Law of the Swarm

Chapter 19 Meeting the Old Druid Again
Looking at the scorpion corpses and the ant squad in the crevices of the gravel, System thought for a while...

When it gets dark, the range of activities of the ant colony will gradually shrink, leaving only a few worker ants to patrol around the ant nest.

But when a large amount of food is found, the ant colony will also send out a large number of worker ants in the dark to carry the food.

Ants are such creatures that start storing food in summer to prepare for the severe cold and lack of food in winter.

System remembered a short story from his previous life.

It is about the grasshopper musicians laughing at the ants who do hard work all day long for not knowing how to enjoy life in summer. As a result, the lazy grasshopper was judged by the severe cold in winter.

The story uses the laziness of the grasshopper to set off the diligence of the ant.

The fact is also true, ants are indeed a kind of industrious life.

"But even if there is no severe cold in winter, the grasshopper can't live that long..."

System, who recalled the story, thought of himself, and he looked at the lifespan column on the [Self-Information Generation Technique], 62 days.

After this night, his lifespan will become 61 days.

Anyone who knows the countdown to his few lives will feel unhappy.

However, System was also thankful that he had such a countdown, so that he would not suddenly die suddenly at the end of autumn.

Without thinking too much, System found a dead grass branch and jumped towards the ant team.

After a whole day of fighting and sparring, System was already very familiar with the worker ants of this dark brown ant.

If they can successfully cope with the innate fighting instinct of ants, then these ants are fools to be manipulated as they please.

Usually after encountering an enemy, these ants will bite the opponent tightly and secrete a pungent-smelling acid (pheromone), and other ants that smell this smell will swarm up and continue to secrete this acid, attracting More ants until the opponent dies or escapes.

System's method of distracting the dozen or so ants was also based on this principle. He caught the ants and soaked the grass stick with the ant's acid, and used the grass stick to lure the dozen or so ants away.

……

From catching an unlucky worker ant, forcing the worker ant to secrete acid on the grass stick, and then attracting most of the ants near the scorpion.

System's actions went very smoothly.

Step by step, he led the ants to the puddle two meters away, and finally inserted the grass stick containing acid into the mud of the water.

Because ants hate to touch stagnant water, these dozen or so ants kept drawing circles around the puddle, wondering if they would forcibly wade through the water and attack the grass sticks in the mud.

System did not observe these stupid ants any more, and returned directly to the corpse of the scorpion two meters away.

Putting an end to the ant team calling for the companions of the ant nest around the scorpion corpse, System began to test the two ants remaining near the scorpion corpse with [corroding slime].

Although it is a very good idea to use [Corrosive Slime] to draw the ground as a prison, it must also have the effect of [Corruptive Slime].

Ten minutes later, System's test was successful, [corroding slime] had an obvious repelling effect on ants.

If there are no special circumstances, these ants will actively avoid them at a distance of three to five centimeters from [Corrosion Slime]; and if System provokes the ants, even if [Corrosion Slime] is close at hand, they will rush away. come up.

Kicking the two ants away one after another with his powerful hind legs, System began to use his [Corrosion Slime] to paint the ground as a prison.

System's drawing the ground as a prison does not directly draw lines with mucus. After all, the amount of mucus he can produce is really limited. He secretes a little more near the fixed line where the ants move, while it only drips sporadically at other locations.

If unfortunately ants break into the restricted area, then he can only expel the ants manually.

……

There were too many nocturnal creatures after the rainstorm, and System didn't even come across any of the rats and praying mantises that were common in the early days of rebirth.

Except for a few mosquitoes flying by sporadically, System's eating was not disturbed any more.

The only flaw was that as time went by, System was a little tired because he didn't rest.

The carapace of the scorpion is less tough than the pupa of a butterfly, but it is harder. System can't even bite it with his fangs.

However, his armor-piercing weapon [Corrosive Slime] still has a significant effect.

After corroding and softening the scorpion's carapace, it didn't take long for System to eat the flesh under the scorpion's carapace.

The rich milk flavor is mixed with the flavor of cherry or strawberry, which is somewhat similar to the texture of panna cotta after it has solidified. This kind of meat is wonderful, and System cannot describe it specifically.

It may not be the most delicious, but it suits System's taste best.

This is because the meat of the scorpion has been soaked in rainwater for several days, so it is not very fresh, otherwise the taste of this food would be even better.

The experience provided by the same weight of scorpion meat is about 1.5 times that of chrysalis, which fully complies with the system's rule of corresponding food taste and experience, and is a kind of food with high experience.

However, the effect of this scorpion meat on [molting growth] is not very great, not half that of an ant of the same weight. It seems that the molting effect of scorpions is far less significant than that of insects.

After System ate overnight, the effect of this food on [Molt Growth] was reduced by more than half.

He can only give up this kind of food that suits his appetite.

Early morning hours.

Dragging his slightly distended abdomen, System, who had been eating all night, returned to the tree hole not far from the ant's nest, where he wanted to rest.

Although ants pass by this tree hole from time to time, after the experiment of painting the ground as a prison, System has an invisible wall, which is his [corroding slime].

This liquid is secreted around the tree hole, and the ants will actively avoid it when they smell it.

However, [Corrosive Mucus] is very volatile, and most of the smell will disappear after a few hours, but a few hours is enough for System, and a few hours is enough for him to rest and recover.

In this way, System quietly entered a dormant state in the tree hole, while half asleep and half awake, thinking about the next plan.

Yesterday's foraging was quite successful, although it was not as fast as eating insect pupae to increase the level.

But if this speed is followed, he can reach level 9 in three days, and reach level 10 in a dozen days, and his [Degeneration and Growth] will also become full level at that time.

……

Near noon, the effect of [Corrosion Slime] near the tree hole weakened a lot, and two ants passed by System's tree hole one after another. Fortunately, these two ants didn't bother him.

At this time, System's body was basically rested, and he decided to wait a while before starting a new round of foraging.

And at this moment, System heard the continuous sound of birdsong more than ten meters away.

After the heavy rain, System hadn't heard the chirping of birds for a long time, and from the sound of this bird, System heard something miserable and desolate.

The antennae of insects are very sensitive to the direction of sound, and System quickly discovered that the bird was not in the sky, but on the ground.

"Did you fall to the ground injured?"

System speculated that the bird might have been injured by some kind of hunter in the forest. He had no intention of joining in the fun, and was still recuperating in the tree hole.

But after a few minutes, the bird was still singing non-stop. Obviously, no hunter gave the bird a fatal blow.

System got out of the tree hole and finally decided to watch this unlucky bird.

Through the weeds in the woods, System saw a bird about [-] centimeters long, with brown-red and white feathers, struggling on the ground.

It looks like a pheasant, but it is a little smaller than a pheasant.

System saw some blood on the ground. The bird didn't know what was hurt, so it could only keep thumping on the spot.

Not long after, perhaps because of the stench of blood, an ant search team appeared at every opportunity, and I believe that the ants army will kill them soon.

System watched and waited quietly by the side, and decided to take the opportunity to plunder some pheasant meat to try something new.

However, the scene where the ants army besieged and slaughtered the disabled pheasant that System had been looking forward to did not happen, and the faint sound of footsteps gradually came from the dense forest.

The bird struggling on the ground was finally dragged up by a hand, and the owner of that hand was the old druid that System wanted to find before...

(End of this chapter)