Chapter 182: Queen Ant’s Command
Joo Joowon had no way of determining how powerful those unknown whispers actually were.
If they were as intense as what he had experienced while fighting the Big Belly Boss earlier, then the only benefit this piece of equipment would offer would be its attribute bonus.
Even that benefit might not truly be a benefit.
Who knew whether the attribute bonus granted by such dangerous equipment also carried a trace of contamination?
Continuing to wear the Beginner Necklace was not a bad option.
After all, this necklace only provided an additional two points of Mental Power, yet it also affected the attribute that currently mattered most to him.
It simply was not worth taking the risk.
Although the description never explicitly stated that the equipment itself was contaminated, it did mention purification.
In Joo Joowon’s opinion, there was really not much difference between the two.
As he acquired more equipment, Joo Joowon gradually realized that the difference between Rare grade and Elite grade equipment seemed to lie primarily in durability.
Judging from the attribute bonuses alone, the gap between them was actually quite small.
The highest attribute bonus on a Rare item was five points, while the lowest attribute bonus on an Elite item was also five points.
The true difference between the two grades appeared to be durability instead.
So far, among all the Rare equipment Joo Joowon possessed, the highest durability had only been 4.
Although there still was not enough data to determine the maximum durability of Elite equipment, the lowest durability he had seen was already 5.
That was effectively the equivalent of having five lives.
So when judging the quality of a piece of equipment, aside from its functionality, the next most important factor was its durability.
The worst equipment was the kind that provided few attribute bonuses and also had low durability.
Average equipment offered decent attribute bonuses and moderate durability.
Truly good equipment either came with special effects or had exceptionally high durability, such as the belt Joo Joowon had obtained today and the weapon in his possession that carried a binding effect.
Aside from the belt, which he immediately equipped, Joo Joowon put everything else away and glanced once more at the female ants that were still fighting.
As time passed, the number of surviving female ants steadily decreased.
Without question, however, every female ant still alive at this point was a formidable existence.
Those that had been injured gradually began to be eliminated, leaving behind only individuals that remained in excellent condition.
Although female ants were able to shed their wings after mating, now was not the time.
For those still engaged in battle, their wings still held tremendous strategic value.
A creature that could fly fighting one that could not was no contest at all.
The grounded opponent could easily be kited to death.
As a result, any surviving female ant whose wings had been damaged had effectively withdrawn from the competition ahead of time.
Even so, the number of remaining female ants was still enormous.
Together, they formed a thin black cloud overhead.
Based on a rough estimate, Joo Joowon believed there were still around one or two thousand of them left.
They really could reproduce at an unbelievable rate.
Then again, when he looked at the ant nest that stood as tall as a small hill, Joo Joowon felt that such numbers were only natural.
If the ant colony were allowed to continue developing unchecked, perhaps one day the entire city would become the territory of ants.
Then again, perhaps not.
Earlier, Joo Joowon had also believed that if he had never encountered the Zombie Spider ahead of time, it might eventually have become the uncrowned ruler of the city.
That alone proved these Bosses were not without rivals.
There was no guarantee they would all survive long enough to grow into unstoppable monsters.
Perhaps they would encounter powerful enemies long before that day arrived.
After all, weren’t bees the natural counterparts of ants?
The remaining female ants were all fairly intelligent.
They remained wary of one another and did not recklessly launch attacks, as though each of them was trying to determine which opponent would be the easiest target.
The queen ant, however, clearly had no patience to wait for their standoff to end.
She immediately urged them onward.
This time, she did not use Mental Power.
Instead, she used pheromones.
The concentration was so intense that even Joo Joowon could vaguely sense it.
The sensation did not come from smelling any kind of scent.
His sense of smell had not become that powerful.
Instead, his body itself transmitted a surge of emotions to him.
A powerful urge for battle.
A thirst for blood.
An impulse to throw away reason and plunge into mindless slaughter.
Joo Joowon’s Mental Power was fairly high.
Even though pheromones affected the body rather than the mind, he was still able to notice their influence to some extent.
For the female ants, however, there was absolutely no way to resist the queen ant’s pheromonal commands.
After all, their levels were still far too low.
There was no way they could oppose a queen ant whose level had likely already reached an unimaginable height.
Under the influence of the pheromones, the female ants fought with even greater ferocity.
There was no trace of reason left in them.
As long as they still had a single breath remaining, they attacked every nearby rival without hesitation.
They were no different from bloodthirsty zombies.
Joo Joowon could not help clicking his tongue at the sight.
The queen ant’s degree of control over her subordinates made him realize that his previous thoughts had been no different from imagining that an emperor used a golden command.
Perhaps the queen ant simply did not care what her subordinates were thinking.
Because she was powerful enough.
Even if these princess ants established new colonies and grew rapidly afterward, would the queen ant herself stop growing stronger while being supported by countless worker ants and soldier ants?
That was impossible.