Overlord: Rise of the Zerg

Under the constant grazing by the ants, within two months, the output of the aphids was able to meet 80% of the food consumption of the entire ant colony. Coupled with the daily income of the ant colony and the slight subsidy provided by the earthworm breeding farm, the food in the ant nest has piled up, and some of it has even shown signs of decay.

Under this situation, Zero believed that the current conditions for expansion were ripe, so he decisively sent thirty flying ants to the surrounding areas to lead the ant colony to expand to the outside world.

They will lead a colony of about 30,000 ants to settle around the ant colony. This number accounts for 70% of the current ant population, leaving only the necessary worker ants for grazing aphids.

This expansion is almost the upper limit of the current single expansion of the ant colony. If it were the ant colony before winter last year, even if you emptied the entire colony, you wouldn't be able to produce so much new energy.

These flying ants that go out to establish families are all female ants, but under normal circumstances they are not allowed to give birth and only exist as scouts for the ant colony.

But when they need to expand, they can become the queen ants of a group at any time and lead their people to develop the group.

Soon, a new batch of ant nests were built around the entire ant colony's sphere of influence. Compared with the first expansion, their number was larger. The established nests were like stars guarding the mother nest and the first colony. The outermost edge of the batch nest.

Some trouble is for the flying ants heading south. Considering the size of the ant colony, the wide river is something they cannot conquer at present.

Flying ants can cross the river very calmly, but other ant species cannot. If they want to build a branch nest on the other side of the river, because the baggage train cannot cross the river, they will face the same problem that No. 1 faced at the beginning, that is, develop from scratch. Descendants.

Moreover, after the ant nest is established, the exchange of materials with the many ant nests on the north bank of the river is also a very important issue. For Zero, if exchange and merger cannot be carried out, then this expansion will not have much effect except to occupy the territory. Big meaning.

In addition, there is another trouble, and that is the frog that exists near the river in the southeast of the mother nest.

Zero has not placed any ant colonies in this area. The current number of ant colonies is still not enough to pose a threat to them. Moreover, this amphibious creature can escape into the water even if it is defeated. The ants cannot threaten the huge ant colony in the water. frog.

Therefore, as long as they don't provoke Zero's ant colony, Zero is happy to coexist peacefully with them.

However, after all, they are too close to the ant colony, and they also prey on ants. This is always a threat to Zero. One day they must be eliminated, or at the worst, they must be driven away to feel at ease.

There is also a solution to the problem of crossing the river, but it will be very troublesome and take a lot of time.

With the size of an ant, it is basically impossible to cross the surface of a wide and fast river. However, it is still very feasible to build a simple "pontoon bridge" by moving some weeds and dead branches where the river surface is shallower and the water flow is not so rapid. of.

The first is the selection of the location to cross the river. Zero-control flying ants flew along the river, and finally found a shallow stall not far from the west of the ant nest. The terrain here is relatively flat, the water flow is not fast, and the water level is not high. There are some large and small rocks protruding out of the water, which perfectly meet the requirements of zero.

The ants first cooperated to move some small stones and threw them into the water stream.

Most of the stones did not seem to have enough weight and were washed away as soon as they entered the water. Only a few stones sank to the bottom of the water and slowly accumulated.

For several days, the ants took the trouble to carry the stones and build the stone. When they were barely able to connect to the first stone in the river near the river bank, this step was barely completed.

However, up to this point, ants are still not allowed to pass here. They need to bring branches, grass and leaves and spread them on the small stones before they can proceed with the next stage of construction.

Through the exposed stones on the river surface, the ants divided the river surface into several small sections. In this way, they laid stones one by one, placed branches and grass leaves, and finally completed the construction of the entire pontoon bridge.

Of course, this is not safe. If the river rises in summer, this small floating bridge cannot withstand the erosion.

However, there was already a way to build a bridge, and it was currently able to meet the needs of the ant colony, so Zero put aside this small worry for the time being.

"Maybe I can dig under the river?" Zero thought with some uncertainty. Looking at the water flowing day and night in front of the flying ants, Zero felt that this might be a huge project.

With the pontoon bridge, there is no longer any obstacle to the expansion team led by the flying ants. They move enough food from each nest and lead the ants that are almost at the upper limit of their command to the new territory.

Due to the special nature of the south bank of the river, just in case, during this round of expansion, Ling Zheng deployed ten queen ants here, that is, ten branch nests, allowing them to develop on their own.

As the ant colony expanded again, the construction of new underground passages was once again put on the agenda. In Zero's understanding, only when the ant colonies are connected to each other and there are no transportation obstacles, the entire group can be regarded as a whole.

Therefore, He pays special attention to the underground safe passages connecting each nest, and also maintains constant attention to the ant colonies heading to the south bank of the river.

Due to the existence of the river, at least within two meters of the vertical depth below it, the ants cannot penetrate the channel.

Compared with the floating bridge on the surface, it is ten times more difficult to dig underground to cross the river?

But Zero decided to dig through it anyway.

First, the floating bridge on the surface is not safe and may be destroyed by various external forces at any time. Second, there is a need to communicate between the ant colonies on the north bank and the ant colonies on the south bank.

Of course, the most important thing is that the ant colony already has sufficient food resources, which releases a large amount of labor. If there is a sufficient number, it is only a matter of distance, and it is only a matter of time for the ant colony.

Connecting the ant colonies on the south bank is a key project that Zero is concerned about. At the same time, the communication network to communicate with the newly built nests is also under intense construction.

A large number of aphids are brought to new survival points with the expansion of the ant colony, and they will continue to provide sufficient food for the ant nest with the continued domestication of the worker ants.

In addition, the flying ants who are responsible for going out to build new nests take away most of the ants in the mother nest and each branch nest, leaving only the worker ants who tend aphids to supply the needs of the nest. Each ant nest also needs time to recover the ant colony. .

After a large-scale expansion, the entire ant colony entered a stage of recuperation.