The protagonist does not recognize this purple-flowered plant. He can only try his best to record the characteristics of this plant. His intuition tells him that these plants must have something special about them.
If a botanist were here, he would record:
The inflorescence of this plant is single or cyme-shaped in the leaf axil, with a stalk when solitary; the involucre is narrowly bell-shaped, 8 mm high, 4-5 mm in diameter, with 5-lobed edges and triangular lobes; 4 glands, yellow-green, with edges Has a white or pink appendage that is wider than the gland. There are 5-15 male flowers; 1 female flower. With long ovary stalk; ovary smooth, glabrous; styles 3, separated; stigma 2-lobed. Leaves are opposite, oval, 1-2 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, with blunt apex, oblique base, asymmetric, nearly round, and sparsely serrated edges; several purple spots on the leaf surface; petiole short, long About 1.5 mm; stipules truncate, very short, apex labial-dentate.
As for the shape of the capsule and seeds, they cannot be observed yet.
The protagonist observed that pavement ant workers would use their mandibles to cut off the purple flower petals and mature leaves of this plant, dry them and bring them back to the cave.
Maybe it's a wild vegetable with edible flowers and leaves? But is it necessary to grow wild vegetables on such a large scale?
Or does the plant form a symbiotic relationship with the ants, in which the ants eliminate their competitors and the plant returns food to the ants?
The protagonist did not recognize this plant, but if the name of this plant is announced, readers of this book will surely suddenly realize it.
This is a very famous plant. Because of its unique effects, it has been known and used by people in history, and it also appears frequently in martial arts novels.
Before the research could produce any results, the protagonist's observation action was quickly attracted by another thing.
At this time, a large number of pavement ant barbarian warriors suddenly emerged from the pavement ant branch nest without warning.
These pavement ant barbarian warriors are obviously not doing general work (such as patrolling and foraging). Their formation is a long marching column, and scouts are sent out in front of the column to patrol and spy. It seems that they are going to launch a campaign. A military operation.
The direction of this army of pavement ants is north, which is exactly where the protagonist landed with the reconnaissance team.
The protagonist was shocked. They were not discovered by the pavement ants. How could they provoke so many enemies?
Fortunately, the flying knights' greatest reliance was their flying ability. The reconnaissance team took off in an emergency and hid in the safety of the sky.
The protagonist observed carefully and determined that the target of this army of paving ants was not him. The reconnaissance team was safe and they had not been discovered.
The army of pavement ants poured out of the nest in a steady stream. The protagonist hovered in the air and counted six square formations in total.
If each phalanx is a legion, this branch has already dispatched 15,000 troops. This is equivalent to one sixth of the ants in the branch nest going out.
This is the time for a big war!
The protagonist keenly senses that the Pavement Ant barbarians must be planning a large-scale military operation.
These pavement ants are moving north instead of south, which means that their opponents have not already crossed the river and established a "bridgehead" for the enemy Archangel King's army.
This means that there must be a powerful force in the north of the territory of the Paving Ant Barbarians, which requires the Paving Ant Barbarians to send out a large army to deal with it.
The protagonist gave the order, and the reconnaissance team immediately changed its goal, no longer continuing to conduct reconnaissance along the edge of the pavement ant barbarian territory, and instead began to track this army.
Compared with the reconnaissance team flying in the air, the army of pavement ants on the ground does not move very fast, and the reconnaissance team can easily sneak behind.
There was no conversation all the way. That afternoon, the army arrived at a secondary nest and began to rest.
The protagonist and the others also observed that there was also a sizable army of pavement ants gathered here, with more than 10,000 pavement ant warriors in number.
This seemed to be a gathering point for the paving ant army. Until dark, the paving ant army gathered here showed no sign of moving. Instead, small groups of troops gathered from all over continued to join them.
Each of these small armies ranges from one soldier to two or three legions, and they continuously gather here from the east, south and west. It seems that the nearby deputy hive capital has sent troops to participate in this military operation.
This secondary nest can no longer accommodate so many troops, and many pavement ant barbarian warriors are camping on the ground. Fortunately, the weather is good and there is no danger in camping outdoors.
Seeing that it was getting late, the reconnaissance team found a tall tree nearby to rest.
They set up their campsites as far away from the ground as possible to avoid being spotted by pavement ant scouts on the ground.
There are now more than 30,000 pavement ant barbarian troops assembled on the ground. It would be terrible if they are alerted.
There was no suitable hollow or bark gap in the tree, so the scouts had to camp on the leeward side of the branch.
While the other ants are asleep, the protagonist is making plans.
The Pavement Ant Barbarian Army is obviously organizing a large-scale offensive campaign. Judging from the amount of troops invested, it is no smaller than the campaign that goes south to attack the Big-headed Ant Kingdom every winter.
The scale of this battle shows that the enemy that the Paving Ant Barbarians have to deal with is not weak. The protagonist believes that it is necessary to understand this enemy of the Paving Ant Barbarians. Maybe the opponent can contain the Paving Ant Barbarians army well and create opportunities for the Divine Envoy King Army and the Big-headed Ant Kingdom on the southern front.
But now the protagonist needs to worry about the food problem. The food carried by the reconnaissance team can guarantee a week's supply. It has been three days now.
After one more day at most, the reconnaissance team must return to ensure that there is sufficient food on the way back.
But in just one day, with the marching speed of the paving ant barbarian army, they may not have reached the designated battlefield yet!
What can be done to extend the investigation time?
If the reconnaissance team returns in a straight line instead of the same route they came from, it will definitely save time. However, the reconnaissance team's route along the way followed the terrain crookedly. Without the aid of tools, the protagonist can't figure out which direction the "bridgehead" is located.
If they return straight south until they see the big river, then the reconnaissance team will need to decide whether to search for the target east or west. Once the direction is chosen wrong, it will definitely be troublesome.
The protagonist did not dare to take too many risks, causing the flying knights who were finally formed to suffer heavy losses.
After thinking about it, the protagonist finally made up his mind.
The next day, the protagonist ordered the seven flying knights in the reconnaissance team to carry only enough food for the return trip and return to the "Bridgehead" along the route they came from.
Flying Eagle and another flying knight, Mantis Hu, continue to follow the protagonist for reconnaissance. The extra food collected by the returning scouts is enough for the protagonist and the three of them to eat for six days. In other words, they can still track and investigate for another two or three days.
