【Kerrigan's outlook based on the successful experiment: in the future, her legion will completely discard digestive organs, living solely for pure combat】
Her initial intention was simply to further improve mobility; she even found the time spent eating to be a waste and wanted to find a way to streamline the process.
Processing the spoils brought back by the hunting squads was tedious and time-consuming.
Worker ants had to scurry back and forth carrying pieces of butchered meat, which wasted an immense amount of labor and time.
Furthermore, stockpiling the butchered meat was another major problem.
The migratory colony had no fixed nest to begin with, so stockpiling a massive amount of food was inherently inefficient and cumbersome.
I see. She wants to skip the entire process and use the power of the newly acquired magic hearts to undergo a transformation.
Lin Miao, watching from the side, couldn't help but marvel. The core of this brand-new process relied on the first batch of mutated species Kerrigan had bred after obtaining the magic hearts: the decomposers.
These mutated insects had extremely bloated and well-developed abdomens, looking somewhat like spiders. Their swollen abdomens were embedded with magic hearts and stored a massive amount of highly potent digestive fluid.
Having fused the decomposition power and venom of starfish, spiders, and leeches, a single drop of this fluid could kill and dissolve any living thing, turning it into pure liquid nutrients.
The worker ants and other individuals in the colony would drink this nutrient solution and regurgitate it to distribute to the rest of the colony, allowing Kerrigan's migratory colony to receive non-stop nourishment even while on the move.
Armed with such formidable mobility and combat strength, Kerrigan led her legion to sweep across the land like a tempest, fighting relentlessly.
This was the difference between her and Elise: Elise poured all her resources into breeding a stronger colony and expanding her legion; whereas Kerrigan sustained her colony solely for the sake of conquest.
This was precisely why the migratory colony and the main nest colony had embarked on completely different evolutionary paths.
Faced with Kerrigan's legion, which could easily bypass their defenses and avoid direct confrontations, both the Beastkin Kingdom and the dwarven coalition were thrown into utter turmoil.
They no longer had any room to breathe, left with nothing but endless warfare and slaughter.
“The monsters are coming! A massive swarm of monsters is pouring in! Hurry and build high walls!”
In their desperation, the various factions racked their brains for a solution and ultimately made the exact same choice as the Holy Kingdom and the Lucadia Empire.
Just like dealing with a highly mobile nomadic horde, unable to fight them head-on, they could only rely on strategic locations and begin constructing continuous high walls to hold their ground.
【Elise becomes interested in Kerrigan's new measures】
Naturally, Elise, who could perceive the changes in the migratory colony through the hive mind, grew curious about this novel experiment.
Aside from feeling a bit annoyed, Kerrigan didn't pay it much mind.
After all, most of the knowledge and information Kerrigan used now originated from Elise.
Although their chosen paths of development were gradually diverging, they shared the most fundamental consensus: as sister colonies protected by the Great One, Lin Miao, their ultimate mission was to continuously grow and strengthen.
But why is she paying so much attention to it?
Lin Miao wondered as he watched this unfold.
The two queens had different goals and situations, and the evolutionary directions of their respective colonies had long since diverged.
As the ruler of an empire, Elise was accustomed to occupying territories, building nests, breeding, and cultivating fungal gardens to steadily expand her domain.
On the other hand, Kerrigan was like a nomadic king, drifting from place to place, with a style of operation that was fundamentally incompatible with Elise's.
【Elise formulates a plan for a cross-sea surprise attack to strike directly at the Empire's rear】
A moment later, Lin Miao understood the reason.
Having witnessed the high walls that the Lucadia Empire spent massive amounts of resources and manpower to build, Elise had devised a brand-new way to break the deadlock: crossing the narrow sea that separated the Empire from the Holy Kingdom to strike directly at their heartland.
In the past, when the unknown sea seemed vast, she had never considered a cross-sea expedition.
But as her understanding of the world expanded and she learned that this sea was not all that immense, the ocean was no longer a terrifying, forbidden unknown.
“Even so, isn't that a bit too perilous?”
Lin Miao frowned slightly, recalling how Celia had once crossed the sea in a small boat.
Even a narrow sea was far beyond what any river could compare to.
Celia's solitary crossing back then had not been for war; she had relied on the cover of shipwrecked sailors, sneaking across like a smuggler to succeed.
Sneaking across alone was a world of difference compared to an entire army launching a cross-sea invasion.
“Your Majesty, even if a surprise attack succeeds, our forces will be surrounded and wiped out by the Empire's garrison stationed everywhere. It will be hard to hold the ground, and the risk of total annihilation is extremely high. A single misstep could result in losses far exceeding any gains.”
Celia, also sensing Lin Miao's concerns and noticing Elise's risky plan, spoke up cautiously to advise against it.
【Elise determines: simply capturing prey and pinning down the enemy forces already holds strategic value】
“But if we want to build a nest and take root over there... Ah, I understand.”
Celia's heart shook as she instantly grasped Elise's intent.
