Exploring the Path

Rowan made his way to Ant Nest No. 1 and carefully dug through the wall of the hatching room.

Rowan did not rush inside to investigate. Instead, he waited for a moment. A yellowish-brown ant, having heard the commotion, poked its head out of the hole. Before it could even see what was happening, it was finished off by a Rowan's Opening Move.

Just as he dragged its juice-splattered corpse into the tunnel, another round, yellowish-brown head poked out impatiently. Rowan didn't stand on ceremony; he burst it open and dragged it out of the hole.

He repeated the process, taking out five yellowish-brown ants that came to investigate. After waiting for a long time, no more heads appeared at the hole.

Only then did Rowan poke his own head inside.

Although he had already guessed what he might find when he saw the yellowish-brown ants, he still gasped when he saw the scene before him.

The cave was completely clean. The soldier ants, worker ants, larvae, eggs, and food scraps were all gone; even the walls looked as if they had been scraped away by several layers.

Rowan did not go in. By observing the part, he could see the whole; since the hatching room had been scraped so clean, there was no need to check the rest of the nest. It was likely that even the Ant Queen had met a grim fate.

He returned to the Insect Nest the way he came. Ant Nest No. 2 and No. 3 could not be reached directly from underground; both required a stretch of travel across the surface. He pondered for a moment and finally decided to take the risk and investigate.

Rowan easily dealt with the minor troubles he encountered on the way and spent some time finishing his investigation of both nests.

Although they were larger than Ant Nest No. 1, each housing thousands of members, the Black Ants' individual combat power could not compare to the yellowish-brown ants. Even in terms of sheer numbers, they were completely crushed; they stood no chance against the army of a million yellowish-brown ants.

Thus, their fates were identical to that of Ant Nest No. 1.

After casually finishing off a few yellowish-brown ants lingering in the area, Rowan felt a heavy weight in his heart. The situation had become dire.

Although his Insect Nest was developing rapidly, it was built on the foundation of constantly leeching off other ant nests. Now that the granaries were destroyed, feeding such a large colony would no longer be easy.

But the current situation was even worse. If only the granaries were gone, the current number of adult insects in the nest could be dispersed to forage, and the Mother Nest could temporarily stop laying eggs. By tightening their belts, they could barely survive this crisis until a large batch of larvae matured, at which point the nest could resume expansion.

However, all of this assumed that food could be found in the wild. Thinking of the barren, scorched-earth state of the surface, this plan was clearly unfeasible.

Rowan intended to head back and scout the surrounding area first to see how vast the devastation caused by the yellowish-brown ant army was. If it came to the worst, he might have to migrate the nest.

Dragging the corpses of a few yellowish-brown ants, he returned to the Insect Nest. Every bit of food was precious now; not a single scrap could be wasted.

He connected to the Mother Nest and issued an order to conserve energy and temporarily cease egg production. Although his own size had grown rapidly since he had a stable food source, the Mother Nest was currently even larger than he was.

He could probably manage to drag the Mother Nest now, but it had no legs or wheels. If he dragged it for too long, it would inevitably cause some degree of abrasion to the bottom of the Mother Nest.

If he wanted to migrate, the Mother Nest had to be taken along, which meant he would need to find something to cushion it underneath. Otherwise, the Mother Nest could not withstand being dragged over a long distance.

After ordering the numerous insects to halve their daily rations and forbidding them from leaving the nest, Rowan hurried out to scout the surroundings.

Half a day later, he realized he had severely underestimated the size of the yellowish-brown ant army; they numbered far more than just a few hundred thousand or a million.

Because the terrain where the yellowish-brown ant army had passed looked completely different from before, it was very easy to identify. Under these conditions, many dangers had already been cleared away.

For the first time, Rowan let himself go at full speed, sprinting with maximum power. He mostly bypassed the scattered yellowish-brown ants he encountered on the way, avoiding unnecessary entanglements.

He continuously expanded his search radius with the Insect Nest as the center. Yet, after half a day, Rowan had scoured about a square kilometer of land, but he still hadn't reached the edge of the yellowish-brown ant army's path of destruction.

By now, the sky was beginning to brighten. Rowan returned to the Insect Nest to rest a little and organize his thoughts.

He was able to search a one-kilometer radius in half a day thanks to several factors.

First was his long-range vision. His eyes had been constantly enhancing, and he could now see clearly up to about thirty meters. This might be nothing for a human, but among insects, it was definitely a top-tier "thousand-mile eye."

Second was the geographical advantage created by the yellowish-brown ants. Their style of scraping the earth three feet deep had eliminated many risks hidden underground. Furthermore, aside from some tall trees, even the turf had been cleared away, leaving very few obstructions and making long-distance observation very easy.

Third, his larger size meant a longer stride, allowing him to crawl faster, and his stamina was quite good. If an ordinary ant were given a week, it wouldn't be able to search a hundred-meter radius.

Fourth, he had only taken a cursory look without searching meticulously. His goal wasn't to find anything in this area, but to see how much land the yellowish-brown ants had ravaged. The areas they had devastated certainly wouldn't have enough food to support the survival and development of the Insect Nest.

Combining all these points, he was able to scout such a large area in half a day. The other insects in the nest could never replicate his results.

In other words, there was no food source for at least a one-kilometer radius, and any further distance was too far for the other insects. Therefore, migrating the Insect Nest was imperative.

He still needed to continue scouting for a new nesting site. The main problem now was not knowing how much territory the yellowish-brown ant army had ravaged. If he continued with today's circular scouting pattern, the efficiency would be too low.

He had to choose a direction and move in a straight line to get out of this wasteland in the shortest time and with the least distance, which would also facilitate the migration of the Insect Nest.

After much deliberation, Rowan decided to explore along the direction of the underground riverbed. He had originally found his way here from the desert by following that riverbed.

Water is the source of life; only by following a water source could he find the next prosperous land as quickly as possible.

Since the decision was made, there was no time to lose. Although there were still some food reserves in the Insect Nest, they could only last a few more days with the insects' rations halved.

But ultimately, there was no replenishment; it was water without a source, a tree without roots, and it would eventually run out. Once he went out to scout, he wouldn't be able to turn back until he had results, so he didn't know how long it would take or when he could return. If it took too long, the insects might not be able to hold out.

Therefore, he could not waste a single second. Speed was essential to preserve the Insect Nest to the greatest extent.

He sealed the room containing the Mother Nest and strictly forbade the insects from approaching. Rowan stepped onto the path to find a new land of life without looking back.