Chapter 65: The Attack Begins (1)
In the following dozens of days, Luo Wen moved ceaselessly, meticulously planning the locations of new branch bases along the outskirts of his territory. He also commanded all the Queen Ants within the territory to focus entirely on producing Worker Ants.
After this period, the first Queen Ants to mature had already emerged from their pupae and steadily moved to their assigned locations. Due to the sheer number of Queen Ants hatched this time, even with over three hundred already working at full capacity, the Brood Nest—being the largest production base—was fully booked and unable to assist further.
The Worker Ants produced by these Queens alone were insufficient, especially as many of the Queens still had significant labor shortages within their territories. As a result, the standard allocation of bodyguard troops, initially increased to 2,000, was reduced back to 1,000 per Queen before deployment.
Luo Wen had little choice in the matter. After all, the territory had already been cleared, and any insects that could pose a threat to the bases had long been converted into military rations. These areas were safe enough, so the Queens were sent to gradually develop their regions. Once production capacity improved, he planned to make up for the deficit.
After another few dozen days, the Brood Nest completed its orders and shifted its focus entirely to producing Worker Ants and Transport Bugs. With its production capacity gradually freed up, a steady stream of Worker Ants was delivered to various bases via Transport Bugs, bolstering their labor force.
The Brood Nest, continuously sharing Luo Wen’s genetic code, had grown slightly larger than Luo Wen himself and had necessitated several expansions of its underground chamber. Its production capability, proportional to its size, was equivalent to that of 200 Queen Ants.
With new Queen Ants gradually taking their places in the northern base, the territory’s borderlines advanced steadily. Time flew by, and within a hundred days, the original buffer zone of roughly four kilometers was occupied by the swarm. Numerous bases were scattered like nails across the area, connecting into a unified network.
As the border drew closer to the Red Ants’ hive, patrol squads from the swarm inevitably encountered foraging teams from the Red Ants’ colony.
Red Ants were nomadic predators, inherently living off plunder. While Luo Wen’s side had developed a form of animal husbandry, establishing and expanding pastures required significant land resources. Therefore, neither side backed down when they met. Without a pre-battle exchange of insults, both forces verified each other’s pheromones to confirm they were not allies before clashing violently.