The Angel King's army temporarily retreated underground, but the protagonist was still in the monitoring room and did not evacuate.
The monitoring room is very safe. It is the commanding height of the entire anthill. It is far away from the enemy. The appearance is also ordinary. Enemies generally will not come to such a high place without entrances and exits.
Moreover, the wall outside the monitoring room is made of ant concrete as thick as a watermelon rind. It is very thick. It is as difficult to break the wall with the ants' jaws as it is to use a screwdriver to demolish the wall. The observation opening in the wall is also very small, not big enough for the Big Destroyer or the Little Destroyer to get through.
The most important reason for not leaving is that the protagonist intends to observe the Destroyer's next move and study their command system.
In just over a day of fighting, the Destroyer gave the protagonist a "cunning and changeable" impression. Maybe the underground defense line he painstakingly designed is no longer safe? The protagonist feels the need to see with his own eyes how these enemies carry out their next offensive.
This obviously cannot be understood deep underground. The battle reports coming from the front line are all second-hand information passed by other ants after observation. No matter how accurate it is, there are distortions, and the focus of the observation is obviously different from the protagonist. Only what you see with your own eyes is the most accurate and what you need most.
After the Angel King's army retreated underground, the Destroyers finally climbed onto the coveted city wall platform.
The small destroyers were the first to get in through the holes in the protective net, followed by some of the large destroyers, but there were still a large number of large destroyers trapped in the protective net.
To the surprise of the protagonist, the large and small destroyers that got in did not directly attack the underground lair. Instead, they ran around on the platform, biting the corpses of the defenders who had no time to clean up. It seemed that they were Venting his anger on these corpses.
Then some of the little Destroyers finally seemed to regain their composure and resumed their old routine: removing the bodies.
Thinking that his loyal warrior is about to become the enemy's food rations, the protagonist can't help but feel a sense of compassion, and even more angry.
The fact that the corpses were used as food by the Destroyer is just the protagonist's guess. What he didn't know was that the fate of these corpses would be much more tragic than being eaten.
While the Little Destroyer was busy carrying the corpse, the Big Destroyer did something that made him helpless.
I saw these big destroyers, whether they had gotten in or not, they all started to chew on the protective net.
The enemy obviously felt that this protective net was in the way, blocking the steps of most of the Great Destroyer.
The protagonist originally wanted to take advantage of the night to regain the second line of defense outside the ant mound, and even encrypted the protective net overnight so that it would not be easy for the little destroyers to get in. Now that the enemy has begun to destroy the protective net, it seems difficult to implement the protagonist's plan.
These protective nets are woven from tough fibers of hemp and rattan plants. They are very strong overall and can be used for a long time despite being exposed to wind, sun or rain.
But the object of this solidity is nature, not the intentional attack of ants. The copper jaw knives of the warriors of the Angel King can cut the fibers in the protective net rope bit by bit. Although the Great Destroyer does not have the attack bonus of the copper jaw knives, they are more powerful and their chitinous jaws are also very sharp. .
A big destroyer lies on a net rope and gnaws, grinds and grinds it. It only takes half an hour to an hour to saw off a net rope.
The protagonist's heart bleeds as he looks at it. This protective net is a masterpiece that a large number of ants spent several days weaving. The materials consumed for this purpose have almost exhausted all the available plants near the nest. It is almost winter now, so with the materials in stock in the warehouse It is impossible to weave a new web.
The protective net mixed with fragile grass fibers that was improvised in the southern swamp area is still in use today, but this carefully woven net was destroyed at the first challenge.
This kind of destruction is irreparable. The Great Destroyers gnawed at the protective net almost as if venting their anger, causing the protective net to be broken everywhere. Many net ropes were cut into small sections and could no longer be mended. !
The vital facility ropes of the second line of defense were completely destroyed, thus buying precious buffer time for the third line of defense.
At this time, the Angel King's Legion was reassembling the ballistae in the underground preset battlefield. Without enemy interference, this work had been completed.
The protagonist has forgotten the tragic fate of his subordinates' corpses and protective nets. He is carefully observing the enemy and trying to answer a question.
Previously, during the investigation of the Destroyers, the protagonist never figured out the communication method of the Destroyers.
Other ants rely on their tentacles, smells and friction sounds to communicate and convey complex meanings, so in a group of ants, there will be a large number of tentacles touching each other.
The Legion of the Angel King is no exception. Although the male ant commander can use smell and sound to command the troops over a wide range, more precise orders still need to be conveyed by the messengers from tentacles to tentacles.
Whether it is the squad of guards around the protagonist or the squad of guards of the commander of the legion, they all have an important responsibility, which is to act as messengers.
But among the Destroyers, no such communication of tentacles can be seen.
Their tentacles are more like eyes and hands. They will touch the body of their companions to identify friends and foes, touch obstacles in front to confirm the route, and work with their forelimbs to clean the body. But there is no contact with fellow tentacles. The occasional encounter is immediately separated, which is just an accident.
The protagonist can't understand that even if the Destroyers can achieve simple communication by relying on smell and sound, how can they carry out more sophisticated command?
Is it because they have no precise command at all and just swarm based on instinct like primitive ants? The protagonist doesn’t believe it. If the Destroyers were so primitive, it would be impossible for them to be so "cunning and changeable", knowing how to use hybrid offensives and destroying vital defense facilities. The enemy's commander must be very shrewd and have unknown ways of commanding his subordinates.
The protagonist wanted to find these commanders, but couldn't find a way.
Among other ant races, the first way to judge a commander is based on his body shape. Among big-headed ants and pavement ants, male ants are significantly different from soldier ants or worker ants in body shape, and their number is also small. In the military formation, they are like stars holding the moon.
But the big and small destroyers are almost carved from the same mold.
The second way is to look at the frequency of antennae communication. For example, the most powerful warrior in the ant-hunting team is responsible for commanding. She looks like the other warriors, but because she has to command, the frequency of communication with her fellow tentacles is much higher than that with other warriors. From this point of view You can easily identify the identity of its commander.
However, this method is also ineffective when encountering the Destroyer who never communicates with his tentacles.
