinct.
The large worker ant of the Caryopsis spp. that he established contact with, although greatly different from its original species under Xiang Kun's modifications, still instinctively tries to find a new colony to fulfill its duties. And clearly, Xiang Kun has not yet found a way to erase this instinct.
Xiang Kun's solution was simple: find a queen ant, establish contact with her, and bring her into the "Super-Sensing Item System" to create a simple ant social system, giving the worker ant a "queen" to guard.
Since there are Carobronchioides spp. in the forest, there must be a queen of Carobronchioides spp. For Xiang Kun now, there is virtually no possibility that he will not find any creature he wants in the forest.
In this season of continuous spring rain, he is confident that he can bring down anything that crawls on the ground, burrows underground, or even flies in the sky, within a certain range.
Xiang Kun didn't spend much effort and quickly found the ant nest, captured the queen ant, and, with his existing experience, quickly established a connection with the large-bottomed, arched-backed ant queen, integrating it into the "Super-Sensing Item System".
To be honest, he didn't quite understand why he had failed at catching so many animals, but succeeded with ants.
Xiang Kun didn't continue exploring the ants' special characteristics for the time being. After establishing contact with the queen ant, he placed the previous worker ant next to her, and soon its condition stabilized.
Xiang Kun's control over the queen ant was much easier and more effortless than his control over the worker ants.
Xiang Kun originally controlled the queen ant so that the worker ants could regain a sense of belonging to their social group, but unexpectedly, the queen ant gave him a very big surprise.
Just like with the worker ant, Xiang Kun also used "Hyper-Sensory State" and "Super-Linked Object" to influence the queen ant, causing a significant change in its form, and even causing it to regrow wings for flight.
After being caught by Xiang Kun and making contact, the queen ant and the worker ant were separated from their original colony and taken by Xiang Kun to a self-built house he temporarily rented in Chongyun Village, where they were kept indoors.
Both the queen ant and the worker ants have a very large appetite, and their size increases rapidly. The queen ant has reached the size of Xiang Kun's thumb, while the worker ants are almost the size of his little finger.
The queen ant quickly began laying eggs. There were many eggs, and they hatched very quickly. The hatched ants all had wings, making it difficult for Xiang Kun to distinguish whether they were colony ants or "flying worker ants" that had grown wings like the queen. After all, he had not given the queen any instructions to lay eggs; this was her own initiative.
But Xiang Kun soon learned that these winged creatures were not colony ants, but "flying worker ants".
In addition to these winged, flying worker ants, there are also some very small worker ants, about the size of a grain of rice. These worker ants are also somewhat different from the original Pseudocarpus spp.
After sensing the queen ant's intention, Xiang Kun released the newly hatched worker ants outside. He then discovered that these "flying worker ants" had a strong ability to fly, and if you didn't look closely, you would mistake them for flies or bees.
Those "worker ants" move very quickly on the ground, and they know how to squeeze into holes and crevices, and they also have a strong digging ability.
Standing in the yard, Xiang Kun could clearly sense the location of the worker ants even without relying on his own senses, and he could also obtain some environmental information about the vicinity of the worker ants.
However, he did not obtain this information directly from the worker ants. He had no direct contact with them; he obtained it through the queen ant with whom he had established contact, and he also needed to indirectly issue tasks to the worker ants through the queen ant.
These worker ants act like weak sensory probes, relaying information through the queen ant.
The sensory information transmission between Xiang Kun, the queen ant, and the initial worker ant that established contact was almost impervious to distance and had no transmission delay. However, the information transmission between the "flying worker ants," "small worker ants," and the queen ant was clearly not conducted through the "Super-Sensing Item System."
Xiang Kun had not yet figured out the principle of information transmission between them, but through observation and experimentation, he was certain that this was not the original way ants transmitted information, but rather more like the "conversion branches" and "Reconstruction Branch" that the "mutant spider" he killed in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone had created everywhere.
It seems that, without his knowledge, he had granted the queen ant, to some extent, the ability to create special plants through the modification of her "Hyper-Sensory State".
The queen ant does not achieve this ability through grafting or reconstructing plants, but rather through laying eggs, which her worker ants then use to perform the corresponding function.
They likely transmit information remotely over short distances through individual nodes, eventually converging on the queen ant.
Currently, due to their limited numbers, the content and distance of information they can transmit are very limited, far less than Xiang Kun's own sensory abilities.
But Xiang Kun could foresee that once these special worker ants reached a certain number, they would be able to cover a large area, just like the "mutant spider" that set up "branches" all over the forest for guarding.
Moreover, these "worker ants" clearly have many other applications besides sensing information.
After establishing a stable connection, Xiang Kun asked Lao Xia, who was studying the ants with him, to name the Lao Xia and the first worker ant.
Without any hesitation, Lao Xia named the two ants "Zero Zero One" and "Zero Zero Two". The worker ant was "Zero Zero One" and the queen ant was "Zero Zero Two". It was simple, direct and easy to remember.
What Zhou Rui found on the back of a chair by the roadside on the pedestrian street was actually one of the "flying worker ants" produced by "Zero Zero Two," which Xiang Kun had brought to the town.
After noticing that Zhou Rui, Mi Qiao, and Gao Shu were among the people who came to the store for lunch, Xiang Kun had an idea: he wanted Zhou Rui to "discover" a "flying worker ant," realize that this worker ant was different, and take it back to study.
Although the Research Base and laboratory that Lao Xia helped him set up are under construction and some equipment has been ordered, it will still be a long time before they are completed and put into use. Moreover, even if they are completed, he and Lao Xia will still lack a lot of relevant professional knowledge, and the equipment will not be complete.
If "Shenxing Technology" is interested in that "flying worker ant" and conducts research on it, it will definitely be able to obtain many research results that he and Lao Xia are currently unable to obtain.
He still has many questions about how his actions specifically changed the ants.
Research and observation were conducted by Zhou Rui and Dr. Fang's team, who were able to obtain relatively timely feedback through the Black Circle Graffiti around Mi Qiao.
When necessary, they can even be guided in their research direction through Dream Within a Dream approach.
Their research on "flying worker ants" should also provide some insight into their research methods on "Mutated Creature".
Anyway, the "flying worker ants" haven't established direct contact with him, so there's no need to worry about them finding out about him.
He was initially worried that Zhou Rui might not notice the unusual nature of the "flying worker ant." If it was ignored, he would have to find time to deliver it to their residence near Wushu Mountain.
Fortunately, Zhou Rui lived up to his "ant enthusiast" label and astutely spotted one of the eight "flying worker ants" that Xiang Kun had placed on the pedestrian street.
Behind Xiang Kun, Xia Libing also got up from the dining table, took a bowl of hot soup and sipped it while leaning over to his side and looking out the window.
She slurped down the soup in her bowl, exhaled a puff of hot air, and then asked, "Did it succeed?" With her eyesight, she naturally couldn't see Mi Qiao, Zhou Rui, and the others who had already gone far away, but Xiang Kun had just told her his plan and purpose, which was a plan she had agreed to.
Xiang Kun looked down at a "flying worker ant" resting on the back of his hand and said, "Zhou Rui caught one and brought it back. Tonight, let's explore Mi Qiao's dream and see what their attitude is towards this worker ant. Is Zhou Rui going to study it himself, or is it his team? Have they reported it to their superiors?"