Attack Up

Although the Ant Queen sensed something amiss after noticing the abnormality among the soldier ants and exuded pheromones signaling for protection, it was already too late; she was already surrounded by numerous assassins.

Almost the instant she became alert, seven worker ants lunged out from the group surrounding her for feeding. Six of them bit down on the Ant Queen's six articulated limbs, pulling backward, while the remaining one scrambled onto her back and ejected a tape-measure-like proboscis from its mouth.

Though she struggled with all her might, this creature—accustomed to being fed even during meals—clearly lacked physical conditioning; despite her large size, she was held fast by the six spy ants.

The worker ants of the nest surrounding the Ant Queen were bewildered by the scene before them. These worker ants suddenly attacking their queen possessed legitimate identification, and they could not fathom why their companions would turn against their own sovereign.

By the time they attempted to assist the Ant Queen, it was already too late; two of the quicker ones were intercepted by spy ants that had not yet engaged.

The tape measure straightened into a steel needle, piercing the gaps in the Ant Queen's armor!

Moments later, the Ant Queen, much like those soldier ants, curled her body in agonizing struggle.

In a primitive nest devoid of effective medical treatment, the majority of her internal muscles were melted away.

She was doomed!

The spy ants did not wait for the Ant Queen to die, as she could still struggle for a long time.

The mission was accomplished, and they had to hurry to evacuate before the nest reacted.

However, they first needed to deal with the meddlesome worker ants of the nest.

Several spy ants stepped forward to entangle the nest workers, while those who had not advanced raised their thoraxes and abdomens, extending their tails forward.

Subsequently, a spray of formic acid solution was unleashed, striking the nest workers with precision.

These nest workers were already at a numerical disadvantage, and now, under long-range artillery fire, their antennae and armor began to dissolve.

Worker ants without antennae were like the blind and deaf, instantly losing most of their combat effectiveness. After resisting for only a brief moment, they were finished off by the spy ants.

Taking advantage of the nest's lack of reaction, the spy ants retreated to the Hatching Room, opened the Smuggling Tunnel, and dispersed strange pheromones.

The nest workers and soldier ants, still unaware of the situation, followed their instincts to track the unfamiliar pheromones. To them, this was a vital area of the nest that must not be compromised.

Unfortunately, the moment they crawled into the Smuggling Tunnel, they were ambushed by the Insect Nest troops guarding the area.

A nest worker had just poked its head out of the hole, and before its antennae could detect anything, a pair of giant mandibles pierced its head and clamped it out.

The Giant-Mandible Soldier Ant turned its head, and two Insect Nest worker ants stepped forward, grabbed the body of the nest worker hanging from the mandibles, and pulled it down, passing it to the rear to prevent the tunnel from being blocked.

The numerous worker ants behind passed the body of the nest worker like a bucket brigade, all the way to the end of the line, where a worker ant dragged it back toward the Insect Nest.

The Giant-Mandible Soldier Ant cleared the obstruction and turned back to guard the tunnel entrance.

At the entrance, another clueless victim poked its head out...

Just like that, one corpse after another was transported to the rear, including both worker ants and soldier ants.

It wasn't until hundreds of ants had been lost that no more heads popped out of the hole.

At this moment, the anomaly in the Ant Queen's chamber was finally discovered, and after a long and painful struggle, the Ant Queen finally died.

The news of the Ant Queen's death transformed into drifting pheromones, gradually spreading throughout the nest, throwing the ants into chaos.

At this point, they naturally no longer cared about the strange scent in the Hatching Room. Besides, with hundreds of companions having already chased after it, there should be no problem.

Some ants wanted to rush out from the nest exit, but unfortunately, it was already surrounded by dense swarms of Insect Nest troops; dozens of soldier ants blocked the hole, with hundreds of worker ants assisting at their feet.

Meanwhile, the troops on the outer perimeter of the encirclement were not idle, as they were responsible for clearing out all nest members returning from the outside.

One by one, nest worker ants, either laden with spoils or returning empty-handed, arrived back at the nest. Their figures had long been spotted by Big-Eye Scout Ants, and before they could react, they were intercepted by Insect Nest worker ants several times their number.

This was immediately followed by grabbing their limbs to immobilize them, allowing the Giant-Mandible Soldier Ants or Big-Tooth Soldier Ants waiting nearby to step forward and decapitate them with their sharp weapons.

After these returning nest members were dealt with, their corpses were dragged together by the worker ants and piled up.

Once the great battle ended, this high-quality protein would be transported to the mound above the Insect Nest, treated with preservatives, and buried on-site as reserve rations.

Ants continued to rush out of the nest entrance in a steady stream, and the battle gradually intensified. After all, this was an ant nest with a population of over five thousand, and a massive number of ants were hidden within.

At the entrance, the pile of insect remains and severed limbs slowly grew, consisting of both nest members and Insect Nest troops. They gradually clogged the entrance, and due to the reduced contact area, the intensity of the war gradually subsided.

The worker ants assisting the Insect Nest soldier ants stepped forward one after another to drag away the corpses of enemies or companions, taking the opportunity to retreat to the center to rest.

The circle of worker ants behind immediately filled the vacancies.

Soldier ants suffering from severe physical exhaustion also retreated, yielding their positions for other soldier ants to fill, while they themselves withdrew to the rest area to gnaw on ant muscle to restore their strength.

The war of the insects was extremely cruel; if one lost more than two articulated limbs, they could no longer maintain body balance and would lose the ability to act, which already signified death.

Beyond choosing to continue fighting until death on the battlefield, even if they survived after the war, they would be processed by their companions as recycled protein.

After the entrance was cleared, the intensity of the war gradually escalated again.

More nest members, having received the news of the Ant Queen's death, rushed out of the entrance in a panic.

The Insect Nest troops blocking the exit could no longer intercept everyone, and many nest worker ants, taking advantage of the Insect Nest troops attacking others, stepped over the bodies of their companions and enemies, trying to break through the defensive line.

More Insect Nest soldier ants and worker ants from the rear swarmed up, and the battlefield gradually expanded outward from the entrance.

When the density of the nest members reached a certain level, a group of worker ants crawled into the outer perimeter of the encirclement, lined up in a row, and assumed the standard starting posture for spraying formic acid solution.

Subsequently, a dense acid rain descended from the sky, irradiating most of the battlefield area.

The Insect Nest troops were equipped with acid-resistant armor, so the acid rain was merely like bathwater to them. However, the nest members possessed no such black technology; their fragile antennae suffered devastating strikes, and their exoskeleton armor began to corrode and break.

The unscathed Insect Nest troops were already inherently stronger than the nest troops, and now, facing a group of enemies who had been blinded, they were even more unstoppable.

The battlefield was gradually pushed back to the entrance of the nest once again.