She was not worried about people from the camp coming to hunt; they were a private team, and the larger the number, the more cumbersome and disorganized they were.
Although this might be a stereotype, Ye Nai firmly believed it based on a bit of information she had secretly overheard yesterday and would not change her mind.
It would take them at least until after dawn to get here, and by then, she might have already finished her business and left.
Inside the Ant Nest, the attack of the fungal waves continued. The ants sensed danger, but they couldn’t resist, unable to find the enemy, becoming nothing more than nourishment for the fungus.
The fungus found the ant eggs in the incubation room, such protein-rich delicacies could not be missed out on.
Ye Nai glanced at the ant eggs, feeling they would trigger trypophobia. None of the incubating eggs were pure white; as the incubation progressed, the eggs became more transparent, each bearing a small black dot, the early form of the ant larvae.
Piled tightly together, isn’t it frightening to look at?
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Ye Nai sorted through the ant eggs, picking out those without black dots, leaving the rest for the fungus as nourishment.
Braving the early morning chill, Ye Nai waited several hours until the dawn’s light grew bright, and she heard the sound of vehicles gradually approaching from afar. The hunt in the deep ditch was over.
She beat a hasty retreat.
Noisily, dozens of people arrived at the edge of the deep ditch. With daylight, looking down from above they could clearly see a massive Ant Nest sprawling below.
"Wow, it’s so big!"
"What a great job."
"Damn, who found this?"
"If we take this down, wouldn’t we make a fortune?"
"Heh heh, after dividing the money, I could be a groom every day."
While a group of people were discussing noisily, the three team leaders who organized this hunt called in several Awakeners as planned, using their exploration-type mental system superpowers to check out the situation in the Ant Nest below.
Upon their investigation, these mental system Awakeners were stumped. They checked several times, unable to conclude.
"What are you doing? You need this long to check?"
The impatient team leaders scolded them.
"Team leaders, something’s not quite right."
The Awakeners looked at one another, finally pushing one person forward to explain the situation.
"What’s not right? Speak clearly!"
"This Ant Nest is empty, silent."
"Yes, yes, I checked several times, and there’s no sign of life."
"Nonsense!" A team leader angrily stepped forward and kicked an Awakener to the ground, "I’ve lost over a dozen brothers tracking this place down, and you tell me it’s empty?!"
"Ouch, team leader, just send someone down to check, and you’ll know it’s really empty."
The kicked Awakener spat blood and struggled to speak.
Seeing the conviction in the words of these few people, the three team leaders finally hesitated, gathered to discuss, and called over their laborers.
"Tie yourselves with ropes and go down to see what’s happening with the Ant Nest."
More than ten laborers immediately felt weak in their knees.
"Team leaders, team leaders, we’re just laborers, here to move things, we don’t do this."
"Nonsense! I’m paying you two thousand a day, you think it’s for nothing?"
"You’re going down either way. If you don’t, you can leave your life up here."
Loyal subordinates instantly cocked their guns, aiming at the laborers who would be shot on the spot if they dared to protest any further.
"You think the secret realm wilderness is a lawless place where countless deaths go unaccounted for."
"Enough talk, tie the ropes on, and all of you, get down there for me. If anyone else dares to whimper, I’ll shoot you dead right here, your flesh and blood might as well lure the ants."
The laborers cried as they shakily fastened their safety belts and gripped their pickaxes, one by one, they were lowered down.
Once they were down, they used their pickaxes to smash the outer shell of the Ant Nest.
Pummeling it fiercely, chips and fragments flew everywhere.
But not a single ant came out.
Not even the patrolling ants outside the nest were seen.
The people standing above the trench saw this and each felt something was off.
"This isn’t right, ants are such sensitive creatures. If an enemy is smashing their nest, why isn’t a single one coming out to check?"
"Could it be an empty nest?"
"That’s not possible, right? Didn’t they say about a dozen people died here last time? That’s how we found out there was an Ant Nest below."
"But there’s literally no response at all, where are the ants?"
The laborers at the bottom of the trench, seeing no danger after a while, grew bolder and stronger. They huddled together focusing on one spot and with a thunderous noise, they forcibly smashed open a hole.
Even at this point, there was still no reaction, not a single ant in sight.
The laborers all felt that something was amiss.
"No way? Scared the piss out of me, and it turns out to be an empty nest?"
"So the two thousand for today is just easy money?"
"Heh, that would be nice."
The faces of the team leaders above the trench were so ugly they looked like they could wring out dark water.
"Pull the laborers up, and let our own people go down and check."
After a while, the laborers were pulled up one after another, and a new group of people went down in their place.
These people enlarged the broken hole once they got down and even recklessly tore their way through the channels inside the Ant Nest. The updates they sent back made the team leaders above fly into a rage.
"Damn, it’s truly an empty nest."
"There’s nothing in the nest, no queen’s platform, no ant eggs, empty, completely empty."
"This might have been an abandoned nest, but it hasn’t been long since it was vacated. You can see the remnants of ant activities."
Enraged, the team leaders grabbed their walkie-talkies and bellowed.
"Search, dammit, find me the ants’ new nest!"
The people above and below the trench sprang into action. If they couldn’t find this swarm of Fire Ants’ new nest, their mission would be a total failure.
But where could they possibly find it? The nest was empty because someone else had beaten them to it.
Ye Nai had run far on foot before she used her compass to find the direction of the highway and mounted her motorcycle to continue on her way.
Because of the hunt, she had inadvertently moved further and further away from the highway. The rough wilderness trails were hard to navigate, and it took her most of the day on her bike to finally see the highway.
Then, she crossed the highway to the wilderness on the other side and continued searching for game.
It was still a long way off till New Year’s, so there was no rush to return.
While looking for a place to camp, Ye Nai saw several Fire-breathing Rabbits dart past her.
There were Fire-breathing Rabbits on this side of the highway too, but the hunting map didn’t mark this land, and realizing how prolific rabbits could be, Ye Nai had a clear understanding of the rabbit population explosion.
Rabbits - abundant enough not to worry about driving them to extinction - made for excellent game.
After resting for the night, the next day, Ye Nai picked up her rifle and enthusiastically started her day’s work.
After a day and a night, the space had cleared again, and the Double Blade Fire Ants had been completely decomposed and digested, leaving behind a pile of valuable leftovers.
While searching for rabbits, feedback from the Fungus suggested the presence of a pack of wild boars foraging for food.