Winter came earlier than usual this year.
Toward the end of mid-October, the first snowfall suddenly fell. The weather deteriorated so suddenly, as if it had gone from golden autumn to severe winter in an instant.
The insect world that was still having fun yesterday was immediately frozen. The insects that had been chirping day and night completely disappeared, and the warm sun in the sky also disappeared simultaneously. The only sound left in the weather was the howling of the north wind, accompanied by gloomy and thick clouds, and the white snow covering the earth.
Fortunately, the ants noticed the change in the weather half a day in advance and hid back in the nest in advance.
The territory of the Divine Envoy King's army is small, and there are no ants traveling long distances, so they can hide back home quickly. They overwintered in [Xinyang City] and [Nansen City] respectively. Most of them gathered in [Xinyang City] and a small number in [Nansen City].
The originally towering ant mounds in [Xinyang City] were buried under several minutes of snow after a night of sudden snowfall. They became like small snowpacks and no longer as tall as before.
The whole big poplar tree is also covered with snow. When the graupel snow in the sky has stopped, as long as a slightly strong north wind blows, another burst of snow powder will fall on the poplar tree, continuing to paint the earth with a pure white color. .
——I am the dividing line——
The protagonist woke up from his sleep. He didn't know what time it was, but it seemed that it wasn't time to get up yet.
He was still a little sleepy, but his body was sore and he was a little chilly, which made him uncomfortable, and he woke up with a start.
Damn winter, damn wet underground - the protagonist muttered in his heart, a little annoyed. He blamed his discomfort on the damp and cold underground environment after winter.
The protagonist's bedroom is still built at the bottom of [Xinyang City] as usual. This is generally the safest and most constant-temperature area in the entire lair.
But [Xinyangcheng] is located in a very different place. The groundwater level here is high, so this location is not so comfortable. It is often very humid and prone to chills.
Although the combustion chamber is not far from the protagonist's bedroom, it does not seem to have much effect when the temperature drops sharply.
The protagonist turned over, used his forelimbs to wrap the silk felt around him more tightly, and then huddled into the silk quilt bed, trying to get some warmth. But he tossed and turned, and the chill in his body could not be dispelled, making it difficult to fall asleep.
The protagonist finally gave up. He got up and stretched his sore body to try to feel comfortable.
Then he got off the silk bed, went to the large clay pot nearby, opened the lid, took a spoonful of the honeydew water inside with a clay spoon, opened his mouth and drank it.
The honeydew water was also a bit cold. The sweet taste and the heat contained in it did not make the protagonist feel any better. On the contrary, the cold water entering his stomach made him shiver.
Could it be that you are sick due to catching a cold? The protagonist thought, there is no medicine for diseases here. Unlike traumatic inflammation, which can be treated with the saliva of pavement ants, diseases in the body can only be overcome by the body.
Tianxian had already heard the news and came to serve him. The protagonist quickly asked her to help him to the burning room next to him. After warming himself by the fire for a while, he felt much better.
His discomfort was already mild, but now he felt fine, so he put the previous discomfort behind him and regarded it as a temporary symptom of not getting a good night's rest.
After eating a larger breakfast than usual, the protagonist started to work with a full stomach.
Although it has already entered winter and cannot go outside, the protagonist still has a lot to do.
He led the team of guards through the long underground tunnel to the area where the affiliated ant tribe was located.
[Xinyang City] is clearly divided both above and below ground. Although the big-headed ant group has the largest number and the main urban area where it is located is dominated by one family, the relatively independent urban areas of the four affiliated ant groups have also developed. This is not just the case. The few nest rooms are so simple.
From [Xinyang City] to the west there is the urban area of the paving ants, and to the east there are the urban areas of the leaf-cutting ant clan, the belly-lifting ant clan and the hunting sickle ant clan.
The protagonist has to patrol various urban areas every day, communicate with the leaders of the affiliated ant tribes, and maintain his prestige.
This is the measure the protagonist takes after learning his lesson after returning from the swamp area.
What he was thinking was that by forcing the affiliated ant tribe to mix with the big-headed ants of his own tribe, he only used the strength of the big-headed ant tribe to suppress other affiliated races. This would lead to unavoidable private conflicts, which would easily intensify when he was not in charge. .
Instead of this, it is better for everyone to be relatively independent, and only bring the various ethnic groups together briefly when unity is needed and external pressure suppresses conflicts, such as war. Then this relatively isolated state is not prone to conflicts.
In order to ensure the unity of the various races within the Divine Envoy King's legion, you need to have the prestige to suppress the male ants, the leaders of all ant races. The protagonist patrols every day, slowly accumulating his prestige.
Walking in the long corridor, it is pitch dark, and there are no fluorescent bacteria growing here, because it is a bit cold here and is not suitable for fluorescent bacteria to survive.
The corridors connecting different urban areas are relatively close to the surface. In such severe cold weather, even if they are covered with snow for insulation, the temperature in the corridors can only be maintained in single digits. This is by no means a comfortable temperature for ants, who will only feel chilly. The room temperature is rapidly taking away precious heat from the body. If you touch the four walls, you can also find that the four walls are frozen hard and cold.
This is not bad. Another road connecting different urban areas is on the surface. It is a hollow wall made of ant concrete. At this time, it is already too cold to pass.
Fortunately, the distance between the cities was not far, only two meters apart. The protagonist and the guard team quickly climbed over in one breath.
It's good to be in a warm city. As the body temperature slowly recovers in the heat, the protagonist moves his stiff limbs and feels that the pain has returned. Maybe it's because I run in this passage every day in the cold weather and fall behind. But as a ruler, he must endure this hardship.
After communicating with the leader of the pavement ants, "Floating Leaf II" (he is a male ant descended from "Floating Leaf King"), the protagonist then rushed to the city of other ant tribes.
The protagonist sometimes also thinks that although his method of partition management has learned a lesson, is it not the best solution?
In the past, he had no frame of reference and could only explore his own solutions.
But now, he knows that the local red fire ants have a completely different approach to managing the slave ant tribe than he does. Fire ants do not interfere in the internal affairs of the vassal ant tribe, but only demand tribute of ant eggs every year.
These ant eggs hatch and grow among red imported fire ants. They regard themselves as members of the red imported fire ants and have no sense of belonging to the original group.
This seems to be less prone to internal conflicts, but it also brings about the problem of weak control over the vassal ant clan.
Like an ant that secretly trades with the God's Envoy King's Army without telling the suzerain country, and someone who is a slave to two masters also pays tribute to the God's Envoy King's Army!
