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50% Laws of the Insect Hive / Chapter 30: Soldier Ant, Foolish

Chapter 30: Soldier Ant, Foolish

Editor: Atlas Studios

The old Druid flashed through System's mind.

If the locust plague were not annihilated, these locusts would breed their offspring in the following year. In turn, they would contribute to a greater plague that would destroy the entire forest.

If he were a forest guardian Druid, System would probably do the same.

However, what did the locusts do wrong?

What did Quin do wrong?

There was no right and wrong to this issue.

System knew that the difference lay in their knowledge and perspectives. And he was no longer human…

Grasshoppers were not skilled at digging, so the night had fallen when System finally settled Quin's carcass.

System did not feel any fatigue, which might be due to the newly gained [Mind Transmission]. He felt as though he could last for two to three days without any rest.

Thanks to Quin, System seemed to have gained a mysterious power and had the sensation that something in the surrounding air was surging into his body. His EXP bar was also constantly increasing.

Due to Quin's transmitted energy, his EXP bar was at the maximum of Level 10. Even if he did nothing, he would reach Level 11 after a couple of hours.

However, System did not bother pondering over it. Instead, he used his foreleg to bury Quin into the mud while secreting some [Corrosive Slime] on it.

He had to get rid as much of Quin's carcass stench as possible. This was to prevent bugs like ants from discovering her.

The next morning, System advanced to Level 11. He grew to 14cm and was almost as large as a bird, though he possessed greater speed and power.

Because of the advancement, some of System's abilities were upgraded,

[Hunger Tolerance Physique] (5/11) → [Hunger Tolerance Physique] (6/11)

[Dark Vision] (4/5) → [Dark Vision] (5/5)

He could see better at night, but his appetite had grown as well.

Furthermore, he had received a new ability—[Subtlety Vision]. With this power, his compound eyes could see much further.

[Subtlety Vision] (3/9): An ability derived from [Insect Adaptability] and [Mind Transmission]. Your vision has been strengthened.

System turned to look at the sky. Despite the blurriness, he was able to spot the rolling clouds in the sky, just like Quin.

"Quin, what should I do?"

System suppressed and buried all his emotions deep in his heart. He had to try his best to extend his lifespan and live past this winter.

Due to the old Druid's trap, the number of bugs in the forest had depleted greatly, and they were mostly bugs able to fly and travel at a higher speed.

The numbers of ants, spiders, and mosquitoes, which could only travel with their limbs, or bugs with slow traveling speed were not depleted at all.

However, as the old Druid's trap was situated too far away, some bugs would take a great deal of time to travel several miles to reach there.

By the time they reached the location, the old Druid's trap spheres would have been long gone.

After building Quin's tomb, System searched for a new hunting ground and nest while foraging bugs. He also took the chance to try out [Mind Transmission] and [Spirit Transmission] that he inherited from Quin.

[Mind Transmission] was a peculiar ability, as by expanding a small amount of spirit, it enabled him to communicate with creatures.

However, his [Mind Transmission] was only partially activated, which might be due to the low level or some other reasons.

He was able to link up with the plants half meters away and understand their emotions using [Spirit Connection]. The plants' emotions were rather basic. They thrived in sunlight and rain at their roots. After getting ripped apart by System, they would express pain as well.

However, the plants lacked the form of thought. Hence, they failed to give any replies even after System messaged them using [Mind Transmission].

Other than the plants, System also used [Mind Transmission] and [Spirit Connection] to interact with bugs. Arthropods such as spiders gave no response to System's [Mind Transmission].

System used [Spirit Connection] to establish a spiritual linkage with the bugs and was able to receive their feedback. Although the interactions were not as in-depth as Quin, he could still understand some of the bugs' thoughts.

An example would be when he used telepathy on a caterpillar to inform it that the ingesting leaf was toxic. The caterpillar stopped its consumption and revealed a confused expression as it still wanted to ingest the leaf, but did not dare to.

"Toxic? Toxic? Toxic? Toxic? Toxic…"

It repeated the telepathic message repeatedly to System like a robot before System replied, "Yes, the leaf is poisonous."

The caterpillar was bewilderment, before finally leaving the leaf alone.

System was unable to locate any more caterpillars, so he could not conclude that this would happen to all caterpillars.

As compared to caterpillars, System had a greater variety of tests for the ants due to their vast numbers.

Other than informing them that the food they were transporting was poisonous, Systems would also spout other nonsensical jokes.

When he told the ants that he was one of them, they would believe him and care for him. However, they would realize that they were tricked soon later, and would then attack him together.

Soon after, regardless of the messages System sent with [Mind Transmission], the ants would ignore them and just attack head-on.

Of course, there was an exception to everything.

System's lie seemed to have worked on a 3-centimeter large soldier ant.

That soldier ant seemed to be of the same breed as those that System had robbed previously. Its bulbous head took up half of its body surface area, and there was a stinger at its tail.

System did not have high hopes in regard to his experiment with the soldier ant. Soldier ants were temperamental and would probably attack without any hesitation like the former two ants.

However, the results of the experiment with the soldier ant were beyond System's expectations. After using [Mind Transmission] on the ant, System realized that it had become extremely obedient.

It regarded System as one of its kind and believed he was the queen ant. Thus, it followed his instructions to the letter.

When it was told to raise its front left leg, it would raise all three left legs. When it was told to raise its mid-left leg, it would still raise all three left legs. When it was told to raise its left hind leg, it would be obedient and only raise the hind leg.

Other than its low intelligence, the soldier ant was perfect.

Due to its silly appearance, System named it Foolish.

