Chapter 5 Ants Are My Enemies
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【Acacia Fire Ant】
Scientific name: Titanomyrma.
Measuring about 2 cm in length, these ants have an aggressive nature.
Despite being larger than most ants, their numbers are relatively low. However, their formic acid is much stronger than that of regular ants, making them formidable opponents.
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Formic acid?
I quickly pushed aside the leaves and dodged.
Ssssss.
The branch where I had been standing sizzled slightly.
Damn it.
Seeing the smoke, I knew that if I got hit directly by that, it wouldn’t just be painful.
Fortunately, it seemed like the ant couldn’t use its formic acid repeatedly.
I attacked swiftly while it was regrouping.
Despite being larger than other ants, it meant nothing in front of me.
It wasn’t much different from dealing with aphids.
Crunch!
The one I stepped on was crushed, and I swallowed the remaining ants whole.
Ants were still ants.
But it wasn’t time to relax.
Ants communicated through pheromones. If this one left a mark, a swarm of ants would come.
Hoping it hadn’t released any pheromones, I activated Sprint.
The wind’s energy enveloped my body.
Having reached level 6, I was much stronger than before.
I ran on the branch at an unrelenting speed.
It might have looked like I was just running back and forth, but it was incredibly effective.
Pop, pop, pop.
The ants I stepped on burst open.
Soon, I had killed all the ants that had locked eyes with me.
If that had been the end of it, I would have felt great.
I would have slept soundly, thinking I got free experience points and a tangy midnight snack.
But the commotion wasn’t over yet.
【Acacia Fire Ant LV3】
【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】
【Acacia Fire Ant LV2】
…….
A black wave appeared.
Ants were swarming over the branch. There were so many that it was hard to count.
Easily more than dozens, maybe even hundreds.
The scariest part was that this wasn’t the end. More and more ants were climbing up the trunk of the tree.
It was impossible to count them all.
No one can fight against such overwhelming numbers.
Even if I killed one ant with each hit, it was impossible to handle that many.
If even one out of ten ants managed to shoot formic acid before dying, I would be drenched in it and die.
Only one word flashed in my mind.
Escape.
The best way was to leave this place.
There was no reason to defend this place. I had built a good nest, but I wasn’t that attached to it. My life was more important.
But escaping was impossible too.
Ant fluids were smeared all over me.
Even if I ran, they would chase me until the end.
There was only one option left for me.
I had to defeat them all.
But that was realistically impossible.
A level 6 gecko couldn’t handle it.
The black wave was right in front of me.
There wasn’t much time to think.
‘…Sprint.’
Once again, the wind’s energy enveloped my body.
I ran towards them at full speed.
It was do or die.
Many ants died under my feet.
The more I ran, the slower my speed became. The ants, even in death, sunk their jaws into my legs. Shaking them off delayed my speed.
The ants intertwined their bodies, forming a natural barricade.
It seemed they noticed I was trying to escape.
But if they thought such a low barrier could stop me, they were wrong.
I strengthened my thighs, took a posture to minimize air resistance, and leaped forward.
Swoosh.
I was a flying lizard.
I successfully leaped over the ant barricade as if I was flying.
Goodbye, ants.
I glanced back slightly.
Surprisingly, they began crossing over to where I was.
Using their bodies to make bridges, they crossed without jumping.
Unbelievable.
They must have thought it was an efficient method.
It was indeed effective. Seeing such a large number of enemies crossing at once would make anyone want to flee.
But my blood was cold. Instead of panicking, I thought about the most efficient course of action.
I carefully observed the ants climbing over each other.
The moment the leading ants reached the branch I was on, I jumped and swung my thick tail.
Smash!
They were literally smashed. By breaking the middle of the bridge, many ants fell to the ground. They probably weren’t dead, but it would be hard for them to return to the battlefield anytime soon.
I continued to obstruct their movement.
Whenever they built a bridge, I destroyed it.
But they seemed to learn and started making thinner bridges with more numbers. I couldn’t destroy all the bridges alone.
Without hesitation, I moved.
My plan was just beginning.
The ants aggressively charged.
Their jaws grazed my skin, and formic acid seeped in through the cracks.
It stung a lot. If I stopped moving, I would die a horrible death.
I swung my tail to prevent them from clinging to me.
I slightly lifted my head and looked at the place I had planned from the beginning.
Adjusting my speed to avoid being noticed, I lured the ants.
“Screech!”
The place I lured them to was Nephila Jurassica’s nest.
The spider looked confused by my sudden appearance and the swarm of ants.
But that was only for a moment. Realizing that its food was being stolen and its nest threatened, it swung its long legs into a battle stance.
The ants were the same. Though they seemed confused by the sudden appearance of a powerful enemy, they charged at the spider after seeing the aphid carcasses scattered around.
Of course, some still came at me. But they were very few.
They left only a minimal force to deal with me, while the majority headed towards the spider web.
The ants instinctively knew that dealing with the suspiciously large spider was more urgent than a single gecko.
“Screech!”
I sighed in relief.
