Over the next two days, reinforcements from the rear steadily arrived, bringing the swarm’s numbers back above 2.2 million. Meanwhile, the Worker Ants’ acid reserves and the Soldier Ants’ venom sacs were fully replenished.
Thus, the swarm once again embarked on their grand march.
Although only two days had passed, the Big-headed Ants had resumed their orderly foraging activities. To Luo Wen’s surprise, he discovered another “green stream” flowing through the forest.
Marveling at the audacity of the Big-headed Ants, Luo Wen wasted no time intercepting the stream.
This time, however, the Big-headed Ants were prepared. They immediately launched an all-out response, mobilizing an advance force of over a million troops from their nest.
This advance force was twice the size of their previous vanguard. Luo Wen knew it would be wishful thinking to wipe out such a force in a short time. Engaging them head-on risked entanglement, leaving the swarm vulnerable to encirclement by the Big-headed Ants’ seemingly endless reinforcements.
Such a scenario would spell doom for the swarm, feeding the Big-headed Ants’ expansion. Luo Wen had no intention of aiding the enemy and had anticipated this situation before arriving.
He ordered the large combat units to retreat first, while the Soldier Ants pursued the leaf-carrying Worker Ants, hunting them down along the trail. Previously, these Worker Ants had been spared as bait to lure reinforcements. Now, with a change in tactics, they were fair game—every bit of attrition helped.
With tasks delegated, the respective units departed in an orderly fashion. Left behind were the Transport Bugs and the Worker Ants riding on their backs. Today, they would be the stars of the battlefield, showing the Big-headed Ants what mobile warfare and “cavalry tactics” looked like.
With their long legs and swift pace, they maintained a constant distance of about 20 centimeters from the Big-headed Ant forces—a deceptively short but entirely safe gap.
As noted before, ants relied heavily on their antennae for communication and perception, being almost blind. Outside their antennae’s range, they could only sense vibrations to detect other creatures. However, with an army of over a million ants moving together, vibrations became indistinguishable, rendering this sense ineffective.
The Transport Bugs capitalized on this by staying just out of reach.
At this 20-centimeter range, the Worker Ants riding atop the Transport Bugs began their assault. Elevated by the Transport Bugs, their acid sprays easily covered a distance of one meter.
In preparation for this operation, Luo Wen had increased the number of Transport Bugs at the front line. Previously, each bug carried about 500 Worker Ants, forcing them to pile up into an “ant hill.” The bottom layer bore immense pressure, limiting movement during high-speed maneuvers to avoid collapse.
With more Transport Bugs now available, each only needed to carry around 200 Worker Ants, significantly reducing pressure. This allowed the top layer to adjust into a firing formation.
Atop each “ant hill,” 20 to 30 Worker Ants assumed the ideal acid-spraying stance, secured in place by their companions below.
Streams of acid shot into the Big-headed Ant army. Once their acid reserves were depleted, these Worker Ants retreated to the lower levels, making way for fresh replacements to take their place.
Thus, another volley of acid streams began.
The disaster for the Big-headed Ants had begun. The synergy between the Transport Bugs and Worker Ants turned them into mobile artillery units. Acid rained down from above, requiring no precision—only general direction.
Within ten minutes, the 150,000 Worker Ants had emptied their acid reserves, wreaking devastating havoc. The outer edges of the Big-headed Ant formation were heavily damaged, with countless ants injured.
In the insect world, there was no such thing as rehabilitation.
While some ants with corroded exoskeletons might survive, those with damaged antennae or missing limbs were inevitably recycled into protein post-battle.
Having finished their assault, the Transport Bugs retreated along predetermined routes. Spy Bugs stationed along the way erased all traces of their passage.
This hit-and-run tactic, while not something Luo Wen could personally partake in, was thrilling to witness as its architect.
The acid barrage inflicted over 300,000 casualties on the Big-headed Ant advance force. On the swarm’s side, only two unlucky Transport Bugs were lost. These casualties occurred when they got too close to Ultra-Giants, were entangled, and subsequently destroyed—taking their Worker Ant passengers down with them. The incident underscored the importance of skilled drivers during operations.
Glancing at the disarrayed Big-headed Ant formation, Luo Wen decided not to linger. Reuniting with the main force, he ordered the excavation of the Ultra-Giant corpses buried during the previous battle.
With cooperation between Worker Ants and the swarm’s own Ultra-Giants, the corpses were quickly dismembered, packed, and loaded onto the Transport Bugs. The increased number of Transport Bugs ensured all these spoils were taken back, avoiding the risk of leaving them in enemy territory for too long.
Meanwhile, the units dispatched to eliminate the leaf-carrying Worker Ants also returned to the temporary base. Not expecting such a swift battle, Luo Wen had sent a messenger squad to call them back during the retreat, sparing them from potential ambushes.
After a brief rest, the swarm circled back to their territory.
Two days later, the swarm, now fully resupplied, set out once again. This time, they traveled light, leaving most of their large combat units behind and bringing only a small number of medium and small units aboard the Transport Bugs.
The events of two days prior repeated themselves. The Big-headed Ant army, recovering from multiple long-range attacks, struggled to regroup, only to find their foes had vanished.
For the next half-month, harassment became a routine activity for the swarm. Over eight operations, the Big-headed Ants suffered approximately 1 million casualties. Despite adapting somewhat, the damage was done.
Combined with previous battles, the Big-headed Ants had now lost close to 2 million troops. Though the swarm also lost over ten Transport Bugs and their Worker Ant passengers, reinforcements from the rear kept arriving.
By now, the forces gathered at the forward base had swelled to nearly 3 million.