The experiment continued.
The ant colony repeatedly sacrificed its members, iterating on this cruel experiment.
With the conclusion of each test, the data gathered was simultaneously synchronized and integrated into the entire colony.
Lin Miao continuously replenished the formic acid solution in the empty glass bowl, his gaze locked onto the movements inside the terrarium as he observed every outcome of the experiment.
He knew full well that as long as the colony showed a clear will, his duty was to do everything in his power to assist them until they achieved their desired results.
【Your servants have found the perfect toxin concentration.】
Finally, after nearly thirty ants had died one after another, the colony found the perfect concentration that maximized the toxin's efficiency.
This concentration was not lethal to the venomous ants themselves, yet it could deal a fatal blow to their enemies. Having mastered this toxin, the venomous ants officially became a brand-new combat asset for the mutated ant army.
【Through repetitive learning, the Queen Ant has been stimulated.】
The results of this experiment went far beyond simply determining a safe level of toxin intake. This was an unexpected harvest that Lin Miao had not anticipated at all.
Through this repeatedly conducted experiment, the first-generation Queen Ant, who possessed the ability to manipulate individual bloodlines—essentially genetic information—was also deeply influenced by the experimental data.
Even though the ants put into the experiment ultimately died, the legacy they left behind was completely integrated into the entire colony.
Their unique rapid generational succession and growth speed, combined with the evolved Queen Ant's Bloodline Adjustment capability, allowed the newborn venomous ants to possess a stronger resistance to toxins, enabling them to carry a much larger dose.
Thus, stronger venomous ants were continuously born, and the dosage of toxins Lin Miao introduced was gradually increased accordingly.
As the toxin concentration rose, the venomous ants in the colony became increasingly formidable. Seeing their growth, Lin Miao would increase the dosage once again.
For the colony inside the terrarium, this was a positive cycle catalyzed by the intervention of Lin Miao, their distant god.
Right now, they were only using formic acid. A thought even flashed through Lin Miao's mind: if they took it a step further, perhaps they could adapt to other, more lethal poisons.
“I've got an idea.”
Watching the continuously evolving colony, Lin Miao smiled with satisfaction.
He had finally found another way to tangibly aid their growth, aside from providing massive amounts of ordinary food and introducing ant specimens to serve as evolutionary material.
【A new Queen Ant is hatching.】
While the venomous ants were continuously growing stronger with Lin Miao's help, in just a few short days, the new Queen Ant completed her entire developmental process: hatching from an egg into a larva, spinning a cocoon from a larva, and finally breaking out of her cocoon.
The new Queen Ant did not hatch in the terrarium, but rather in the egg-laying chamber of the brand-new fortress built by the colony in the otherworld.
Due to the first-generation Queen Ant's genetic manipulation, this new Queen Ant's brain development was completely restricted, leaving her capable of nothing but consuming nutrients and continuously laying eggs. Therefore, as soon as she hatched, she immediately began her endless egg-laying duties according to the colony's demands.
This growth speed... Lin Miao watched the screen sent by the system, his heart filled with shock.
In simple terms, the new Queen Ant's egg-laying speed was twice as fast as the first-generation Queen Ant's.
Doubled eggs and larvae would grow into doubled military forces. Thanks to this new Queen Ant, the colony successfully made up for almost all the military losses from the previous war in just a few short days.
【They need more food.】
“Even if I give them more food now, it won't make much of a difference, will it?” Lin Miao muttered speechlessly, looking at the system notifications popping up one after another.
As the scale of the colony continued to expand, the resources required to keep this massive entity running naturally skyrocketed.
However, the resources the colony wanted never stopped at the level of merely maintaining the status quo.
As long as there was even a tiny surplus, they would immediately invest all resources into expanding the colony's scale.
To them, this behavior was a fundamental instinct that could not be erased no matter how much they evolved or improved; it was the entire meaning of their existence.
Compared to ordinary ants, this instinct of theirs had become intense to the point of near-obsessive, making one feel that this might be a brand-new trait mutated after they became Lin Miao's servants.
“My blindly satisfying their hunger is completely meaningless.”
Thinking this, Lin Miao opened another can of mealworms and poured them all into the terrarium.
