parentshiftbook Chapter 40: Evolution, Early Stage 3
Chapter 40: Evolution, Early Stage 3
In a cave covered with shimmering white silk threads, several slender, six-limbed weaver ants were folding their appendages and lying on the carpet-like silken fabric on the ground.
Behind these worker ants, behind a semi-transparent curtain woven from the same white silk threads, lay a figure that was significantly larger than the worker ants, its body motionless, seemingly in a deep hibernation.
"Crack..." As if suddenly awakened, the figure moved, accompanied by a series of cracking sounds like an exoskeleton breaking. The original exoskeleton had a crack in its back.
The pale yellow exoskeleton emerged from beneath the orange-yellow, slightly blackish old shell, first from the shoulders and neck, then the head, antennae, six limbs, membranous wings, and finally the oval-shaped posterior abdomen.
The figure that emerged from the old shell moved slowly, shaking its head, stretching its six limbs and tentacles, allowing its newly formed exoskeleton to stretch and expand in the air.
This figure was none other than Ye Zhi, who had finally evolved into a beginner-stage three-year-old after consuming primal energy food for nearly a month. At this moment, he was quite satisfied with his molted body, releasing pleasant pheromones.
The intake of Force food and the hunting techniques practiced during the second year paid off. After another molt, the jaws were finally completely symmetrical. Except for one eye that was still missing, there was only one single eye on each side arranged between the eyebrows. There was no trace of the chimera that had ever existed.
The newly formed mandibles are more slender and elongated than those of normal leaf ants, growing almost straight and sharp as swords. The inner edge is covered with large, serrated protrusions, gleaming with a jet-black metallic luster, making their sharpness immediately apparent.
It seems that the combination of its attacking movements and the Force food improved some of its body structure, making its body somewhat resemble that of another type of ferocious ant—the cow ant—with a slender body and well-developed mandibles.
The compound eyes seemed clearer, but being inside the nest, their perception wasn't very distinct. However, their antennae were noticeably more sensitive, allowing them to clearly hear the rustling sounds of their worker ants moving slightly within the nest.
As its body shape evolved to become more slender, this evolution resulted in a leap in length of seven or eight centimeters, just enough to squeeze out of the original cave opening of its little "spider web cave".
With a thought, a large worker ant of the leaf ant, more than two centimeters long and slender, with a head and mandibles forming a broad triangle, slowly stepped forward, opened its mandibles, and began to feed the leaf ant's current body.
During this period, Ye Zhi's worker ant population finally grew. Two of the ant eggs that she had personally "spit out" had developed into such large worker ants, allowing Ye Zhi to finally enjoy the feeling of being fed.
The eggs laid by the semi-force queen ant, which serves as her external reproductive organ, are developing into miniature worker ants. The first batch of five have already hatched, and many more are in the pupal stage and will soon emerge as worker ants.
These seven worker ants—two large and five small—along with the queen ant, who possesses a semi-force "external ovipositor," form the prototype of Ye Zhi's ant kingdom, and perhaps also the future of the tree ant kingdom.
However, this scale can now be further increased - at the third age of evolution, the accumulated "space" energy can finally be put to use, producing another golden egg and adding a future external oviposition organ.
With a thought, all the primal energy and nutrients in the body converged into the life sac to perform self-cloning, or rather, to "strip" the extra part from the fused body, and then inject a trace of "space" primal energy, and a golden egg slowly gestated.
Ye Zhi's body slumped slightly, and a familiar "golden egg" with a pale golden luster and faint primal force patterns appeared between her jaws, greedily absorbing natural primal force as soon as it was formed.
With a slight twitch of its antennae, another large worker ant stepped forward to feed Ye Zhi, replenishing his strength, while a small worker ant slowly stepped forward, took the golden egg, and gently placed it on another incubation chamber.
During this period, Ye Zhi made some modifications to the structure of "Spider Cave", mainly by adding a large worker ant hatchery and creating a separate resting room with soft cushions for the queen ant.
At the third instar of evolution, the original nest seemed a bit small, but Ye Zhi no longer planned to expand or renovate it. After all, she was a Weaver Ant, and what was the point of living in a cave all the time?
Now he is a third-instar primary king ant, reaching a size of seven or eight centimeters. Within the territory of the tree ant kingdom, he will basically no longer encounter any danger. It is time for him to move out and open a nest chamber outside to live alone.
With a slight thought, it emerged from its nest chamber. The slender, long-tailed ant worker ants guarding the entrance recognized Ye Zhi and emitted pheromones of joy, representing the slender, long-tailed ant tribe.
Ye Zhi responded by tapping her antennae, then unfolded her membranous wings, flapped them, and took off, preparing to report her safety to Wu Yuan and then plant the divinely bestowed seed "Chimera" in her life sac, which had undergone a strengthening process.
"Little one, are you three years old now?"
The lord-level ant king possesses powerful mental energy, which can be projected outwards like radar to detect approaching creatures. Ye Zhi was sensed by the Wuyuan Ant King from afar, and a gentle mental energy came from him.
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhi folded her membranous wings and slowly landed in front of Wu Yuan, excitedly nodding her antennae to express her affirmation.
"Was the evolution going smoothly? How are you feeling?" Wu Yuan asked with concern. "Judging from your appearance, have the chimera's congenital defects been completely repaired?"
"Thanks to the Force Food provided by the Cinnabar Ant King, the enhancement effect is top-notch!"
Ye Zhi shook his antennae, quite excited. Then, after a moment's thought, he transmitted his thoughts again, stating the purpose of his visit:
"King Ant, I am now in my third instar, and the ant colony has grown to a certain size. We should have a certain ability to protect ourselves. I want to move out of here and build my own nest near my life-giving plant, which will also make it easier to take care of the seed given by God."
"Not bad, little guy. I originally planned to wait until you evolved into an intermediate warrior before letting you become self-reliant." Wu Yuan's mental power carried a hint of relief. "Since you've brought it up now, it's better to do it a little earlier."
"However, before the intermediate level, the ability to hunt independently is limited. I will still have the worker ants deliver a certain amount of food to you every day, for your worker ants and the God-given Seed. The combat worker ants that protect the God-given Seed will also continue to stay near your nest."
"Thank you, King Cumin Ant!" Ye Zhi happily tapped her antennae. This was for the best. Otherwise, it would have been really difficult for her and her still small ant colony to feed the bottomless appetite of the Chimera, the divine gift of the Nepenthes digoxin.
"Then, King Ant, shall I return to my nest chamber to prepare?"
The cypress tentacles nodded slightly in agreement. Seeing this, Ye Zhi also waved his tentacles to bid farewell for the time being, then turned and flapped his wings to take flight towards his nest—he already had a rough plan for the new nest in his mind, and was just waiting for this opportunity to put it into practice.