"Is it possible that these worker ants have left?"
System shook his head. Although he did not instill the thought that he was the ant queen into these ants these days, those ants still thought of him as their kin. They couldn't disobey his orders.
Even if those worker ants went out of the temporary nest for a breather, they should immediately return to the nest and continue feeding the ant larvae according to System's previous orders.
There was no clear answer from asking Shava.
If System did not ask, Shava, who was eating the slime's colloid, would not even have noticed that the number of worker ants in the temporary nest had decreased.
Although Shava had a certain degree of intelligence, she was not very sensitive to numbers. She could not even master addition and subtraction within ten until now.
System could not help but sigh.
Meanwhile, just as System was deep in thought, he suddenly got a special feeling. It was from his ability [Instinct].
System picked a worker ant and brought it along as he left the nest.
System could feel that as long as he brought a worker ant with him, he would be able to find the truth behind the two worker ants' disappearance.
Shava had already pulled away the patrolling ants near the entrance nest to help with winter nest's construction.
However, as they got closer to the dark brown ants' nest, System encountered an ant team responsible for searching for food.
An ant from the searching team discovered him and gradually approached them as if trying to see just what he was.
Unexpectedly, before that ant came closer, the worker ant System had brought along moved closer to it.
Then, the two ants touched their antennae as if they were communicating. However, suddenly, it was as if those two ants felt something was wrong, and they started biting each other in the blink of an eye.
System immediately used his tentacles to separate the two worker ants and then used one of his tentacles to twist off the hostile ant's head.
Initially, the two ants were the same ant queen's offspring, but they were like mortal enemies now. Whenever they met, they would transmit the emotion of going to fight to the death.
Even if System was not there, those two would not hesitate to fight.
After witnessing the two ants' confrontation, System easily guessed why two worker ants had disappeared. They should have gone out of the temporary nest and died in the process of fighting against such dark brown ants.
Unlike Shava, the ants that System had hatched and the ants within the ant nest would be hostile to each other from birth.
When System used [Mind Transmission] to ask that worker ants, he got an extremely clear answer—enemy.
Not food, but enemy!
It was the same when System had deceived those ants and said they were of the same kind. When the ants had realized they had been deceived, they had gotten angry and turned hostile toward him.
"…So this is why."
After jumping onto the stem of a plant while bringing the worker ant along, System observed the ants' nest. He quickly thought of a relatively reasonable explanation.
The ants that System reared and the ants from the ants' nest were both offspring of the same ant queen. However, due to a different growth environment, they had produced a slightly different scent and had become a new nest of ants.
It might be due to the habitual behavior of ants, but only one nest of ants was destined to survive in the same area where two colonies of the same kind of ants existed.
Thinking back when he had deceived the ants by saying that he was the ant queen, it might not be that the ants had discovered he was a grasshopper. Instead, they had thought of him as their enemy from another ant colony.
Otherwise, those ants would not have been so enraged at that time.
…
However, no matter what, under these circumstances, System should not recall the past. Instead, he should think of how to settle that ant nest.
Sooner or later, System would have to wage war against that ant nest, as the new ant queen he was raising would continue to produce offspring.
Even if the battle did not happen this autumn, the two ant colonies would clash. If System wanted to spend the next summer there, his ants would fight to the death with the other colony.
Within a 10-meter radius, only one nest of ants could exist.
System was unsure as to what would happen after winter. However, if his ants were to battle the enemy colony next summer, his side would suffer heavy casualties.
System considered two options:
One, after safely getting through this winter, they would migrate next summer.
Two, they would annihilate the ants and occupy their nest.
Soon, he chose the second option.
After all, System had two slimes to help him, and after winter arrived, his slimes might disappear. Thus, System did not want to miss such a perfect opportunity.
The two dark green slimes were much more powerful than his old brown slime friend, be it the elasticity of their colloids or their digestive abilities.
It should not be a problem to face a middle-scale ant nest with around 100,000 ants.
Also, with his commanding skills, he could take the initiative and control the slimes to leave after discovering that their devouring ability decreased.
