Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 60: The Black-tailed Dragonfly's Message

Several dozen days later, in the "Spider Cave," which had been expanded several times, Ye Zhi, whose body was only a few centimeters long, was still lying on the soft ant silk cushion in the middle, sleeping quietly.

The nearby ant hatcheries have all been dismantled and replaced with a soft cushion structure in the center that is several times larger than before. At this time, according to the perception of the worker ants that Ye Zhi has preserved, four days have passed, and it is almost time for the main body to awaken.

A cracking sound came from the exoskeleton, and a crack appeared at the back of the carapace. The newborn body slowly emerged from under the old shell, and the tender white exoskeleton gradually hardened, stretched, and settled at a length of sixteen centimeters.

The seventh-instar ant king is one step closer to the intermediate warrior stage. Ye Zhi is satisfied. She shakes her newborn body, and her mandibles open and close accordingly. Her antennae, membranous wings, abdomen... are all in excellent condition.

After regurgitating some liquid food from her social stomach to replenish the energy consumed during evolution, Ye Zhi slowly emerged from the nest chamber, greeted the Zo Wang Hong Yuan guarding the outside of the nest, and prepared to go and sow the "Chimera".

"Little guy, I'll go with you. Let's see how your Divine Seed is developing after evolving again," Hong Yuan suddenly said with her mental power, shaking her tentacles excitedly.

Ye Zhi pondered for a moment, nodded its antennae in agreement, and then skillfully flapped its wings and landed on the carapace of Zuo Wang Hong Yuan.

At the seventh stage of evolution, Ye Zhi, who is about sixteen centimeters long, already occupies most of the space on the relatively narrow front and back of the Red Cypress, making Ye Zhi sigh that she is no longer the person she used to be.

Despite its disability in one of its middle limbs, the red cypress still moved with incredible speed and agility. Several worker ants followed behind it, running along the forest path toward the spot where the chimera had been planted.

"Red Cypress King!"

Suddenly, a spiritual force swept down from the sky, its voice deep and resonant. Even from a distance, one could tell that its evolutionary level was no lower than that of a mountain lord.

Following the direction of the mental energy, a massive figure, as large as a small airplane, appeared in the field of vision. It was a giant dragonfly, with a wingspan of about five meters, which was undoubtedly at the level of a mountain lord or higher.

The enormous dragonfly was entirely black, except for a bright silver-gray section on its abdomen, while the very end of its abdomen was pitch black. It was undoubtedly a black-tailed gray dragonfly. Based on the description, it was most likely the one that the ant king had mentioned before, the one that coexisted with the mountain ant kingdom.

"Lord of Graytail Mountain! What are you doing here?!"

The red cypress's spiritual power surged, like a roar, and its sharp tail spikes extended like a sword being drawn from its sheath, with metallic primal energy attached to them. Its belly and tail curved, pointing straight to the sky.

"Red Cypress King, don't be impulsive."

The mental energy descended from the sky, and the huge black-tailed gray dragonfly hovered in mid-air. The air waves generated by its huge pulsed wings caused the layer of fallen leaves piled up on the ground to tumble.

"The Buttercup Ant King has sent me to discuss an alliance with the Cinnabar Ant King to deal with the unusual activities of the Northern Fire Ant Kingdom." The Black-tailed Gray Dragonfly Warrior's psychic power descended with a wave of energy. "Red Cinnabar King, please inform the Cinnabar Ant King."

"A twisted swamp, a brutal fire ant kingdom?"

Hongyuan suddenly became alert, looked up at the black-tailed gray dragonfly warrior hovering in mid-air, then turned to Ye Zhi and said, "Little guy, you said that the brown wasp mantis-fly warrior comes from the swamp. It might know something. Go and call it here, I'll report to the king!"

Ye Zhi tapped her antennae, and at the crucial moment, Hong Yuan was no longer in her original form. She tapped her antennae and spoke to the vibrating mental energy in the air: "Lord Graytail Mountain, wait here. I will go and inform the Ant King."

Zuo Wang Hong Yuan turned around, its slender body moving swiftly towards the main nest. Ye Zhi also took flight, heading towards the mound where the "Chimera" had been planted, towards its own tree nest and the tree hole where Huo Yun resided.

.......

"Huo Yun! Huo Yun!"

Ye Zhi didn't care about planting "Chimera" at this moment. She just flapped her wings and flew quickly to her tree nest. She then channeled her mental energy towards the tree hole where Huo Yun was living.

"Leaf-Woven Ant King, what's wrong?"

With a ripping sound, the ant silk curtain was pulled open, and Huo Yun's seven or eight-centimeter-long body emerged from the tree hole. Its pair of antennae twitched in confusion, and its compound eyes looked at Ye Zhi, their own eyes also flashing with doubt.

"Something's happened! Quick, come with me to see the King of the Cinnabar Ants."

"What happened?" Huo Yun asked, still puzzled, not knowing what had happened.

"Invading fire ants." Ye Zhi shook his antennae and explained with his mental power, "The black-tailed gray dragonfly warrior from the mountain ant kingdom has arrived. It said that the brutal fire ant kingdom in the Twisted Swamp Plains has something going on and has come to discuss an alliance with the tree ant kingdom."

"The swamp where I was born?" Huo Yun quickly grasped the key point. "Those fire ants fighting against the brutal fire ants? The Leaf-Weaving Ant King, are they going to attack the Tree Ant Kingdom?"

Huo Yun was visibly unsettled, as if her past experience of escaping from a swarm of fire ants had triggered a reaction similar to post-traumatic stress disorder from her previous life, and she spoke with a trembling voice.

"With the northern mountain ant kingdom holding them off, the fire ant kingdom can't defeat them," Ye Zhi comforted Huo Yun, who seemed a little overwhelmed.

"Perhaps the mountain ant kingdom is under threat and wants to avoid being attacked from both sides. You come with me to see the Cinnabar Ant King first, see what that black-tailed gray dragonfly warrior said, and then let the Cinnabar Ant King decide."

......

"The King of Cinnabar Ants!"

When Ye Zhi led Huo Yun into the main nest chamber, the two assistant kings, Red Citron and Green Citron, had already gathered. The massive body of the Black Citron Ant King stood in the center. It seemed that the Black-tailed Gray Dragonfly Warrior had finished saying what he needed to say and returned to the Mountain Ant Kingdom to report back.

"Little one, you've arrived." Wu Yuan waved its antennae, its powerful spiritual energy emanating from it as it greeted him twice. Then it looked towards Huo Yun's direction. "Little mantis, I heard you fled all the way from the Twisted Swamp and the Brutal Fire Ant Kingdom. Do you know anything about it?"

"The Black Flame Ant King, as Huo Yun mentioned before, is a species that fights the Brutal Fire Ant. It is slightly darker in color than the Brutal Fire Ant and has red spots after the abdominal petiole. It seems to be an ant species between the Brutal Fire Ant and the Black Fire Ant."

"It's pretty much what Graytail said." The Black Ant King's mental energy was heavy. "It might be a variant of the Brutal Fire Ant. News from the Mountain Ant Kingdom says that this type of fire ant has already taken over the original Brutal Fire Ant Kingdom."

"They can't even get along with each other, they're even more ruthless than the wasp tribe," Wu Yuan sighed. "No wonder that old man, the Buttercup, wanted to form an alliance; their aggression is even greater than the brutal fire ant kingdom of yesteryear."

"Little mantis, have you seen the battle between those fire ants?" The Black Tortoise Ant King's whip-like antennae swung, pointing in the direction of Ye Zhi and Huo Yun. "Did you clearly see the abilities those fire ants unleashed?"