She finally understood why Elise had taken an interest in Kerrigan's migratory colony.
Imagine a migratory colony with no nest to defend, capable of establishing a foothold anywhere, suddenly dropping into the heart of the Empire. What kind of storm would that brew?
Thinking about it this way, it really is highly feasible.
Even Lin Miao couldn't help but entertain the thought.
“The Lucadia Empire has a deep heritage, vast territory, a thriving population, and abundant resources. No wonder the deity ruling this place can carry himself so arrogantly in the divine realm.”
Although he couldn't directly connect to the hive mind, he had been quietly observing the ant colony's development.
He instantly saw through Elise's scheme.
This situation was completely different from when they overthrew the Holy Kingdom.
The Holy Kingdom was inherently weak, far inferior to the ant colony entrenched in the north.
Elise knew well that the Lucadia Empire was formidable, incomparable to the Holy Kingdom, and a frontal war of attrition would not be enough.
They had to open up battlefronts in all directions, and a cross-sea flanking raid was a critical step.
“Simply disrupting the enemy's rear will force the Empire to spend massive resources and troops to defend it. Even if they build new high walls along the coastline, it won't matter; as long as we stall their progress, the colony will gain enough time to grow.”
Unlike human factions with their slow decision-making and tedious mobilization, the ant colony operated as a single, cohesive entity centered around the hive mind, acting with lightning speed.
The more chaotic and complex the battle, the more advantageous it was for the colony.
Elise wanted to use this cross-sea surprise attack to shatter the battlefield order imposed by the high walls and throw the war back into chaos.
Then how should I assist them?
Lin Miao naturally began to ponder his own role.
Although the colony now acted almost entirely on its own, his assistance had always been indispensable along the way.
It's time to feed them some marine life.
He had already conceived a plan, and now was the time to put it into action.
Although the colony had previously preyed on amphibians, squids, and other creatures to barely obtain the ability to breathe underwater, it was far from enough.
They needed a more specialized underwater respiratory system, and the best choice in his mind was the gills of a tuna.
“By the way, do you absolutely have to prey on living organisms to absorb their abilities?”
Lin Miao muttered to himself, staring at Elise on the screen.
He had not handed down an oracle to Celia, so Elise naturally had no way of hearing him.
Looking through the rules, there's no regulation stating they can only absorb living organisms.
All this time, the prey Elise consumed had been alive.
To be precise, they were still alive when dropped into the terrarium, only to be hunted and decomposed by the colony.
Initially, it was just a coincidence that the first creatures he rescued were live insects, and the subsequent creatures he gathered were also delivered live by smugglers.
Over time, it had become a habit. Even now, as the colony grew larger, he still habitually dropped in intact, live organisms, quietly watching the colony hunt.
I might as well take this opportunity to run an experiment.
Lin Miao had looked up information and knew that the gills of bluefin tuna were perfectly adapted for high-speed swimming and high-intensity activity.
Trying to get a live bluefin tuna would be extremely troublesome even with money, not to mention the effort of coming up with excuses and the time consumed.
But frozen tuna was readily available; he could easily buy some at a wholesale seafood market.
If Elise couldn't absorb the genes of dead organisms, he would just have to look for live seafood instead.
If even frozen stuff doesn't work, then there's nothing I can do. It's not like I can run off to watch a live tuna being butchered right now.
Lin Miao bought some frozen tuna chunks and opened the lid of the terrarium.
Elise instantly sensed the movement and immediately dispatched worker ants to investigate.
The Great One had only ever bestowed precious nutrients and magic stones upon them, so this new feeding filled her with anticipation.
When the cut chunks of tuna dropped out of thin air, Elise fell into a brief moment of confusion.
The prey falling from the sky in the past had come in all shapes and sizes, but she had never seen these "giant chunks of meat" radiating a crimson luster.
Can Elise taste it?
Lin Miao wondered to himself as he watched the worker ants butcher and transport the tuna chunks.
Elise had never shown any perception of food flavors.
To her, prey was merely nutrients to sustain the colony; gourmet food was practically a superfluous luxury for a queen ant.
【Elise has successfully absorbed a brand-new ability】
It seems the thawing was just right. This was money well spent.
Once all the tuna chunks were devoured by the colony, Lin Miao smiled with satisfaction the moment he saw the system prompt.
The first step of his planned experiment was a complete success.
Even when Elise consumed dead organisms—even ingredients that had been frozen and thawed—she could still analyze and absorb their genetic information.
All of this was thanks to her own growth and transformation along the way, especially her recent breakthrough in self-transplanting a magic heart to drastically amplify her own abilities.
Now I can try feeding them even more species.
From then on, Lin Miao had a much wider scope for experimentation, allowing him to gather rare creatures that even smuggling merchants would find difficult to obtain.
【Having analyzed the consumed prey, Elise understands the intent of the Great One】
Elise instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Lin Miao feeding her the tuna. She immediately set to work breeding a brand-new type of soldier: a massive, underwater transport-type mutated species capable of carrying large numbers of troops across the sea.
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