Chapter 140: Cleaning Up the Ant Swarm
“Zhi……”
Deep underground, more than ten meters below the surface of the Marching Ant Nest, the Marching Ant Queen, which had been continuously producing ant eggs, suddenly let out a shrill, piercing screech.
The originally calm ant nest instantly fell into chaos. Dense swarms of Marching Ants poured out of the nest, crawling toward Zhou Ming at the fastest possible speed.
“Did it get angry?”
Zhou Ming raised his head and looked toward the direction of the Marching Ant Nest, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Sensing a massive number of Marching Ants rushing over, he had no intention of clashing head-on with them.
Even if he possessed Dark-gold Serpent Pupils, once the number of Marching Ants became too large, he would be unable to intimidate the swarm.
Because, based on his judgment, the Marching Ant Queen could rely on a larger swarm to erupt with fiercer resistance at the level of consciousness, greatly weakening the mental deterrence effect of his Dark-gold Serpent Pupils.
Since he already knew where the Marching Ant Nest was, he was in no rush to engage them in a frontal battle.
He had plenty of patience.
Retracting the Ironthread Snake swarm, Zhou Ming turned around and carried out a strategic retreat.
If the Marching Ant swarm dared to continue pursuing him, he would gradually whittle down their numbers.
Over the following several days, Zhou Ming was like a vulture, constantly appearing and disappearing around the Marching Ant Nest.
Whenever the Marching Ant Queen allowed the swarm to pursue too deeply, Zhou Ming would use Silver Scale to cut through the ant swarm, coordinating with the Ironthread Snake swarm to clear out the Marching Ants.
During these several days of back-and-forth, Zhou Ming also gathered more information about the Marching Ants.
One key piece of information was that the Marching Ants had difficulty breaking through Silver Scale’s defenses.
After multiple experiments conducted by Zhou Ming, he confirmed that Marching Ants found it very difficult to pose a lethal threat to Ferocious Beasts protected by scales.
When facing Silver Scale, whose defense excelled, the Marching Ants could only threaten its life by attacking the eyes and mouth.
However, with Silver Scale’s ten-meter-long body, as well as Zhou Ming providing support from the side, the only method that could threaten Silver Scale’s safety was something the Marching Ant swarm simply could not achieve.
After understanding this information, Zhou Ming’s efficiency in clearing the Marching Ant swarm increased significantly, and within just a few days, he wiped out more than half of the swarm.
Sensing the danger, the Marching Ant Queen stopped sending the swarm to pursue Zhou Ming and instead pulled all Marching Ants back into the nest.
“Compared to ordinary low-tier Ferocious Beasts, an existence like an Ant Queen clearly has much higher intelligence.”
After noticing the change in the Marching Ant swarm’s behavior, Zhou Ming could not help but sigh in admiration at the Ant Queen’s intelligence.
“Since you’re not coming to find me, then it’s my turn to find you.”
With most of the Marching Ant swarm already cleared out, it was time for him to take the initiative.
As a chilling aura of slaughter began to spread, Zhou Ming appeared in front of the Marching Ant Nest with the Ironthread Snake swarm.
At this moment, he was riding on Silver Scale. Inkband was coiled around his wrist, the three-meter-long Vermilion Jade slithered back and forth around his waist, and the ground around him was crawling with Ironthread Snakes.
Such a scene was like an army pressing forward, with Zhou Ming as the commander-in-chief of the serpent forces.
Faced with Zhou Ming’s advance, the Marching Ant Queen had no choice but to dispatch all of the Marching Ant swarm to respond.
“Soldier Ants?”
When he saw dozens of Marching Ants half a meter long, with enormous mandibles protruding from their mouths, Zhou Ming immediately recognized them as the rare Soldier Ants.
Producing Soldier Ants placed an enormous burden on the Marching Ant Queen and consumed the energy she needed to advance to a higher-tier Ferocious Beast, so only a very small number were ever produced to protect her own safety.
The strength of these Soldier Ants was already close to that of Ferocious Beasts, second only to existences like Jungle Wolves.
“I didn’t expect the Marching Ant Queen to understand a desperate, all-or-nothing fight.”
