Encountering the Flying Bugs Again
For the next two days, Rowan stayed in the vicinity, partly because he didn't have to worry about food, and partly because he wanted to see if he could find the nests of Small Dinosaur and Flying Bug.
However, it turned out that their hunting range was quite large, and they did not encounter any trace of them for two days.
Of the newly collected genes, except for those for the Tail Fat Organ, Rowan did not choose to add them to his current body.
Because he is now capable of operations across land, sea, air, and underground, enabling him to conduct all-weather, all-round, three-dimensional combat. He is particularly adept at using this system for stealth assassinations.
If the new gene doesn't exhibit a particularly powerful or useful talent, there's no need for him to waste energy and time evolving it.
Although the Tail Fat Organ looks inconspicuous and has a rather comical name, it is extremely practical. It can convert excess energy in Rowan's body into compressed fat blocks for storage, greatly enhancing his ability to sustain combat.
He would have needed at least a week to eat the five Fat-Tail Rat and three Small Dinosaur, but he finished them off in just two days.
The excess food is compressed, and if he uses it sparingly, he might not need to eat for two months. If this capability were implemented throughout the army, it would greatly alleviate the logistical burden.
With food secured, Rowan had no reason to stay any longer. So, he continued his adventure.
Every day, Rowan would remotely check the situation inside the base multiple times. Under his remote command, everything inside the base was normal. The number of insects had exceeded 200,000, and they had unknowingly occupied the bottom ten layers of tunnels of the Big-Headed Ant.
Type III Ant Queen have entered the pupal stage and will reach maturity in a few days. In addition, there are fifty Type III Ant Queen Insect Egg waiting to hatch.
The Swarm is currently facing a severe shortage of ants, which is quite disconcerting for Rowan, the former dominant terrestrial ant. The Type III Ant Queen, is the best candidate to solve the current situation.
Once these batches of III Ant Queen mature, the Swarm's numbers will experience explosive growth. Once they overcome this vulnerable period, the Swarm will likely reclaim the continent soon.
More than ten days later, Rowan had thoroughly explored the area within a five-kilometer radius of the base. Combining this with the fleeting glimpse he had taken in the air, he had gained a general understanding of the surrounding area.
He is currently on the edge of a primeval forest; the further in he goes, the denser the vegetation and the more complex the environment becomes.
The towering trees, intertwined with vines, block out the sun, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate and giving the forest a somewhat eerie and terrifying feel, even at midday when the sun is blazing.
Various small and medium-sized organisms have settled here, forming an ecological cycle.
Rowan encountered Duoqi creatures here, such as a millstone-sized patterned spider that spun a huge web between two tree trunks to hunt various flying insects, small birds, and bats.
For example, there are snake-like creatures of various sizes and colors. The smaller ones prey on birds and a type of rodent much smaller than the Fat-Tail Rat. The larger ones prey on the Fat-Tail Rat.
There are quite a few Fat-Tail Rat here, at the very bottom of the food chain, feeding on various insects. Rowan even witnessed them attacking the Scout Worker Ant of the Big-Headed Ant. Thinking about it, something seemed off, and he scratched his head.
The smaller ones eat almost anything, their diet depending on their hunger level.
In addition, Rowan found a small river, and above it, he spotted several enormous dragonflies with wingspans exceeding one meter. However, Rowan did not go into the river; the water was somewhat murky, and he couldn't see what was hidden below, so venturing in rashly might be dangerous.
As the supreme will of the Swarm, one cannot risk one's life; this is a responsibility to the millions of Swarm citizens.
The local indigenous people were very hospitable. Most of them not only showed off their talents to Rowan, but also contributed their genes, making Rowan a little embarrassed.
However, Rowan didn't hold back and acquired a bunch of genes such as heat source sensing, echolocation, and web spinning.
Moreover, because he ate a lot of birds during this period, the photoreceptor cells in his eyes underwent some mutations, and his visual range was greatly improved.
Currently, being in the forest, the effect isn't very noticeable. It wasn't until one night, when Rowan climbed to the top of a tree to enjoy the breeze, that he realized he could now see the two moons directly without needing a light source to perceive them.
Two moons hung high in the sky, one slightly yellow and the other slightly white, both serene and noble, captivating Rowan for a moment.
In addition to these finds, Rowan also discovered a nest of Flying Bug.
Rowan spotted their flight squadron from a great distance, thanks primarily to the newly acquired Echolocation System.
After acquiring this system, two concealed ear acupoints grew on the back side of his scalp. His Bako emit ultrasonic waves with a frequency close to 100 kHz. Through the reflection of these ultrasonic waves, he could locate the position and size of surrounding objects without using his eyes.
Unfortunately, his ear acupoints are very small, which severely limits the application of this skill, making him far from reaching the level of a bat.
Even so, it was a huge enhancement to his auditory system. You have to understand that before, he perceived sound through his tentacles and leg hair; he didn't even have ears.
The first time I encountered Flying Bug, I lost track of them because I wasn't prepared, they were very fast, and the forest environment was complex with poor visibility.
This time, using sound localization, Rowan could easily follow them even without seeing them.
A huge beehive hung on the tree trunk, mostly yellowish-brown, made of unknown material, more than five meters high and two meters wide. If the tree trunk weren't so wide, even a smaller plant would have struggled to support its weight.
There is a circular entrance above the nest, through which many Flying Bug go in and out, and many flying sentinels surround the nest.
Rowan currently has no particular interest in this nest; he only needs to hunt one Flying Bug. However, these creatures come out in swarms, so he'll need to plan carefully to achieve his goal.
A swarm of about two thousand Flying Bug was arrogantly flying low overhead, completely unaware that a predator was lurking on a nearby tree trunk, waiting patiently.
The main group passed by in turn, and just as the last Flying Bug was about to fly over the tree trunk, a long spear suddenly emerged from the trunk and pierced it precisely.
But the Flying Bug made some unusual sounds before it died, attracting the attention of the troops at the front.
Rowan quickly stuffed it, skin and all, into his mouth and then remained still, hoping to get away with it.
But at this moment, Optical Camouflage seemed to have lost its effect on the Flying Bug. Without the slightest hesitation, they turned around in mid-air and rushed straight towards Rowan.