Battle Against the Big-Headed Ants, Part One

Rowan went to great lengths to create this situation of numerical superiority, not for a fair duel with the Big-Headed Ant.

Swarm versus a force of 500,000 Big-Headed Ant.

Therefore, in reality, each of the Big-Headed Ant on the Bighead Super Giant side faces at least three opponents of equal strength.

This is because the Swarm only has two hundred Super Giant; it's not that Rowan didn't want to bring more, but rather that these giants have such long growth cycles.

Moreover, including the Giant Soldier Ant, these are all new templates. The more than two thousand queen Ant Queen existed before these were obtained were not qualified to produce them.

These two hundred Super Giant ants and five hundred giant ants were produced by the Mother Nest working overtime after completing the production task of Ant Queen. After being raised to pupate, they were sent to the front-line base, where they continued to grow to their current size.

Therefore, in terms of the sheer number of Super Giant and giant ants, the Swarm is likely not as large as the number of Big-Headed Ant.

However, these disadvantages can be mitigated using tactics, as is the case right now.

The two sides' giant combat units clashed immediately upon engaging in battle, while the smaller combat units on their backs used their bodies as bridges to attack each other.

Unfortunately, the individual combat strength of the Big-Headed Ant soldiers was already lower than that of the Swarm's soldiers of the same caliber, and they were at a significant disadvantage in terms of numbers. More importantly, the Swarm's small Soldier Ant could even use poison!

Perhaps due to evolutionary selection of body size and muscle mass, there are no poisonous species among the Big-Headed Ant's soldiers.

They should have plenty of experience fighting Red Ant, so they shouldn't be afraid of these small, poisonous Soldier Ant. However, don't forget that Red Ant don't necessarily have a matching giant soldier.

These giants are like an aircraft carrier battle group; they never fight alone, always accompanied by Soldier Ant and Worker Ant providing support. Therefore, when fighting against Red Ant, the stinging Red Ant are usually consciously blocked by other ants, making it impossible for them to get close to these giant combat units, let alone poison them.

But now, they are finally experiencing the terror of those stings.

Faced with overwhelming numerical superiority, the auxiliary ants surrounding the Big-Headed Ant Super Giant were powerless to stop the Soldier Ant with tiny stingers on their abdomens. They could only watch helplessly as these creatures inserted their stingers into the gaps in the Super Giant's armor.

The awkward thing is that although these stingers can pierce the gaps in the carapaces of the Super Giant, they are too short and get stuck in the thick gaps, unable to reach the internal muscles at all.

This can be considered a hidden advantage of being so large.

However, although their carapace can ignore these stingers, their limbs, while also quite robust, are not covered with very thick armor.

Under the cover of their companions, several stinging Soldier Ant quickly climbed onto the Super Giant's limbs. Although the Super Giant resisted, kicking a few Soldier Ant away with their rapidly moving limbs, it did nothing to change what they were about to face.

The stinger pierced, the venom was injected, and in just moments, the muscles at these weakly armored joints began to melt. The Super Giant's massive bodies began to lose their balance, and their legs began to twitch.

Already at a disadvantage, they still fought back desperately, but their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced due to their inability to move. The Swarm's Super Giant seized the opportunity, quickly controlled, killed, and dismembered them.

The deaths of these giant combat units at the forefront left the supporting Big-Headed Ant seemingly without a leader, their fighting spirit waning, and they retreated in defeat.

On the other side, the two Giant Scorpion had a much easier time dealing with these Super Giants. While the Super Giant were pinned down and unable to move, they clamped their massive pincers around the relatively slender waists of the Super Giant. Ignoring the attacks from the support units clinging to them, they squeezed hard, instantly splitting the Super Giant fluids flowing freely – a highly efficient method.

Their weaknesses are also obvious. While their large "pincers" are extremely powerful and adept at attacking large combat units, they are not very effective against agile, small targets, making them appear quite clumsy.

In fact, even Super Giant face this awkward situation.

Through this real-world experience, Rowan finally understood.

These Super Giant target large prey, and without the aid of poison, their Super Giant jaws allow them to kill or dismember their prey more easily.

However, they are completely useless when facing small prey. Their attack weapons are located on their heads, making them even more clumsy to use than the Giant Scorpion's "pincers." Without the help of smaller units, it would be extremely difficult for them to kill small prey on their own.

Therefore, the actual uses of these Super Giants are quite limited.

For example, now that all the Super Giant ants on the Big-Headed Ant side have been eliminated, the speed at which the Swarm's Super Giant ants kill smaller combat units is many orders of magnitude slower compared to the Transport Bug, which are also large combat units.

The Transport Bug's strong and powerful Walking Leg allow it to attack with lightning speed. Combined with its excellent dynamic vision, it is virtually infallible, with a very high probability of killing its enemy with a single blow. Even if it doesn't kill its enemy with a single strike, the sticky hairs on its claws will pull the enemy back and bite it to death, making it incredibly efficient at eliminating predators.

However, they are somewhat ineffective against large combat units.

However, large combat units are few in number, and overall, the Transport Bug is still more cost-effective.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

This real-world battle effectively tested the strengths and weaknesses of the existing Swarm, and also gave Rowan some new insights into the Swarm's combat patterns.

He had a clear understanding of which Swarm's development, which should be eliminated, and whether improvements could be made. For example, the Super Giant might be well-suited to the survival mode of the Big-Headed Ant, but not to the Swarm.

"However, perhaps adding sticky bristles to their limbs could improve their helplessness when facing smaller units." Although the cost-effectiveness of the Super Giant was too low, Rowan still liked their majestic and imposing appearance. He thought that perhaps he could make some minor improvements and then produce a small number of them.

While pondering the problem, Rowan did not forget to observe the battlefield situation.

At this moment, with the giant units on the Big-Headed Ant side almost completely wiped out, the encirclement rapidly shrank. Soldier Ant climbed onto the heads of the Super Giant and sprayed Formic Acid Solution towards the center of the battlefield.

"Okay, we've discovered another use for the Super Giant: it can serve as the base for a turret," Rowan remarked.

After releasing their stockpiles, the Worker Ant leap to the ground, gather the spoils behind the encirclement, and finish off any remaining Big-Headed Ant that are not yet completely dead.