As expected, keeping his expectations low proved wise. The next morning, Luo Wen awoke to find no new gains from the red ant queen. To be sure, he would need to return to the Brood Nest to verify the specifics. But before that, there were still post-battle tasks to handle.
After a day’s rest, Luo Wen led his 300,000-strong swarm across the border into the red ants’ territory.
Following the climactic battle, the coalition forces had been annihilated, and no remnants had been spotted along the way. Luo Wen had assumed that taking over their territory would be a mere formality.
Unexpectedly, not long after entering enemy territory, his forces encountered two fully assembled units numbering over 30,000 ants in total. These troops had likely been on a distant hunting expedition and had only just returned, intending to reinforce the front lines.
Unluckily for them, they ran straight into Luo Wen’s swarm as they neared the border.
There was little to discuss. With Transport Bugs dividing the battlefield and 300,000 troops surrounding the enemy, exterminating the 30,000-strong force was a matter of minutes.
The red ants may have accepted the black ants as prisoners, but Luo Wen had no interest in doing the same. These basic-model combat units, equipped with only a rudimentary friend-or-foe recognition system, were riddled with vulnerabilities. Recycling them into protein was their best use.
That said, the red and black ants of the coalition were surprisingly steadfast, showing no inclination to surrender.
Before long, they became part of the swarm’s food reserves, loaded onto the backs of Transport Bugs.
The coalition had considerable reserves, with units frequently arriving from afar. Their numbers ranged from a few thousand to tens of thousands, though none exceeded 30,000.
Each time one of these units appeared, either Luo Wen or the Scout Bugs would spot them, and the swarm, with numbers several times greater, would surround and eliminate them.
After intense skirmishes, these units would obediently become food reserves.
Within just a few days, Luo Wen’s forces had wiped out over 30 groups, amounting to nearly 500,000 enemies. However, since these units typically appeared individually, with an average size of around 10,000, their collective resistance inflicted fewer than 10,000 casualties on the swarm.
Luo Wen couldn’t help but reflect that if the coalition had better supply chains and the patience to wait a few more days to amass a million-strong army, the situation might have been more challenging.
Several more days passed, and Luo Wen had not encountered any more coalition reinforcements heading for the front. It seemed their distant hunting parties had all returned, making further waiting unnecessary.
Thus, the swarm finally advanced deeper into coalition territory.
Encountering no resistance along the way, it became clear that after their home nest had been flooded, the queens had moved to the front lines. No troops had been left to garrison their territory, as all available forces had been sent to support the frontline.
Unfortunately, the ants’ primitive communication methods meant they remained oblivious to the war’s outcome and had continued sending reinforcements to their doom for days.
At this moment, Luo Wen felt an urgent need for advanced communication methods. Regrettably, he still had no idea how to obtain such technology.
The swarm advanced 500 meters northward, arriving at the volcano-shaped nest entrance that had once served as the red-black ant coalition’s home base. It remained flooded and held no strategic value.
Luo Wen did not linger, instead sweeping the area to eliminate potential threats. His forces zigzagged another 500 meters north, consuming a significant portion of their food reserves along the way. Finally, Luo Wen confirmed the area within a kilometer radius to be temporarily secure.
He then divided his army into two groups.
The first group, comprising Soldier Ants, Transport Bugs, and a small number of Worker Ants, totaled about 70,000 to 80,000. They were tasked with carrying the majority of the food reserves and continuing northward along the current route. These units needed to sustain themselves through constant warfare and would be sent to expand the swarm’s territory.
Luo Wen led the remaining 200,000 Worker Ants back toward the border. Along the way, he split them into 50 groups, leaving one group at intervals to construct new bases.
By the time he returned to the border, Luo Wen was alone. However, he soon encountered another swarm unit escorting 50 Queen Ants. These queens had been stationed near the front lines, and Luo Wen had sent messengers to summon them once the newly occupied territory was deemed secure.
The 50 bases constructed along the route were meant for these queens, who would oversee and develop the surrounding areas.
Of course, 50 queens would not suffice to cover a kilometer-wide territory. Luo Wen planned to hatch additional queens upon returning to the Brood Nest. These new queens would fill the gaps in the current bases and could also be dispatched to garrison the northern territories captured by the expeditionary force.
With these arrangements in place, the territorial dispute was finally resolved. Luo Wen returned to the Brood Nest to resume his reclusive lifestyle.
Through the Brood Nest, Luo Wen confirmed that the red ant queen had provided no new genetic fragments, a result he had anticipated.
However, the question of why the black ants had submitted to the red ants after their queen’s death remained unsolved. It was likely a mystery that would persist indefinitely.
Fortunately, Luo Wen felt no curiosity or desire to acquire such an ability. Trusting the black ants was out of the question, so turning them into nutrients to power the queens’ egg-laying was undoubtedly the better option.
Life returned to tranquility, and the swarm continued its steady development. During this time, Luo Wen reestablished two expeditionary forces for strategic exploration.
The first was the reformation of the Western Army, which had been recalled during the initial phase of the war due to severe manpower shortages. With the war over, they resumed their westward exploration.
The second was a newly formed Northwest Army, tasked with exploring the blind spot between the territories covered by the Western Army and the Northern Army. As the exploration distances of these two forces increased, the gap between them would inevitably grow, necessitating a dedicated force for this region.
Both expeditionary forces were instructed to send back small teams to report every three days. To address their limited intelligence, Luo Wen assigned each force a Queen Ant to accompany them.
Queens, with their comparatively higher intelligence, could at least relay simple messages. As the territory expanded, Luo Wen could no longer personally survey the land for updates.
To maintain balance, Luo Wen also dispatched a Queen Ant via Transport Bug to join the northern army. The ants’ lack of selfishness ensured they would readily accept this “parachuted” commander with enthusiasm.