Following the ants to see the methods and processes of disposing of excrement was a major mistake the protagonist made in retrospect, which seriously affected the protagonist's profound understanding of aesthetics.
The worker ants did not move along the main road, but formed a column and walked through various small roads. The protagonist followed them through the cave and room, and walked for a long time before reaching the destination. It seems that this ant nest is quite large. The protagonist has realized this when he was exploring before. When he accidentally entered the resting nest of soldier ants, the dense scene was really overwhelming for patients with trypophobia.
The number of different types of ants in a nest varies greatly. Some ant colonies only consist of a few hundred or even dozens of ants, while some nests can have as many as 100,000 members. The protagonist estimates that the community he belongs to has at least several thousand members. I haven’t seen the protagonist of the queen ant in the nest yet. I don’t know if there is one or more. They seem to be hiding in a very hidden place, and they usually don’t stay at home. The oldest of the male ants has only met Lao Wang. He lives in seclusion except during school hours, and he really doesn't like people intruding into his enemy's nest. There are a lot of young male ants. There were about fifty of them hatched with the protagonist at the beginning. Except for the male ants whose wings were half eaten by the mantis, the others should still be alive. What remains are a large number of soldier ants and worker ants.
The protagonist continues to follow the team of worker ants carrying excrement while estimating the size of the colony. They passed through a winding tunnel, which became brighter and brighter as they went forward. However, there were obviously no fluorescent bacteria in this tunnel.
"Is this another exit to the ground?" the protagonist guessed, but then overturned his guess. These lights are blue-white light similar to cold light lamps. Although the brightness has increased, it is the same as the light of the fluorescent fungi that the protagonist has seen before. It is completely different from the dim but hot sunlight on the earth.
The mystery was quickly revealed. The worker ants took the protagonist into a nest that he had never set foot in. The nest was also very large, about the same size as a classroom or a public toilet, and far larger than other ordinary nests. This nest has no other entrances and exits. The ground inside is covered with clusters of fluorescent fungi. Normally, the fluorescent fungi in tunnels or nests are on the walls and ceilings, but here the fluorescent fungi are neatly arranged. on the ground. There are so many stars in the sky, it's like all the stars in the sky have fallen here. The stars are shining brightly, creating a beautiful starry spectacle in the dark corner of the earth.
The protagonist is unconsciously intoxicated in this exotic scenery. The underground, caves, strange mushrooms, cold light, and dots of lights form a picture that has never appeared in the memory of the previous life or imagined. This scroll is enough to challenge the painting skills of the best painters. It has also made poets from ancient times to the present speechless, and singers want to chant but cannot describe it. The protagonist doesn't know whether the ants have aesthetic ability, but this scene is the greatest value creation of beauty by the ants.
Just as the protagonist turned into a fake green ant and was intoxicated, the worker ants had already walked in with small dung balls in their mouths. The protagonist is very curious about where so many fluorescent bacteria come from and what the worker ants are doing here.
Immediately afterwards, I saw the worker ants finding an open space to put down the dung balls, and then left without paying any attention to them. The protagonist had a bad premonition, so he took a closer look with bright light... Sure enough, these clusters of fluorescent fungi were all growing on small black or brown balls... This was really a fluorescent fungus inserted into an ant. On feces.
The protagonist's outlook on life has been shattered many times, not more than this time, so I don't have the same feeling of being shocked from time to time. It's just that there is one more thing that cannot be looked at directly in the future - fluorescent bacteria. Thinking about it, I was happy that there were a lot of fluorescent bacteria on the walls of the room, but now I think about it, it’s really like smearing the walls with shit! Even the beautiful scenery in front of me seemed to have a strange flavor.
"I didn't expect that these ants actually have agricultural production, but they only grow cash crops." The protagonist complained: "There is planting industry, and animal husbandry that breeds aphids. If these ants learn industry and service industry, what will happen to them?" The earth is probably going to have nothing to do without humans!"
I have seen how the ants moved their feces to plant fluorescent bacteria. Although I have not seen the specific process of how the fluorescent bacteria are transplanted to the new fecal balls, the protagonist no longer intends to stay, even though the nose is growing on the abdomen. , these dung balls have no smell when they are fresh. However, fermented old dung balls grown by fluorescent bacteria always have a vague and unpleasant smell that is transmitted to the tentacles, and then pops into the brain from the tentacles, making the brain uncomfortable.
The protagonist hurriedly ran back, determined to dig a bathroom for himself as soon as possible, and he must not grow these beautiful-looking mushrooms next to it.
Returning to the two-bedroom apartment, the protagonist hurriedly checked all the corners of the two bedrooms and a hall. It was confirmed that Hua Mulan and the other six subordinates did not defecate in the open. Although the inspection results were satisfactory, the protagonist became more and more dissatisfied when looking at the fluorescent fungi on the wall. If you look carefully, the roots of the fluorescent fungi are just a loose ball of mud, which has been mixed with the soil on the wall. If you don't look carefully, I really can't tell. So he quickly ordered his six soldier ant subordinates to dig up these fluorescent fungi and plant them anywhere in the passage outside. At least he couldn't have these things in his own home, no matter how beautiful the flowers on the cow dung were.
The soldier ants quickly obeyed. Although they were soldier ants and their main duties were fighting and hunting, they would not disobey any of the male ants' requests.
After all the fluorescent bacteria were removed, the protagonist felt that the room was much darker, but it had little effect on the ants. Hua Mulan and the others had poor eyesight, so even relying on their tentacles to find their way in the dark would have no effect. The protagonist's eyesight is far better than that of ordinary ants. Even deep underground, he can see things roughly with only a glimmer of light. Relatively speaking, the protagonist does not rely so much on his tentacles.
After cleaning up the house, the protagonist decided to put the matter of digging a bathroom on the agenda. First, Hua Mulan and her six soldier ant subordinates were summoned. They were larger and stronger and were the main force in digging the soil. As for the task of cleaning up the dirt, ordinary worker ants can complete it. The protagonist asked Hua Mulan to help capture ten soldier ants in the main passage. In this way, a small temporary construction team was formed.
