Rowan didn't want to make a move just yet. The longer he waited, the more it worked in his favor. The Swarm needed time to turn its accumulated resources into soldiers. But based on his observations over the past two days, the Red Ant Coalition Army on the front line had already grown to over five hundred thousand. They had overharvested the borderlands, depleting them so badly that the area could no longer sustain their daily consumption.
Rowan had even seen several Red Ant squads attack the Black Ants in their own ranks and eat them.
The situation had reached its most dangerous point. The Red Ant Coalition Army now had only two options: attack or retreat. But retreat was unlikely, so a full-scale battle between the two sides was about to erupt.
Time was running out. More than fifty thousand Excavator Ants were ready to move, with one Transport Bug carrying every five hundred.
Another five thousand or so Small Soldier Ants accompanied them to protect the force. They were smaller, so a Transport Bug could carry eight or nine hundred at a time.
Besides these, the force also brought a small number of Big-Eyed Scout Bugs and Spy Bugs.
Under Rowan's leadership, more than a hundred Transport Bugs strode rapidly toward enemy-occupied territory on their long legs, steering clear of the enemy's lookouts along the way.
An hour later, the force reached its designated position.
It was a stretch of riverbank closest to the Red Ants' nest. From there, the nest lay about six hundred meters away.
Without wasting time, Rowan began digging a canal half a meter from the riverbank. His huge body was like a giant excavator as he hastily cut a trench through the earth and extended it toward the Red Ants' nest.
The Excavator