With the slimes' fast digestion and recovering speed, the ants' hatching speed should be far from catching up.
Even if his slimes' first two attacks did not deal a deadly blow to the ants' nest, the enemy colony would definitely suffer great losses after getting attacked many times in the span of a few days.
By then, System could have Shava kill the ant queen, let her order the worker ants to move the ant eggs, larvae, and pupae into the same spot, and annihilate them all cleanly.
If that happened, the enemy colony would be obliterated as an ants' nest that had lost all of their eggs had no possibility of producing a new ant queen. Thus, even if System did not make a move, the remaining ants would all die.
Also, with him there, the ant nest's destruction would be even faster.
Afterward, he would order Shava to bring their construction team to expand the ant nest and annihilate the remaining ants. Then, he would officially occupy the ant nest just like how a turtledove seized a magpie's nest.
The enemy ant nest had enough food for more than 100,000 to survive through winter, which was enough for System to nurture a new ant queen and develop. He could even use the food to rear a small slime and produce a steady supply of colloids.
The more System thought, the more he felt that annihilating that colony this autumn was a wise choice.
Also, even if he failed, it would hinder him in any way. At most, he would stop his ants from going out during autumn and migrate in spring next year.
It was a shame that the winter nest that Shava and her construction team had built would be completely useless.
However, if everything went according to System's plan and they occupied the ant nest, then such a small matter could be overlooked.
…
After deciding, System was extremely efficient as he ordered Shava to watch after the ants to ensure they would not leave the temporary nest. Then, he spread his wings and flew toward the swamp where the slime was.
Today, he would control the two slimes to start their first wave of attacks toward the ant nest.
However, as System was flying, he suddenly discovered many white ice crystals falling from the sky. It was snow!
The sky was clear, and the temperature was moderate, like early autumn. However, just like that, the sky was filled with snowflakes, and falling snow was getting heavier and heavier…
System, who was flying, gradually stopped.
"No clouds? Then why would there be snow?"
Although it was snowing non-stop, the afternoon temperature was still quite warm. These snowflakes slowly melted as they fell. When they landed on the dead leaves or plants on the ground, they completely melted into water.
System flapped his wings and flew higher into the sky, as he wanted to find the reason the sudden snow was formed.
Be it rain or snow, they were both a form of water. Thus, the fact it was snowing while the sky was clear was extremely abnormal.
…
Even when the snowflakes fell, the afternoon temperature did not change much. On the contrary, it was even much warmer than when System had flown into the clouds for the first time.
There was no wind in the forest today, and even high up in the sky, the wind was not strong. Although the snowflakes would hinder his wings, the suitable temperature allowed System to fly thousands of meters into the sky without consuming too much stamina.
After flying for 1,000 meters into the sky, System discovered the truth of the formation of snowflakes.
System felt a special aura, it was weak but deep, and there was a hint of coldness. As that aura circulated in the air, ice crystals would unbelievably be formed in the air.
When the ice crystals condensed to a certain weight, then they would start falling. Also, when falling, the ice crystals would condense further and gradually form snowflakes of different shapes.
Meanwhile, in the process of falling, the snowflakes would also start to melt gradually due to the temperature.
System, who was hovering in the air, stretched out his tentacle to grasp a newly-formed ice crystal and put it into his mouth to taste.
Besides it being slightly cold, System did not taste anything special from that ice crystal. It was like normal water, but at the same time, different.
System realized his EXP bar increased slightly after eating the ice crystal. Evidently, the ice crystals contained some kind of special energy.
…
"Is it possible that the snow in this world is formed like this?"
Presently, System's plan and development were going smoothly, but he had overlooked that he was in a world filled with magical powers.
The law of nature might still be applicable, but definitely could not be followed completely.
Because of the first snow created by magical powers, it informed System that winter had already arrived. It was more than two months earlier from the first snow System had estimated, and it completely messed up his plans subsequently.
Currently, it was not realistic to control the slimes to attack the ant nest, as if this snow continued, the weather would definitely turn colder and colder.
