Van Vil was once again short on staff, and whenever that happened, his duties would pile up so much that no matter how hard he tried, he could never finish his farm chores before nightfall. For him, this was the most important time: either to rest or have a meal, if he could find the time. Incredibly, today was one of those rare calm days, so calm that even Van Vil was worried.
"It feels like the calm before the storm."
No sooner had he thought that, when several dwarf boys arrived at the farm's front desk, carrying a strange package and a crumpled letter in the pocket of one particularly dirty and unkempt dwarf child, though he was just a kid.
"We know we're not welcome here, but before you kick all of us dwarves out, we ask that you read this letter."
Val Vil wasn't interested in anyone's business and was about to chase the dwarf boys away when he noticed something seemed to be moving inside the strange package they left on the counter.
"What do you want here? I'm not reading any letter from strangers, nor am I accepting suspicious packages from people I don't know. So, you filthy dwarves, get out of here before my boss shows up and catches you here. He hates you all."
"Alright, Mr. Van Vil," the boys said. "We don't know why, but we were told to do this, and you'll understand the rest. Oh, little queen who rules ten and commands a thousand, order what you will of this man, Van Vil."
"What kind of disrespectful chant is this? Get out, you filthy dwarves! I don't tolerate insults to my person!"
As soon as he finished complaining, the strange package started moving more vigorously, and out of its comfortable spot emerged the queen ant, Florida. Van Vil's eyes widened, and he immediately remembered Florida and her excruciatingly painful bite. Without hesitation, he grabbed the letter from the counter and quickly began reading.
"Wait here for ten minutes, I'll be right back."
He dashed off, stumbling over almost everything in his way, until he reached Joe's house, searching for an old leather suitcase, following all the instructions. In less than ten minutes, the queen ant was joined by a hundred massive ants, all by her side, crawling into the open suitcase filled with clothes.
All the ants, except for Florida, waited for the terrified Van Vil to extend his arm for the queen to climb on, just as the letter described.
Van Vil was terrified as he felt the tingling sensation in his hand, realizing that the huge ant was crawling onto it.
"According to what's written here, the responsible person must carry the queen Florida on their shoulder and must not, under any circumstances, touch her in any way, as it will provoke her, and in defense, she'll deliver a painful bite."
The dwarf boy who seemed to be in charge of the group called the smallest one over and ordered him to carry queen Florida on his shoulder. Despite his fear, the smallest among them immediately volunteered to take her wherever she needed to go. As for the medium-sized leather suitcase, it wasn't too heavy for him, but he estimated it weighed about twenty kilos or more. It was everyone's responsibility to carry it without causing any disturbance.
Under Van Vil's astonished gaze, the dwarf boy effortlessly picked up the suitcase, and they all hurriedly ran off, soon disappearing from Van Vil's sight.
Rereading the letter, he focused on the part where it mentioned a reward, and he smiled. Meanwhile, moments later, the small suitcase was in the possession of little Joe. He paid a few copper coins to the boys, who left shouting with joy, grateful to receive something they hadn't had in a long time.
Opening the suitcase, the dwarf Finerg was startled by the size and number of ants emerging from the clothes. Concerned, he recognized the species of ants before him.
"My dear boy, do you know how dangerous these *Dorylus Efligion Mortalis* can be?"
Smiling, little Joe simply said, "I want to introduce you to someone very special, Mr. Finerg. This is Florida, the queen ant of the *Mortalis*."
Seeing such a dangerous ant in the hands of little Joe, Finerg thought about running away, but observing the boy's calm demeanor, he decided to calm down himself.
"How much do you weigh, Mr. Finerg?"
"Currently, forty kilos, my boy. But why do you ask?"
"Sit on this wooden plank and just point the direction we should follow to find a mini mine."
Finerg complied, sitting calmly on the wooden plank. Soon, he noticed it began to move. Little Joe ran alongside, using his own strength, and more than two kilometers later, they arrived at a place surrounded by trees, with rocks protruding from a few holes in the ground.
The plank stopped, and driven by curiosity, Finerg lifted it, discovering that Joe's ants were transporting him as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
"This tunnel is two hundred meters long and one meter in diameter. It's clogged with pressed stones, work done by slaves under the supervision of noble soldiers. Do you think your ants can do anything here?"
"Per Joe! Analyze this."
⬆️on ⚒📱🔍 [...'..'...'....'...'....'...'...] [Adversity Detection Skill]
[The one hundred ants at their current level would take approximately 2,671 hours (or about 111.3 continuous workdays) to completely clear the two-hundred-meter tunnel, considering excavation and material transport.]
[Conclusion: Project unfeasible. ]
[Opinion: Build a smaller tunnel in parallel.]
Then, little Joe passed the order to queen Florida through the micro screen, and immediately she and the other ants began to dig.
Standing back in fear of stepping on the ants, dwarf Finerg watched in amazement as the young boy commanded these dangerous creatures with such authority. He remembered that they had already collected the chicken coop manure and were probably filled with XP to make everything even more interesting.
⬆️on ⚒📱🔍 [...'..'...'....'...'....'...] [Adversity Detection Skill]
[Each screen ant at its current level gains 0.12 experience per kilogram carried. Therefore:]
[Total experience = 0.12 xp/kg x 3,000 kg of manure = 360 xp.]
[360 xp / 100 ants = 3.6 xp per ant.]
Little Joe smiled, thinking about how many ants would soon be added to his ranks, while Finerg, from a distance, wondered if he had perhaps befriended a powerful and crazy young man.