It's another sunny day.
Since the beginning of spring this year, the precious spring rain has only fallen twice sparsely, and it barely wets the ground. It is very perfunctory. Fortunately, there is still moisture from the melted snow last winter. The soil is not too dry at present, and the vegetation is still growing lushly.
The entire territory of the marching ant country is mostly grassland, mixed with barren and exposed open land, with only scattered woods and shrubs. A not very wide tributary of the Qing River meanders through it, almost diagonally dividing the territory of the Army Ant Kingdom into two. There are also some seasonal streams that flow into the tributaries.
This is a nest located at the rear side of the central battlefield, hidden among a sparse grassland, where about 3,000 army ants are stationed.
Originally, this place was far away from the front line. It was only located on the supply line from the rear to the front line, so a garrison was left, but the number of troops was not large. However, as the northern battlefield retreated step by step, the Destroyers had already begun activities on the ground a few days away, and this rear lair was no longer so safe. The garrison received a batch of reinforcements a while ago, reaching its current size.
The frontline troops are still tense, and the "kings" of the marching ant kingdom have no intention of continuing to strengthen the defense of this nest and other similar nests.
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Under the morning sunshine, on the green grass outside the nest, three army ants were lying among the grass leaves of the copper money grass, enjoying the caress of the sun.
The weather is no longer cold at this time, but ants still like to bask in the sun from time to time. Especially for hunters like army ants, they don’t like the feeling of stiff limbs when the temperature is low. The heat brought by the sun helps hunters Stay agile and stamina.
There are many ants basking in the sun on nearby rocks and vegetation. They don't need sunlight to charge them for too long, and they sneak into the haze again in just a few minutes.
As many as a thousand army ants, after being fed and basking in the sun, moved toward the north and formed a formation, gradually branching into a tree shape and extending forward. This is a formation used by the army ants for large-scale hunting. Sometimes the number of ants participating in the hunting exceeds a million. Although there were only a thousand ants hunting this time, they still caused the nearby bugs to fly away in fright.
The flying insects slid away leisurely and continued to eat the grass and leaves nearby as if nothing had happened. The insects with strong jumping ability could also easily avoid the small hunting range of the army ants. Only the crawling bugs were unlucky. They died in groups under the jaws of the army ants and were taken away whole or dismembered.
This safari lasted for a whole morning, and more than 700 prey had been hunted. The meat of these prey is not only enough to support the nest, but also to supply a batch to the front line. The leader of the marching ants is very satisfied with the harvest.
The current supply of food and grass for the frontline army mainly relies on the output near the "King's Court" of the marching ant kingdom, as well as supplies from the allies of the civilized ant tribe via land and waterways. Army ants don't really like the food provided by their allies - except for honeydew - these foods often contain a large amount of plant-based vegetarian food, which is not unsatisfactory, but just not very appetizing to the army ants. As for the nests of the marching ant kingdom that do not have urgent combat missions, they must continue to hunt and supply meat in order to satisfy the appetites of the "King Khan" and the soldiers on the front line.
Near noon, the army ant safari team began to return. Previously, one-third of the army ant workers had carried their prey and returned in advance.
After walking through the grass for a while, not far from the nest, the army ants suddenly stopped!
At this time, a swaying fly was flying across the sky. After seeing the army ant hunting team, it actually lowered its height.
No, it's not a fly! The armor that reflected the sunlight, the spear on the fly's back, and the silhouette of the rider became increasingly clear as the fly lowered its height.
This is a flying knight from the Ant Alliance. Their figures are not uncommon. Most of the time they fly hurriedly in higher airspace. Only the leader's eyesight can barely see the figures clearly. They often move in groups of three to five. How could he be riding alone like today, lowering his height, and being caught with almost a single jump!
The flying knight didn't know whether he was injured or simply too tired. The flight of the fly mount seemed weak, but it still flew down under the rider's desperate control and made a set of fixed flying movements.
The leader of the marching ants on the ground looked at the sky for no apparent reason. He knew that the flying knights were friendly forces, but this force had been on the second line for a long time and did not know the meaning of the flying knights' flight path!
That's a warning!
Seeing that the marching ants on the ground were indifferent, the flying knight stayed for a while and then had no choice but to leave and continue flying to the hinterland of the marching ant country to warn.
It took about a quarter of an hour for the army ants on the ground to react, because weak but dense vibrations were coming from the six limbs of the leader of the army ants that were touching the ground.
This is definitely not the vibration caused by earthworms or other bugs moving underground, but the vibration caused by the activity of a large number of ants in a nearby place. Moreover, it was obvious that the other party was not the movement of army ants or their allies. The commander of the safari team knew clearly that no transport team would pass by today, not even in the next two days. And all the ants that go out from the nest are under his command.
So obviously, the source of these vibrations is probably enemy ants!
The leader of the army ants sent out a battle signal. Hunting and fighting are not fundamentally different. The army ant hunters immediately transformed into warriors, ferociously emerged from the grass, and killed towards the nest.
Based on the analysis of ground vibrations, the leader of the marching ants knew that there were more enemy ants on the opposite side than on their own side. However, he has never fought face to face with the Destroyer and does not understand its combat power. He still firmly believes that the Marching Ant Warriors are invincible.
His responsibilities did not allow him to escape without a fight. Most of the young ants at the nest were deployed for hunting, so the defense was empty. If the Destroyer invaded the nest, it would be difficult to regain it.
So the leader of the army ants made a decisive choice!
Thousands of army ant warriors emerged from the grass and came to an open space among the grass. On the brown-red barren soil, army ants of similar colors formed a wide but thin battle formation, preparing to burrow into the grass on the other side.
The vibrations were getting closer and closer, and the grass blades on the opposite side began to sway irregularly. The leader of the marching ants hurriedly restrained the team to stop and prepare to engage the enemy!
At this moment, in the grass opposite, groups of Destroyer Insects emerged from the grass, as if appearing out of thin air, each one with a ferocious face, full of murderous intent!
The compound eyes of the marching ant leader reflected the figure of the rapidly approaching Destroyer, and the "combat" smell and friction sound message he sent out had just been released. This is also the last order he left!
