The fall of the [Hou Shibao] fortress marked the complete collapse of the war situation in the Xiaozu Jieyan country's war zone.
In fact, ever since millions of Destroyers appeared in the area after the heavy fog, wise ants all know that they cannot resist them. The scale of the Destroyers that have appeared so far is enough to destroy all the civilized ant tribes in the area. The coalition forces are still powerful, not to mention no one knows how many destroyers will continue to emerge from behind.
However, the war situation deteriorated so quickly that it still exceeded the imagination of all ants.
The [Hushibao] fortress that Zhu Jue had high hopes for had tens of thousands of garrison troops and a large amount of weapons and supplies, but it only held on for less than 5 days before falling.
The Thin-footed Ant Kingdom left half of its ant colonies behind to slow down the Destroyer's advance. There were both dispersed garrisons from each nest and concentrated diversionary forces. The total number of ants was in the millions, but they were unable to show any signs of progress. To slow down the Destroyer.
On August 11, the day the [Houshibao] Fortress fell, an evacuation force that was only one day away from Zhu Jue's location was attacked by the Destroyer and collapsed.
At the same time, the evacuated troops are being attacked more and more frequently. Does this mean that the Destroyer seems to have finally set its sights on this large group of insects waiting to be slaughtered?
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The haze has been in the air for almost a week, reaching its peak the day before yesterday. It was almost impossible to see things a few meters away, and the smoke-like smell was very choking. But since yesterday, the haze has been slowly dissipating, and today the fog has become much thinner visibly to the naked eye.
Zhu Jue raised his head and looked at the sky. The sunlight in the haze reflected the sky into a pale color.
It hasn't rained for a week. Under the high temperature shrouded in haze, the marching ants have no shelter from their nests and are very thirsty. Dead ant corpses can often be seen on the roadside. They may have died from lack of water.
Most ants desperately need water. It is a pity that marching in the wild is no better than staying in a comfortable and safe nest. At this time of year, the underground nest still maintains the coolness and moisture that makes the ants comfortable. There is endless food in the granary, and water can be taken out at any time from the underground well. Pearls quench thirst.
Nowadays, the small-footed ants are forced to give up this kind of life. Under the invasion of the destroyers, they can only flee their homes in embarrassment. The sub-nests along the route are also empty, and they are soon deserted, with no usable supplies and water wells. Also clogged.
Zhu Jue was also thirsty. He had already drank up the water in a small clay pot he had brought with him, and had also eaten a few thirst-quenching "water beads" specially provided by Flying Knights. He had no choice but to hold back his thirst and continue moving forward.
Fortunately, as the weather improved, the flying knights who had moved to the rear had begun to resume flying, conducting reconnaissance and warning while also guiding the ground troops' defense lines. According to the guidance of the flying knight, there is a pool of water not far ahead, where the army can rest and replenish water.
After trekking for another distance in the pale haze and rising yellow dust, many ants moved in fear. Even with the warning of the flying knights, from time to time, destroyers suddenly appeared from unexpected places, passing by It is not uncommon to see the butchered bodies of dead ants.
No one knows where, in the heavy fog that has lasted for several days, the Destroyers have broken into pieces and are lurking, and when they will appear! The only thing that can be confirmed is that the Destroyer's skirmisher line has already approached this evacuation route!
Finally arrived at the waterhole.
This is a shallow pool of several hundred square meters. The muddy water is filthy. The amount of water does not seem to be much, but it is a rare water source for the ant army.
The pool seemed to have formed after the last heavy rain. If it weren't for the continuous haze and the scorching sun, it would have been dried out by now. The water pool still maintains a certain amount of water, and dragonflies are still laying eggs in the water. Some water flies and larvae can be seen in the water.
The edge of the pool was already densely packed with ants, and all the evacuation troops in front were stranded nearby. Ants of all races crowded to the edge of the water, sucking greedily at the turbid pool water to replenish the water lost during the long outdoor march in the hot weather. .
Part of the area near the pool was so crowded that from time to time ants were squeezed into the water and struggled on the water. Some drifted away and slowly became new components in the turbid water. Some were rescued by their companions.
Zhu Jue was very thirsty, but seeing this turbid pool with corpses and leaves floating on it, the surface of the water full of mud and foam, and the writhing worms under the water, he still couldn't accept it from the bottom of his heart.
The soldiers around him were already hungry and thirsty. They swarmed forward and squeezed into the dense team beside the pool, adding to the chaos.
Zhu Jue thought about it and gave up the idea of going up to drink water, not only because the water in the pool was dirty, but also because he really didn't want to squeeze into such a raging ant stream. Compared to other ants who were extremely thirsty, Zhu Jue managed to drink a few sips of water on the way, and there was still room for pretentiousness.
What's more, Zhu Jue now doesn't even have a guard around him, so he can't disperse the crowd of blind ants of all races around him and escort him forward. Although Zhu Jue was very strong, he didn't want to use his "God descends from the earth" to grab a mouthful of dirty water and accidentally injure his allies.
He could only look at the vegetation next to him, trying to find the dew that had not yet evaporated under a leaf. For several days in a row, Zhu Jue relied mainly on dew to survive.
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Not finding any dew, Zhu Jue could only suppress his thirst and continued to move forward alone, following the flow of those who had drunk enough.
During the march of the past few days, the civilized ant tribe's coalition forces gradually mixed with the hastily evacuated ant colonies of the Thin-footed Ant Nation. They lost their organization. The command system available to Zhu Jue no longer existed, and he himself resigned to his fate. Among them were evacuated, and the few original commanders and messengers were nowhere to be found.
In the sky, several flying knights were circling anxiously, seemingly looking for him.
Zhu Jue then climbed up to a higher stone nearby and waved a spike of foxtail grass to signal. The flying knights noticed him, lowered their height, and landed on the rocks.
The flying knight who came was actually a familiar ant. Zhu Jue remembered it. This magical ant scout flying knight was called "Xiaohua" and the flying knight next to him was "Grass". These two belonged to the new batch of flying knights supporting the northern battlefield. The team has recently arrived at the Flying Knight Base in the northern border of the Marching Ant Kingdom to replenish the losses of the Flying Knight troops in previous battles. Today is the first mission.
"Xiaohua" was very anxious. She told Zhu Jue that several waves of destroyers were found near the water pool, including radar destroyers.
Although these destroyers did not directly attack the water pool, judging from their movement trajectories, they were attracted by the large swarm of ants gathered by the water pool, and were approaching in a zigzag manner, just half a day away!
