New Discovery

The ant larvae that hatched looked like the egg itself had grown a handle. Honestly, if you put them next to the eggs, it was hard to tell them apart at first glance.

The hatching of the eggs meant that soon, Rowan's subordinate numbers would explode daily. However, before that, his workload had increased.

This was because these larvae needed the adult black ants to regurgitate partially digested food, which they then used to feed them.

And the entire meat supply for the nest relied solely on Rowan, a single ant.

Furthermore, with more and more scout ants being captured, the neighbor's nest had stopped sending ants in their direction. Apart from a few who got lost heading elsewhere and then turned back, none had been seen coming from the neighbor's nest towards this direction for days.

Facing this situation, Rowan's hunting range was getting closer and closer to the neighbor's nest. To the point where, with his eyesight, he could see the black ants entering and exiting the neighbor's nest entrance from a slightly elevated position.

Of course, no matter how brave he was, at his current level, he wouldn't dare provoke them at their doorstep. However, this didn't stop him from observing from a distance, trying to understand their habits and learn some experience from their actions. This was in the hope that it would help him manage his nest better in the future.

He now took six or seven black ants with him when he went hunting.

Every time he killed one of the neighbor's black ants, his own black ants would swarm it, devouring it. What they couldn't eat, they would break down into several parts and transport back to the nest.

The dangers on the road had already been cleared by Rowan, and with the pheromones they left behind as trail markers, he wasn't worried about them getting lost.

Now, Rowan's hunting grounds were only about ten meters away from the neighbor's nest, while the neighbor's nest was a good fifty meters from his own. Therefore, it took a considerable amount of time for his own black ants to make a round trip. This time was Rowan's opportunity for private tutoring and observation.

This approach not only satisfied the needs of the many ants in the nest but also reduced Rowan's burden. Previously, most of his day was wasted transporting food and making round trips to the hunting grounds.

Since adopting this method, although the ants' transportation was slightly slower than if he did it himself, it freed up a significant amount of his time.

Moreover, these ants seemed tireless, never knowing what it meant to slack off on the road. Rowan himself had to rest and ponder the meaning of life after each round trip to the nest. When all was said and done, the efficiency wasn't that different.

Today, while waiting for the transport team to return, Rowan noticed something strange happening in front of the neighbor's nest.

A New Species of Insect, which he didn't know where it came from, swaggered into the ant nest entrance. Not only did the black ants not stop it, but they even moved aside.

It was truly bizarre. The ant nest was their forbidden zone. Rowan could confirm with his gradually accumulating entomological knowledge that the insect was definitely not related to ants; they were entirely different species.

The insect was yellowish-brown all over, slightly larger than the black ants. Its head and thorax were very small and flat, and it dragged a long abdomen behind it, which was covered with a layer of carapace.

It was this carapace that gave it away; ants didn't have such a thing.

But how could it enter the ant nest so freely? Rowan couldn't figure it out.

Time flew by, and a few days passed. Because Rowan had freed up most of his time and often engaged in private tutoring, his body size had increased again, growing another size larger than before.

However, even though he had integrated the genes of a black beetle, his head hadn't grown a pair of giant mandibles. Rowan guessed that either there wasn't enough space in his head – a pair of large eyes took up half his head, leaving no room for giant mandibles.

Also, a black beetle's head is flat, allowing its giant mandibles to exert force, while his head was shaped like a melon seed, and he probably couldn't use such appendages effectively.

But the main reason was likely that giant mandibles would hinder his digging ability. Having such a pair would be very inconvenient underground. And apart from these eyes, all other genes that hindered his digging had been discarded. He didn't know why; perhaps deep down, he was a coward?

Today, he discovered a giant ant at the entrance of the neighbor's nest. It was several times larger than an ordinary black ant, with stronger limbs and more robust, sharper, and larger mandibles. Its combat power was clearly far superior to that of ordinary ants.

Rowan had a moment of realization. Based on the knowledge he learned in kindergarten when he was human, those ordinary black ants were likely worker ants, and this big fellow should be a Soldier Ant.

Although he had been calling the neighbor's creatures "ants" all along, now that he was on an alien planet, they were only similar in appearance. He didn't know their actual species. He couldn't name them, so he could only use similar creatures from his old home to name them.

He had only seen ordinary black ants before and thought they didn't have Soldier Ants. He hadn't expected one to actually appear now. Could this be a planet with an environment very similar to Blue Star? Even the insects they saw were so similar?

What puzzled him was that he hadn't seen any flying creatures yet. Logically, there were many flying insects on Blue Star, but he hadn't seen a single one so far. It was truly strange.

It was also possible that it was related to the limited area he had explored so far and the small number of insect species he had encountered.

Thanks to the appearance of the transport team, he had ample leisure time these past few days. After some thought, he had already ruled out the possibility that this was Wizard Planet.

Because as a species of insect that was boasted to be so powerful, after such a long period of development, he couldn't even sweep through an ant nest.

Something must have gone wrong somewhere. Either he himself had a problem, or the environment had a problem, or most likely, both had problems, which led to him being so weak.

Moreover, not only had he not seen any flying insects, but he hadn't seen any reptiles, mammals, or anything similar, let alone humanoid creatures.

Combining these two points, he felt that he was in a completely unfamiliar new world. Although his deduction still had some flaws, he chose to stick with it because it was beneficial for his mental health.

Rowan hadn't expected the neighbor's nest to hide such a combat unit. His size had increased somewhat in the past few days, and his confidence had swelled considerably. He had always felt that he was not far from conquering the ant nest, but today he was doused with a bucket of cold water.

After these days of development, his body size had already become much larger than ordinary ants. But although this Soldier Ant wasn't as plump as him, it was still twice as long. Although both were equipped with only a pair of large mandibles as weapons, Rowan had a half-armor covering his body. Yet, even so, he still believed he couldn't win a one-on-one fight against the Soldier Ant.

After all, they were professionals, born for fighting, while he was just a part-timer whose main job was digging holes.

Furthermore, who knew how many more of these "great killing weapons" the neighbor's nest was hiding? The idea of conquering the ant nest should be put aside.

However, just then, a yellowish-brown flash darted past in the distance to his right.