The next day, the weather continued to be fine as in the afternoon of the previous day.
When the sun shines on the sun artifact covered with black felt and placed outside the camp, the thin layer of autumn frost on the black felt melts, everything on the earth warms up, and the ants also poke their heads out at this time.
After stretching their bodies in the sun and raising their body temperature, the Stone Desert Archback Ant Imperial Army began to assemble, forming a formation around the temporary camp and the Sun God artifact.
The protagonist of yesterday's battle was the Stone Desert Archback Ant Imperial Army, and today's main force was the Leaf Cutter Ant Army. After successfully forcing the parasites into their nests inside the trunk of the almond tree yesterday, the Sun God's artifact had lost its use.
The leaf-cutting ant army narrowed the blockade and deployed heavy troops near the entrance and exit of the almond tree nest. Then they organized a commando team to enter the nest, and fierce street fighting broke out.
The Imperial Army of Stone Desert Ants who stayed in place could not see the fierce battlefield inside the trees, but the cruelty of the battle could be seen from the wounded soldiers and corpses being carried out from the entrance and exit every minute.
In contrast, the Stone Desert Ant Imperial Army is currently very safe and idle. The "baboon" stood on top of the sun god artifact, with his head tilted in the sun, seemingly still taking a nap, and seemed indifferent to the outside world.
Except for some of the warriors guarding the Sun God's artifact, the other warriors of the three tribes had spread out to look for food according to "Ao"'s instructions. "Baboon" is responsible for the logistics of this army, and no authorization from "Baboon" is required to arrange this task.
"Yu"'s guess was correct. Under the apricot tree, you could find a lot of apricot kernels by digging through the fallen leaves and loose soil. When these apricots fall to the ground in early summer, the sweet apricot flesh is either eaten by insects or rots and disappears. Half a year later, only the solid apricot core remains.
After half a year of being exposed to wind, sun, and rain, the flat apricot kernel shells are no longer flawless. A crack has appeared on some apricot kernel shells, mostly at the joint of the two shell plates on the side, but it is hidden by the dust. got up.
It turns out that in the spring of next year, sprouted almonds will drill out directly from the weak gaps. But now, these premature gaps are convenient for ants.
The ants groped around with their flexible tentacles and quickly found these cracks. The small cracks were ignored, and the ants got in through the largest cracks and gnawed the almonds inside.
These almonds were crushed into small particles by the ants' jaws, and were quickly transported to the camp and reached the ground, where they were piled up like a hill.
The cracked apricot core is only a small part, and even fewer are found, but it is enough to feed hundreds of ants for several meals.
Processed almonds are delicious, but raw almonds are bitter and poisonous. The cyanide contained in them makes many insects insensitive to them. This is also a way for almonds to protect themselves.
It's a pity that this method is ineffective against the ants of the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire. "Ai" has his own way. Their hometown is barren, apricot meat and almonds are rare seasonal delicacies, and the bitter taste of trace amounts of cyanide is not enough to stop their appetite.
The seed coats attached to these raw almonds were carefully separated by the ants' jaws, leaving no trace behind. The seed coat is the part with the highest cyanide content. It is not discarded after removal, but is carefully preserved for later use.
The Central Asian ant workers responsible for processing almond kernels are very experienced. They use their antennae to "identify" the quality of almond kernels. The particularly bitter particles with high cyanide content are placed together with the seed coat, while those with low cyanide content are piled separately. A shady place out of the sun.
Subsequently, the workers of the Central Asian ant Centonotus brought water drops from a nearby water source, sprinkled them on the pile of almond particles in the shade, and then stirred them continuously to allow all the almond particles to absorb enough water.
This stirring lasted for half a day, and the worker ants responsible for this work were very tired.
At this time, the battle in the apricot tree nest has become intense. Every minute, a large number of corpses of leaf-cutting ants and parasitic organisms are carried out and thrown directly under the tree without enough time to deal with them. If they were not carried out, there would be so many corpses that they would block the path of the attacking troops.
The ants in the Stone Desert Campoback Ant Empire paid no attention to the battlefield that was just around the corner. Except for a few Sands Campoback Ant warriors who were vigilant on the periphery to prevent the remaining parasitic hyphae in the abandoned corpses from sneaking closer, the other ants were still there. Busy with this bite of food.
It was already noon, the most intense and hottest time of the day. Even in autumn, the temperature at this time was above 20 degrees.
Whole raw almonds need to be soaked for a day, but chopped small almond particles are soaked quickly, and it is time to continue processing.
"Ao" boarded the Sun God artifact and communicated with "Baboon". The "baboon" seemed to be in poor spirits, but he still led the worker ants of Campophyllum fischeri to control the solar artifact and focused the strongest sunlight at noon on the pile of almond particles.
The rapidly rising temperature causes the pile of almond particles to evaporate water vapor, and gradually exudes an ant-attracting aroma. It is the unique aroma of roasted nuts, with the intoxicating smell of roasted fat.
Every two minutes, the workers of C. fischeri will move away the concave mirror that reflects sunlight, and the temperature of the pile of almond particles that has lost the heat source will drop rapidly. The workers of C. fischeri will immediately use long sticks and mandibles to remove the almonds. Flip the grains and turn the inner grains that have not been burned to the outside.
Then continue to roast, repeat this process for more than ten times, and the aroma of roasted almonds has spread with the wind, which is very delicious. This familiar and delicious smell of homeland makes all the ants of the Stone Desert Camponotus ants salivate.
At about two o'clock in the afternoon, while the leaf-cutter ant army was still fighting hard, the Stone Desert Campoback ant imperial army had already begun to add a meal. The roasted almond particles were separated into part and disappeared into the ants' stomachs.
"Ao" asked the worker ants to wrap the rest in clean leaves and store them. The "baboon" then ordered a messenger to come over and convey the instructions, asking the "aobao" to prepare some roasted almond kernels to give to the friendly leaf-cutting ant army, and the "aobao" did so.
At this time, the Central Asian Toxoplasma ant workers began to process the bitter almond particles and seed coats again. They have a special process in which they soak the seed coats and bitter almond kernels in water and crush them. The cyanide in them is purified and concentrated, and is made into a viscous bitter liquid, which is stored in small clay pots.
When the battle is fierce, soldiers of the Stone Desert Archipelago Empire will smear these cyanide-rich liquids on their mandibles to enhance their lethality. As long as an enemy ant is bitten, it will soon be attacked by toxins. Even if the dose is not fatal, it will cause paralysis of the limbs.
In addition to the Sun God artifact, this is another weapon of the Stone Desert Ant Empire. Behind the expansion of the Stone Desert Ant Empire, the contribution of these bitter almonds is also inseparable!
