Just when the Eastern Expeditionary Army of the Civilized Ant Alliance was stuck in the blockade of the fortress group on the winter battlefield beyond [Black Fire City], it was advancing bit by bit like mealworms chewing walnuts.
On the other side of the Qing River, in the western border of the leaf-cutter ant kingdom, the parasitic creatures also seemed to be struggling to their death. The recent activities had become more frequent and intense, and small-scale fierce battles continued to break out with the partial divisions of the civilized ant coalition forces that were encircling and suppressing them.
In the previous half month, with the joint support from the Stone Desert Camponotus ant empire and the thieves ant clan, and the return of the leaf-cutter ant expeditionary force, the spread of parasitic organisms in the leaf-cutter ant country was stopped, and a large number of The parasitic organisms were found and killed, and the remaining ones mainly huddled near the banks of the Qinghe River, using the terrain to survive.
At the same time, after the Eastern Expedition launched the attack, the parasites on the other side of the river were busy building fortress groups for defense and no longer used parasitic water bugs to sneak across, greatly reducing the pressure to import leaf-cutting ants from abroad. The previously feared massive infestation of local leaf-cutting ants has not occurred.
Due to the ebb and flow of the situation, the queen ant assembly and female ant assembly in the leafcutter ant country are optimistic that the epidemic of parasitic fungi in the territory can be quelled before winter.
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It was a cloudy day in early October.
The rhythm of autumn has become deeper and deeper. In the woods, some leaves have begun to gradually turn yellow and red, preparing for the final splendor. On the ground, short-lived herbaceous vegetation has completed its life, leaving behind seeds and then quietly withering.
Insect activity is also much less, and a large number of life forms also complete the task of reproduction, carefully hiding their eggs underground, in tree holes, and behind branches, and then use up their last vestiges of life.
The troops commanded by "baboons", "lions" and "狋" are not affected by these external witherings. As ants, they have the shelter of their nests and sufficient food reserves, so they do not need to worry about the coming winter.
The stony desert humpback ant army now only hopes to finish this battle quickly, and then return to the colony that has been in operation for several months to spend the winter in peace.
Recent intelligence shows that as winter approaches, some parasitic beasts that were once rampant cannot go against the laws of nature and die. The parasitic army is gradually becoming dominated by parasitic ants. This is good news.
Behind the commander, the ants from the Stone Desert Archipelago Ant Empire were carrying their iconic Sun-god artifact into action.
This set of sun-god artifacts had made great achievements in the previous suppression battles. At first, the parasitic creatures were extremely afraid of the power of the sun god, and they always panicked and retreated instinctively when they encountered an attack.
Later, the parasites became accustomed to this kind of attack and dared to fight back. However, the warriors of the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire are not vegetarians, especially the Sands Campoback Ant Warriors. They fight bravely one by one, so that no matter how many parasitic creatures they are, they cannot get close to the Sun God Artifact.
The biggest threat that parasitic organisms can pose is to rely on the speed, agility and flying insect beasts to rush over and try to destroy the Sun God artifact. However, the Sun God's artifact is always closely guarded by the Sands Archback Ant warriors. With the cooperation of the warriors and the artifact, the parasites still have no way to defeat this army of the Stone Desert Archback Ant Empire.
Now, with the decline of the parasite beasts, most of the slow-moving parasitic ants have become more difficult to threaten the artifact, and the war is more conducive to the civilized ant coalition.
Early this morning, the "baboon" conducted a divination to the sun god.
The divination ritual of the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire is very simple. Before the sun rises, the "baboon" as the commander and priest, under the protection of the guards, climbs to the high branches of the tallest tree near the nest and observes the very condensed water above in the early morning. dew and then draw conclusions.
This set of divination methods is monopolized by the priest group of the Phytophthora ant family. Other ants do not understand this method at all. This also establishes the aloofness of the Phytophthora ant family in the Stone Desert Phytophthora ant empire inherited by the sun god. status.
However, in today's season, divination once every few days is a chore.
Today, the "baboon" returned to the camp shivering, and several worker ants gathered around him to help him warm up. The low temperature in the morning and the dew almost depleted his body temperature, and he almost froze.
"Lion" and "Ao" were waiting beside him, waiting for him to use his tentacles to tell him about today's weather.
The tradition of the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire is: take the initiative to attack on sunny days, but hold on on rainy days. This tradition evolved in conjunction with the battle with the Japanese artifact.
However, today, the "baboon" was uncharacteristically slow to report today's divination results. The "lion" and "abo" didn't know whether it would be sunny or rainy, and whether they should lead the army to attack or stay in the camp.
Other mid-level commanders were also anxiously waiting for "Baboon"'s decision, and an anxious atmosphere spread in the camp.
After a long while, the "baboon" finally made some movement. He had just recovered from the freezing state, and a signal for troops was sent out from his tentacles.
The middle-level commanders took the order and organized today's military operations step by step. However, the ant king "Ao" of the Central Asian Camponotus ant took a strange look at the "baboon" when he left the nest.
What was strange to him was that the "baboon" did not announce today's divination results, but directly ordered an attack. He did not dare to ask the priest "Baboon". The other person represented the messenger of the sun before and after the divination, not an ordinary ant king, and his status was much higher than his own. "Ao" could only confide his doubts to "Lion", but "Lion", an aggressive person, didn't care.
"Lion" said that since the result of the sun god's divination is to attack, today will definitely be a bright and sunny day!
When the troops of the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire came out of the nest one after another, the cold wind blowing through made every ant feel that their body temperature was dropping.
There were heavy clouds in the sky, and the sunlight filtering through the clouds dyed the world pale. Without direct sunlight, the temperature today seems to be much lower than in the past.
"Ao" moved his body, adapted to the temperature outside the lair, and wondered about today's weather.
He turned to look at the "baboon" on the sun god artifact. The "baboon" seemed not to be affected by the low temperature. It was still standing in his position, hunched over, and it seemed that it no longer had the majestic temperament it once had under the sunlight.
"Lion" led his troops next to "Ao", and his tentacles intersected with "Ao", complaining about the weather in the morning.
However, "Lion" is still full of fighting spirit. He said that it will definitely clear up around noon, and the sun god's divination will not be wrong. By then, he had warmed up his body and brought his Golden Sand Archback Ant Warrior with him. He could behead at least 36 parasitic ants today!
This small team of only a few hundred ants in the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire is slowly moving toward the southwest. A few days ago, they made an agreement with the leaf-cutting ant army to jointly attack a sub-nest in this direction that had been infected by parasitic bacteria and fell.
The stony desert ant army walked across the gloomy ground and quickly disappeared into the distance. A gust of cold wind blew by, and a few fallen leaves fell early and slowly fell to the ground...