The protagonist flies with one of the exploratory detachments.
Along the way, this slightly barren highland perfectly displays the beauty of meadow hills. It is full of carpet-like low vegetation, covering the entire land with a layer of green.
This scene is more like a meadow pasture in the mountains than low hills near a river.
The altitude here is obviously not high, and it is close to the river. It is not far from the mainland of the Ant Alliance and the climate is similar. There should be a lot of rainfall, but there are lack of trees and not even many shrubs. It can only be inferred that the soil layer here is too thin.
It was midsummer on the highlands at this time. Not only were the grass and leaves lush, but some late-blooming flowers were also blooming.
There are long, tall purple flowers growing out of the spherical flower jaws. The petals are as slender as silk and densely clustered together, like a ball of pom-poms. There are also tall white chrysanthemums with golden flower disks. Next to it are white petals that grow neatly, like rounds of yellow and white little suns, rising and never setting on the ground.
Some flowers are low, showing a few bones among the green grass, either red or yellow, or blue or purple, like gems dotted on the green carpet, petite but beautiful, delicate and full of vitality.
Along the way, nothing but grass is flowers, nothing but stones is sand, and even the density of insects is not too high.
The protagonist looks more and more dissatisfied in the air. This land seems to have few resources and is not fertile enough. Its attractiveness to the Ant Alliance has been greatly reduced and continues to decline.
There were many flying insects, bees, and nymphs flying in the sky over the highlands, but they didn't bother the exploration team without opening their eyes.
After all, there was a huge dragonfly and more than twenty bees in the expedition team. The intensive "buzzing" sound of their wings together was like a warning. They were not those carnivorous flying insects that are used to fighting alone. Able to challenge.
On the ground, some indigenous ants also heard this unnatural and intensive flapping of wings. Those ants with a good view would stop and look carefully into the air. Some could see the exploration team clearly, but they were not sure whether they saw the ants above. knight.
Even if they saw it, there was nothing they could do. These primitive indigenous tribes had nothing to do against the "invaders" in the air.
The Ant Alliance is now so powerful that it can ignore these indigenous tribes.
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Near noon, the exploration team began to look for a place to land.
The midday sun is already too hot, and the insects are not particularly afraid of heat. The higher temperature helps their activities. However, it is not a good thing to be in a place where the temperature is too high and is exposed to direct sunlight. When the body temperature reaches the limit, insects also need to cool down and replenish water.
In this barren highland, it doesn't look green, but once you get away from the river, water seems to be hard to find, especially since there has been no rainfall recently.
The exploration team could not find any shade to avoid the scorching sun, so they had no choice but to lower their altitude. After ensuring safety, they found a hilltop and a place to stop on the side facing away from the sun.
Dragonflies and bees stayed on top of several large broad-leaf weeds, forming a circle. Although the flying knights on the periphery did not take off, they were fully armored and majestic, holding lances or fire bombs and slings, and looked around vigilantly. Once there is any trouble, these flying knights will attack the offender head-on!
The protagonist's mount "Ah Huang" and the giant dragonfly stopped in the middle. The protagonist did not untie the safety rope to get down. He just sat on the saddle and simply ate some food he brought with him. He chewed a wax drop to replenish the energy lost in the hot sun. Moisture.
When the ants had finished resting and were about to set off, the breeze quietly changed its direction.
The breeze from the north passed over the hilltop, bringing the smell of the other side of the hilltop to this sunny slope.
In addition to the natural taste of grass and earth, there is also some unknown taste mixed in. The taste is dark, cold, and seems to be sour, bitter, and hot.
As soon as Fang smelled it, the protagonist's tentacles were very sensitive to this obviously very thin smell. His whole body seemed to be itchy. A very uncomfortable feeling lingered all over his body, making him want to vomit, and itching all over his body, which was extremely uncomfortable. .
The bee mount "Ahuang" underneath him was also spinning in circles restlessly and anxiously. The protagonist pulled the reins, controlled the mount's tentacles, and finally stopped it from doing its own thing.
Not only "Ah Huang", but other bee mounts, including giant dragonflies, and even ant knights, also noticed this bad aura that seemed to have a natural malice towards insects.
It is not advisable to stay here for a long time, so the protagonist hurriedly took the lead and flew up, taking the exploration team into the air.
In mid-air, the fresh air finally blew away the strange smell on the ground that was mixed with the strange smell that made the ants uncomfortable. The ants and mounts of the exploration team recovered quickly, but there was still a vague discomfort like motion sickness that remained. .
Knowing that the symptoms had subsided after more than ten minutes, the exploration team finally decided to explore the source of the aura just now.
The protagonist stared strangely at the sunny side of the hillside where he had just stopped, trying to see what was causing this strange, extremely unfriendly smell to insects.
But on the sunny side of the hillside, the green grass and white flowers seemed nothing out of the ordinary.
The protagonist urged the mount to descend. At this time, the breeze stopped. When approaching the ground, the "malicious" smell was felt again. It was a substance-like breath condensed near the ground.
The protagonist and "Ah Huang" were both excited, and there was no need to pull the reins. "Ah Huang" had already climbed sharply, getting rid of this uncomfortable atmosphere.
You can feel this breath as long as you descend, but it's okay in mid-air. The curious protagonist led the exploration team to fly repeatedly around the sunny side of the hillside, and quickly confirmed:
There is basically only one kind of plant growing on this hillside. It seems that there is something wrong with this plant!
This is a kind of wild grass with white flowers, which looks like the typical characteristic of the Asteraceae family - the flower wheel like a small sun.
This kind of wild grass grows alone or in clusters, with an average height of twenty to thirty centimeters. The flower head grows at the highest point of the grass stem. The white tongue-like flower spikes are arranged in a circle, not only like a small sun, but also like a small umbrella.
Why does a seemingly ordinary Asteraceae plant, not the most distinctive among the huge Asteraceae family, have a peculiar smell that repels insects?
Moreover, on this small hillside, no other vegetation grew nearby, and there was no sign of insect activity.
The protagonist intends to collect some and bring them back to the scientific research department for study, but no matter from the ground or in the air, as soon as they get close to this grassland, the extremely unbearable smell for insects will force the exploration team to leave repeatedly.
The unwilling protagonist can only use the information package to remember the location and appearance of the plant, and then leave.
