Chapter 11: The Extraordinary Number 4_1
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The last juvenile Milky White Ant to undergo metamorphosis had also left the nest to forage.
Worker ants are incredibly industrious, venturing out to forage and feed the Ant Queen and young ants, as well as to expand and excavate the nest, store food, and clean up waste, among other things.
After being fed by three young worker ants, the Ant Queen's energy recovered to 0.3.
There was no longer an immediate danger to her life.
However, danger was still lurking everywhere. These four young worker ants were all very small and lacked outdoor survival experience, making it easy for them to meet their demise.
Moreover, their lifespan was much shorter than that of ordinary termites.
The first batch of worker ants produced by the Ant Queen all had such defects.
For example, they were small in size and short-lived.
Because the Ant Queen needed them to hatch and metamorphose into adults quickly, and then go out to find food to nourish her, she had cut corners during the egg-laying preparation stage to reduce this time.
Qin Niu had been guarding the nest entrance all along, ready to come to their aid and eliminate any danger immediately.
The termite that had metamorphosed last, let's just call it Fourth.
It was seen dragging a tender leaf back to the nest that was twenty to thirty times larger than itself.
Research shows that ants can lift food over 400 times their body weight and drag items more than 1700 times their weight.
Although termites are not ants, the strength exhibited in their object transport is still astonishing.
They are in no way inferior to ants, which are known as 'strongmen'.
It's no wonder they are a species that predates ants by over a hundred million years.
Dragging the 'huge' tender leaf, Fourth appeared as robust as an ox, moving swiftly and powerfully.
Its mandibles clamped firmly onto the leaf, as potent as a tiger's clamps.
While the other three worker ants hastily returned to the nest after sucking a bit of juice, it managed to bring such a large leaf back to the nest.
Qin Niu subtly felt that this last-metamorphosed worker ant seemed smarter than the other three.
Of course, it could also be greedier by nature.
The other three worker ants, having fed the Ant Queen, quickly went out to forage again.
Since they had recently metamorphosed into adults, they were very small and could carry back only a small amount of food at a time. They could only add 0.1 energy to the Ant Queen.
When these three worker ants noticed Fourth moving 'food' into the nest, they rushed forward to help.
The four brothers, working together in harmony, were noticeably more efficient.
The leaf was quickly transported into the nest.
Fourth touched antennae with them, presumably communicating in 'ant language'.
Two worker ants remained inside the nest to nibble on the tender leaf and then feed the Ant Queen. Fourth then went out to forage again with another worker ant.
Indeed, although it was the 'youngest,' it had now become the 'leader' among the four brothers.
It quickly found another piece of tender leaf on the ground, this one even larger than the previous one.
The two brothers worked together to drag it swiftly.
After some effort, they finally managed to bring it to the entrance of the nest. However, they couldn't drag it inside as the leaf was too large to fit through the opening.
Qin Niu was curious to see how they would handle this situation?
Fourth climbed around the leaf, then directed the other worker ant to start nibbling on it. Working from both ends towards the middle, the two brothers gnawed at it.
At this point, it was clear that Fourth had superior nibbling capabilities and a faster cutting speed.
Qin Niu took an interest; Fourth appeared to be significantly stronger than the other three brothers!
It was not only intelligent and brainy, but also so strong.
It seemed to be a combination of a worker ant and a soldier ant.
It was a pity that its lifespan was only three months.
If only it could live a bit longer like the Ant Queen.
In fact, the lifespan of this Ant Queen was not long either, just 4.2 years. According to Qin Niu's view, it should have a lifespan of at least twenty years.
However, he still felt satisfied seeing the Ant Queen successfully establishing an ant colony.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Perfection is unattainable.
Assisting it in advancing might help increase its lifespan in the future.
It's said that human cultivators can live for over a thousand years, though they are very rare.
Insects and beasts are the same; they too can continually practice cultivation, evolve, and extend their lifespan.
The two young worker ants cut the leaf much faster than expected.
Termites are known as the number one pest of buildings and trees; they handle plants as if playing with a ball. With powerful mandibles that go 'click clack,' they dealt with the tender leaf as easily as chopping vegetables.
In reality, although termites' bodies appear soft, they are agile, and their speed is no less than that of fierce ants.
Moreover, they are very bellicose.
Three fierce ants of the same size may not necessarily defeat one termite.
So never assume that termites are weak; they may appear frail, but in fact, they hold a top-tier existence among ant species.
Even the so-called strongest fierce ants, army ants, killer ants, bullet ants, and big-jawed fierce ants, are no match for termites.
It's much like how felines are invincible among predators of the same size.
The two young worker ants, after cutting the leaf, dragged it into the nest.
In this mere quarter of an hour, Qin Niu noticed that the Ant Queen's energy had actually recovered to 1.2.
With Fourth in command, their foraging efficiency seemed to have increased by at least three times.
This speaks to the importance of having a wise leader in a group.
After dragging the second leaf into the nest, Fourth went out again with the other worker ant.
This time they brought back two pieces of rotten wood chips to the nest.
The termites' diet is diverse, and since they harbor flagellates in their bodies, eating wood can be converted into the nutrients needed for their bodies.
Wood is equivalent to roughage, while tender leaves and tree sap are like 'soup.'
They can obtain a large amount of water and some essential nutrients from these sources.
It's akin to humans eating a balanced diet of meat and vegetables.
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Additionally, termites will also consume the corpses of other insects when starved, even including the bodies of their own kind, ant eggs, and so forth. Such a situation only occurs in extreme hunger and scarcity of food.
