Chapter 11: Ant Colony

"No, Huang Mang, I can't break this spider silk!" Ji Chang said as he examined the spider silk on the cabinet wall. Meanwhile, Huang Mang, who had transformed into a cement-like figure, was holding up Zhou Jun in an attempt to help him pull the spider silk and rescue Wang Lingling.

After several attempts by Zhou Jun, there was no sign of the spider silk wrapped around Wang Lingling breaking.

Due to the issue of height, Huang Mang couldn't personally intervene. At this moment, Huang Mang grew somewhat impatient and looked towards Ji Chang not far away, asking, "Brother Ji, what should we do now?"

"I have a solution!" Just as Huang Mang spoke, Ji Chang responded.

At this point, he had found the strand of spider silk that was binding Wang Lingling on the wall.

"Mangzi, get ready to catch Wang Lingling below!" Before Huang Mang could speak again, Ji Chang instructed.

Following Ji Chang's command, the ants circled around the spider silk and crawled up the cabinet wall. Accompanied by the powerful jaws of the ants and a series of faint friction sounds, suddenly, with a "bang," the spider silk broke.

Simultaneously, Wang Lingling fell into Huang Mang's arms.

"Wow, this spider silk is surprisingly tough!" Huang Mang exclaimed.

Then, Huang Mang started to clear the spider silk from Wang Lingling's body. To his surprise, he found that he couldn't break it even with his efforts.

"I refuse to believe this!"

At that moment, Huang Mang transformed directly into his metallic form. This time, he swiftly cleaned up the spider silk that was still entwined around Wang Lingling.

"Thank you!" Wang Lingling expressed her gratitude after being rescued.

"Hehe, you're welcome. Thanks to Brother Ji, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to reach you," Huang Mang scratched his head and said with a chuckle.

"Ji Chang, thank you... it's all my fault, flying around and causing trouble for everyone," Wang Lingling said somewhat embarrassedly as she saw Ji Chang approaching.

Seeing this, Ji Chang waved his hand and smiled, saying, "It's alright, no one could have expected there would be spider silk inside this cabinet."

After that, Ji Chang looked at Huang Mang and said, "Mangzi, quickly collect the rice inside the cabinet. Let's try to take it all back in one go!"

"Huh? Take it all back at once... Can we carry all of it?" Huang Mang voiced his doubts upon hearing Ji Chang's words.

Not to mention the deep parts of the cabinet, there were already three grains of rice around them. Each grain of rice was larger than their bodies.

Moreover, Huang Mang felt they didn't have any means of transportation, so he couldn't fathom how they would carry so much at once.

"Use this, I think it should work!" Just as everyone was pondering how to transport such a large amount, Ji Chang pursed his lips and smiled.

Following that, the ants slowly retreated and came to everyone's side.

At this moment, the ants' jaws were hooked onto a long strand of spider silk, with the other end of the silk connected to a spider's web.

In Ji Chang's estimation, the distance between the kitchen and their current base was quite considerable, taking over an hour to get here alone. If they were to bring back just one or two grains of rice, it wouldn't be long before they'd have to contemplate food shortages again. This would likely result in another trip to the kitchen.

Considering this, Ji Chang thought it might be better to bring back as much as possible this time—enough to sustain them for several days at least. They could wait until they had grown stronger and then search for more food resources. Besides, once they were more powerful, returning to the kitchen might not take as much time.

Guided by Ji Chang, the ants pulled the spider's web outside the cabinet and spread it on the ground. Zhou Jun assisted on the side, while Huang Mang, alongside Wang Lingling, helped transport the leftover rice from the cabinet.

Having experienced the previous incident, Wang Lingling was cautious during her flight within the cabinet, keeping close to the ground with her toes brushing the surface.

However, when Ji Chang saw Wang Lingling carrying a rice grain on her own, he couldn't help but be greatly surprised.

After all, he and Zhou Jun together wouldn't be able to move a single grain of rice!

Yet, Ji Chang quickly realized the reason behind this phenomenon. As Wang Lingling flew with the rice, her wings flapped with an unusually rapid frequency, emitting a faint buzzing sound. Once she set down the rice, her wings returned to their light fluttering state.

On the other hand, Huang Mang transformed into his cement-like form, each time emerging from the cabinet door while dragging two grains of rice. He made it seem quite effortless.

"Sigh, when will I awaken extraordinary powers?" Gazing at Huang Mang, Wang Lingling, and the ants that were stretching out the spider's web, Zhou Jun sighed deeply.

"Brother Ji, do you think there might be some other unlocking method I need? Is that why I haven't awakened?" While waiting for Huang Mang and Wang Lingling to transport the rice, Zhou Jun turned to Ji Chang and asked.

Hearing Zhou Jun's question, Ji Chang pursed his lips and smiled. "Perhaps that's indeed possible. After all, we still know very little about these extraordinary powers. Don't worry too much. Who knows, you might suddenly succeed in awakening at some point!"

With that, Ji Chang patted Zhou Jun's shoulder, signaling him not to dwell on it.

In Ji Chang's impression, Zhou Jun was someone always eager to help. Even though they weren't particularly close before, Ji Chang had witnessed Zhou Jun assisting elderly scavengers a few times. Moreover, Zhou Jun was proactive in helping his classmates whenever they needed it.

Given the current circumstances, Ji Chang understood Zhou Jun's desire to contribute to the team. This was likely why Zhou Jun was so preoccupied with the idea of not having awakened extraordinary powers yet.

Just as Ji Chang had mentioned, they still had limited knowledge about extraordinary powers. Perhaps Zhou Jun truly lacked a specific method, or maybe he would suddenly succeed in awakening at some point!

Soon, Huang Mang and Wang Lingling had transported all the leftover rice from the cabinet onto the spider's web.

There were a total of ten grains of rice.

Ji Chang had already prepared another spider's web, guiding Huang Mang to secure the rice to prevent it from falling. After their strength had improved, Huang Mang had acquired a new transformation ability, which, although couldn't be sustained for too long, was much easier to control when in his cement form.

Under Ji Chang's arrangement, Huang Mang and Wang Lingling were placed at the back of the group to push, while Ji Chang himself led the ants and Zhou Jun at the forefront to pull.

With combined effort, they quickly left the kitchen and headed towards their base.

About half an hour later, just when everyone thought they would smoothly return to their base, a series of urgent footsteps echoed.

Before they could even react, Ji Chang noticed shapes forming around them—dark figures emerging.

These dark figures were none other than pitch-black ants!

More accurately, it was an ant colony.

Although the individual size of these ants controlled by Ji Chang was slightly smaller than average, the advantage lay in their vast numbers.

Without giving Ji Chang much time to ponder why this ant colony suddenly appeared here, the ants that had just revealed themselves charged straight towards them.