On the last day of July, the protagonist and "Little Black" finally left the plain area and entered the mountainous area - a place that may be of the same origin as the mountainous area where the swamp is located.
Although flying is not as difficult as trekking on the wild ground, it still feels particularly inconvenient once entering the mountainous area.
The terrain in the mountainous area is rugged, and the flying paths are limited. After all, it would be very difficult for "Xiao Hei" to climb along the mountain. Therefore, the easiest and most labor-saving way is to move along the valleys in the mountains, and there are only a few valleys.
The protagonist flies along a valley with a stream, which is obviously the main natural passage in the mountainous area. The streams and valleys are the places with the densest vegetation. All kinds of trees, arbors, weeds, and ferns grow freely, forming an airtight green barrier.
It's not just barriers and mazes. This dense green world is also filled with murderous intent. The protagonist relies on his good eyesight to control "Blackie" to avoid a wasp nest and three spider webs.
Whether next to Hu Feng's nest or on the spider web, there are many mutilated corpses of insects, indicating the tragic fate of the previous unlucky ones.
However, despite all the precautions, the protagonist is accidentally chased by a jumping spider - the opponent also has very good eyesight.
This jumping spider reminded him of "Tempest", his jumping spider mount. It should be in the swamp area now. I wonder if the narrow treeless environment of the island will make it feel boring. I don't know if the worker ants took care of it comfortably.
For the sake of "Tempest", the protagonist did not kill the jumping spider that was eyeing him, although it really scared him when the spider suddenly jumped from behind a leaf.
At that time, the protagonist and "Blackie" were resting on another leaf and did not notice that they had become the target of a jumping spider.
This jumping spider spotted the protagonist landing from a distance and then slowly and covertly approached.
The protagonist was unpacking his luggage and looking for something to eat. A dark shadow flashed in his eyes, and he automatically entered a battle-ready state. He reacted so quickly that he used his right middle limb to draw out a spear and swiped it like a stick, knocking away the jumping spider that had not yet landed. go out.
It's not a good place to stay for a long time. The protagonist saw that the jumping spider seemed to be uninjured, and climbed towards it again. Then we took off again and found another place to rest and eat.
When the ants and flies flew away, the jumping spider had just chased it to the previous location, watching the protagonist and "Little Black" move away, and the look of regret and disappointment could be seen in the shiny compound eyes.
It really looks like "Tempest". The protagonist thinks of his own mount again. Although he spends very little time with it, his mount is cute and clingy that the fly mount does not have, and there is also a hint of cleverness and cunning. Jiner, very much like a cat.
Why do you think of cats? Did I have a cat before I traveled through time?
Putting aside the distracting thoughts in my mind, it was time to eat. This time there were no jumping spiders or other bugs to disturb us, and every ant and fly quickly finished their quota.
The protagonist looked at the deflated luggage - only the last two meals were left in it, and it was time to stop tomorrow...
The protagonist looked around. There were mixed peanut trees and greenery. It seemed that there should be a lot of edible things.
Even if he is alone, it seems that it is not difficult to find food with the protagonist's strength, but what he needs is food that is easy to process and carry, and easy to preserve.
Like most insect prey, even if the protagonist can kill it, he doesn't want to put in the effort to cut up and dismember the insect's carcass, which basically has a hard carapace, to get some raw meat. Except for the meat of the cultured mealworms and fly maggots in the nest, which are thoroughly cleaned and cooked, the protagonist really doesn't eat much other meat.
There are also plant foods, most of which are fruits, such as the black berries of nightshade, and the red and gem-like crystal particles on the snakeberry fruits. Some taste good, and some taste just like that, but they all have a lot of water in common. , low in calories, and can only be eaten fresh and cannot be carried.
After riding "Xiao Hei" and walking along the valley for a long time, the protagonist still couldn't find suitable food. He also thought about what he should look for. It would be great if there were insect eggs. Insect eggs are rich in nutrients and also Easy to carry and has a long shelf life.
However, it is really difficult for them to find insect eggs just by looking at them in the air. Those conspicuous eggs have long been eaten by other predators, and the insects always lay their eggs in hidden places such as the soil. place to preserve future generations.
There was nothing gained along the way, and he made a mistake while choosing a fork in the road. The protagonist soon strayed into a small basin in the mountains with only one entrance and exit.
The protagonist looked at the mountains around the basin, some were high and some were short, but "Xiao Hei" obviously couldn't climb over them, so he planned to go back the same way and continue looking for the other valley road from the previous fork.
But while he was flying in the air, he was suddenly attracted by a landscape in the basin.
It was an incongruous mound of ocher-red soil that suddenly appeared among the lush greenery in the green forest glade.
And unlike naturally formed mounds, this mound has highly sloping, sometimes almost vertical sides, and is full of small holes, which will definitely make people with trypophobia feel uncomfortable.
This looks like an anthill!
The protagonist drives "Little Black" and approaches cautiously, wanting to study what kind of indigenous ants are here.
Even if he couldn't recognize the species of some ants, he could infer some information from their body shape. If he observed them for a while and looked at the food they brought back, he could infer more things.
This anthill is very large, and the protagonist is very close. It feels like a pilot flying a two-person small plane with a big mountain appearing in front of him.
There are hundreds of lair entrances on the protagonist's side alone.
The protagonist hid in a tree not far from the nest. After carefully checking that there were no ants or other threats nearby, he stopped.
Soon, he saw clearly that many "ants" were moving in and out of the ant mound.
The protagonist finds that these "ants" look very strange. Although they have round heads, long antennae and eye-catching jaws like ants, their bodies are not divided into distinct chests, waists and abdomens like ants. It is chubby and almost oval-shaped, and the carapace on it is in the shape of links.
Looking at their slightly white body color, the protagonist finally realized that these were not ants, but termites.
Termites are closer to cockroaches in blood, but they are eusocial insects like ants, and their habits are also similar to ants, so they are often mistaken for ants.
After the protagonist came to this world, he saw all kinds of ants, and another type of true social insect, bees. But this was the first time he saw a group of termites. It seems that in this world, termites are very common. It's rare!
