As the Insect Nest continued to expand, a new problem arose for Rowan.
It was the problem of long-distance communication.
There were more and more branch bases, and their number was nearing a hundred.
Although they still obeyed Rowan's orders with unwavering loyalty, he had no idea what was happening at any of them.
Rowan had no clue how to solve this problem.
His knowledge was limited, and he had no way to make communication devices suitable for the bugs.
Besides, the bugs weren't smart enough to serve as messengers, and they couldn't accurately report on the state of the branch bases.
So Rowan, who had been loafing around, got busy again.
He began traveling every day along the routes leading to the various branch bases to check on their condition.
He hadn't realized how bad things were until he saw them. His territory had grown enormous.
A quick, cursory circuit of every branch base took him three full days and nights.
If he stopped to inspect things properly, the time required would double.
On his first circuit, he could also patrol his territory, and the novelty kept him from getting bored.
By the second circuit, he was already getting tired of it.
By the third, his mind had gone blank and his eyes had glazed over...
Rowan knew he couldn't go on like this. If his territory kept expanding, he'd eventually work himself to death. He had to come up with a solution.
Unfortunately, he racked his brains but couldn't think of anything.
So the problem remained unresolved.
After making several circuits without finding anything unusual, Rowan stopped patrolling so frequently and switched to making a circuit every dozen days or so.
But that was when something unexpected happened.
During a new patrol, Rowan discovered that all the bugs