When Luo Wen returned to the branch base, he saw Black Ants emerging from the tunnels.
They were carrying not only food but also eggs, larvae, and pupae, and surprisingly, they didn’t seem to be killing them.
“Are they planning to adopt these larvae?” Luo Wen wondered, puzzled.
At the same time, he noticed another strange phenomenon.
The ones working were exclusively Black Ants, while the Red Ants stood idly by, showing no intention of helping. They appeared to be loafing about.
An uncontrollable thought sprang to Luo Wen’s mind. Could the theory he had jokingly entertained earlier actually be the truth?
He adjusted his pheromones to disguise his identity and cautiously approached while observing their reactions, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
Fortunately, the pheromone disguise still worked on the Red Ants, who didn’t react to his approach.
However, some Red Ants, for reasons unknown, suddenly began fighting each other.
“Is this their idea of entertainment?” Luo Wen mused.
The erratic behavior of these tiny creatures baffled him, and he couldn’t discern their behavioral patterns.
Erring on the side of caution, Luo Wen refrained from venturing deeper into enemy territory. If one of these dim-witted ants decided to challenge him to a test of strength due to his size, it might blow his cover.
Circling the enemy, he observed a critical detail: both the Red Ants and the Black Ants shared the same pheromone markers.
This meant they were on the same side. The Red Ants weren’t hired reinforcements but part of the same group.
This discovery reinforced Luo Wen’s earlier suspicion.
After a while, the Black Ants finished clearing out the branch base, and the army, laden with spoils, began their march. Luo Wen immediately followed at a safe distance.
The combined force of thousands of Red and Black Ants soon merged with another detachment, forming an army of over 10,000 ants.
They left Luo Wen’s hive territory and veered off to destroy another Black Ant nest, looting its resources and larvae.
By now, nearly every Black Ant carried some cargo.
The united army resumed their march, this time heading straight back to their home base without diversion.
Their destination lay more than 500 meters from Luo Wen’s territory. As it came into view, Luo Wen saw a towering mound with a massive entrance resembling a volcanic crater.
Countless Red and Black Ants swarmed across the mound’s surface.
The recently returned army filed into the entrance with their spoils, but Luo Wen halted his advance.
Without knowing what might trigger the Red Ants to start fighting opponents, Luo Wen wasn’t about to charge recklessly into their lair. The interior was an unknown danger zone. If his cover was blown and hundreds or even thousands of venomous Red Ants surrounded him, he might not make it out alive.
Luo Wen burrowed underground to scout the area. The nest’s subterranean structure was vast, far exceeding any Black Ant nest he had ever encountered.
Given the Red Ants’ size, combined with the addition of numerous Black Ants, their numbers were staggering—easily exceeding tens of thousands.
This was an alarming figure. Even though Luo Wen’s hive boasted over 200,000 insects, most were dispersed across various bases to maintain operations. He could muster only tens of thousands for combat.
That didn’t account for the resources needed for transportation and supply lines. In a prolonged conflict, at least half his forces would need to focus on logistics.
This war wasn’t going to be easy. Yet given the habits of both sides, one of them was bound to be eliminated.
Emerging from the ground, Luo Wen continued to shadow the Red Ant army, occasionally launching ambushes to capture a few Red Ants for food.
Over several days of observation, Luo Wen learned more about the Red Ants. Their behavior resembled bandits. They didn’t produce anything themselves but survived by looting. Their numbers far exceeded those in their lair.
Numerous Red Ant detachments operated far from the nest, targeting primarily Black Ant colonies. They stormed the nests, killing the Queen Ants.
For some reason, after the Queens were killed, most surviving Black Ants submitted to the Red Ants. Those who refused were swiftly executed, while the rest were tasked with transporting resources and larvae.
Red Ant squads, typically numbering 2,000 to 3,000, returned with several times their number in Black Ants. Once brought back, the Black Ants tended to the larvae and searched the surrounding areas for aphids to farm. They also served as the Red Ants’ reserve food supply.
The Red Ants that attacked Luo Wen’s branch base had likely returned early because they failed to subjugate additional Black Ants and were short on manpower.
Thinking of the larvae taken from his branch base, Luo Wen’s heart grew heavy. Though they resembled Black Ants, they were entirely different. They wouldn’t submit to the Red Ants, and their fate was grim.
The information Luo Wen had gathered troubled him. Based on his estimates, the Red Ant population alone exceeded 100,000. And that didn’t include those operating too far afield to observe.
On top of that, the Black Ants, numbering several times more than the Red Ants, were now loyal to them.
These Black Ants didn’t just refrain from resisting—they actively assisted the Red Ants, even joining their attacks.
And in the Red Ant stronghold, where most Red Ants were out raiding, the sheer number of Black Ants far exceeded the remaining Red Ants. Yet there was no sign of rebellion, proving their unwavering loyalty.
Perhaps the situation still held some variables. Luo Wen resolved to examine the genetic fragments he’d collected from the Red Ants upon returning to the Brood Nest. Perhaps they held hidden secrets that could explain their dominance over the Black Ants.
With his reconnaissance complete, Luo Wen hurried back. The situation was dire. He was no longer planning to attack the Red Ants.
Given their scale, Luo Wen lacked the means to eradicate them for now.
If handled poorly, he might even face their counterattack.
Traveling quickly, Luo Wen avoided several Red Ant patrols and entered his own territory.
On his way, he stopped by a branch base to dispatch dozens of messenger teams, ordering all bases to bolster defenses. If they encountered the enemy, they were to immediately request reinforcements from nearby bases. After repelling the attackers, pursuit was strictly forbidden.
Thanks to the Brood Nest’s growth and the mixing of multiple genetic traits, the intelligence of Luo Wen’s insects had improved significantly.
The Queen Ants, in particular, seemed to have an innate intelligence boost. They could now understand more complex commands and had high priority in directing Worker and Soldier Ants.
Finally, Luo Wen felt like he had some semblance of military strategy. If he had to rely on the likes of Black Two and Black Three’s early intelligence, they’d never grasp the concept of mutual aid among bases.