Aphids

The Mother Nest had received plenty of high-quality protein lately, so it was operating at full capacity. Every day, it packed its schedule as full as possible without affecting its own needs.

Aside from a small number of Soldier Ant eggs to replace those who had died in battle, all the eggs it produced were Worker Ant eggs.

This war, in which both sides had deployed over ten thousand troops, had shown Rowan what composition of troops the Insect Nest would need for some time to come.

With his command ability far beyond that of any ant, he had confined most of the battlefield to narrow spaces, such as underground passages and the entrances to Ant Nests.

As a result, the number of troops in contact at any given time was actually quite small. Aside from the larger number of Soldier Ants needed to surround the Ant Nest entrance, not many were necessary elsewhere.

These food-guzzling machines did nothing but fight. If too many were hatched during wartime, a surplus would remain once the war was over. To reduce food consumption, they would have to be recycled.

So long as a few hundred could handle the current situation, Rowan wouldn't hatch more Soldier Ants recklessly.

Compared with Soldier Ants, Worker Ants had far more varied and versatile uses.

First, during battle, they could protect the Soldier Ants' limbs and backs.

Once the fighting began, they could bite and tug at enemy units, pinning them in place until Soldier Ants arrived to finish them off.

When facing a large enemy force, they could also spray Formic Acid Solution to blind their opponents.

After battle, they could serve as a Transport Team, clearing the battlefield and collecting spoils.

In peacetime, they could look after larvae and clean the Insect Nest.

And the green bug farm they were about to take over would need plenty of Worker Ants to raise the green bugs and collect their droppings.

So, for the Insect Nest at present, the more Worker Ants, the better.

Several months later, a silvery torrent surged down the Cliff. Water churned and splashed in a magnificent display, sending up a boiling mist that reflected dazzling, crystalline light.

A lake had formed beneath the waterfall, its surface sparkling. A gentle breeze sent ripples across it. From above, the lake's otherwise perfect circular shape was marred by a gap in its rim, where a little river wound away into the distance.

Lush greenery lined the lake and stream, brimming with life.

Several hundred meters from the lakeshore stood a towering tree, dozens of meters tall, its enormous crown blocking out the sky.

A Black Beetle the size of a plate clung to its dark brown trunk, like a piece of medicinal plaster stuck there, spoiling the otherwise harmonious beauty.

It was Rowan, surveying his domain.

Over this time, the Insect Nest had conquered seven Ant Nests in the surrounding area, expanding its territory to a radius of more than three hundred meters. It might not seem like much, but to ants that were generally smaller than a fingernail, it was a vast domain.

Previously, this territory had supported seven Ant Nests, each with a population of over five thousand.

Now the Insect Nest had taken over this vast area and continued to receive a steady influx of resources from more than twenty other Ant Nests. Its population had more than doubled, soaring to over twenty thousand.

There were just over a thousand Soldier Ants, along with a few hundred ants belonging to various specialized units, such as Spy Bugs and Big-Eyed Scout Bugs. The rest were all Worker Ants, with those equipped with Digging Legs making up three tenths of the total.

Rowan had discovered that bugs with extra genetic fragments and specialized organs cost a little more to produce as eggs. They also consumed a little more food in their daily lives.

The increase was negligible for a single bug, but with enough of them, those extra costs added up over time.

So, after doing the math, Rowan chose a three-to-seven ratio.

Worker Ants with Digging Legs were mainly responsible for maintaining underground passages and transporting food from the other Ant Nests.

Those without Digging Legs, meanwhile, took charge of the Insect Nest's new venture: raising little green, translucent bugs. Rowan gave them a commemorative name: aphids.

Seven tenths of the Insect Nest's Worker Ants amounted to more than fifteen thousand. Without Digging Legs, they were lighter on their feet, making them well suited to climbing trees.

Every day, these Worker Ants scurried across all kinds of vegetation in their territory. The once modest aphid population received a great deal of support.

These little translucent green bugs were terrible at moving. After hatching, they would barely budge unless they had eaten all the leaves beneath them.

But under Rowan's guidance, the Worker Ants picked them up with their mandibles and helped them move to new plants, allowing them to spread and multiply.

Once the little bugs had sucked on the leaves and stems, the Worker Ants would come over and massage them, helping them excrete translucent droplets.

The Worker Ants swallowed these droplets. They ate some themselves, and could regurgitate others to feed their companions.

Once all their companions were full, they spat out the surplus droplets in a designated spot to dry.

After some time, the water in the droplets evaporated, leaving behind tiny, pale yellow crystals. They tasted sweet and delicious, a rare treat that was also easy to store.

But Rowan, who knew how they were made, wouldn't eat them. And don't ask how he knew what they tasted like.

However, aphids were pests to plants. As their population flourished, they began to ravage the leaves in the territory.

They also bred incredibly quickly. With the Worker Ants' help, their numbers grew exponentially.

Many plants were stripped bare, and without enough leaves for photosynthesis, they gradually withered.

Rowan noticed the change in time. He knew that at this rate, the territory's vegetation would be eaten away before long.

He had been too shortsighted, exhausting his resources without thought for the future.

But thanks to his past life as a human, he had a natural knack for planting. A brilliant idea suddenly came to him.

He had already noticed that ants excreted waste, and every day, Worker Ants cleared it out of the nest and piled it in a designated spot.

Plants growing near these piles all seemed to thrive.

Rowan understood: it was probably fertilizer, and biological fertilizer at that.

Unfortunately, ants didn't produce much waste. Even the daily output of tens of thousands of ants wasn't enough to fertilize many plants.

Rowan thought it over for a long time. He guessed they produced so little because most of their food now consisted of the droplets excreted by aphids. No wonder they didn't produce much when that was all they ate.

Would eating more solid food increase the amount of biological fertilizer they produced?

People said the mentally ill had unusually broad trains of thought. The moment Rowan thought of solid food, he immediately remembered the one time he had taken a dump since turning into a bug.

Wasn't solid food lying everywhere, ready for the taking?