Law of the Swarm

Chapter 74
Was it killed by a fallen dead branch?
For weak insects, the forest is full of dangers. Two months ago, a worker ant was crushed to death by a huge dead branch covered with snow.

But last time there were more than a dozen other ants that were hit at the same time. It is obviously unrealistic to kill five ants at the same time in the soft snow.

Something out of the ordinary must have happened.

Asking Black to inform the ants in the anthill not to go out, System decided to take Sawa to go outside to find out why the ants disappeared.

But when System found Shava, he found that Shava was eating.

It is said that every advantage has a disadvantage. Although Shava has become a half-knight and can attack smoothly with two weapons, it is very difficult for her to eat with her head now.

In the past, food that could be done in two or three bites, Shava now has to eat for a long time, which has become the biggest obstacle restricting her growth.

Sometimes watching Shava eating, System even had strange thoughts.

Fortunately, the knight in the image of the knight given to Shava was not fully armed.

Otherwise, after Shava pupated for the second time and transformed into a complete knight helmet, Shava with the complete knight faceplate would probably starve to death because she could not eat.

……

System felt that it would take at least another hour for Shava to eat.

Without disturbing Shava who was eating, System decided to go outside alone to search for the traces of the five missing ants.

All the ants in the nest were instructed by him not to leave the area of ​​[-] meters near the nest unless they were in a life-or-death crisis.

So the place where these missing or dead ants happened must be nearby. With his powerful eyesight, as long as he flies to the sky to observe, he will definitely be able to find some clues.

Leaving the lair and flying up to a height of [-] meters, System began to scan around the lair.

System found that the mosses in the forest multiplied better than a month ago, and it seemed that these green mosses had basically adapted to the cold climate here.

However, compared to the moss, the mushrooms shaped like snow were reduced in size.

From only a few sporadic ones, to the rapid breeding and spreading to the peak, and now the scale is gradually declining.

System estimates that these mushrooms can adapt to a certain degree of severe cold, but the cold has increased to around minus 40 degrees today, and this type of mushroom is no longer very suitable for this severe cold.

……

Scanning continuously over the forest, it didn't take long for System to discover strange traces in the snow in the area about 30 meters away from his lair.

System discovered a large crater of about half a meter in the snow, like a hole created by a meteorite hitting the ground.

System flew over, and he found some reddish-brown and red-stained snow blocks in the potholes. Even if frozen, this blood-stained snow exudes a strange smell.

System grabbed this blood-stained snow block with his tentacles. Although this unique smell did not have a burning sensation, it also made Sith uneasy.

System had a vague feeling that his five ants were killed by the owner of this blood, and his [intuition] also brought him a sense of danger.

"Is this the blood of an abyss monster?"

System changed into [Frost Form], and asked the ring that appeared above his head.

"do not know."

The ice elf Nellis didn't give System any useful help. System canceled the [Frost Form], and then used the [Sense] attached to the tentacles to detect the blood.

"This is……"

System showed a puzzled look on his head, and he put the bloody snow on his tentacles into his mouth.

As he gradually devoured and tasted the snow, System's expression became even weirder.

"Why does insect blood turn red, and what is that pungent taste?"

System muttered to himself, the combination of spicy and unique sweetness turned out to be unexpectedly delicious, leaving System with endless aftertaste.

It was obviously an insect, or a life with insect blood, that caused the snow pit to appear here. System could clearly feel that the level of this life's insect blood was higher than his.

It has reached at least the fourth molt or the third pupation.

But because the blood left here is too little, no amount of information System can detect.

System flipped the snow pit back and forth with his tentacles. Apart from sporadic blood, the snow pit did not leave too many clues of that life.

System can only roughly deduce that this life weighs at least a few kilograms, otherwise such a hole cannot be made.

"Where did it fall from? How did it leave?"

Except for the deep pit, System did not find other traces outside the deep pit. There were no traces of feet and limbs, and there were no special traces around.

It's like a meat ball suddenly fell from the sky, then grew wings and flew away.

System continued to spread his wings and patrol the vicinity. It didn't take long for him to discover new clues. He found some butterfly larva blood and tiny pieces of flesh behind a tree.

Not long after, System found another messy snow field two meters away. System could not tell what happened here from the traces on the snow field, but he found a tree in the snow field. Pale gray ant legs.

It is here that his ant people undoubtedly died.

"Did it get eaten?"

System shook the slender tentacles above his head, and he suddenly smelled a strange fishy smell.

Because the death of the ant people made System somewhat annoyed, if faced with this situation in the past, he would definitely return to the nest and bring Shava out, after all, the current Shava is his strongest combat power.

But this time he didn't return to the lair to look for Shava. After feeling the direction of the fishy smell for a while, System flew into the sky.

Although angry, System still wouldn't chase after this unknown creature directly following the fishy smell, but decided to fly to the sky to observe it secretly.

System fell from high altitude and then rose from time to time. He found that the place where the fishy smell appeared was about 150 meters away from his lair.

System didn't find anything special in the center of the smell.

His [intuition] brought him a sense of danger, but the danger did not cost him his life.

System thought for a while, then slowly flew down, and the moment it landed on the ground covered with snow, System suddenly discovered something.

Blue light flashed in System's eyes several times in a row. System moved a few meters on the snow surface, and he stretched out his tentacles to touch the transparent thread between the trees.

The silk thread was strong and sticky, and System could tear it off with great force with his tentacles, but when he spit out [corroding mucus], this spider silk would be easily dissolved.

"Spider silk? After the severe winter, the spiders in the Lierte Forest have basically become extinct. Is this spider the creature that exudes a strange smell?"

System's tentacles shook slightly, and he heard a roar like a bee flying, and something was moving around him at high speed...

(End of this chapter)