LRAB Chapter 77: A Turn of Fortune
Chapter 77: A Turn of Fortune
"Little guy!"
As Ye Zhi stepped out of the nest, she saw Zuo Wang Qing Yuan walking towards her, followed by a large, slender worker ant carefully carrying a small spider silk bag.
"The divine seed you discovered has been successfully harvested." Qingyuan waved its antennae, and the worker ants behind it put down a bag of spider silk and handed it to Ye Zhi.
At the end of Ye Zhi's abdomen, a strand of ant silk was drawn out. She took the spider silk bag, opened the bag with a hiss, and used her compound eyes and mental power to look inside. Inside the bag, a plump pitcher plant seed with dark red primal force patterns was lying quietly at the bottom.
"It looks like... a comprehensive system enhancement type?" Ye Zhi scanned the area with her mental energy, observing the subtle fluctuations flowing along the primal force patterns, and spoke uncertainly.
"That's right, the comprehensive system should be an enhancement for the digestive system. It's a pretty good type of enhancement for ants. Little guy, you're really lucky."
The rating of a God-given Seed is mainly based on three aspects: yield, types of enhancement effects, and original energy quality. If all three are good, it can be called a "triple-excellent" top-tier God-given Seed.
This unknown pitcher plant's divinely bestowed seed has a good enhancement effect and the yield should be acceptable. However, since it hasn't undergone insect-based selective breeding, the quality is somewhat inferior. But after all, it's a divinely bestowed seed that produces Force food, so there's no worry about selling it.
Ye Zhi closed the spider silk bag, then wrapped the ant silk rope around it and tied the opening tightly again. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked:
"King Qingyuan, what's happening in your territory? Those worker ants seem quite excited?"
"Oh, some worker ants have also discovered the emerging divine seed—a platinum grapefruit seed! The ant king is personally leading the worker ants to guard it!"
Another divinely bestowed seed! And it's a top-tier tree that the tree ant kingdom once cultivated!
Platinum Grapefruit seems to be a hybrid of grapefruit and purebred pomelo. Its enhancement effect is still to enhance the absorption of Force food. By standard, it is definitely a triple-excellence. Ye Zhi felt that the unknown pitcher plant divine seed in her hand suddenly lost its appeal.
However, he also knew that the divine seed was found by the King of the Citrus Ants in the citrus grove he managed, and that he, as an "elder," did indeed need a divine seed.
"That's wonderful! The Black Ant King can now nurture a divinely bestowed seed." Ye Zhi's antennae swayed, conveying her congratulatory mental energy.
"Little guy, the Ant King also asked me to tell you that after the God-given Seed is harvested, it will begin preparing to evolve into a second-instar lord. During this time, the ant colony may experience a brief period of loss of control, so don't run around."
Ye Zhi tapped his antennae. He had a higher level of control over the worker ants than the average ant king. Even when his main body was in a dormant state of evolution, he could still maintain command over the worker ants. He had never actually seen what would happen to the worker ants during the evolutionary breakthrough of an average ant king.
It's a pity that my plan to continue exploring the new continent will have to be postponed a bit, until the King Ant successfully evolves into the second-instar lord stage.
"Well then, King Qingyuan, I'll go back to my nest first to prepare to cultivate the special larvae and nurture this pitcher plant's divinely bestowed seed as soon as possible."
"Okay, go ahead, I'll bring you some food later." Qingyuan waved its tentacles to say goodbye to Yezhi, then burrowed into its nest, seemingly preparing to retrieve some raw stones to replenish the primal energy of the platinum grapefruit seed that was growing there.
......
In fact, relatively speaking, eusocial insects such as ants, bees, and termites have a much higher proportion of queen ants or queen bees possessing the divinely bestowed seed of destiny than ordinary insect warriors, due to the larger scale of their colonies and the fact that there are only one or two fully-powered life forms capable of giving birth to the seed.
According to the King of Ants, most ant and bee tribes search for divinely bestowed seeds by cultivating a large area of trees. Every year, during the corresponding planting and fruiting season, the King leads a large team of worker ants or professional bees to collect all the seeds within the area to determine whether they are divinely bestowed seeds.
A massive swarm of worker ants and bees searches relentlessly, ensuring that any divinely gifted seed will be virtually undetectable. For the citron queen ant to be completely devoid of divinely gifted seeds is, in a sense, exceptionally unlucky...
Fortunately, things have turned around for them. They discovered a top-tier divinely bestowed seed with superior quality, yield, and enhancement effects, making Ye Zhi feel that the future of the Tree Ant Kingdom is even brighter.
But right now, the most important thing is still his divinely bestowed seed. Ye Zhi gripped the small spider silk bag tightly with all six limbs and flew all the way to his main peak nest chamber.
Upon entering the nest chamber, Ye Zhi used her spatial energy to command several large worker ants to quickly step forward, take the spider silk bag from Ye Zhi's claws, raise their abdomens, and spray out ant silk, firmly binding the spider silk bag to Ye Zhi's ant silk cushion.
Lying on the soft cushion, Ye Zhi directed a large worker ant to come forward and feed her. The spatial energy in Ye Zhi's brain brewed, and the energy and nutrients in her body gathered towards her life sac. A golden egg with a bright white shell and a faint golden luster slowly formed.
A familiar feeling of being emptied out washed over her. Ye Zhi spat out the golden egg, and a specially bred intermediate-stage worker ant took the egg and walked toward the golden egg incubation chamber.
With a sigh, Ye Zhi realized that it was good that the ant colony had grown to a certain size. She controlled the large worker ants, whose abdomens were full of food, to come forward and feed her, continuing to replenish their energy and lay the second golden egg in the external life sac. Then she flapped her wings and took off, preparing to go and plant the "Chimera".
Skillfully flying to the foot of the mountain ridge at the cave entrance, Ye Zhi dug a hole with its forelimbs, spat out a "Chimera" seed, conveyed a "growth" thought, and then waited silently in place.
......
The cotyledons extend, the main vine spreads, and the broad leaves and insect traps unfold... The main vine quickly grows to a length of more than ten meters, and huge insect traps, each larger than a human head, open up.
"Ye Zhi? You've evolved again?... I feel that the enhancement effect of your life sac on me has weakened."
Before long, the tree spirit's mental fluctuations were transmitted into Ye Zhi's mind. At first, it was excited, but soon it became somewhat depressed.
"It's alright, 'Chimera,' this is just an evolution during its early stages. Once I advance to a high-level warrior, it should still have a good strengthening effect on you."
Ye Zhi comforted it with her mental power, then flapped her wings and took flight, hunting small vertebrates nearby to replenish the "Chimera's" nutrients and help it grow better.
After all that fuss, Zuo Wang Hongyuan arrived with a freshly hunted animal carcass. Ye Zhi cut up a portion to feed the larvae, and threw the rest into the "Chimera" insect trap to continue providing it with nutrients.
After Zuo Wang Hongyuan left, it was already night. Ye Zhi flapped her wings and flew into the nest, resting on the soft ant silk cushion, while continuing to ponder more about her future growth and evolution.