Watching the colony immediately swarm over and shred the mealworms into pieces in an instant, the expression on his face was not bright.
He knew full well that no matter how much food he poured into the terrarium, they would never be satisfied and would still search for prey everywhere in that otherworld.
Conversely, if he supplied too much food, causing their population scale to expand beyond its limits, any future slip-up in his food supply could deal a devastating blow to the entire colony.
Are they destined to be chased by this endless hunger forever? Lin Miao couldn't help but ask himself.
To satisfy that hunger, they would endlessly spread and multiply frantically.
And what deep, bone-chilling terror would the creatures that crossed paths with them as prey feel?
...
This was a small path near the Baron's domain that had once been occupied by Bagis's forces.
A group of goblins pulling a wagon laden with goods suddenly turned pale, screaming in panic, “We—we've been spotted!”
They had encountered a hunting squad of about thirty ants.
This goblin squad had been ordered by Chief Karon to sneak into the lord's castle, which had been razed to the ground and abandoned by the colony, to steal the weapons and treasures left behind by Bagis's forces.
For goblins who did not yet possess proper iron-smelting technology, these iron tools forged by humans were precious spoils of war that could make them green with envy.
Yet to the colony, these were merely worthless inorganic matter.
“Form up and fight!”
A goblin warrior shouted fiercely. Fully armed with high-quality human-forged iron weapons, the goblins immediately engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the colony.
Weapons and gold coins were worthless to the colony, but living goblins were a completely different story.
Goblins were organic lifeforms containing magic power, the perfect prey that could drive the colony into a frenzy.
“Hah!”
A goblin warrior roared, swinging his axe down heavily, instantly splitting the head of a worker ant that was about to bite his chin.
Even though they were worker ants that had undergone Tier 1 evolution, their combat skills were still not particularly sophisticated. For an experienced warrior, subduing them with weapons was not a difficult task.
Fortunately for the goblins, this hunting squad was not large, which meant the colony's most terrifying collective combat capability could not be fully unleashed.
Therefore, even the goblin soldiers, who were slightly weaker in strength than the ordinary worker ants, did not easily fall thanks to their high-quality weapons.
“Wh-What! Argh!”
However, at that moment, the ants in the colony with dark red exoskeletons and exceptionally peculiar appearances suddenly raised their abdomens, spraying a colorless liquid with a pungent odor. The goblins instantly let out agonizing screams.
The highly acidic toxin splashed onto the goblins. The severe toxicity caused an instant, burning pain upon contact with bare skin, leaving severe corrosive wounds. Even the iron weapons splattered with it immediately emitted white smoke and began to corrode and melt.
“My eyes... My eyes! I can't see!”
A goblin warrior whose face had been directly hit by the acidic toxin screamed in agony, clutching his eyes.
Even though the goblin warrior's body was reinforced by magic power, the acidic toxin entering his eyes, a vital spot, still left him completely blind in an instant.
【Your servants have achieved victory.】
Ultimately, the goblins, completely devastated by the acidic toxin of the venomous ants, were wiped out, leaving only the wagon laden with goods.
On the other side of the screen, Lin Miao, who had observed the entire battle, wore a thoughtful expression, his finger unconsciously tapping his phone.
“As expected, those goblins from back then were behind this, weren't they?”
Lin Miao recalled the group of goblins that had deliberately lured the scouting ants before the colony went to war with the human forces.
Although he had suspected it at the time, he could finally be certain now that the encounter between the colony and Bagis's human forces had not been a natural occurrence at all.
After the colony defeated the humans and abandoned the city, the first to notice and swarm over were precisely the goblins of the northern forest.
Their goal was the spoils of war left behind in the city by the colony.
Their actions were incredibly swift, as if they had been in the shadows from the very beginning, watching the entire battle between the colony and the human forces.
Even though this looting goblin squad had been completely wiped out by the colony, the colony had no interest in the wagons loaded only with inorganic matter they could not eat.
The wagons were simply abandoned by the roadside. The goblins only needed to send a follow-up squad to easily retrieve them.
“If only they could be used as traps, what a pity...”
Lin Miao could easily come up with a countermeasure: use these wagons as bait to set traps and hunt goblins.
