Upon hearing that the ants were coming, and many of them, Chen Geng, who had just been arrogant, immediately changed his expression. He regretted his earlier arrogance. If Tom deliberately let one or two ants rush to him, he would be doomed.
So Chen Geng quickly grabbed Wu Zun's hand, "Brother Wu, you must make sure they protect us. We've grown up together since childhood. You can't abandon me now."
Wu Zun knew his character well. Although he was angry at Chen Geng's insulting words about his wife earlier, he softened when he thought about his childhood friend of fifty years. He sighed, "Don't worry, they will protect us."
Li Qiang, who was awake nearby, was a bit dazed. After reacting, he immediately grabbed a long needle and ran all the way to the staircase. "What's going on? Is it ants or cockroaches?"
Tom looked solemnly at the gradually emerging black shadows. "It's ants."
Li Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. "That's good, that's good. Old opponents."
"Don't relax. Think about the ants around the queen."
Li Qiang's face immediately fell. The terrifying scene of ants crawling densely in the glass bottle that night was unforgettable to him. "No... Have the ants around here mutated to be so powerful as well?"
Tom shook his head. "I don't know. Look, the leaders are worker ants. That's a good sign."
Number 3 didn't understand. "Why?"
"If the queen intervenes, human flesh will definitely be prioritized for the soldier ants to ensure an increase in their combat power. Seeing that only mutated worker ants are charging ahead, it at least indicates that the queen may not have intervened. The strongest type of ant in the ant colony hasn't been enhanced."
Number 4's voice trembled. Despite rigorous training, no one had ever encountered so many ants crawling towards them. "But... their numbers are too many."
"There are only a few hundred. Not many. A nest of ants must have at least over a thousand to two thousand, some even more than three thousand," Tom said, watching the mutated worker ants approaching. "Number 3, can you accept my battle plan?"
Number 3 didn't hesitate. "You have experience. You command!"
Tom nodded gratefully. In this situation, the worst thing was to have someone who didn't know what they were doing giving orders. "Try to kill the mutated worker ants at the front accurately. Aim for the head; a single shot to the head should be fatal. Make sure to leave some mutated worker ants for me, let them come over."
"Let them come over? Are you crazy?" Number 4 asked in amazement.
Number 3 glared at him. "Obey orders!"
"Yes!"
"I've tried a method before, and it's very effective. If successful, we can find some helpers!" Tom said, already tying the green crystal to his left arm.
Due to differences in body size, mutated worker ants surged forward at the forefront, climbing up step by step. When there were only eight steps left to them, Number 3 promptly ordered, "Single shot mode, free fire!"
The two of them immediately fired steadily. The third shot blew off the head of the worker ant at the front.
With a reference point, their shooting became more accurate. Mutated worker ants fell one after another. If Number 3 hadn't reminded them to leave some alive, Number 4 might have killed all the mutated worker ants he saw.
The first mutated worker ant reached the steps under their feet. Tom jumped down directly, avoiding its bite and pressing its head with one hand. The green crystal activated, invading the worker ant's brain and inputting the simulated pheromones prepared by Tom earlier.
Li Qiang, standing on the steps, held his breath anxiously, fearing that Tom would fail. He could only hold the needle tightly to be ready to jump down and help if something went wrong. Two seconds later, Tom let go, and the mutated worker ant immediately turned its head and stood in formation.
Li Qiang saw this and felt very happy. "It worked! Haha!"
Tom made an OK gesture to Li Qiang. "The queen doesn't have much control. At least we won't die too miserably!" Ants have a very simple way of thinking. If it were cockroaches or something else, it might not be so easy.
Then two worker ants crawled up. Tom immediately approached to delay one of them, while he tamed the other one. Then he turned around and tamed the one he had delayed.
Now they had three tamed mutated worker ants, doubling their fighting units instantly.
With the help of three tamed mutated worker ants, combined with the increasing proficiency of Number 3 and Number 4 in combat, they quickly killed or tamed the mutated worker ants of the ant colony.
By the time the second wave of soldier ants rushed up, Tom had already tamed ten mutated worker ants.
This time, he tried using the autonomous innovation legion ant pheromone mode of the queen. He only needed to release specific instructions to a designated ant, and the leader ant could release a simple pheromone to make other tamed worker ants follow its actions.
There were quite a few soldier ants, and in terms of size, they were as big as the mutated worker ants because they hadn't mutated. In fact, during the initial hatching, it was through the secretion adjustment of the queen that some worker ants were "transformed" into larger and stronger ones, which became the soldier ants.
Most of the time, soldier ants are not responsible for hunting for food; their function is solely to protect the nest from outside invaders. Because there is no intervention from an awakened queen ant, those worker ants who venture out to find food will inevitably choose to consume it on the spot upon encountering humans, then undergo mutation, thus naturally not returning to the nest for consumption by the queen and soldier ants. This is also why Tom's apprehension was alleviated by half upon seeing the first wave of troops.
It should be said that the queen ant in the rented house may have been very lucky to awaken her intelligence very early on, consciously controlling and intervening in the behavior of the ant colony, thus accumulating a large wave of mutant soldier ants. It's just a pity that Tom took decisive action to eliminate the queen ant, preventing the development of that strong ant army.
Back to the battle, as the soldier ants charged forward, one after another fell to headshots. However, unlike the scarce mutant worker ants, the soldier ants were abundant in number. "We can't handle this, there are too many," Number 3 exclaimed, firing two shots.
