Chapter 109: Break and Enter

Chapter 109: Break and Enter Carlos’s gaze was pleased. Purple Vortex’s Dark Purple Force Field was absolutely perfect for taking fragile skeleton soldiers to farm monsters. As long as its internal Psionic Energy didn’t run out, no monsters could possibly threaten the fragile skeleton soldiers. After giving Purple Vortex another approving look, wings flapping, Carlos took off and left... Finally, he found a flat sandy area nearby and landed. He summoned the Tulip Shield Guard and the twenty-sixth skeleton soldier, ordering the Tulip Shield Guard to teach the skeleton soldier bone swordsmanship. Then he flew back to the nest area to keep watch... ... Night fell, blood-colored moonlight illuminating the desert. In front of the several hundred meter tall Mineral Ant nest, the speed of Mineral Soldier Ant squads emerging had noticeably slowed down. Carlos had a busy night. He first sublimated the twenty-sixth skeleton soldier, who had learned bone swordsmanship, into Tulip Sword Guard #2. Then he retrieved the twenty-seventh skeleton soldier with abundant soul fire from the seventh luring pit. He arranged for Tulip Sword Guard #2 to teach it bone swordsmanship. After it learned, Carlos immediately sublimated it. The third Tulip Sword Guard was born. Then he deployed both Tulip Sword Guards to two different luring pits to continue accumulating death energy for their next sublimation. After finishing these tasks, he flew back near the nest to continue keeping watch. ... "Almost there, almost there." In mid-air, Carlos drank a stimulating potion and pulled himself together, muttering. ... The blood-colored moonlight faded, warm sunlight enveloped everything, and a new day arrived. Carlos’s gaze was somewhat glazed as he continued monitoring the Mineral Ant nest. At this time, it had been over an hour since the last Mineral Soldier Ant squad exited the tunnel, but the next squad had yet to emerge. "What’s this?" Carlos’s mouth curved up as he immediately flew a circle around the Mineral Ant nest. Near all the nest’s entrances and exits, there were no traces of Mineral Soldier Ant squads. Only some weak Worker Ants continued secreting liquid to reinforce the nest. Carlos’s eyes showed a hint of joy. This meant the Mineral Soldier Ant squads inside the Mineral Ant nest had been mostly lured and killed. His first-stage objective was finally achieved. It also meant Carlos didn’t have to... didn’t have to continue this mind-numbing monitoring! He briefly checked his Spiritual Essence accumulation: [Spiritual Essence: 4657/14000] The accumulation toward his next advancement exceeded one-third. "Perfect, finally able to..." Although the first stage went exactly according to Carlos’s plan, successfully luring out and wiping out most Mineral Soldier Ant squads from the nest on schedule, now wasn’t the time to relax. Carlos had to take advantage of the window when the Mineral Ant Queen hadn’t yet realized most of her Mineral Soldier Ants were missing. He had to immediately break into the nest’s depths, giving her no time to react and escape. "Glug glug glug!" Carlos downed several alchemical potions in succession, forcibly suppressing his mental fatigue. Crimson-gold wing bones flapped as he quickly flew to each major luring pit, recalling all shield guards, Purple Vortex, and sword guards. The entire process was completed without landing, lightning fast. Then he quickly flew back near the Mineral Ant nest, deploying shield guards at twenty-four carefully selected nest entrances. "Attack inside at full speed!" "Creak!" "Creak!" "..." Twenty-four shield guards raised their heavy giant shields and charged into the dim nest through various entrances... Simultaneously, Carlos gave Purple Vortex a separate order: "Purple Vortex, go!" The entrance before Purple Vortex was the largest, representing Carlos’s special expectations for it. "Roar!" Looking at the other companions’ small entrances, Purple Vortex got the picture. It roared excitedly in response, explosions erupting beneath its feet as it hurriedly charged into the entrance... "Second stage, let’s roll!" After arranging everything, Carlos quickly flew toward the nest’s peak... At the nest’s peak, from here he could overlook the entire nest. If the Mineral Ant Queen managed to escape, he could respond immediately. ... Through Purple Vortex’s sensory vision, Carlos clearly saw the damp passages inside were completely empty of ants. The situation matched his expectations—all shield guards temporarily encountered no monsters. One minute, two minutes, three minutes... The path remained completely clear. This differed somewhat from Carlos’s expectations. However, it was a good difference. Originally Carlos estimated there would be some ordinary Mineral Soldier Ants remaining in the nest. But from current appearances, not a single ordinary Mineral Soldier Ant remained—he had lured and killed them all completely. ... The nest’s core area was a massive space. At the space’s center was a raised platform. On the platform lay a fat monster bug over 40 feet long. The monster bug was entirely white, covered in layers of translucent hardened keratin that gleamed with mineral light. Through the translucent keratin, its soft internal organs were visible. Its abdominal end was incredibly bloated and abnormally greasy. A pile of obviously freshly laid ant eggs was stacked around the abdomen, not yet moved for incubation. Suddenly, it yawned slightly, its six pairs of tightly closed compound eyes slowly opening. "?" Turning its head slightly, it saw the stacked ant eggs. It was precisely because the stacked ant eggs had touched its tail end that the Mineral Ant Queen awakened from slumber. Immediately ticked off. What was going on? What were the soldiers doing? Why weren’t the laid eggs promptly sent to the incubation area! The Mineral Ant Queen was steaming mad, letting out roars. Nearby guards hurried forward, awaiting the Mineral Ant Queen’s instructions. Ordinary Mineral Soldier Ants were responsible not only for outer area defense but also egg incubation... While Mineral Soldier Ant Guards, in the current stage, only handled core area protection duties. Ignoring the guards, the Mineral Ant Queen issued successive urgent signals, beginning to summon the nest’s Mineral Soldier Ants... Time passed minute by minute, but not a single ordinary Mineral Soldier Ant appeared before it. "???" Even more bizarre, within the Mineral Ant Queen’s perception range, there were no information fluctuations from any ordinary Mineral Soldier Ants—only signals from the guards. Had all its soldiers gone out hunting? It was now completely baffled. What had happened? It had only taken a nap, and the outer army of seven thousand had all vanished? Moreover, the Mineral Ant Queen hadn’t received any danger signals. Sensing something wrong, it hurriedly ordered some Mineral Soldier Ant Guards to go out and find where its seven thousand soldiers had gone. Just then, urgent creaking sounds came from over ten passages, approaching from far away... "?" The Mineral Ant Queen was just about to order the guards to investigate when "Boom!" Suddenly, over ten red figures violently charged out! They landed directly in the core area, cold killing intent descending! Enemies! Enemies! To protect the Mineral Ant Queen’s absolute safety, the Mineral Soldier Ant Guards immediately surrounded them. Battle was about to break loose! "Crack!" "Slash!" "..."