I praised myself for not attacking Nephila Jurassica.
If I had fought it, I would have been dead in three seconds.
The spider’s strength was overwhelming.
Crunch!
Even a slight touch from its long legs sliced ants in half.
Plus, it had the advantage of being in its own web.
The ants couldn’t even touch the spider and were crushed by its legs.
While dealing with the ants coming at me, I watched the battle unfold.
If things continued like this, the spider would win easily.
Good. I decided to hunt the stragglers and level up.
With that mindset, I loitered around.
But the situation quickly changed.
There were more ants than I had expected.
A massive number of ants swarmed like a black tide.
Though they became the spider’s meal upon touching the web, it didn’t last long.
Once an ant was missed, another would climb over it. Using their comrades’ bodies instead of the sticky web, they approached Nephila.
“Screech!”
The ants, infuriated by their dead aphids, showed no sign of retreat.
They recklessly charged, disregarding their lives.
The spider was fighting incredibly well, but the outcome was clear if this continued.
…Could the spider lose?
I should flee without hesitation.
With the ants’ aggro drawn, I could somehow escape.
If I soaked myself in the pond, the ant fluids would wash off.
I felt sorry for the spider, but it couldn’t be helped.
This was the wild.
I had no luxury to help anyone when my own life was at stake.
…….
“Screech!”
With a brave roar, I ran towards the spider.
Using my tail, I knocked off the ants clinging to its legs. I stomped on an ant preparing to spray formic acid and roared.
“Screech!”
Snap out of it, spider.
If you die, I won’t be able to steal bugs from you.
The ants seemed confused by my sudden intervention.
Nephila Jurassica was no different.
But the confusion didn’t last long.
The ants recognized me as an enemy and attacked.
“Screech!”
Nephila Jurassica blocked them.
It jumped down from its web.
With its long legs, it trampled the approaching ants.
A swarm of ants. And a lone spider and gecko blocking them.
The battle shifted again.
Nephila Jurassica lifted one leg and lightly touched me.
Even without words, I understood.
‘I haven’t forgiven you yet.’
It must have been like a line from an action movie.
I responded with a raised leg.
I had only one thing to say.
‘Be quiet and here they come…!’
*
The general leading the fire ants, Sharp Jaw, received a certain pheromone signal.
The news was that all their aphids had been killed. Sharp Jaw quickly climbed the tree with his soldiers.
What he found was a single gecko sleeping peacefully.
Sharp Jaw ordered his soldiers to deal with the gecko and went to scout elsewhere. It was an efficient
move. He didn’t think such a gecko could defeat the vanguard.
But that was his mistake.
Returning from his reconnaissance, he saw the vanguard’s corpses.
The gecko, who had been scratching its belly and sleeping, took a strange stance.
Despite its short legs, it was walking on its hind legs.
Moreover, it was incredibly fast.
It taunted and attacked Sharp Jaw’s troops.
It showed intelligence unimaginable for a gecko.
Sharp Jaw was a seasoned general who had experienced countless battles.
He admitted his mistake and decided to split his forces.
Seeing the ants change formation, the gecko immediately fled.
Sharp Jaw was furious. The gecko acted like it was outsmarting the old general. He was enraged, but a commander should not let personal emotions ruin a mission.
Sharp Jaw held back his anger and chased the gecko.
And there, he encountered the queen of the tree.
The one opponent he didn’t want to fight.
But he saw the carcasses of aphids scattered around.
Retreat was not an option.
He prepared for death and threw his troops into the fray.
The once impregnable spider began to falter.
Thinking it was almost over, a peculiar gecko intervened once more.
After knocking off the ants on the spider’s body, the gecko fought alongside it.
Sharp Jaw felt a sense of unease.
This fight seemed harder than any he had faced before.
Even when executing the grand operation of stealing Oviraptor eggs, or hunting an injured Microraptor, he hadn’t felt this anxious.
As a commander, he had a forbidden thought: this battle might end in defeat.
Sharp Jaw raised his jaw high.
He was an old general. His once-proud jaw had become blunt.
Yet, he remained Sharp Jaw.
His wisdom had grown as his jaw had dulled.
Both the spider and the gecko were formidable in battle. But they weren’t without flaws.
He noticed they weren’t accustomed to each other’s movements.
Discord. The veteran general seized the opportunity.
Sharp Jaw released pheromones to momentarily withdraw his forces.
The two immediately started fighting each other.
With silent movements, he led his elite troops to sneak behind them.
“Screech!”
“Screech!!”
At the peak of their argument, he and his elite troops charged.
It was an opening.
Thwack!
In that instant, his world spun.
What on earth had happened?
His question was short-lived.
His elite troops were flying through the air, sliced into three pieces: head, chest, and abdomen. Sharp Jaw realized he had met the same fate.
“Screech!”
“Screech!”
The spider and the gecko shouted simultaneously.
The ants couldn’t understand their words.
But he could roughly grasp the meaning.
Interference.
They must have said that.
Sharp Jaw’s legs trembled.