The protagonist's premonition is correct.
The next day, the pavement ant army marched into the forest, and the protagonist flew behind with a reconnaissance team. Danger ensues.
At the edge of the forest, the large army of pavement ants encountered no difficulty. But as we get deeper into the forest, the surrounding environment changes significantly.
The protagonist can feel that the terrain is gradually climbing. The Pavement Ant Barbarian Army has been moving towards higher altitudes. Although the slope is very gentle, after a long march, they are already at a much higher altitude than before. .
As the altitude increases and goes deeper into the forest, the various types of miscellaneous trees in the entire forest begin to transition, and now the main body of the forest has turned into pine and fir.
The dense canopy of these tall pine and fir trees blocks the hot sunlight from the upper levels of the forest. The pavement ants traveling at the bottom of the forest can barely see the sun, and they are surrounded by darkness. The word "black forest" popped up in the protagonist's mind.
The Black Forest, also known as the Teutonic Forest, is located in the mountainous area of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. Because it is 160 kilometers long from north to south and 60 kilometers long from east to west, it is densely covered with large forests. Due to the dense forest trees, it looks dark from a distance. Hence the name.
As for this "black forest", the protagonist doesn't know what it feels like from a distance. However, during the journey, the biggest visual experience is "dark", with dim sunlight and shadows of trees, giving people a strong sense of crisis.
Perhaps influenced by the external environment, the protagonist, Flying Eagle, and Mantis Tiger unconsciously became vigilant, and they controlled their mounts to get closer to each other.
Since entering the woods, the flying knights have not flown too high. They have generally flown in the lower part of the canopy, where there are fewer branches and they only need to avoid thick tree trunks during flight.
Fortunately, although the sunshine in the "Black Forest" is dim, the temperature is relatively pleasant and not as hot as other places.
The protagonist always pays attention to the top of his head. For the flying knight flying at this altitude, the only thing that can threaten him, apart from flying insects, are predators falling from the sky.
The Pavement Ant Barbarian Army also seemed to sense a hint of danger.
Since entering the "Black Forest", the formation of the pavement ants has been actively compressed even more closely. This is a defensive formation that can take into account both the speed of advancement and the reaction when attacked.
This formation is very necessary. After entering the black forest, the protagonist noticed several attacks against the pavement ant barbarian army just within the scope of the protagonist's field of vision.
It was some fierce insects that launched the attack.
These fierce insects include fly tigers, megalodon flies, and some insects that lurk underground and cannot be seen clearly.
Their tactics, without exception, are to sneak attack and then leave with one strike regardless of success or failure. Some, such as the Fly Tigers, actively followed the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army, waiting for opportunities to make sneak attacks. Some lurk underground, waiting for pavement ants to attack when they approach.
In this way, it would be difficult for the pavement ant barbarian army to exert its numerical advantage. Limited by their eyesight, the pavement ants would only be slow to discover the attackers after they were attacked. By the time the pavement ants were ready to counterattack, the attackers had already brought them with them. Sneak away with the prey.
Every time the fierce insects attack, one or several pavement ant warriors will be injured or killed. This loss is a drop in the bucket for the pavement ant barbarian army, so they abandon the dead without mercy, and even the injured have to follow them themselves. When you join the team, you won't get the slightest care from the army.
Some Pavement Ant warriors who injured their legs in the attack gradually fell to the end of the team, and the protagonist riding Xiao Qing II also fell into the air at this position.
He clearly saw that when the wounded Pavement Ant soldiers were thrown away by the large army because of their lack of strength, a black shadow suddenly emerged from under the dead leaves on the ground, dragging the wounded Pavement Ant soldiers underground.
There was silence in the "Black Forest", as if nothing happened, but attacks and killings were everywhere.
As time goes by, the protagonist sees from the dim light that hunting bugs, tiger beetles, ladybugs, lacewings and carnivorous bees have all joined the ranks of attacking the pavement ant barbarian army.
The barbarian army of pavement ants advancing in groups is like a huge, slow-moving injured whale, attracting countless hungry sharks to hunt.
Although not too many pavement ant warriors were lost as a result, the endless attacks made the army extremely annoyed and helpless.
Perhaps the pavement ant barbarian army was more conspicuous, and the protagonists did not encounter attacks. Otherwise, with only three flying knights, it would be difficult for them to deal with various predators in the forest.
This makes the protagonist a little discouraged. It's too dangerous here. However, the protagonist also wants to know the purpose of the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army going all the way deep into the forest.
Pavement ants are ants that like to live in plain areas. This kind of dense forest environment is not suitable for them. It can also be seen from their numerical advantage but their inability to cope with attacks by various fierce insects. Their poor eyesight and danger perception ability limit them. Their fighting prowess in the forest.
This is not the case in plain areas, where there is sufficient light and flat terrain, and pavement ants with a numerical advantage can easily dominate the area.
This kind of dense forest area is more suitable for hunting ants with strong individual combat effectiveness, such as the ferret ant. The ants have good eyesight, fast speed, and excellent jumping ability. They have great advantages in hunting or escaping in the complex environment of the woods.
Or ants with special skills such as black-headed sour ants, whether individually or in groups, will keep predators away. However, black-headed stink ants prefer the edge of the forest, and they are also afraid of the dangers deep in the forest. After all, their groups have to wander for a long time and only nest for the winter before winter, which adds additional risks.
What is the reason that makes the Ant Gate mobilize its army to go deep into the forest that it is unfamiliar with and uncomfortable with?
food? The weather this year is not good, and the food resources in the territory of the Pavement Ant Barbarians are indeed not as abundant as in previous years. However, the ecosystems of grasslands and forests are completely different. There is no need for pavement ants to go to such dangerous places just to find some food. Besides, there is no need to dispatch such a large army and go so far in search of food.
resource? Resources such as honeydew and salt mines will indeed attract the attention of many ants, who will occupy or take away these resources even if they pay a high price.
enemy? Groups such as the black-headed stink ants that live in the forest sometimes attack ants living in the grassland. Whether it is big-headed ants or pavement ants, they will generally fight back resolutely against such provocative behavior.
But to fight back, the most difficult thing is how to find and locate the exact location of the enemy group, especially ants like black-headed sour ants that wander for a long time.
Solving this mystery is the only motivation for the protagonist to stay in the "Black Forest".
