The recovered [Black Fire City] is a nest with a typical black fire ant style. The approximately square ant mound is somewhat similar to the ant mound of the red fire ant clan, but the arrangement of the entrances and exits is different, and the details are also slightly different.
Whether in the air or on the ground, you can recognize from a distance that such ant mounds belong to the black fire ant clan. Each large nest in the black fire ant country is like a landmark, declaring the greatness and strength of this clan.
It is a pity that no matter how large, strong and powerful the nest is, it is impossible to protect the ants inside when it faces a military threat that exceeds its defense capabilities.
When the parasitic ants occupied this place, they did not destroy the original structure of [Black Fire City]. They were probably too lazy to expand the hard ant concrete. Therefore, only parasitic ants and small insect beasts that could get through the entrance and exit lived in it, and other large insects lived in it. Medium-sized insect beasts all live in the fields or other lairs outside the city.
Thanks to this time, this [Black Fire City] currently looks the same as it was before it was occupied half a year ago.
Zhu Jue didn't know how King "Hei Tan" felt about this lost old capital. Anyway, when he arrived at [Black Fire City], King "Hei Tan" had already been waiting outside the city, unusually He bowed respectfully to himself.
Zhu Jue jumped off the saddle of the two-pronged rhinoceros beetle and met the tentacles of King "Black Carbon". The other party was very respectful and solemnly invited Zhu Jue, the commander of the civilized ant alliance, to enter the city.
Zhu Jue and the guards who guarded him followed King "Hei Tan" into the entrance and exit of [Black Fire City].
The inside of the nest is very dark, there is no fluorescent fungus lighting, except for some outdoor light sources at the beginning, it is completely blind when you get into the depths, and you can only rely on touch and smell to make up for the lack of vision.
Zhu Jue was an exception. He regarded the nest with only a little bit of light as day, even if there was no light at all. In his compound eyes, there was a faint light that could not be seen by other ants.
Zhu Jue could see clearly that there were still a lot of traces of the occupation in this lair.
On both sides of the main passage, there are many traces of insect excrement. Judging from the size and shape, it does not appear to be ant excrement. Parasitic ants, like ordinary ants, clean up their own mess. But I don’t know if those insect beasts’ filth was evacuated before they had time to clean up, or if they didn’t care at all. Small piles and small piles were piled on the roadside, and some were spread out on the road, having been trampled by the ants coming and going. flat.
Zhu Jue clicked on his tentacles. Being a bit of a germaphobe, he carefully avoided these "landmines" and continued to move forward.
On the road, there are some signs of damage to the concrete walls of some ants. It can even be seen what type of mouthparts were used to destroy them, and even the size of the mouthparts can be calculated. This is another masterpiece of those parasitic beasts.
Some burrowing ants and harvester ant slaves in the black fire ant country are repairing these defects with new ant concrete. The materials are locally sourced, including new soil dug from the ground, the saliva secreted by the ants themselves, and insect droppings that can be seen everywhere. , mix evenly at the construction site and then apply it. After drying, you will have strong ant concrete.
Apart from these, the whole nest is empty and there is nothing. The parasites seem to have consumed and moved away a large amount of the food stored in the nest that originally belonged to the black fire ant country and had not had time to move. It is no wonder that they On the front line of Black Creek, we were able to confront the coalition forces of the civilized ants for several months without any food crisis. This was all due to the supplies provided by the Black Fire Ant Nation to support the enemy.
King "Heitan" led Zhu Jue to the conference room, but he was a little embarrassed after entering. The floor of the conference room was full of bumps, and the small white pebbles that were supposed to be inlaid on the ground were gone.
Zhu Jue curiously asked King "Hei Tan" what was going on. King "Hei Tan" didn't know. He said that the black fire ants would not destroy the floor of the conference room when they evacuated here. That would be meaningless. They were mainly here. Rush to transport young ants and supplies.
Could it be a parasite? What are they doing with these white pebbles? There are so many pebbles like this on the banks of Qinghe River! Zhu Jue was a little confused.
Without the cobblestones on the floor of the conference room that could transmit messages, King "Hei Tan" had no choice but to continue communicating with Zhu Jue with tentacles intersecting. As a meeting, this method of communication is not dignified enough, but at this time we can only make do with simplicity.
King "Black Carbon" said that the first stage goal of the Northern Expedition - to recover [Black Fire City] has been achieved. It seems that the parasitic creature has insufficient troops left and there is no big war. So should the coalition of civilized ant tribes pursue the victory and help the black fire ant country regain its entire territory?
Zhu Jue did not agree immediately, saying that according to the original plan, the army would first rest near [Black Fire City], establish an advance base, and stabilize the logistics line. It would be inappropriate to advance too quickly. After all, the parasitic creatures still have the ability to resist and retreated on their own initiative. It is not known whether they have any conspiracy.
King "Hei Tan" didn't insist on it either. Recovering his old capital [Black Fire City] so smoothly has already made him gain huge rewards and greatly increased his prestige at the king's meeting in his country. He knew that only by holding Zhu Jue's joints tightly, he would be better for himself. It is most advantageous to work with the black fire ants.
For this reason, even though there are still many old "flying eagle" parties in the king's meeting who are dissatisfied with Zhu Jue and the Ant Alliance, King "Black Carbon" vigorously promotes the plan to obey Zhu Jue's command every time and unconditionally supports the civilized ant alliance. action.
King "Black Carbon" also said that the king's conference in his country hopes to move back to [Black Fire City] to perform its functions as soon as possible. The ants also have orthodox ideas, and the temporary main nest where the king's conference is currently located is not justified enough.
Zhu Jue agreed, but suggested not to move all the antskou here for the time being. This place is still the front line and is not that safe.
Later, King "Black Tan" respectfully invited Zhu Jue and the commanders and senior generals of the civilized ant tribe's coalition to stay in [Black Fire City] tonight.
Even if this nest has some damage during the months of occupation, the conditions are much better than the shallow underground camps temporarily dug in the wild. The stable temperature and humidity alone will make the ants very comfortable.
Zhu Jue was very moved by King "Hei Tan"'s invitation, and he knew that other ants would definitely be happy. This was also King "Hei Tan"'s continued show of goodwill to the Ant Alliance and other allied clans.
However, Zhu Jue thought for a while and said that he and the commanders of various tribes could move in, but the commanders of each army and generals below should stay in the army to prevent changes.
Zhu Jue is really cautious now.
King "Black Charcoal" wanted to invite Zhu Jue to live in the deepest underground palace prepared for the most senior male black fire ants. Zhu Jue also declined and chose an ordinary king-level palace to stay temporarily.
