Chapter 109: Corpse Caravan
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Night blanketed the desert in sapphire tranquillity. Fires dotted around the corpse segments glowed like embers of a giant broken necklace. Worker ants sang mourning hymns while forging chain yokes.
Kai’s level sat at 29, exp 100/1000. Miserable. He needed bigger kills. But because of his worker ant status he can’t leave from his duty. He is wasting time here. If Mia was here he could easily go for night Hunt’s reach level 30.
He conferred with the squad Fenn and Brask, who were now healthy again. "If predators strike, slipstreams near our column edges will be thin. I want to request perimeter scouting for rotation duty. Can you help me?"
Brask rumbled assent. Fenn checked javelin counts. "Kai, it’s impossible. The general Iron is very obsessed with ranks and rule. He won’t allow it. Forgot about that. Just do what you are assigned to do."
They slept in quick cycles. At dawn, hornets yanked harness chains; the first corpse wagon lurched. Sand-rollers squealed but held. Kai’s Delta-19 team pushed behind, legs sinking knee-deep. Ten metres at a time, rest, reset Arctic-grease on axles, push again.
So began the Long March of Spoils, one hundred thirty kilometres back to the Ant Empire frontier gate.
Day 1: Heat hammered like smith’s mallet. Kai’s Speed stat let him flit along the wagon flank checking lashings, but strength points still screamed; he poured Stamina and water ointment to keep muscles from locking. Miryam the egg was absorbing star milk in big doses at dawn and dusk, purring after each. He sometimes shared jokes with other ants to pass his boring time. Something talks with the egg in a low voice.
At twilight, minor beasts probed: three two-star Scorpion Riders darted from dunes seeking scrap flesh. Perimeter pikes skewered them. Kai leapt, delivered a coup de grâce on the last rider, earning [EXP +30]. Hardly worth sweat.