Facing the appearance of the Soldier Ants, Zhou Ming very unsportingly picked up the Thunder Type-2 Revolver.
What kind of Beast Tamer doesn’t use a gun?
When the Soldier Ants led the Marching Ant swarm in their assault, thunderous roars erupted within the ant nest.
The half-meter-long Soldier Ants were like watermelons smashed by a giant hammer, torn apart directly by the bullets of the Thunder Type-2 Revolver.
The recoil from the Thunder Type-2 Revolver even forced Silver Scale’s massive body to press down against the ground.
“I almost forgot—you don’t know how to disperse force.”
After Zhou Ming stepped back onto the ground, he gently patted Silver Scale’s head to soothe it.
Using the Thunder Type-2 Revolver required not only a terrifying physique, but also the ability to channel its immense recoil into the ground beneath one’s feet, ensuring shooting accuracy and preventing injury to the arms.
If one forcibly endured the recoil head-on, even Zhou Ming would find it difficult to bear. This was precisely why the threshold for using the Thunder Type-2 Revolver was so high.
A powerful physique and precise control over strength were the most basic requirements for wielding the Thunder Type-2 Revolver.
Even without perfect accuracy, it could still unleash devastating power at close range.
After dealing with one Soldier Ant, Zhou Ming took advantage of the brief gap before the Marching Ant swarm closed in and continued pulling the trigger.
“Boom, boom, boom……”
Thunderous detonations rang out continuously. The five bullets in the cylinder were expended, and five Soldier Ants were blown apart one after another.
Sensing this situation, the Marching Ant Queen hiding within the nest let out increasingly shrill screeches.
Outside the nest, the Marching Ant swarm, influenced by the Ant Queen’s furious emotions, became even more frenzied, their charge toward Zhou Ming noticeably accelerating.
However, Zhou Ming’s speed in reloading was also swift. As the outer ant swarm rapidly closed in on him, he eliminated another five Soldier Ants before finally activating his Dark-gold Serpent Pupils.
With nowhere left to vent her fury, the Marching Ant Queen finally found a target.
The ear-piercing screeches that gave Zhou Ming headaches echoed within his mind. The phantom of the Marching Ant Queen projected itself into his Spiritual Sea, continuously battering it.
Faced with this situation, his Spiritual Sea Nebula began rotating rapidly, while the white bones of White Bone Contemplation meditation sat enthroned above the nebula, suppressing the trembling Spiritual Sea.
In the outside world, the Marching Ant swarm could not completely avoid the influence of the Dark-gold Serpent Pupils, but the Soldier Ants were clearly much less affected.
However, just as the Soldier Ants launched their attack, Zhou Ming’s three Ferocious Beast–level Ironthread Snakes moved simultaneously.
The ten-meter-long Silver Scale relied on its massive body to strangle the Soldier Ants. The three-meter-long Vermilion Jade used its sharp tail bone to slice through them, while the one-meter-long Inkband injected venom through stealthy surprise attacks.
The Soldier Ants were far stronger than ordinary Marching Ants, but compared to the three Ironthread Snakes that had reached the peak of low-tier Ferocious Beasts, they had no chance in a direct confrontation.
After all, ten Soldier Ants had already been dealt with by Zhou Ming, and they were still partially suppressed by the Dark-gold Serpent Pupils.
As the Soldier Ants were eliminated, Inkband, Vermilion Jade, and Silver Scale immediately led the Ironthread Snake swarm to clear out the remaining ordinary Marching Ants.
As the ant swarm was slaughtered, the Marching Ant Queen could no longer rely on the swarm to continue resisting the mental pressure brought by the Dark-gold Serpent Pupils.
Within the Spiritual Sea, when the phantom of the Marching Ant Queen let out a final wail, the remaining Marching Ants did not even have the ability to move.
In the end, Zhou Ming’s Ironthread Snake swarm paid the price of only a few Ironthread Snake deaths to wipe out the entire Marching Ant swarm.
Now, it was time for Zhou Ming to reap the rewards.
Nearly a thousand Ironthread Snakes surged into the ant nest, beginning to search for the cavern where the Marching Ant Queen was hiding.
The brain core Zhou Ming needed was right before his eyes.