A Strange Force
Sunlight shone on the lake, reflecting a shimmering ripple. Along the shore, some aquatic plants revealed their slender upper leaves, swaying in the breeze.
Rowan, with his long legs, carefully walked two or three meters from the shore. His large eyes were fixed on the lake, searching for any suspicious creatures.
The sunlight reflected off the lake was extremely dazzling, and Rowan's exceptionally developed photoreceptors in his eyes were doubly stimulated, causing his eyes to swell and sting.
After observing for several days without finding anything, just as Rowan was becoming frustrated and anxious, he unexpectedly gained some unexpected insights after being stimulated by the reflected light for several days.
His eyes seem to have gradually acquired the ability to actively block certain types of light.
With his new ability in use, his eyes were as if he were wearing sunglasses; when he looked at the lake, the reflected sunlight was no longer so dazzling.
Having gained his new abilities, Rowan became enthusiastic again, exploring the lakeside slowly every day.
And so, they walked from the lakeside to the river. Although the river was less than ten meters wide, the current was rapid and the depth was unknown, making it seem like an insurmountable chasm to Rowan.
But if Rowan manages to cross it, then the vast land on the other side of the river can become the Swarm's new territory.
Unfortunately, given Rowan's limited knowledge, he is not yet able to overcome this challenge.
Now we can only hope to find some aquatic species to obtain new genes, so that we can not only cross the river, but even explore the depths of these lakes and rivers.
As the days passed, Rowan still found no sign of any living creature in the river. But with nothing else to do, he could only patiently continue his investigation.
As the saying goes, hard work pays off.
That evening, as Rowan was about to return home for dinner and sleep, he suddenly saw ripples spreading out of thin air on the river in the distance. He became excited immediately; ripples don't appear out of thin air, which meant that something was touching the water's surface, causing this change.
However, although Rowan could clearly see the ripples, he couldn't see what was beneath the surface of the river. Therefore, it was still unclear what had caused the ripples.
Rowan stared at the river for a while longer, but there was no movement on the surface, making him even think that he had just imagined it.
Could it be caused by the roots and stems of underwater plants? Ripples can also be created when a river encounters the branches of aquatic plants as it flows, but this usually happens near the bank.
The spot we just saw was already in the middle of the river; what kind of aquatic plants could grow there?
Even as darkness fell completely, Rowan still hadn't found anything, and he didn't believe he was seeing things. Although he hadn't seen clearly what it was, at least he knew there should be living creatures in the water, which was a small gain in itself.
This discovery reignited Rowan's motivation, and just as he was about to continue his observations the next day, a Messenger Bug team brought news from the front lines.
This time, the Northern Army encountered an unusual situation.
While you can look for aquatic life anytime, checking for anomalies encountered by insects has a higher priority.
Fortunately, Rowan continued exploring along the riverbank, and his current location wasn't too far from the main army at the front. Although he had to allow time for the messenger team, he still managed to find the Northern Army two hours later.
It was still early, and when Rowan saw the familiar "Volcano Crater" in the distance, led by the reconnaissance team, he thought it was another familiar battle to exterminate the Red Ant Nest.
But as he got closer, he discovered that swarms of ants were constantly emerging from the "Volcano Crater," forming several long lines and rushing away into the distance.
"Could it have been discovered? But the direction is wrong." Rowan initially thought it had been discovered, but although its size was relatively conspicuous, its ability to hide and conceal itself had never diminished. It had long since changed its pheromones and body color, so in the other's eyes, it should be a big rock.
But then he realized the other person was heading in the opposite direction, and he knew he'd misunderstood. So why was the other person in such a hurry?
In an instant, Rowan's curiosity was piqued.
He sent the scouts away, instructing them to return and inform the main force to set up camp and not to move. He then used his superior field of vision to maintain a safe distance from the rapidly marching ant swarm, and followed them to see what they were up to.
The Red Ant army had marched about 300 meters north when Rowan could see a large-scale melee taking place in the distance.
Both sides deployed hundreds of thousands of troops, distributed across more than a dozen battlefields of varying sizes.
Besides the Red Ant, the other side in the battle was actually a completely new species of ants.
Their body color is between that of Red Ant and Black Ant; it is neither as bright nor completely black, but rather a deep, dark red.
Median Worker are slender with heads, thoraxes, and abdomens of similar size, and long, thin legs, making them appear very agile. Soldier Ant, on the other hand, are much more interesting. Their abdomens do not change much, but their heads and abdomens swell dramatically.
Especially its large head, which is rectangular in shape, with the front and back being the same width, and a wide concave center at the back edge of the head, with a vertical groove running from the center to the forehead, making it look like a person's buttocks, which is quite funny. The head and abdomen together look like a bunch of ripe cherries.
However, its enormous jaws are commensurate with its large head, making it look extremely fierce and powerful.
What's most interesting is that this new ant species, unlike Red Ant and Black Ant, doesn't show much difference in size among mature individuals.
For example, Worker Ant of Black Ant are generally about 1.5 centimeters long, while Soldier Ant are about 7 or 8 centimeters long. Red Ant are all Soldier Ant, but their body length is generally only about 1 centimeter.
This new species of ant exhibits a significant size variation among individuals. For instance, the smallest Worker Ant are only a few millimeters long, while the largest can reach five or six centimeters.
Soldier Ant, the smallest of which are only three or four centimeters in size, are not even as large as their largest Worker Ant. However, the largest Soldier Ant can reach nearly twenty centimeters in length, making them giants among ants.
It's worth noting that the Transport Bug of Swarm, which often carry hundreds of ants over long distances, are only about 30 centimeters in size.
Even Rowan, at the limit of his current respiratory system, was only about 60 centimeters long. These Giant Soldier Ant already posed a considerable threat to him.
Feeding these large creatures requires an astonishing amount of food. Even Transport Bug, for example, only maintain a population of a few hundred during wartime when abundant protein is available.
After the war, they will continue to fight alongside various armies. Most of the spoils of war from the various insects and Ant Nest that the armies have wiped out are consumed by these Transport Bug.
A Branch Base with 5,000 members can only sustain five Transport Bug at most. Sometimes, when these Transport Bug are not on missions, they need to eat dirt to reduce the base's wear and tear.
On this largest battlefield, there were more than twenty of these Super Giant Soldier Ant, and hundreds of slightly smaller Giant Soldier Ant. The number of even smaller large, medium, and small Soldier Ant was even greater.
Moreover, there were several smaller battlefields nearby, with a total of over a hundred Super Giant Soldier Ant.
Rowan clicked his tongue in amazement. The sheer number of Soldier Ant was beyond what an ordinary Ant Nest could sustain. Moreover, the force before him was likely not even the entirety of their enemy's forces.
To support such a large army, a very large territory is needed.