In early autumn, the morning light appears, and there is still a cool breeze in the air.
Outside [Hope City], ants have already emerged, bathing in the first ray of sunshine, not afraid of the cold at all, and conducting combat training outdoors.
As the weather is about to get colder and colder, the winter that is most beneficial to the destroyers and most detrimental to the civilized ant coalition will eventually arrive. Zhu Jue is already taking precautions.
In [Hope City], he trained the soldiers' adaptability to low-temperature environments, so that at least in the autumn they could maintain the combat effectiveness of the troops directly under his command for a longer period of time, and not fall into too much passivity. The cool early morning is the best time to train. Otherwise, at noon, the temperature at this time will still be as hot as summer.
When the sun rose and reached about eight o'clock in the morning, the rigorous training came to an end. The soldiers, who had been frozen in the morning breeze and were a little sluggish, returned to their lairs one after another after basking in the sun for a while and warming up.
In the nest, the auxiliary worker ants did not participate in this specialized training. They only had combat training once or twice a week, and most of them were still engaged in logistical chores. For example, at this time in the morning, they had prepared hot soup, covered it with walnut-sized clay pots, and simmered it in the embers of the fire.
When the training troops returned, as soon as they opened the lid, the aroma from the soup pot mixed with steam rushed towards the tentacles. It turned out that meat and insect eggs were stewed inside, as well as tumbling grass seeds. It was hot and delicious.
This pot of soup is rich in nutrients. The meat is fresh meat from the prey caught yesterday, and the grass seeds are also newly collected Setaria seeds. But the eggs are not fresh, but pickled eggs from this spring. It is not easy to find eggs this season, but in just half a month to a month, a large number of short-lived insects will be in a hurry After mating, they lay eggs that hatch over the winter on the backs of leaves and in the soil. This will be another bumper season for insect eggs.
The salted meat and egg soup has a good flavor and is excellent for warming up and restoring strength. The ordinary soldiers feasted here, and the auxiliary worker ants shuttled back and forth, carrying food to the soldiers, ensuring that each soldier had at least a piece of meat or half an egg in his belly, and each soldier also had a drop of salty soup to replenish his moisture. .
The remaining soup base is re-boiled with water and grass seeds without adding meat. It is the daily food of ordinary auxiliary soldiers. At present, the food reserves in [Hope City] are not abundant, and high-end food quotas such as meat and eggs must be given priority to protect the soldiers.
Compared with ordinary soldiers, generals have more abundant food, and they do not crowd into large nest rooms to eat. Instead, they eat in small groups in small nest rooms where they rest in a more comfortable environment.
In each officer's nest, worker ants carried pieces of food in and placed them on stone or wooden dining tables. These dining tables are made from local materials and are the only furniture in the lair. However, they do greatly facilitate daily life and symbolize the status of senior commanders.
"Gun II" and five other ant commanders at the level of army commanders lived in the same room. A wooden table the size of a peanut was placed in the middle, surrounded by the soft ant silk mattresses of the six generals. At this time, they gathered around the wooden table. The slightly rough wooden table was covered with grass leaves as tablecloth and dinner plates, and five or six items of food were placed on it.
On the table there are cooked pieces of meat and pickled insect eggs, a famous dish baked with honey - roasted locust legs, thick soup with enough fat, grass seeds boiled until soft and ground into a puree, and fresh grass seeds. of berries, as well as finely ground salt and vanilla powder for seasoning.
There are also drinks, which are very important food for ants and go far beyond just accompaniment to meals. Those honeydews packed in thick-walled clay pots are transported here at the expense of taking up precious air freight. When the beeswax bees open their mouths, the sweet smell comes out. Some honeydew is also blended, added with juice, and even fermented to give it a unique flavor.
Only male ants, magical worker ants, and magical soldier ants are eligible to use honeydew and its concoctions. The quota is also limited, only one drop per day. When transportation is not smooth, you may not even be able to take a sip for several days. As long as there is honeydew, the morale of the generals can be guaranteed, and so will the morale of the entire army. This is why honeydew is so important to the army.
Fortunately, there is no war now, and the logistics and transportation lines are still open. There is no shortage of honeydew in [Hope City], and various prepared drinks can be delivered according to the tastes of the generals.
"Gun II" poured out a mouthful of honeydew from the clay pot, drank it all, and then consciously put it back and sealed it. Other generals only drink honeydew when they want it, and they all consciously drink only a few drops of the quota for themselves every day. This is the self-discipline of ants.
Zhu Jue walked between different nest rooms, inspecting the grand eating scene. He would sit at the same table with senior commanders like "Gun II", tearing food with his jaws and communicating with each other with tentacles; he would also come to the lairs of low-level commanders and ordinary soldiers and watch them eat to their heart's content. The ground was in a mess, but they didn't take it seriously and shared their simple happiness.
But after entering another nest room, Zhu Jue's tentacles moved slightly and he became alert.
There is no danger in this nest room. In the dark nest room, only a dozen of the middle and high-level commanders of the Divine Envoy King's Legion gathered together. They had already had their meal and were sharing drinks around the clay pots.
What made Zhu Jue wary was the smell in the air - a mixture of honeydew, fermented products, and... crow honey!
Why is there crow honey! ?
Zhu Jue pushed away the ants that came around to pay tribute, came to the clay pot, and put his tentacles in!
There is indeed crow honey mixed in the honeydew!
Zhu Jue wiped his tentacles aside in disgust. The drink was mainly fermented honeydew and fruit juice, but mixed with some crow honey. This made Zhu Jue angry. Crow honey is highly addictive and has serious side effects. Zhu Jue only sold it as a commodity and strictly prohibited ants from eating it.
Now, Yaomi has openly mixed into the rations of the Divine Envoy King's army and appeared on the battlefield! What if, during a war, a senior commander gets addicted to cyanide and loses his mind?
Zhu Jue calmed down and was thinking about the reason why Crow Honey appeared. The logistics department must be involved, but why did they do this and why did they disobey his previous strict instructions.
Zhu Jue felt cold all over his body as he thought about it! Could it be that I have been away from the homeland of the Ant Alliance for too long, and the ants have dared not listen to the instructions of me, the God Envoy King!
Zhu Jue became even more anxious. He glared at the generals of the Divine Envoy King's Army around him, his whole body exuding anger. The generals who sensed something was wrong lowered their bodies one after another, showing their submission.
This scene did not make Zhu Jue feel better!
