Crackle~ Crackle~

Whoosh~ Whoosh~

Eerie blue lightning and crimson firelight erupted, blasting soldier ants on both flanks to death.

The elite combat team was unstoppable, pushing through dense forest, scaling hills.

Assistant King Red Top spotted Ghost Fan and his group: a team formed of warriors from various insect clans!

Where did they come from?

Shocked as he was, Assistant King Red Top was even more confused, but wasted no time—his antennae twitched orders out instantly.

Three hundred soldier ants mustered, forming a shield in front, unleashing earth system abilities, gathering fierce stone spikes, ready to strike.

Nearly a thousand worker ants split into two squads, hiding on the left and right within dense woods, lying in ambush, ready for a pincer attack.

A massive black shadow suddenly burst from the darkness and swept low, an instant later a soldier ant vanished without a trace.

The next moment—thud—a corpse plummeted from the sky, six bleeding holes in its body, dead as can be.

The black shadow swooped low again.

As it neared, it suddenly split weirdly into three shadows.

Swish~ swish~ swish~

The charged-up soldier ants panicked, firing sharp stone spikes toward the air.

After a volley of abilities, they quickly manipulated the earth, forging more stone spikes...

But Ghost Fan's elite strike team had already arrived for the kill.

Ghost Fan crashed in brutally, heading straight for Assistant King Red Top.

Sting~ sting~ sting~

Crash~ la~ la~

Lightning crackled down the ground, electrocuting swathes of soldier ants.

Flames howled, burning back crowds of soldier ants.

Leaves slashed wildly, wind blades hissed—left and right, perfectly coordinated—pinpointing and slaughtering every soldier and worker ant drawing close to the team.

Small termite units collapsed in an instant at first contact.

Assistant King Red Top realized the situation was dire once more, ordered the ant horde to block with their lives, then turned and fled toward the nearest royal palace.

Three thousand soldier ants were assigned to guard the sleeping Ant King and Ant Queen.

Assistant King Red Top shook his antennae desperately, sending out a distress signal.

His fleeing feet suddenly halted. Antennae upright, a hundred stone spikes burst from the ground around him.

The giant black shadow dove again, split into three—two fake shadows crashed into spikes, but the dragonfly warrior's true form shot up at the last second, swooping just over his head.

Assistant King Red Top knew escape was impossible, turned slowly, and summoned six stone walls from the earth, twisting and warping as they rose, folding into a hemisphere to shield him within.

The surface of the earth-stone hemisphere bristled with dense spikes.

The mud all around erupted with hundreds, thousands of stone spikes, their sharp tips all aiming at the charging Insect Clan warriors.

"Stop!"

Within thirty meters, Ghost Fan stopped short.

The squad quickly shifted formation.

Mountain Persimmon moved from the rear to the front lines.

Spruce unleashed a wind veil, forming a protective ring.

White Rice pulled back, using earth-stone abilities to lift up stone walls, blocking the frenzied pursuit of soldier and worker ants.

Bam~ bam~ bam~

Dense stone spikes shot out, piercing Spruce's wind veil, battering the carapaces of Ghost Fan and Mountain Persimmon up front, but shattered from exhaustion.

"Charge!"

Ghost Fan ordered, advancing side by side with Mountain Persimmon.

The rest bunched up, shielding one another, jogging forward.

Boom! Boom!

Two thunderous crashes.

The dome of earth and stone was breached by Ghost Fan and Mountain Persimmon, exposing Assistant King Red Top hiding inside.

Ghost Fan and Mountain Persimmon paid no heed, jaws wide, heads lowered for another smash attack.

Never had he encountered such fearsome opponents—Assistant King Red Top panicked utterly.

Suddenly, Ghost Fan and Mountain Persimmon halted mid-charge, spun around, frantically dodging.

Smack!

BOOM!

A bolt of crimson lightning struck—Thunderfire arced through his entire body.

A lychee-sized red-hot fireball shot forth, striking his forehead, exploding in a burst of firelight.

...

"Assistant King Red Top is dead!"

"We're less than 1000 meters from the royal palace, make straight for it!"

Spruce used soul-setting ability, transmitting the message to Dragon Cypress.

The elite team quickly regrouped, shifted to an assault formation, ignoring the chasing soldier and worker ants.

Straight ahead, irresistible.

...

Assistant King Red Top's distress call reached the palace, passed in layers to the entrance of the king nest.

Assistant King White Thousand flew into a rage: Damn those Barley Bug warriors, daring to run amok!

Yet pain stabbed his heart: The Ant King and Ant Queen had poured so much effort into breeding their 15 Mountain Lord-level Barley Bug warriors, and after this chaos, they'd have to kill them? Then where would everyone get Origin Force Food for future growth and evolution?

Assistant King White Thousand still didn't get it—how did Barley Bug warriors manage to threaten a lord-level Red Top?

Red Top can't be that useless, right?

