Lu slipped up behind several small ants and accidentally stepped on some crushed stones, making a bit of noise.
However, these newly born little ants paid him no mind at all, thoroughly embracing the philosophy that nothing in the world mattered more than eating.
He completely relaxed and swaggered over to the eggs.
These things were like chicken eggs, only slightly more transparent and with much softer shells.
‘Species: Unhatched Ant Egg. Strength: None (Low Tier Fourth Grade)’
To think that even ant eggs were at the Fourth Grade!
Just how nourishing would they be!
Since the Ant Nest held such good stuff, Lu Qing naturally wouldn't hold back.
With a light swipe of his Sickle Leg, he sliced an opening into the top of the eggshell.
He then drank it down in big gulps, sending it into his stomach in just a few mouthfuls.‘Flesh Value +0.1 gained.’
‘Flesh Value +0.1 gained.’
...
A whole ant egg provided Lu Qing with 0.3 Experience Value.
A visual estimate showed at least a hundred of them here. They could probably provide over thirty points, which was a tenth of what he needed to advance.
Brimming with motivation, Lu Qing began to strive for his advancement.
...
The number of patrolling soldier ants within the Ant Nest had indeed decreased significantly, but they were still around.
Right after he finished eating the ant eggs and exited the tunnel, he ran headlong into a patrolling squad of soldier ants!
The scouting capabilities of the soldier ants were clearly much stronger than those of the worker ants. Before Lu Qing could even hide, they had already sounded the alarm.
“Enemy invasion! Enemy invasion!”
With a swift strike, Lu Qing accurately severed the leading soldier ant's antennae.
The alarm had already been sounded, and he guessed that a large swarm of soldier ants would rush over very soon.
He didn't bother tangling with the remaining soldier ants. He turned, scrambled into another side tunnel, and broke into a frantic sprint.
After running dizzily for a while, he turned his head and saw a dense mass of pursuers right behind him.
A voice rang out at that moment.
“Mantis, it's you again!”
The voice suddenly turned furious. “You destroyed my eggs! I swear I will wipe out your Mantis race!”
Lu Qing didn't forget to shoot back while running. “I just ate a few of your eggs, what are you so angry about? Careful not to make yourself sick with rage, or you won't be able to lay any more. The loss wouldn't be worth the gain!”
The voice became even more furious. “Damned Mantis, shameless thief! Your conscience should be plagued with guilt!”
‘Morals... I've already become a Mantis, and you still want to guilt-trip me with morals?’
“Right, right, my conscience is so plagued with guilt. I'll just eat a few more eggs later to make up for it...”
The Ant Queen was probably half-dead with anger, as no response came.
Immediately following that, the soldier ants' speed drastically increased, surging toward Lu Qing with reckless abandon.
Enough ants could bite an elephant to death. He certainly didn't think he could wipe out this densely packed ant army alone.
Seeing that a few of the faster ones had already charged right up to him, Lu Qing struck swiftly, severing their antennae.
The ants with severed antennae opened their mandibles and bit down wildly, tearing a large chunk out of the tunnel wall.
Lu Qing aimed at the gap and hacked at it with his Scythe.
The falling rubble blocked the tunnel, and he turned around to continue his run.
The rubble only held them off for a few seconds before the ant army broke through.
Meanwhile, he was scurrying around like a headless fly, completely unable to find a way out.
If this continued, he would be surrounded by these ants sooner or later.
...
Caiyi was already injured, but she remained extremely fierce.
However, no matter how fierce she was, she inevitably began to falter in the face of the overwhelming ant army.
Just as she planned to retreat into her nest, she felt the pressure suddenly lessen.
Staring closely, she realized that the ants had begun to retreat.
‘My desperate fighting must have heavily damaged the ant army!’
Caiyi was instantly invigorated. “They're scared! Sisters, charge with me!”
However, very few responded.
Turning around, she saw the ground littered with the bodies of heavily injured and dead Mantises.
These were the core forces of her territory.
With these Mantises dying right before the breeding season, the territory's strength would be vastly weakened!
To be inexplicably encircled by the Ant Race, and now that we have suffered such heavy casualties, your Ant Race just retreats whenever it feels like it?
This was simply bullying the Mantises too much!
Caiyi couldn't swallow this anger, and the surviving Mantises couldn't either.
“Chase them down! I swear we will make the Ant Race pay!”
Caiyi led the remaining squad of thirty-seven Mantises in pursuit.
They were determined to slaughter their way to the Ant Nest and demand an explanation!
Hunting them along the way, they hacked down over a dozen ants.
“The Ant Nest is just ahead! Cross the river and let these damned little ants see what we're made of!”
The Mantises were also instantly reinvigorated.
Having been inexplicably ganged up on, it was finally time for them to vent their frustrations and stand tall!
One by one, they brandished their large Scythes and flew across the river.
At this time, the crossing ants were climbing an extremely tough tree vine.
Without a word, Caiyi directly severed the tree vine.
Those ants caught halfway across fell into the rapid river, tumbling in the water as they were swept far away.
Having vented a bit of her anger, Caiyi turned to look at the Ant Nest.
Suddenly, she froze!
Something was up.
A ring of soldier ants surrounded the outside of the Ant Nest, and dozens of flying ants were circling and attacking from the air.
These ants were clearly besieging something.
Due to the angle, she couldn't see exactly what they were attacking.
But looking at the vigor of these ants, she knew their target was definitely very troublesome.
No wonder. No wonder those ants had suddenly retreated. It turned out their own nest was in trouble.
In a way, this had done her a favor.
Out of curiosity, Caiyi wanted to see exactly what species these ants were ganging up on.
“There's a situation at the Ant Nest. Wait here while I take a look!”
She spread her wings and flew toward an ancient tree. After steadying herself, she cast her gaze over, and once she saw clearly, she was instantly stunned.
In the very center, there was a Mantis.
This Mantis was huge in size, and its movements were fast and ruthless.
It swung its deep black Scythes so densely that not even the wind could slip through. Whenever the Scythes slashed past, an ant's antennae would invariably be severed.
What truly shocked her was that this was a male Mantis.
Male Mantises were naturally frail, so why was this one so absurdly robust?
“Lord.”
Several other Mantises had also flown up to the treetops.
When they saw that what the numerous ants were besieging was actually a male Mantis, they all looked utterly astounded.
“Ah? A male Mantis? How is that possible?”
They had personally experienced the strength of the soldier ants!
Aside from the Lord, in a one-on-one situation, it was perfectly normal even for a Fifth Grade Mantis of the same tier to be brutally beaten by an ant.
If it weren't for their antennae being a weak point, even the Lord might not have been able to gain any advantage.
Even someone as powerful as the Lord would find it extremely strenuous to handle two or three soldier ants simultaneously!
But look at him?
That male Mantis, despite being surrounded, was dashing left and right as if traversing a realm devoid of ants.
One had to remember, there were still flying ants in the air waiting for a chance to strike.
“Is this male from our territory?”
“No! The males in our territory are all weaklings. Every single one of them struggles just to mate, let alone charge and kill so fiercely!”
“I heard there are two rather formidable Mantises in our territory.”
“It's not them either. Of those two, one is Third Grade and the other is Fifth Grade. But this male is Sixth Grade, and he's so ferocious... just looking at him is making me drool!”
“Me too! Who could resist such a ferocious male? My heart is just itching to death right now.”