At this moment, Qin Niu heard the sound of human conversation not far away.
He immediately picked up the chopped firewood and left the area.
Within the ant colony, there was the clever and capable 'Fourth,' so as long there was no enemy invasion, there shouldn't be any major problems.
As the Ant Queen's energy recovered, she would soon enter 'breeding machine' mode.
She would lay a large number of ant eggs every day, and then hatch them.
As long as there were Soldier Ants in the nest, their defensive ability would be greatly enhanced.
However, it was probably not feasible to develop Soldier Ants now; the primary task was to expand the Worker Ant group. Within the entire colony, the Ant Queen, young ants, Breeder Ants, and Soldier Ants all lacked the ability to find food.
They must rely on the Worker Ants to forage and feed them in order to survive.
Therefore, Worker Ants are very important to the whole ant colony.
In the early stages of the colony's development, without Soldier Ants, Worker Ants would take on both roles: acting as Worker Ants and also as Soldier Ants.
Qin Niu shouldered a load of firewood weighing about one hundred fifty to sixty catties as he walked towards the mountain's exterior.
After crossing over the hill, he saw Wang Furen leading five or six hired farmers collecting humus.
Wang Furen pointed to the humus under the dwarf pine, saying, "This is the one, get me a basket of it back home, I want to mix the fertilizer personally."
Qin Niu couldn't help but shake his head and smile.
This Wang Furen, cunning as a ghost, must have secretly observed the leaves in his humus, recognized them, and then believed he had found the formula.
Just wait, Wang Furen would come to him again.
However, this also served as a reminder to Qin Niu that if he wanted to make his first fortune by selling soil, he had to be more cautious in the future. Not to give others the chance to peep and steal the technique.
Or perhaps deliberately create some 'mist,' letting those trying to imitate suffer a bit.
For instance, use a humus high in nitrogen during the corn's flowering stage, consequently resulting in stunted growth and poor yield.
Or perhaps make some nutritional adjustments to the fertilizer used during the seedling stage, slowing down their growth or even causing the leaves to turn yellow, achieving the opposite effect like fertilizer damage.
Once these people suffered from these mistakes a few times, they would naturally understand that imitation is futile.
Then they would obediently come to buy fertilizer from Qin Niu.
However, pricing it at fifty Wen Money per basket, the price is indeed not cheap.
Cow dung is considered a top-quality fertilizer, yet it only sells for ten Wen Money per basket.
He now had nearly nine hundred labor points saved up and was secretly considering whether he should upgrade his fertilizing skills to the next level?
If he wanted to do this business, he would definitely need to constantly improve his techniques.
Upon seeing Qin Niu carrying a full load of firewood, Wang Furen said with a bit of pride, "Ah Niu, you refuse to sell for five Wen Money a basket, see this? I hire people to come up and carry it, and it doesn't even cost two Wen Money per basket."
"Then you should buy this two Wen Money a basket."
Qin Niu smiled indifferently.
"It's just a formula, not something very complicated. As long as you have eyes and a brain, you can figure it out. Young man, you must not be too greedy," Wang Furen criticized him with the stance of an elder.
He felt proud of himself for being able to fathom out the formula from Qin Niu's fertilizers.
Qin Niu just smiled and walked away without saying a word.
...
As days passed, Qin Niu became even busier each day.
In addition to taking care of the crops in the fields, chopping wood in the mountains, along with practicing his Chop Technique, he would also spend a lot of time in front of the Termite Nest.
He was observing the habits of termites and understanding them.
Six days passed, and the energy of the Ant Queen kept increasing every day.
On the first day, it rose to 21 points, on the second day to 54 points, by the third day it broke a hundred, reaching 102 points...
By the sixth day, even though only four Worker Ants were feeding her, the energy inside her body had already reached 279 points.
Since the Ant Queen's energy was rising so fast, Fourth's effort accounted for at least half of it.
Without its command, the foraging efficiency of the other three Worker Ants would at least be halved.
The growth speed of the four Worker Ants was equally rapid; they had grown larger than when they first molted into adult ants.
The increase in size also led to an increase in their foraging capacity.
They could bring back more food at a time.
This morning, as Qin Niu got up, he discovered that the properties of the Ant Queen had changed again.
Female Milky White Ant (Ant Queen)
Grade: Grade Two winged insect, upgrade experience 102.79/1000
Lifespan: 4.2 years
Energy: 229
Skills: Breeding Skill Grade One 0.15/10, Feign Death Grade One 2/10
Talent: Medium intelligence
Ant Colony: Worker Ants 4, lifespan 3 months
The energy had decreased by 50 points, and the proficiency of the Breeding Skill had increased by 0.1 – had it laid another batch of ant eggs?
Qin Niu was extremely delighted and went into the mountain with his cleaver, carrying pole, and rope.
The ant colony only needed to complete the initial accumulation and then start to expand; from there on, it would be like a snowball rolling down a hill, becoming more and more formidable.
He arrived at the Ant Nest and peered inside.
Goodness, the Ant Nest had been expanded deeper by the Worker Ants.
They had even established the first 'birthing room,' where ten snow-white transparent ant eggs lay silently.
The body of the Ant Queen was already showing signs of slight plumpness; her abdomen had visibly grown much fatter.
The food reserves within the nest were still considered abundant.
Everything seemed well-organized.
Fourth was leading another Worker Ant in digging another side tunnel.
Wonder what they're preparing for?
I'm really looking forward to it; once these ten ant eggs hatch, the colony will further expand. With fourteen Worker Ants working, the energy the Ant Queen can obtain each day will be even more ample.