Tom nodded, tapping his head ant, then turned and leaped up the stairs, with Li Qiang grabbing his hand and pulling him up, followed obediently by the ten mutant worker ants.
The group ran all the way to the makeshift camp, awaiting the arrival of the ant army.
"Have you ever fired a gun?" Number 3 asked Li Qiang, who hesitated for a moment, "No... I haven't... but... I've touched one."
Number 3 pulled out his pistol, released the safety, and handed it to him. "When you see them charging, aim straight ahead, pull the trigger, and remember not to hit our own people!"
"Yes... yes!" Li Qiang grasped the pistol with both hands, fumbling for a moment, then quickly mimicked the posture he had seen on TV, holding it in front of him.
"Open fire!" The two bodyguards continuously fired at the charging soldier ants. It was no longer a time for careful single shots; faced with the densely packed soldier ants, accuracy was not the top priority.
Soldier ants continued to fall, but more kept charging forward. It was like a scene from the movie "Star River Squad," with a few unfortunate people wielding firearms while a tide of insects surged. Despite many ants falling, the onslaught could not be stopped.
"Be alert, I'm about to start!" Tom shouted to Number 3, then instructed Li Qiang, "Pour the alcohol!"
Li Qiang immediately poured the two bottles of Maotai liquor onto the ten mutant ants. Meanwhile, Tom struck a match, held down the head ant, inputted the command to charge at the soldier ants, and then touched the match to its body.
The bodies of the mutated ants were highly flammable. From the outset, Tom had trained the ants not to enhance their combat capabilities, but rather to serve as mobile sources of fire.
The head ant was ignited first. In agony and confusion, it quickly charged forward. Guided by pheromones, the other mutated worker ants were also quickly ignited. Thus, the ten ants, their bodies ablaze, swiftly rushed towards the soldier ant swarm.
"Haha! Just as Zhuge Liang's fire attack broke the army of the southern barbarians' wild beasts, now my Ant Fire Formation will incinerate the army of man-eating ants! Hahaha!"
Tom shook his head. "Don't celebrate too soon. There are too many ants; the fire won't burn them all, and only mutated ants can be ignited. This fire is smaller than any we've set before; it can only slow down the attack and buy us more time."
"What? Then what do we do?" Li Qiang panicked.
"Don't you have a gun? It will come in handy soon. Just be careful not to shoot me!"
Li Qiang gripped the pistol tightly, his face tense and serious. "Okay... I will..."
The ten flaming mutated ants charged into the soldier ant swarm, and the intense fire immediately sent the aggressively approaching soldier ants tumbling, with the two bodyguards ceasing fire to conserve ammunition. Under the blaze, dozens of soldier ants fell, but the ten mutant ants were soon burnt out, and even more soldier ants charged forward.
"Fire!" Number 3 shouted, and the two automatic rifles opened fire in unison. The soldier ants continued to be shot in the head and fell down. However, illuminated by the flickering firelight, all they could see was a dense mass of soldier ants pouring out, which filled them with despair.
Chen Geng was the first to cry out, "Oh my god, so many ants, why hasn't the plane arrived yet? What if it doesn't come? What do we do with so many ants..."
"Shut up!" Wu Zun shouted, silencing him. Now was not the time to let pessimism spread.
When would the Jingwei arrive, and whether it would come at all, everyone had no idea. But at this critical moment, they had to hold on until the end. If they really couldn't hold on, they would have no choice but to grab the fabric and jump down.
Watching the ants getting closer and closer, Tom knew this place was about to fall. "Uncle, you two cut the fabric into six pieces, and if it's not enough, we'll jump down!"
"Okay!"
The soldier ants had already approached, and the two bodyguards had no choice but to put away their automatic rifles and switch to pistols and daggers for close combat, while Tom drew his large knife and charged forward.
With his protective gear, it was impossible for the unmutated soldier ants to harm him fatally. With a 4.5-fold increase in strength, Tom could smash a soldier ant's head with a single blow of his knife or fist.
However, ants were communal creatures, and even insects much larger than themselves ultimately succumbed to their swarming attacks.
Moreover, despite his current size, Tom was only about one and a half times larger than the soldier ants. Despite killing many, he couldn't withstand the continuous onslaught of soldier ants. While his vulnerable points were protected by armor, the unprotected areas were quickly bitten.
Soldier ants have mandibles that secrete venom; once they bite their prey, they immediately secrete acidic venom that has a narcotic effect on the prey's nervous system.
At this point, Tom's wounds, in addition to bleeding, also had a sensation like being bitten by mosquitoes—itchy and painful.
The ants' desire for gems outweighed their craving for human flesh, and with Tom now wearing a large crystal, radiating light and with his hands glowing, he was a double temptation—flesh and gem—drawing the most ants.
Not only Tom but the two bodyguards were also injured, and Li Qiang, who had fired several shots, was also bitten. He shouted, "It hurts so much, and it itches! Am I poisoned?"
"Tom, the fabric is ready; let's parachute!" Wu Zun shouted from behind, while Chen Geng had already grabbed a piece of fabric and jumped down without waiting for orders.
As Tom fought back while retreating, everyone stood on the edge, waiting for him to jump with them. He kicked away a soldier ant, picked up the fabric, and was about to shout to jump
when he saw two red lines flash in the distance.
A familiar sense of crisis surged up, as if he had seen a flash of yellow in the light.
He quickly shouted, "No! Don't jump! It's Ah Huang! Ah Huang is down there!"