The acidophilic ants outside the Bloodstream Canyon are usually not well-known. They have quietly dug underground for decades. The outside world almost never knows their existence, nor their number. Maybe hundreds of thousands, maybe hundreds.
Ten thousand.
"There can't be millions." Fabbro categorically rejected this speculation. "The forest cannot support so many acidophilic ants. There is no limit to the control ability of a queen."
In terms of estimating the number of ant colonies, everyone finally reached a relatively consistent guess, about 300,000 to 500,000. Considering the size of the acidophilic ants, this is already the largest single group in the entire black forest. Also consider that they are composed of queens
Unified control is even scarier.
Zhou Qingfeng and others were trapped by the ants and walked silently in the dark passage. Mondino used the lighting technique to light up the eternal magic flame on the staff, and the firelight revealed all the details of the passage.
Up and down the passage are acid-loving ants scurrying back and forth, their tentacles constantly waving in the air, and they rely on their smell to determine whether they are companions. Compared to the very complete ant nest, this passage leading to Silver Leaf City is very crude.
"According to the previous ant queen's description, the acidophilic ants have been obeying the orders of a certain demon lord to search for the Silver Leaf City that sank underground. They must have dug more than one tunnel, and the one we walked through should have been dug recently."
Hilly whispered.
Thousands of acidophilic ant corpses were mixed in the accumulated soil in the passage. These were the price paid for digging. 'Shiying' said carelessly: "I thought these ants would not be tired or die.
"
The necromancer continued, "Ant colonies only have collectives and no individuals. There are so many of them that they don't care about this death at all. If this curse hadn't appeared on the ant eggs, they would have continued to stay underground and develop more
Big scale.”
The large ant marched forward mightily. The consciousness of the queen came and asked: "Human, we are almost there. Ahead is the cemetery area of Silver Leaf City, and we were cursed by the gods in a temple.
We have tried many ways to solve this problem, but none of them work. Now it's your turn. Let us get rid of the curse and you will be free, or die."
There are ventilation holes leading to the ground at regular intervals in the passage. All the ventilation holes are extremely small and can only bring a little fresh air. In this case, none of Zhou Qingfeng's ideas will be used, and he will be trapped to death.
dead.
Mondino muttered: "If I can get out of trouble this time, I will definitely learn teleportation arcana when I go back, otherwise it will be too uncomfortable."
The passage went downwards suddenly. It was dark inside and nothing could be seen. But hundreds of acidophilic ants climbed in fearlessly, and more acidophilic ants were waiting to pour in. The mental scan could only touch one area.
Empty area.
"What's going on down there?" Zhou Qingfeng asked Mondino.
The Necromancer controlled the ghost to explore the path, "There is a huge space inside, filled with collapsed buildings and stone statues, and the aura of the undead is very strong. Are you sure you want to go in?"
"If you go in, you will have a narrow chance of death. If you don't go in, you will die without a chance. What do you want me to choose?" Zhou Qingfeng said. He turned around and said, "Everyone, are you ready?"
A series of 'get ready' responses sounded, including those from Cold Wind City. Everyone tightened their weapons and prepared to fight.
Zhou Qingfeng took a deep breath, looked at the flying ants hovering above his head, and asked with a sneer: "Queen Ant, I have known you for more than half a month, what is your name?"
"We ants have no names, and we don't need names. Why do you ask this?" the queen replied.
Zhou Qingfeng laughed loudly and took a grenade-like thing from Fabro's hand. "I also want to brag to others in the future. I can say that I once killed such and such queen ant. But now I can only say that I killed it."
Got a big ant."
Before he finished speaking, 'Quick Shadow' suddenly accelerated towards the ant pile following behind, surrounded by cold air, freezing the ants around him unable to move. There was no way to stop him along the way. The ant queen said angrily: "Human, what do you want to do?
I can kill you easily."
Hilly jumped off the horse, drew her bow and nocked an arrow at the acid-loving ants following behind. She whistled softly, and all the fine gold arrows in the endless quiver flew up, arranged in order.
One fell on the magic bow 'Zhanyi'.
The bow string was tightened, and the flying arrows arrived first and hit the ant pile before Zhou Qingfeng. Each hit would produce violent penetration and electric shock effects, and the acidophilic ants on the ant pile continued to explode and fall down.
.
The speed of 'Quick Shadow' increased to the extreme. Zhou Qingfeng squeezed the grenade-like mind disruptor hard and threw it into the large hole in the ant pile blasted by the arrow. The magic item quickly disappeared into the dense ant colony.
Medium, no smoke and no noise.
Zhou Qingfeng raised the 'evil-breaking' heavy sword again and shouted loudly: "Fabro, if your gadget is ineffective, I will chop you down first."
The chief alchemist nervously held the staff behind him and shouted: "After the jammer is activated, it will take three seconds to work. It doesn't work that quickly..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong spiritual ripple suddenly exploded from the ant pile. It did not have any explosive reaction, but instead used the mode of mental interference to target the spiritual connection between the queen ant and the ant colony.
This is somewhat similar to the mind blast of the illithid, but more targeted. Zhou Qingfeng felt his brain tingling, as if he had been hit by a shock bomb, and everyone present was affected. He was dizzy, dizzy, and forced.
into a state of trance.
The direction of the ant pile suffered a fatal impact. The acidophilic ants that had originally gathered in a group suddenly looked like a collapsed wall. The cocoon structure composed of a large number of ants continued to collapse. The queen ant let out a sharp and miserable scream amid the interference of her mind.
Call, carry out throughout the audience.
The 'Swift Shadow', covered in cold air, rushed towards the collapsed ant pile, freezing the acidophilic ants that were out of control. The other acidophilic ants also lost their organization. They swayed the tentacles on their heads blankly, but it was difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.
Do it.
Zhou Qingfeng raised his sword high, and pulled out a one-meter-long sharp blade to strike deep into the ant pile. The 'war trample' accelerated him and 'Swift Shadow' at the same time, fearlessly impacting countless acid-loving ants, trying to kill them.
Kill the queen ant under layers of protection.
The 'Hegemonic Body' state protects Zhou Qingfeng from ordinary damage, and the continuous killings also increase his combat power. The crushed ants flew out under the horse's hooves, like pulp, and were frozen by the surrounding cold current, and their souls were iced.
seal up.
After repeated cooperation, the ant pile was stripped of five or six meters of thickness, but the queen ant hiding inside was still not visible. However, the jammer that restrained the spiritual connection between the ants stopped working from time to time, and the originally chaotic acidophilus
The ants can occasionally be controlled by the queen.
A shrill scream rang out in everyone's mind. It was an extremely resentful curse, "Humans, you all must die!"
When more and more acidophilic ants died, the attacking 'Swift Shadow' shouted: "These dead ants are corroding my body."
Zhou Qingfeng was also splashed by the acid that killed the ant colony, causing burning pain on his body. The 'war trampling' made him almost invincible, but the harder he rushed in the narrow passage, the stronger the acid corrosion he suffered.
The queen ant was hiding somewhere, maybe a few meters away, maybe hundreds of meters away. But Zhou Qingfeng and 'Jiying' were going to die first.
The ants surged upwards and heavily wrapped up Zhou Qingfeng who was trapped in the ant pile. A wind scroll suddenly erupted, and a strong ring of air wall blew a large number of ants into the sky. 'Swift Shadow' collected the cold air and came out from the ant pile.
Rushed back.
Zhou Qingfeng on horseback shouted loudly: "There are too many ants. The first plan failed, so we will implement the second plan." After saying that, he took the lead, pulled the elf maid up halfway, and rushed into the underground cemetery area.