"Corncob"

After a long-awaited underwater adventure that lasted only one day, Rowan began to regret having incubated a diving army of 100,000.

There was no other way; a small number were left to occupy the underwater world, while the rest were all sent to the river, where they might discover something as they drifted downstream.

After making the arrangements, Rowan stopped paying attention to this area and instead focused his energy on the operation of the Swarm.

Time flies, and hundreds of days and nights have passed in the blink of an eye. Rowan has now found a new pleasure: watching the number of Swarm increase continuously gives him a strange sense of satisfaction.

The Swarm's territory continues to expand, with its bases now numbering in the tens of thousands. Each base has an average population of around 100,000 swarm members, meaning the Swarm's population has reached over a billion.

This is because the Ant Queen's hatching cannot keep up with the expansion speed of the territory. In all the territories occupied later, the density of Branch Base is far less than at the beginning.

Correspondingly, the number of insects in each base has increased dramatically, from 30,000 to 100,000, and this number continues to rise.

However, Rowan was not actually satisfied.

The Swarm now possesses two cutting-edge technology industries: aquaculture and agriculture. The food problem that once hindered the Swarm's development has been solved.

The current constraint on Swarm development is the insufficient production capacity. The Ant Queen the Mother Nest, and due to its structure, the Mother Nest has already reached its maximum size, and its production capacity is fixed.

The Mother Nest, which initially boasted the productivity of hundreds of Ant Queen, is now struggling to keep up.

The Ant Queen's productivity is even more lacking. Due to her size, she can only lay a limited number of eggs, and even if she works non-stop, her efficiency is not very high.

There's no way to upgrade the Mother Nest for now. Rowan had considered whether to enlarge the Ant Queen's size to increase their egg-laying efficiency.

However, the genes that Rowan currently possesses that can make a body larger, apart from one that improves the oxygen supply system, all strengthen muscle structure to increase body size.

These genes only have a slight effect on the oxygen supply system; the rest simply increase the Ant Queen's muscle density and body size, without playing any role in improving the Ant Queen's reproductive organs.

Rowan didn't have a good solution to this either. He could only rely on time to accumulate experience.

Fortunately, the Swarm is currently advancing and has not yet encountered any formidable adversaries.

I encountered several Big-Headed Ant Nest recently that were evenly matched with the Swarm.

When history repeats itself, the regional hegemons' leaf-gathering forces are intercepted. Subsequently, when they amassed millions of troops to provide support, the outcome was drastically different.

This time, the Swarm did not flee despite being outnumbered; the original two million ants had grown to twenty million. The massive army directly surrounded and annihilated the millions of Big-Headed Ant.

Although over a million soldiers were killed, is that a small loss compared to a Swarm of over a billion?

Furthermore, the Swarm has already spread along the eastern banks of lakes and rivers, but due to insufficient support, it has only developed a few hundred bases so far, serving as bridgeheads.

The situation on the other side is similar to this side, since they are not far apart.

The basic types of insects are still the same, there's nothing to emphasize. As long as they encounter the Swarm, they will be recycled into protein.

Meanwhile, the Diving Bug, drifting downstream, also discovered several kinds of small aquatic insects. Unfortunately, their talents were all quite similar, and they didn't bring Rowan any surprises.

However, while one door closes, another opens. Just now, news came from the Central Army that a small detachment of 500,000 men had been wiped out by an unknown enemy. The queen Ant Queen accompanying the army did not act rashly and, while temporarily halting its advance, sent a communications soldier to report to Rowan.

Upon hearing this news, Rowan was not angry, but rather extremely excited. Finally, a formidable enemy had emerged. He wondered if they possessed any unique talents, so they could exchange and hone their skills.

At the same time, he marveled that the new Ant Queen's intelligence had improved; she now knew how to cater to his desires, knew he was bored, and knew to leave good things for him to solve.

Because the Central Army's marching range is too wide and its numbers have increased to tens of millions, they usually advance in a dispersed manner. Therefore, the various road marker pheromones are all mixed up along the way.

Dissatisfied with the slow pace of the communications soldiers, Rowan went out alone and searched for a long time, finally finding the Central Army's encampment the next day at noon. This was only because he had observed from a sufficiently far distance; otherwise, he didn't know how long it would have taken to find it.

These guys have become quite far removed from the front lines, but he no longer suspects, as he had before, that there might be a trap or that the Central Army has been completely annihilated by the enemy. Because times have changed, no force can silently devour an army of millions without leaving a trace.

Moreover, the fact that the annihilated team was able to find clues by the Ant Queen suggests that while the enemy may have been strong, they weren't significantly stronger.

However, thinking about these things now is unnecessary. He has already arrived at his destination, and he will soon be able to see what the other party's situation is.

Led by the scouts, Rowan arrived at the spot where the team had disappeared. The area was filled with pheromones brimming with chaotic information, and some arthropods, perhaps due to insufficient flesh, had not yet been completely cleared away.

What puzzled Rowan was the presence of many dark, corrosive marks on the ground. They didn't seem to be caused by Formic Acid Solution; rather, they resembled burn marks, and a lingering stench permeated the area.

This is rather strange. Since Rowan's reincarnation, he has never seen anything like flames. If it weren't for his extensive knowledge, a native wouldn't have been able to recognize what caused this charring.

But for such traces to appear in this pristine environment is a bit outrageous. Everyone here is engaged in hand-to-hand combat, at most spraying some formic acid. Who the hell is starting to play with fire? This is going too far.

Following these remaining traces, Rowan quickly found the dwelling of this fire-wielding fellow. It was so conspicuous, even more distinctive than the Big-Headed Ant's nest.

This is a tall earthen fortress, standing at least twenty meters high, towering over many of the surrounding trees. It's so imposing that it's impossible to miss at a glance.

However, although the fortress is very tall, it does not occupy a large area, only a few square meters. From a distance, it looks like a rocket about to be launched, or a Corncob stuck in the ground.

As you get closer, you can see that this "Corncob" is made of soil-based material with numerous pores, suggesting it's the work of some kind of social insect, or perhaps even a completely new species of ant.

Moreover, he was exceptionally talented, which made Rowan's eyes light up.

However, they didn't seem to welcome the "neighbors" who came to demand an explanation; even when Rowan arrived at the door, no one came out to greet him.

However, it's alright, Rowan has a wealth of experience in how to knock on the door.