Insects were cold-blooded, meaning they were unable to survive in the cold outside.
When the blood in their body froze into ice, what awaited insects would be death.
System could only return with his fastest speed and order Shava to control the worker ants to move as much food to his temporary nest before the weather turned freezing. Then they would spend the winter in the temporary nest.
System flapped his wings and decided to return immediately. He had to make Shava control the worker ants and start moving the food as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, in the forest that System scanned below him, he inadvertently noticed a strange scene. It was that Goblin village, which was over 10 kilometers away from him.
On the pathway near to the Goblin village, five young and strong Goblins let out an excited expression as they were pulling a cart filled with food back. Meanwhile, on that cart, System discovered the corpses of three Gnolls.
The corpses of those Gnolls were covered in a layer of white ice crystals—they were frozen to death.
"Could it be the Lord of… Glaciers?"
System looked at the glacier mountains a few kilometers away, which could be vaguely seen. He connected the three frozen Gnolls and the sudden snow falling in this forest, speculating it might all be due to that Lord of Glaciers, which the Goblins worshiped.
"Alas, after it turns cold in winter, how are those Goblins going to survive?"
The Goblins were dressed in rags, and their living conditions were extremely poor. Thus, System could not imagine how the Goblins were going to survive in the winter.
The Lord of Glaciers might have taken them under his wings, but was worshipping the Lord of Glaciers really a wise choice?
System stopped thinking and increased the speed of his flapping wings to return to his nest.
As snow fell continuously, System could feel that the temperature had decreased slightly. The time left for him to prepare for winter was already running out.
However, just as System was in the process of flying downward, he suddenly heard a mysterious and low sound. The volume was not loud, but that sound seemed to be right beside his ear.
That sound did not seem to be made by humans—it seemed more like the roar of an animal, like a tiger or bear. However, on second thought, it was completely different.
It seemed to be the sound made by a creature that System had not come in contact with in his previous life.
Roar—
As that sound echoed once again, System could see a huge figure from the direction of the glacier mountains. That creature suddenly appeared in the sky a few hundred kilometers away and was casually flying. If System guessed correctly, then such a creature should be a—dragon.
It had huge wings. Its silvery-white dragon scales seemed to be covered in a layer of blue ice crystals, its mouth was tightly closed and revealed a majestic expression. In System's previous life, the so-called dragons were a part of western mythology.
The huge dragon's body was long. It was about 20 meters from head to tail, and even just looking from afar, System could see that the dragon's body was filled with beauty.
Even System, who had strong self-control, could not help but take a few more looks.
As System was observing the dragon's body, he could feel his blood slightly churning.
The dragon was a higher life form, and even though they were a few hundred kilometers apart, an unbelievable pressure was exerted on System's body.
System speculated that even the fearless ants would not have the courage to get close to this dragon if it appeared.
As that dragon appeared, System could feel that the sky was becoming colder and colder. It seemed like the culprit that had caused the snow in the forest was that Frost Dragon.
"Is it possible that this dragon is the Lord of Glaciers the Goblins worshiped?"
System took one last look at the flying dragon in the distance before deciding to ignore it and concentrate on settling his matters.
However, it was that last look that caused unimaginable trouble for System.
System saw the silver-white scales on the dragon—each scale was larger than his body.
System observed the horns on the head of the dragon, the white gas that would be ejected out from its nose from time to time, and that pair of ice blue and platinum pupils…
The Frost Dragon's eyes betrayed that it had intelligence, that was something System missed very much.
However, in the process of looking at the dragon's eyes, System realized that the dragon's eyes seemed to have slightly turned, and they exchanged gazes.
As System was observing the dragon from afar, the dragon also discovered him.
System's heart started thumping vigorously. He realized that the dragon, which was still in his line of sight, had suddenly disappeared.
After ten breaths of time, System still did not find a trace of the dragon, but his [Instinct] gave him an uneasy feeling.
In the next instant, just as System was still searching for the dragon, suddenly a huge dragon head appeared in front of System, with that pair of platinum-colored pupils…
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