I Am the Swarm

Luo Wen led the migrating army to find the safe path they discovered last time. After a little repair, the army set off.

The little black beetles are useless here, so Luo Wen picked some big worker ants and scattered them around the mother nest. Each one bit the corner of the brood, and then all the insects lifted the brood together, and moved it to the cliff little by little.

Rowan walked in the front, he was equivalent to propping up the nest with his body below, and then the seven or eight ants around the nest were responsible for fixing the nest and preventing it from losing balance.

The other bugs also followed up one after another when the brood descended to the cliff.

The swarm moved slowly on the cliff. Rowan used his jaws and digging feet to support the brood, and was under tremendous pressure. Even with his size and thick limbs, he couldn't bear it.

The room leak happened to rain overnight, and when the swarm climbed to the middle of the cliff, the originally mild wind gradually strengthened, and the swarm army began to reduce its personnel.

As the wind gradually strengthened, some ants held pupae or larvae in their mouths and were blown away by the wind. Some simply did not hold on to the cliff by themselves, dropped their hands and fell, and disappeared instantly.

Luo Wen couldn't care about other bugs at this time, and the situation he was facing was also very critical. Two of the ants that were biting the nest were blown away, and there were three ants that were still clinging to the nest with their big teeth, but their bodies were blowing with the wind.

The loss of several ants caused the center of gravity of the mother nest to shift, and the remaining three ants and Rowan could not stabilize the mother nest in the strong wind.

The nest rolled over Rowan's head behind him, his teeth clenched tightly on the nest, trying to grab it. It's a pity that he didn't succeed. Instead, he was hit by the force of the brood's fall and couldn't hold on to the cliff, and was brought down by it.

During the fall, under the action of strong wind, it was blown away from the original direction. Fortunately, the weight of Rowan and the brood was not light, and it was only about 20 meters high. It didn't deviate too much from the intended location until it fell to the grass below.

The grass acted as a great buffer, and the brood itself was also very sturdy, so the fall did not cause any harm to it. And Rowan has already experienced several falls, so of course there will be no problem.

There were still five worker ants biting on the nest, and as they fell together, they were lighter, and apart from being a little confused, they didn't suffer much damage.

Rowan dug a hole with them, first buried the brood, and then began to mark pheromones along the bottom of the cliff to guide the swarm.

It's a pity that until it got dark, only dozens of insects were collected, including two small black beetles, one digging ant, and the others were ordinary worker ants, with a small amount of larvae and pupae.

In desperation, I had to rest on the spot for one night. The next day, after another day of gathering, we found dozens more, and the total of yesterday's was only more than a hundred.

The execution on the cliff this time can be said to have suffered heavy losses. After walking in the desert for a week, only more than a hundred insects were lost. But here on the cliff, hundreds of them were lost in just a short while.

There is no point in continuing to search, but fortunately the brood is intact. After resting for another night, Rowan led the remaining worms to dig out the nest and set foot on the road to the new nest.

The reduction in the number of insects is not all bad, and most of the remaining adults are healthy, with only a small number of larvae and pupae. Rowan dragged the nest in front, under which there were little black beetles and several ants. With a lot less drag, the team's marching speed has been significantly accelerated, and the target is smaller.

Before, he was worried that there would be too many insects, and he would go through several ant nests to reach the middle of them, and it would be difficult to hide. Now there is no such worry at all.

The location of the new lair is not very far from the cliff, only about three or four hundred meters. The streamlined migratory team took a fraction of the time to get there.

On the road, I met a few scout engineers who didn't know which ant nest. After admiring Luo Wen's talent show, they donated their bodies and provided extra meals for the team that hadn't eaten for a long time.

After arriving at the site, Rowan assigned two digging ants to start digging. Except for one on the first day, another one was found on the second day. Other worker ants are responsible for assisting, carrying the dug up soil out of the hole.

And Rowan ran out to surround the location of the new insect nest, changing identities and spreading a circle of pheromones. Mark this area as a no-go area to minimize the chances of scout ants arriving here and preventing them from disturbing the work of the bugs.

After Luo Wen joined, the excavation work of the new nest became faster. At the beginning, he was able to dig out an old nest slowly by himself and dragging a nest. Not to mention that at this time, not only is he several times bigger in size, but he also has dozens of strong helpers.

A mound of soil was slowly built at the entrance of the cave, which was the soil transported out from the passage. Probably because of the proximity to the water source, the soil here is very humid and the underground environment is very humid.

Rowan remembered that when he sneaked into several insect nests nearby, he found that many places in their ant nests were covered with fine sand and wood chips, and he also saw many ants transporting the moldy wood chips in the ant nests out of the hole.

At that time, I didn’t want to understand what was going on, but now it’s my turn to do it myself, and I immediately know the beauty of it. I sigh in my heart that although these ants are very low in intelligence, the long years have taught them some ways to survive. passed down.

These experiences are the crystallization of years. Luo Wen's time as a worm is very short, so absorbing these long-term accumulated experiences is the best way to accumulate foundation.

The pheromone blockade works very well. Until evening, no scout worker ants came here.

At this time, the bugs had already dug a small cave seven or eight meters underground. It's not that I don't want to continue digging deeper, but if I dig any further, water will seep out of the soil, and the soil is not solid enough to be in danger of landslides.

Even the current location of the worm's nest will have to go through a lot of reinforcement work in the later stage, otherwise there will be many safety hazards.

The new worm nest was not yet completed and could not be lived in yet, so Rowan dug a temporary nest at a depth of more than one meter underground, and placed the mother nest in it first.

Even if you encounter danger, you can bury the brood first, and the bugs will disperse and escape to attract attention to ensure the safety of the brood.

Although the probability of being attacked is very low, corresponding security measures must be put in place.

I went around and performed some talents, brought back some spectators to feed the insects, and also fed some of the brood by the way.

The simple insect nest should be able to be dug tomorrow, and it can be temporarily occupied after simple reinforcement. At that time, the mother nest will also start to produce again, and the subsequent reinforcement and expansion of the insect nest, as well as the excavation of the transportation channels connecting the various ant nests, all these projects require a large number of insects to complete.