Migration Down

Rowan led the migrating army to the safe path discovered previously, and after a brief rest, the army set off.

The Black Armored Beetles were of no use here, so Rowan selected several large worker ants and dispersed them around the Mother Nest. Each one bit into a corner of the Mother Nest, and then, with a collective effort, the insects lifted the Mother Nest and began to inch it toward the cliff wall.

Rowan walked at the very front; he essentially supported the Mother Nest from below with his body, while seven or eight ants around the nest were responsible for stabilizing it to prevent it from losing balance.

The other insects followed one after another as the Mother Nest reached the cliff wall.

The swarm moved slowly along the cliff. Rowan used his mandibles and Digging Legs to prop up the Mother Nest, bearing immense pressure; even with his size and sturdy limbs, he found it difficult to endure.

As if it weren't enough, just as the swarm reached the middle of the cliff, the wind, which had been relatively gentle, began to strengthen, and the army began to suffer casualties.

As the wind intensified, some ants had the pupae or larvae they were carrying blown away. Others simply lost their grip on the cliff wall, fell, and vanished instantly.

Rowan could no longer concern himself with the other insects, as his own situation had become critical. Two of the ants biting the Mother Nest were blown away, and three others were left with only their mandibles still tightly clamped to the nest, their bodies dangling in the wind.

The loss of several ants caused the center of gravity of the Mother Nest to shift, and the remaining three ants and Rowan were simply unable to stabilize the nest in the strong wind.

The Mother Nest flipped over Rowan's head toward his back. He bit down hard on the nest, trying to hold onto it. Unfortunately, he failed; instead, the downward force of the falling nest caused him to lose his grip on the cliff, and he was dragged down with it.

During the fall, the strong wind blew him off his intended trajectory. Fortunately, the combined weight of Rowan and the Mother Nest was significant, and the height was only about twenty meters, so they did not deviate too far from the target area when they landed in the grass below.

The grass acted as a great cushion, and since the Mother Nest itself was quite sturdy, the fall did not cause it any damage. Rowan, having had several experiences with falling, was also perfectly fine.

Five worker ants were still biting onto the Mother Nest and fell along with it. Being lighter, they suffered no major injuries other than being a bit dazed.

Rowan led them to dig a pit to bury the Mother Nest first, then began marking pheromones along the base of the cliff to guide the swarm.

Regrettably, by nightfall, he had only gathered a few dozen insects: two Black Armored Beetles, one Excavator Ant, and the rest were ordinary worker ants, along with a small number of larvae and pupae.

With no other choice, they rested on the spot for the night. The next day, he spent the entire day gathering more, finding only a few dozen more; combined with the previous day's count, there were only a little over a hundred left.

This cliff crossing was a heavy loss. They had traveled across the desert for a week and only lost a hundred insects, yet here, in just a short while, they had lost hundreds.

Continuing the search was meaningless, but fortunately, the Mother Nest remained intact. After resting another night, Rowan led the remaining insects to dig up the Mother Nest and set off toward the new location.

The reduction in the swarm's size was not entirely a bad thing; those remaining were mostly robust adults, with only a few larvae and pupae. Rowan dragged the Mother Nest in front, with the Black Armored Beetles and several ants cushioning the bottom. With the heavy burden reduced, the group's speed increased significantly, and their profile was much smaller.

Previously, he had worried that the large number of insects would make it difficult to hide while passing through several ant nests to reach the area between them. Now, that concern was completely gone.

The location of the new nest was not far from the cliff, only about three or four hundred meters away. The streamlined migration team reached it in very little time.

On the way, they encountered a few Scout Worker Ants from an unknown nest. After enjoying a demonstration of Rowan's "talents," they contributed their own bodies to provide a meal for the team, which hadn't been well-fed for a long time.

Upon arriving at the site, Rowan assigned two Excavator Ants to begin digging—one from the first day and another found on the second. The other worker ants were responsible for assisting, carrying the excavated soil out of the hole.

Rowan ran out to circle the new Insect Nest location, changing his scent to broadcast a ring of pheromones. He marked the area as a restricted zone to minimize the chance of Scout Ants arriving and disturbing the insects' work.

With Rowan joining in, the excavation of the new Insect Nest proceeded much faster. Back then, he had managed to dig a home alone while dragging a Mother Nest; it was even easier now that he was several times larger and had dozens of strong helpers.

A mound of dirt slowly piled up at the entrance, consisting of soil transported out from the tunnels. Perhaps due to the proximity to a water source, the soil here was very damp, and the underground environment was quite humid.

Rowan recalled that when he infiltrated the nearby ant nests, he found many areas lined with fine sand and wood shavings, and he had seen many ants carrying moldy wood shavings out of their nests.

He hadn't understood why at the time, but now that it was his turn to do the work, he immediately grasped the brilliance of it. He marveled that although these ants had low intelligence, the long passage of time had taught them survival strategies that were slowly passed down.

These experiences were the crystallization of time. Rowan had been an insect for a very short while, so absorbing these long-accumulated experiences was the best way to build his own foundation.

The pheromone blockade worked perfectly; until dusk, no Scout Worker Ants had come near.

By now, the insects had dug a small chamber seven or eight meters underground. It wasn't that they didn't want to dig deeper, but any further down, water would seep into the soil, and the structural integrity was poor, posing a risk of collapse.

Even at the current depth, the nest would require extensive reinforcement later, or there would be many safety hazards.

Since the new Insect Nest was not yet finished and could not be inhabited, Rowan dug a temporary burrow about a meter deep to house the Mother Nest for the time being.

Even if they encountered danger, they could bury the Mother Nest first, and the insects could scatter to distract the enemy, ensuring the safety of the Mother Nest.

Although the probability of being attacked was very low, the corresponding safety measures had to be in place.

He went out to perform his "talents" again, bringing back some "audience members" to provide a meal for the swarm and feeding the Mother Nest as well.

The simple Insect Nest should be finished by tomorrow, and after some basic reinforcement, it would be ready for temporary occupancy. At that point, the Mother Nest would need to resume production. The subsequent reinforcement and expansion of the nest, as well as digging transport tunnels to connect to other ant nests, were all projects that would require a large number of insects to complete.