After the protagonist returned to [Xinyang City] from Golden Beach, he was speechless for a day.
In the next few days, [Xinyang City] was operating, developing, and growing in an orderly manner.
At this time, the external natural environment changed again - although it did not rain here, the water in Qinghe River became turbid at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the next few days, it became the "Yellow River", which completely did not live up to its name.
The water level on the river also began to rise rapidly, and the beach on the east side of the peninsula was soon half submerged, including the anchorage of the walnut boat.
Looking from the big poplar tree, all the river beaches on the north bank have suffered this fate, and the greedy and ferocious river water is devouring the land space without restraint.
The golden beach is the lowest, and it is completely submerged at the moment. The shining golden light is completely obscured by the turbid river water. The terrain there is like the bottom of a funnel, so it's no wonder there's a lot of gold sand accumulated there.
It seems that when the water level drops and the beach is exposed again, the gold content there will only increase. If it were left to the human world, it would be a natural gold mining holy land.
The river water is turbid and the water level is rising. Various signs indicate that rainfall has occurred in the upper reaches of the main branches and tributaries of the Qinghe River. For example, the big river is a tributary of the Qinghe River, and this time in previous years happened to be a season of heavy rainfall.
The water flow carried the sediment and gathered together, shaping the Qinghe River with a completely different temperament during the flood period.
Flood season in Qinghe has arrived.
The protagonist couldn't help but feel lucky that he had brought the fleet ashore in time, otherwise the river would be so turbulent now that it would be easy for the boat to capsize if it encountered dangerous shoals. Even if the boat doesn't capsize, with the current flow rate of the river, it will be difficult for the ants to land.
Floods do not threaten the ants that have come ashore to build nests, but they still cause great damage.
Just when the protagonist realized that the flood was coming and wanted to strengthen the anchorage of the Walnut Fleet, the river water had already submerged all the stones and wooden sticks that tied the fleet's cables.
The river is so fast that the protagonist can only stand on a high place and watch the walnut fleet swaying left and right under the impact of the rapids. The cables are sometimes tightened and sometimes loosened, bearing great force.
Under such conditions, the ants had no way to wade to the boat and try to reinforce the cable.
Even if the current at the mooring ground is far less intense than the strongest point on the river, the huge impact is not something that a slender cable can resist.
Only half a day later, all the cables were broken, and the Walnut Fleet quickly left the river bank like a wild horse, following the yellow rapids, and soon disappeared from sight.
The protagonist has anticipated this moment since the moment the anchorage was submerged, and now he can only accept it.
Fortunately, all the supplies on the fleet have been transferred to [Xinyang City]. Except for the walnut fleet itself, the Divine Envoy King's Legion did not lose anything.
And the walnut fleet itself is not irreplaceable.
Even if the Divine Envoy King's legions want to return to their lair, they will not be able to take the water route next. They will have to cross the river and then take the land route.
The only remaining function of the walnut fleet is to ferry the ants across the river. During the dry season, there is no need for the walnut fleet. Rafts made of branches or the like can also be used as rides.
[Xinyangcheng] There are many woods nearby and there are many dead branches. Moreover, in the large woods to the north, the protagonist also found several walnut trees. If he has the patience to wait until next spring, he can rebuild the walnut fleet.
Of course, the protagonist doesn't have the patience, so he is still ready to build a raft to cross the river when the time comes.
Thinking of this, his heartache eased by 70%.
The other 30% is because the walnut fleet also consumes a lot of ant wire, rope, and wood. If I had known better, I would have dismantled all these useful things. Bashan Ai
——I am the dividing line——
Good news is always rare, but bad news comes easily.
Just after the walnut boat drifted away, life was calm for a while, although the floods surged and many coastal areas were submerged.
But the ants still have enough hinterland to collect food supplies.
The exploration team successively took photos of some nearby indigenous ants, including abdominal ants, pavement ants, etc. However, the other party's activity range is generally far away from the river bank, and it is also a long way from [Xinyang City].
The exploration team quickly killed the indigenous ants they encountered, and then tried their best not to go here, reduce contact with the indigenous people, and not expose their own existence.
The remaining territory is also very large. Hunting and gathering alone is enough to support tens of thousands of ants, which is more than enough to support the current less than 10,000 warriors of the God Envoy King.
Not to mention that the ants also built farms and farmland one after another and began grazing aphids, basically recreating the original economic model in their homeland.
The only worry now seems to be that after the floods rose, the humidity underground in [Xinyangcheng] increased greatly, making the ants very uncomfortable.
Then, just when the protagonist was slacking off and waiting for the flood to pass, almost a month passed in such a boring way.
One day, a brood ant came over to report bad news.
At the beginning of landing, the protagonist used some of the ant eggs to hatch and replenish the ant colony.
It has been a month now, and the worker ants and soldier ants have emerged from their pupae to adulthood and joined the army or the ranks of farmers, hunters, and craftsmen.
The two most precious ant eggs, one is the egg of the future queen ant, and the other is the egg of the male ant. These are the only pair of ants currently breeding in [Xinyangcheng] that are capable of reproducing.
These two types of eggs develop slower than worker ant eggs. The female ant larvae have already pupated and can emerge from the pupae in a few days.
The young male ants have just pupated, which is when they are vulnerable.
At this time, the worker ants who were raising the babies discovered that an unknown fungus had grown on the pupae of the male ants, which was green and scary.
The protagonist was shocked. Although there were still some male ant eggs stored in the warehouse deep underground, it would take a month to hatch into adulthood. If the male ant pupa died, [Xinyang City] would have to wait another month. Even if a solitary female ant is paired and fertilized, it will take a month to be able to lay new eggs.
This can easily interfere with the protagonist's plan. Once the flood recedes, the protagonist plans to cross the river as soon as possible.
At that time, a large number of new ants will be needed to expand the army and the team of porters, so that they can carry as much supplies as possible and make the journey safer.
The protagonist immediately ordered all-out efforts to treat the only male ant pupa. The worker ants used their mandibles to remove the hyphae on the surface and smeared the affected area with saliva in an attempt to save the pupa.
But the mycelium is still sprouting day after day, and its roots have penetrated into the pupa. It cannot be eradicated without breaking it. But if the pupa is broken open, it will die immediately. At this moment, the male ants inside are still in a state of paste, and there is no trace of them at all. forming.
After three days of this, the male ant pupa gradually dried up. On the day when the female ant successfully emerged from the pupa, the nurse ants discovered that the male ant pupa had completely lost its vitality.
After hearing the news, the protagonist had no choice but to order another male ant egg to be hatched, which wasted a month.
The death of male ant pupae actually heralds a huge crisis.