Due to Foolish, System arranged its hunting grounds near to the ants' nest. This allowed System to observe Foolish while instructing it to perform certain tasks.

Although Foolish believed System's lies, it was as silly as it seemed. It would guard loyally by the ants' nest while commanding the wandering worker ants. It would also charge forward when there were intruders.

Of course, when System arrived, other than completing its daily tasks, Foolish would also steal the food that the worker ants were transporting and deliver it to System.


Chapter 31: Ant Spy

Editor: Atlas Studios

"Queen, egg."

Compared to normal insects, Foolish, the soldier ant, was quite clever. Normal bugs could hardly sort out words using [Spirit Connection].

After just one afternoon, Foolish was able to send a simple message to System. Although it was not as good as Quin, it was counted as a bug with superior intelligence.

The soldier ant was not really foolish, but just simple-minded and prone to believe in others easily.

Foolish was convinced of System's concocted identity—the ant queen.

Foolish really believed that it was System's child, so it would do everything System told it.

"Go get me an ant larva."

After receiving an ant egg from Foolish, System continued his test on the soldier ant. He had ordered it to rob normal worker ants' food, steal food from an anthill, bring out ant eggs and larvae…

System's test escalated step by step. He found that even if he asked Foolish to commit suicide or to assassinate the fake ant queen in the depths of the anthill, Foolish would not hesitate to obey.

However, System simply tried to give the orders and stopped it immediately.

He would not let Foolish commit suicide. Also, it would not do System any good to let Foolish assassinate the ant queen in the anthill, regardless of whether it could succeed.

After choosing a crevice, System ordered Foolish to carry food in it while he jumped away from the anthill.

The sky darkened, and System explored around the forest in the darkness.

Due to [Dark Vision] and his newly acquired ability,0 [Subtlety Vision], System's vision in the dark was much better than during the day. Ever since System inherited Quin's spiritual power, he could continuously use [Information Reading] for more than ten minutes, which was three times longer than before.

In fact, while System previously had been out foraging in the dark, this was the first time he tried to explore. There were many mosquitoes in the forest at night, fluttering together in swarms, and seemed to be mating.

The spiders appeared on their webs every few meters apart, and one or two toads with bulging abdomens would appear on the ground, reaching out their tongues to catch the mosquitoes in the air.

The forest at night seemed dangerous and creepy.

It was not long before a small bat showed up in the sky, flying back and forth. System tensed his nerves and was ready to avoid this bug-eating predator.

However, before System made a move, he realized that the small bat had noticed him and flew away quickly.

System was suddenly enlightened.

This bat, which was about his size, did not take him as prey at all. It chose to keep a distance from him instead, which clearly showed its fear of him.

He was no longer the same little grasshopper he was back then.

System ignored that bat and continued to explore around. There was a variety of possible prey for System at night, but most of them were not what he wanted. Undoubtedly, it was more efficient to snatch the ants' food than hunting these bugs.

System's target was an edible magical creature like the slime.

While inheriting Quin's power, System also had access to many of her memories.

The memories about Quin acquiring [Mind Transmission] and the world's voice were vague, but the part about the plant that allowed her to grow quickly was clear.

Quin had trodden on a path different from normal grasshoppers only after eating the pale blue fruit.

Though System's idea was good, searching for magical creatures in the forest was like fishing for a needle in the ocean. System searched all night but gained nothing.

In the morning, System returned to the ant nest where Foolish as he had utterly failed.

Surprisingly, he made an amazing discovery, giving him a way to hibernate peacefully. With this, he would not have to look for magical creatures to boost his strength as quickly as possible. After all, searching for the pale blue fruit that Quin had eaten was like buying a lottery ticket, which could only be encountered accidentally.

All he had to do was prepare with a peaceful mind, steadily gain EXP, and undergo his third molting after ten days. Then, he would be able to spend the entire winter with ease, even if there were two or three months of snow.

This startling discovery came from Foolish. After an entire night, Foolish had filled the rock crevice, which System had chosen at random the previous day, with food.

The crevice was large for ants, as it was about the size of a can of coke in his previous life.

It was not because of its strong strength that Foolish had filled it in only one night. In fact, normal soldier ants were only larger, and their ability to carry things was not even comparable to normal worker ants.

Like normal soldier ants, Foolish's ability to carry food was equally poor. Thus, it would not be able to fill the crevice even if ten of it carried food all night long.

Foolish had filled the crevice with food because it had sought help from the worker ants.

When System returned, nearly a hundred worker ants were moving around his crevice.

Under Foolish's command, these worker ants placed the food they were carrying in their mouths into the rock crevice.

Soon, the crevice was filled. The worker ants continued to pile on the food in the crevice, while Foolish wandered around and guided the worker ants to move from time to time.

Foolish had far exceeded System's expectations.

System, with his human intelligence, had not even thought of letting the soldier ant command the worker ants to carry food. Nevertheless, Foolish had thought of it.

Since Foolish could command the worker ants, System immediately thought of countless possibilities, including a plan to build a nest for hibernation with the help of these ants.

Ants were good at digging, so System could build an underground nest effortlessly and make it luxurious, too.

He had planned to dig a simple cave two meters deep down into the ground that would allow him to escape from the coldness of winter.

However, now, he was capable of digging a five-meter deep cave with these hard-working worker ants. They would also dig many rooms in the cave as his granaries.

All System needed to do was ask Foolish to instruct the worker ants to make the cave wider, allowing him to access it freely.

As for filling the granaries, this could be done by these hard-working worker ants too. If the food collection process was too slow, he could even ask them to bring resources from their nest's storage.

When winter came, he could stay still as if he was hibernating and eat non-stop underground to further enhance his strength.


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