Seething with fury, Assistant King White Thousand issued orders, dispatching the soldier ant guard outside the palace to provide support.

Just as the orders went out—

New intel arrived: Assistant King Red Top has fallen!

All sorts of chaotic, panicked information rippled throughout the ant army:

— Ant army

— Unknown attackers

— Dragonflies airborne

— They wield thunder and fire

— Beetle warriors that won't die

...

Assistant King White Thousand was dazed and bewildered.

Red Top—dead?!

Ant army?

Dragonflies?

What the hell is happening?

What's really going on out there?

Instinctively, Assistant King White Thousand wanted to rush out and see for himself.

He darted a few paces, then stopped.

The Ant King and Ant Queen were evolving in sleep—the safety of the king nest was paramount.

Hesitating, he retreated slowly backward, sending new orders: All soldier ants regroup, defend the royal palace to the death.

Orders issued—soldier ants adjusted positions inside the palace—when new information arrived:

— Royal palace wall breached

— Many Insect Clan warriors have stormed inside

Assistant King White Thousand reeled in shock, terror flooding him before he calmed again and issued orders: block them front and back, trap and kill!

Orders relayed.

Soon word came back:

— Many Insect Clan warriors have exited the palace

— Many Insect Clan warriors are charging toward the Life Seed Garden of Red Phellodendron Ant Queen

"Damn it!"

Assistant King White Thousand stomped in frustration, unable to stay calm.

The Red Top who guarded Red Phellodendron Ant Queen's Life Seed Garden was dead.

If even Red Top was killed, who could possibly stop them now?

— Fall back!

— Fall back!

— Hold the king nest!

...

White Thousand waved his antennae, issuing orders to the surrounding soldier ants. He himself took off down the corridor at a run, giving commands as he went.

He split off 1,000 soldier ants to guard the king nest.

Then led 2,000 soldier ants out to pursue the Insect Clan warriors.

...

A broad fork in the palace tunnels.

Ink Orchid hid, clinging upside down to the ceiling, watching the teeming black-and-white ant horde bustle below, patience locked in.

An Assistant King, flanked before and after by soldier ants, ran away down the tunnel.

Now's the time!

Ink Orchid slid along the roof, squirmed into the corridor from which the Assistant King had come; following his route and unleashing her Youlian Step, flashed and darted through bends, diving into an especially wide tunnel.

This passage was crammed with soldier ants.

Soul-setting ability scanned—the Ant King and Ant Queen slept nearby in a giant nest chamber.

Spiritual power swept—entrance to the king nest was sealed by earth abilities, but many breathing and observation holes remained.

Ink Orchid slowed, moving with utmost care, scaling the walls, ceiling, floor, avoiding soldier ants, slipping ever closer.

Almost there—in a burst of Origin Force, her forelegs sharpened into razored blades, lashing out in a thunderous arc, slashing and toppling more than a dozen soldier ants blocking the entrance.

She crossed her claws, hacking toward the stone gate blocking the hole.

Eight savage strikes carved two cracks into the stone gate.

Then she lowered her head and charged full force—

Crunch, crunch!

The stone gate shattered.

Beyond the door, in the king nest, two termites—a big and a small—lay together at the center, still locked in slumber.

Ink Orchid ignored the onrushing soldier ants, her form disappearing instantly, the next moment reappearing in the middle of the cave.

Gigantic as a mountain, chalk white and grotesquely obese, was the Ant Queen Red Phellodendron.

Ink Orchid lifted her claw and slashed down hard.

The queen's head thudded to the ground.

She teleported in a flash, circling to the side of the Ant King White Poplar, body as big as Dragon Cypress, carapace pitch black, slightly leaner than Dragon Cypress.

Claw swung—

The White Poplar Ant King's head dropped to the floor.

Her soul-setting ability sensed—the two fallen heads still pulsed with powerful souls, not yet collapsed.

Crack! Crack! Her forelegs flicked; claws pierced both heads, then whipped them into the charging lines of soldier ants.

Ink Orchid retreated into shadow, vanishing from sight; silently, her soul-setting ability spread out again, sensing both souls rapidly crumbling to nothing.

The Ant King and Ant Queen's soul bond with the hive took hold.

In an instant, time itself seemed to stop—

Mere moments before, the termite soldiers had been a raging, killing storm, but now all froze, then crashed down in piles, scattering everywhere.

The Ant King and Queen dead, the Assistant Kings instantly devastated; every soldier, worker, and young ant suffered savage soul trauma.

Ink Orchid extended her soul-setting sense, linking with Dragon Cypress and Spruce.

"Surprise strike complete!"

"Both Ant King and Queen are dead!"

Word raced out—

With her soul-setting sense, Ink Orchid locked onto Assistant King White Thousand's position as he fled before.

In a flash she burst from the king nest, tore through the wide tunnel, darts, twists, and turns—shot out from the palace, charging straight for White Thousand.

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