Until the north wind picked up and winter came, the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army did not make a comeback, and "Target A" spent the week without any danger.
Because it is located inland, the time of winter in this basin on both sides of the river is different every year. The first blow from the north is when winter arrives.
Ants prepare for winter based on their own feelings about changes in temperature and humidity. After sensing the arrival of cold air, the entire area quickly falls into silence.
This year's cold air came particularly violently and quickly. It was still warm weather, but the leaves on many trees had not yet fallen off, and it fell to freezing point overnight.
On the first day, the ants were still dragging their somewhat stiff bodies to collect supplies in the wild. In just one night, some swamps, puddles and streams with low flow were completely frozen, and the water surfaces of large rivers also appeared. It seems that it is only a matter of time before the large area of ice freezes over completely.
All the leaves were blown away by the strong wind overnight, and the surviving insects without the ability to dig holes almost died overnight. The winter wind was like the god of death, harvesting most of the life.
This cold wave was so severe that the warm and moist vapor mass that was originally entrenched here was pushed far to the south in almost the blink of an eye. Even freezing rain or snowflakes didn't have time to fall before the water vapor was completely blown away. It was a dry winter, very cold, with no snowfall and only desolation everywhere.
The sudden cold wave also disrupted the ants' plans.
The Northern Expeditionary Army of "Target A" just brought fire from the main nest "Qingqiu City" and lit a fire in the nest. If there were no fires, this winter would have been extremely difficult for the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
With a fire, even if there are no modifications to the nest and no new special heating pipes and smoke exhaust vents, the room temperature of the nest can be significantly raised.
However, despite having fire, the Northern Expeditionary Army had not yet had time to hoard enough firewood, which may have been a fatal mistake. Now, the Northern Expeditionary Army can only temporarily reduce the size of the fire and put in less fuel to keep the fire burning for as long as possible.
If this cold wave comes and goes quickly, then the Northern Expeditionary Army still needs to send ants to continue searching for fuel when the weather warms up, even if it requires a lot of sacrifice.
Many of the protagonist's plans were also disrupted. He originally planned to go to the north bank of the river in person before winter to understand the situation of "Target A" and put forward defense suggestions.
He also wanted to go to "Linshui City" and "Bridgehead" to supervise and inspect the defense there. Although the Northern Expeditionary Army is blocking the front, these two areas should not encounter enemy offensive. But be prepared, and the protagonist is also a little worried about the newly appointed garrison commanders in the two places.
But things didn't go as planned. Since he couldn't go there, the protagonist could only stay quietly in the comfortable palace of "Dongyang City".
The worker ants in the fly stable report the news to the protagonist that Xiao Qing is dead.
Xiaoqing is a fly that the protagonist has tamed himself, and is also his first mount. However, he was injured during a mission and can no longer be ridden by the protagonist. So the protagonist chose Xiao Qing II as his mount, and placed Xiao Qing in the fly stable to continue raising him.
Now, Xiaoqing's lifespan has obviously come to an end, and he quietly left this world when the cold wave came.
The protagonist was a little sad. He suddenly thought that the lives of insects and ants are so short. Gun and Rambo Fei have already entered their prime. If calculated according to the average life span of other kings, they only have two-thirds of their lifespan left.
The protagonist couldn't help but worry about himself. It was already his second year since he came to this world, and the life span of ants is really too short. If only a few more years pass, he would be old and unable to move freely. , what a terrifying thing that is.
The threat of aging suddenly appears in front of the protagonist, making him palpitate but unable to do anything. Before time travel and rebirth, the protagonist was still a young man in his twenties. He had never thought about what would happen when he got old, let alone realized that death was imminent.
But now, the life scale of an ant forces him to face this problem. The protagonist, who has already lost his life once, has an abnormal obsession with living - even if he only lives in the humble body of an ant, that's fine! ! !
After finally getting rid of the negative emotions about aging and death, the protagonist, accompanied by Hua Mulan and other guards, went to the fly stable and met Xiao Qing for the last time.
The metallic green body has lost its luster, just like its body has lost its soul. After having Xiao Qing II, the protagonist never visited this old man because he didn't like this feeling of sadness.
Xiao Qing II looks the same as Xiao Qing, with a red head and a green shell. The protagonist subconsciously regards them as one and the same, and deliberately ignores the injured Xiao Qing, who lives a dark life in an underground fly stable.
Maybe it should have been released back then. Although it was almost impossible for it to survive with its injuries, wouldn't it be better than spending more than a year of its remaining life underground in the dark? The protagonist feels that he is supporting it for the rest of its life, but does it feel that it is being imprisoned?
In fact, a fly does not have complex brain tissue, so it will not have these kinds of guesses or complaints. But the protagonist couldn't help but fall into a complex emotion and made up a lot of things on his own.
It can only be said that the topic of death is too heavy. When it happens close to oneself, and may happen to oneself soon, it is difficult for anyone to remain calm.
The protagonist ordered Xiao Qing's body to be buried. What was slightly comforting was that although Xiao Qing was injured, during his life in the fly stable, he had mated with a female fly, and this female fly had laid many eggs. . Xiao Qing at least succeeded in leaving descendants in this world and passing on his genes.
This can be regarded as "living" in another way. Whether it is a mayfly that lives and dies, or a tortoise with a long lifespan, life will eventually end, but genes can always be passed on.
Thinking of this, the protagonist laughed at himself in his mind. Other ants can inherit genes, but it is absolutely impossible for you.
He cannot accept mating with an "ugly-looking" female ant, so the protagonist feels that his genes will not be passed on. Once he dies, the traces of his existence in this world will completely disappear.
In the human world, great figures can still remain in people's memory through words, but in the ant world there are no words, and any oral legend will eventually lose its original meaning, and the original image will be distorted and annihilated.
"I really don't want to die!"