Unfortunately, with the colony's current intelligence, they could not yet understand his intention.
【They are learning a new way of fighting.】
0However, the colony also accumulated valuable combat experience through this practical application of the venomous ants.
To them, spraying venom to fight was a completely foreign concept, but the practical experience of the dozen or so hunting squads controlling the venomous ants had been shared with the entire colony in real-time.
For instance, more efficient venom-spraying postures, the optimal conditions and timing for spraying, and so on. These seemingly minor experiences, when brought together, could unleash a massive synergy.
The colony used their hive mind to share all experiences, learning simultaneously and growing together.
With Lin Miao's help, a brand-new unit was born in the colony, and they once again bustled about tirelessly in search of new prey and war.
Meanwhile, in the goblin tribe of the northern forest, someone was furious upon hearing the news of the squad's annihilation, a strong sense of unease also sprouting in his heart.
“Damn it, just how much strength do those monsters have?!”
This person was none other than Karon, the chief of the goblin tribe.
Looking at the spoils of war that the follow-up squad had barely managed to retrieve after the dispatched squad was completely wiped out, his face was so dark it could practically drip water.
“Five warriors and forty soldiers died. If this is the price they paid, do you think it was worth it?”
Karon roared furiously at his subordinates.
Not only the simple-minded, muscle-bound warriors, but even the highly intelligent shamans in the tribe lowered their heads, carefully reading his expression.
Although the colony had fought the humans—who were a thorn in his side—according to his plan, which indeed went as he wished, the final outcome was a far cry from Karon's expectations.
Bagis had collapsed too quickly. A large number of humans were either slaughtered by the colony or fled in all directions.
On the other hand, the colony, which should have been severely damaged in the battle, had not weakened at all. Instead, they recovered their strength in just a few days.
They had even birthed a stronger, brand-new unit, continuously expanding their sphere of influence and closing in on their territory step by step.
“We can't retreat anymore. If we lose this land, we will be completely driven out of here.”
Karon clenched his teeth, his heart filled with regret.
He couldn't help but think that it would have been better to attack the ant nest—which was highly likely to be empty—while the colony's main force was fighting the human forces.
He had very few choices left now. If he did not go to war with the colony head-on, his only option was to migrate with all his clansmen, abandoning everything.
But the problem was that whether it was goblins of the same race or other foreign races nearby, they had already formed stable spheres of influence, leaving absolutely no place for them to settle.
Just then, a powerful beam of light descended from the sky, landing precisely on Karon.
“What is that!”
The goblins gathered around looked at Karon, who was trembling all over in the light, and hastily prostrated themselves on the ground.
Because goblins were originally nothing more than low-level monsters, it was thanks to the blessing of that Great One that they were able to gradually evolve into intelligent beings with a civilization.
“Ch-Chief. What happened?”
After the pillar of light disappeared, the goblins immediately surrounded him, asking Karon in excited tones.
After all, every time this happened, Karon would obtain special powers or receive an oracle that could guide their path. It was always good news.
“Contact all surrounding forces immediately. We must not fight alone.”
After a brief moment of daze, the first words Karon spoke were a plan to form a united front.
“The closest to us are the tribes of Durkan and Adon, right? They will never refuse my proposal. Because that Lord must have handed down the same oracle to them as well!”
Karon stared intently at the map on the table, speaking through gritted teeth.
Although he had always disliked teaming up with competitors, in the face of this disaster that had fairly descended upon all forces, he had no other choice.
“Also... contact the other guys as well. Beastkin, humans, don't leave out a single one.”
Although this place was located at the border of the continent, it was not only goblins who lived here; quite a few forces faced the same crisis of annihilation.
Karon thought to himself: If they refuse to join forces, those guys will ultimately face the same fate.
These ants were a disaster, an evil natural calamity sent to destroy the entire world.
If they could compromise, negotiate, or even surrender and submit under their banner, perhaps they could still be viewed as competitors.
But these monsters, let alone compromise, could not even engage in the most basic dialogue. They were not competitors; they were merely an indiscriminate, devastating natural disaster.
Now, Karon no longer dared to harbor even the slightest thought of looking down on these ants.
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