Digging a Base

The unfamiliar environment and creatures gradually convinced Rowan that he had transmigrated again, only this time he was transmigrating along with his insect body.

To his surprise, at this critical moment, a familiar creature suddenly appeared.

Beneath the leaves, those heads that looked like buttocks, the black exoskeleton paint, and the coordinated infantry-tank alert mode all told him that these were the Big-Headed Ant he was familiar with.

"What the hell is going on?"

In an instant, Rowan felt that his newly upgraded "CPU" was overheating.

If he didn't time travel, then it means his dormancy period was unimaginably long—long enough that the outside world had undergone tremendous changes, with species evolving...

But if he did travel through time, it can only mean that the Big-Headed Ant's genetic template is too powerful, allowing it to evolve into an identical species in another place.

Having been exposed to a lot of movies, Rowan also wondered if aliens were conducting experiments, and whether there might be unknown human factors involved.

The film also sparked speculation about whether there was a lost continent inhabited by these strange species, which later grew in strength and conquered other continents...

My thoughts and guesses are piling up, and my mind is a complete mess.

Rowan shook his head, forcing himself to calm down.

This situation might be a good thing for him now; a diverse species means a diverse genetic makeup. Given a little time to recover, Rowan believed he would eventually uncover the truth.

He quietly approached the green stream, searching for his target. The Worker Ant carrying leaves were not his prey. Only the Super Giant that roamed around the colony, covered with small Soldier Ant, were worthy of being his feast.

These creatures, whose entire bodies are made of protein, only need a few to fill Rowan's stomach.

The small Soldier Ant crawling all over them are a bit annoying. If they aren't cleared away in time, he might get entangled, which would be quite troublesome for him, being all alone now.

While these Super Giant used to have smaller Soldier Ant on their bodies for guard duty, there weren't nearly as many as there are now.

But looking at the small birds circling above them, Rowan had some guesses.

We have now entered the era of all-round, three-dimensional warfare, so carrying more air defense units on our backs is understandable.

Rowan actually possessed a group attack skill perfectly suited to the current situation, but this talent brought back some unpleasant memories. However, he couldn't worry about that now. Although he had temporarily suppressed those thoughts, they still put him under considerable pressure and created a sense of crisis.

Pheromones camouflage and Optical Camouflage are activated simultaneously.

A Super Giant Big-Headed Ant was on patrol when suddenly a cloud of white mist rose from its side, followed by a barrage of liquid bullets, carrying high temperatures and strong corrosiveness, spraying towards it.

The devastating attack inflicted severe damage on it immediately, but thanks to its size, it survived despite the serious injuries.

But the smaller combat units on its back weren't so lucky. Rowan was huge, and those few shells were plentiful and plentiful. Under the high temperature and strong acid, they quickly withered and died.

After the attack, a foul stench filled the air. The lingering white mist was suddenly dispersed by a strong gust of wind. A brightly colored Pincer Limb rapidly extended from it, clamped onto the Super Giant Big-Headed Ant's body, and dragged it into the grass amidst the Super Giant's fierce struggle, disappearing from sight.

This swift and decisive operation took place in the blink of an eye; the Big-Headed Ant -gathering ants, limited by their reconnaissance capabilities, were completely unaware of the attack.

Not long after, several more patrolling Super Giant disappeared. The Big-Headed Ant finally realized something was wrong, but by then the hunters had already made a strategic retreat, laden with their spoils.

Actually, Rowan didn't go too far, partly because he had too much prey to carry around easily.

Secondly, for creatures like Big-Headed Ant with poor eyesight, blocking the pheromone connection makes it difficult for Rowan to be detected even if he is only one meter away.

The Ranger squads back then often took advantage of this to their advantage. Rowan was also quite adept at it.

After enjoying a feast, and taking advantage of a moment when the Big-Headed Ant' defenses were somewhat lax, Rowan hunted down a few Super Giant, and finally felt somewhat full.

After walking along the green "stream" for more than a hundred meters, the Ant Nest of the Big-Headed Ant came into view in the distance.

Rowan began digging at a location with complex terrain, not far from the Ant Nest.

With their bellies full, it's time to build a base. Next to the Big-Headed Ant Nest, which has claimed a territory, is a good spot.

By deploying deceptive pheromones in the vicinity, the new base's initial security can be temporarily guaranteed.

Although Rowan hadn't dug a hole himself in a long time, his skills were still sharp, and even though he had replaced his Digging Leg with Pincer Limb, he was still digging quite fast.

However, given his current size, the amount of work involved in this excavation is still quite large.

Without the help of other insects, Rowan could only dig a little bit and then push the soil out of the hole, which slowed down the construction progress even more.

The cave slowly extended underground, and the sky gradually darkened.

By the time Rowan pushed the excavated soil out of the cave once more, it was completely dark. A few streaks of moonlight stubbornly pierced through the canopy of trees, casting a cool and distant glow on the earth.

Rowan lay at the cave entrance, staring blankly at the moonlight. Suddenly, as if possessed, he burst out of the cave and quickly climbed up the tree trunk beside him.

At the top of the tree canopy, a large black insect was staring blankly.

This is still the same planet; he hadn't even thought of such a simple verification method before.

In the sky, two orbs of light hung high, one white with a slight yellow tinge, and the other slightly red; they were so familiar.

"How long have I been asleep?" Rowan pondered.

I never imagined that hibernation had such hidden risks. Thinking about it now, I'm actually glad that noisy frog woke me up, otherwise I don't know how long I would have slept.

Although this hibernation ability is incredibly powerful, with the body almost completely at rest during hibernation, it cannot mask its significant flaws.

However, now that I finally know where I am and have put aside those unreliable ideas, I feel much more at ease.

The sense of crisis suddenly vanished, and I lost all motivation to dig. It was already late, so I figured I should just go to sleep.

After disguising the entrance to the cave, Rowan crawled into a pile of decaying leaves nearby and fell into a deep sleep.

As for why they didn't rest inside the cave?

Rowan couldn't sleep soundly in a cave with only one passage and no other escape routes.

Thank you Xi Yuanhua for the donation.