Inside [Dongyang City], deep underground.
This is a large-scale nest chamber. Different from the traditional ant nest structure, it is not only much larger in area, as big as a coffee table in the human world, but also has a flat, regular oval shape.
Moreover, in order to stabilize the ceiling, some wooden sticks were supported in the nest as pillars. The ceiling and walls were smoothed with clay and baked with fire. A lot of charcoal was piled in the corner to ensure moisture-proofing.
A large number of fluorescent fungi are planted all over the walls as if they are free. Although the nest is not as bright as the outside, it is like installing LED lamps, providing enough lighting for the ants working inside.
Anyway, the worker ants working inside rely more on their antennae rather than their compound eyes. They feel that the current light is bright enough.
This is a newly built crossbow workshop in [Dongyang City], with hundreds of worker ants working in it, and dozens of large worker ants as managers.
The large worker ants and worker ants were divided into several groups. Some were responsible for processing wood with copper tools and stone tools, some were responsible for gluing and rope binding processes, some were responsible for installing tendons of locusts or grasshoppers, and some were responsible for using Bow strings are made from hemp fiber and ant silk.
Although there is no assembly line in the workshop, segmented production has been implemented here, greatly improving efficiency.
If you ignore the simple factory building, dim lighting, and working ants, this place simply looks like a workshop or small factory in the human world.
This is the second such crossbow workshop, there is another one not far away, and in another place, the third crossbow workshop is under construction. By then, the crossbow production capacity of the Divine Envoy Army will be increased again.
Not only are there workshops for ballistae, but there are also workshops for giant arrows used in ballistae, workshops for clay and stone bullets, and workshops for slings.
There are bronze casting workshops, stone tool workshops, pottery workshops, and charcoal burning workshops near the combustion chamber, making it convenient to use the fire source nearby.
In addition to military purposes, there are also fermentation workshops for processing food, pickling and smoking workshops, etc.
This is the industrial center of the entire Divine Envoy Army, producing a large number of finished products that far exceed the technological level of this world.
In addition to production, there are also a large number of large worker ants engaged in scientific research.
Although the protagonist spends very little time directly in [Dongyang City], he still specifies scientific research goals from time to time, and even directly provides plans to let the scientific research team's Secret Secretary II lead the big workers to carry out scientific research.
For example, right now, Xiao Mi II and the others are conducting experiments on the flammable liquid in the mysterious ball according to the protagonist's idea.
This is a dangerous job, so the experimental site is located in the most remote place underground, far away from important facilities such as combustion chambers, granaries, and workshops.
Moreover, during the experiment, the big worker ants would also hide far away, and only the worker ants were responsible for operating according to the requirements of the information packet in their minds.
This experiment has been going on for more than a week as of today. The experimental nest room has been bombed and collapsed four times, and dozens of worker ants have died due to various reasons.
But today, Xiao Mi II finally got some results and hurriedly reported to the protagonist.
Previously, the protagonist has realized through reasoning that the light blue liquid in the mysterious ball will burn in the air. The mysterious ball can explode after being heated or spontaneously ignited. The reason is also due to the liquid inside.
Although it is impossible to analyze the composition of this light blue liquid, the protagonist is also wondering if there is any way to preserve the light blue liquid after leaving the mysterious ball, and to use it more conveniently according to the amount, instead of just one piece per piece. The preservation of this mysterious ball requires dangerous methods to detonate it.
Xiao Mi II and the others were mainly engaged in this research. They directed the worker ants to use simple gravity stone hammers to smash open the mysterious ball to let the light blue liquid inside flow out, and then tried various methods to prevent the light blue liquid from spontaneously igniting and exploding.
Once, after the light blue liquid flowed out, the ants used loose sand to absorb the liquid. Experimental results: Failure, the sand turned into light blue and began to spontaneously combust, but did not explode.
Another time, I switched to charcoal particle adsorption and found that the adsorption capacity of charcoal per unit volume was greater, the self-ignition time was longer, and there was no self-explosion.
In another experiment, the worker ants directly dropped the broken mysterious ball into a clay pot filled with water. The light blue liquid was lighter than water and floated to the surface. Then it began to burn violently and uncontrollably, causing a huge explosion. The laboratory nest collapsed, the gravity stone hammer was damaged, and six worker ants participating in the experiment died.
New experiments were conducted after the laboratory hive and gravity stone hammer were repaired. This time, the broken mysterious ball was thrown into a clay pot filled with liquid grease. The light blue liquid sank under the grease and did not burn. After standing for about three days, the light blue liquid remained stable. It can be seen that this kind of liquid can be stored in grease for a long time.
In the next experiment, the worker ants replaced the grease with ant glue that had not yet solidified. The reaction of the light blue liquid was the same as in the previous experiment. After the ant glue dried, it turned into a thick film, sealing the light blue liquid. In the clay pot, there was no spontaneous combustion or explosion within three days.
In addition to these experiments, there are also some cases of failure, resulting in death and injury, which I will not go into details.
In addition, Xiaomi II also conducted some experiments independently.
She asked a worker ant to drink a light blue liquid stored in grease during the experiment. The unlucky worker ant was quickly burned to ashes by the self-igniting liquid in his body...
Later, Xiao Mi II let another worker ant drink the liquid in the waste mystery ball that could no longer generate heat. The worker ant was not burned to death, but soon fell into continuous unstoppable diarrhea and eventually died of dehydration that night. .
But before the worker ant died, Xiaomi II received a message from her antennae and thought that the liquid tasted very similar to fluorescent bacteria.
Worker ants often have to take shifts to grow fluorescent bacteria on the fecal culture medium. Their tentacles have been exposed to fluorescent bacteria and they understand the taste of fluorescent bacteria, so they feel this way.
Xiao Mi II thought she had discovered something, and she quickly asked the ants to find some fluorescent fungi, which were everywhere in [Dongyang City].
After mashing the fluorescent bacteria in a clay pot with a wooden hammer, some turbid light blue liquid was obtained. When exposed to the air, it emitted a stronger fluorescent light than usual, and then dimmed quickly.
After the liquid crushed by the fluorescent bacteria is filtered and clarified by the hemp fiber plant, the color of the clear liquid obtained is very close to that of the liquid in the waste mystery ball.
After the worker ants touched it with their tentacles, they thought the two tasted the same. One worker ant was ordered to drink the fluorescent bacteria extract and died of diarrhea most of a day later.
The little secretary II quickly conveyed a series of results of the experiment to the protagonist on a flying knight.
