The tunnel was like a giant underground web, each tunnel was connecting to the others. Tang Shaoyang was walking around to make sure the tunnels were free of danger.
Even though she was exhausted, the girls did not slack off. She activated [Mana Perception] and meditated. She was recovering and also training to increase her Magic Power at the same time.
During this time, Tang Shaoyang was wandering around in the Scorched Ant's nest. Even though they were underground, the air was warm and he could feel the flow of a wind traveling through the tunnel.
Tang Shaoyang was curious where this warm air came from, but he did not dare to wander too far. He had to guard Li Na, just in case, there was still the Scorched Ant remnant.
Li Na seemed to be uncomfortable that he was on guard because of her. After an hour of resting, she got up, "I have recovered, let's go!"
Tang Shaoyang felt her reaction was normal since he was his superior, but he could not help but to tease her, "Where are we going?"
The objective was asking them to survive, staying here for forty days was also an option. Basically, they did not have a destination to go to. Li Na quickly realized that, and she immediately lowered her head embarrassedly.
"Alright, we will stay here for the time being," Tang Shaoyang found a spot to sit on. He rested his back against the hard wall, "Do you get the food?"
Early in the morning, the women in the camp were making food for their husbands and the others. Elin and Delia were the ones who initiated the idea as the two wanted to prepare the food for him. Even though the good was meant for three days only, they still wanted to make it for him.
In the end, they made a lot of food for the others too. Everyone had their share of food for three days, so Elin quickly established her position within the camp. She successfully blended with the women from the Earth.
When he brought the topic, Li Na's expression became dejected. The fact that the other girls could be more useful than her, it discouraged her. But she still nodded her head.
"Then let's eat first, we will decide what we will do after we eat," Tang Shaoyang took out his lunch box from his inventory. To get this lunch box, the group of women looted all the houses, using everything they could use to pack the food for their husbands.
Li Na was still standing, her eyes were moving around. But her eyes always stopped at the spots near Tang Shaoyang. She wanted to sit near him, but she did not have the courage to do so. In the end, she sat three meters to Tang Shaoyang's left. Not too far but too near too.
'I hope he does not take me as a weirdo,' she was overthinking because the man was busy wolving down his food. It did not take him that long to finish his food.
'No, Li Na, you have to act bolder! This your chance, a golden chance! You can't waste your chance like this! You should sit next to him!'
'No, Li Na! You have to take this slowly or he may think of you cheaply. If he looks down on you, your chance will be gone forever!'
'No, Li Na! Do you forget what Origin told you? You have to take the initiative to get closer, or he may never look at you! You should make your move, don't wait for him or you will regret it!'
'No, Li Na! You have to take this slowly. You don't have a good body like his girls. If he rejects your advance, your chance will be over forever!'
Of course, Tang Shaoyang was oblivious to the girl's thoughts. He was listening to the conversation between Zowen, Karan, and Malki. The two mischievous spirits were teaching the pure Malki about the world.
He was amused by their conversation, especially Malki who acted like an innocent boy. He was not going to interfere as long as the two did not teach the Fire Ant Emperor something bad.
Tang Shaoyang and Li Na stayed there for another two hours. He was letting the girl get rest and also waiting for Moon to recover too. Without Moon, the girl would have a hard time fighting another swarm.
"Alright," Tang Shaoyang stood up and stretched up his body, "Let's go explore the nest, maybe we can find a treasure or something."
Li Na opened her eyes, she was casting [Magic Perception]. She filled her time with training, no slacking for her.
"W-where are we going?" Without Moon, Li Na became stiff again around Tang Shaoyang.
He and Li Na were standing on three-way paths. She was asking the direction where they should go since she was ignorant of the path-finding work.
"Follow me!" Tang Shaoyang was taking the left path immediately. To Li Na, it was as if he knew the interior of the nest and knew the right path.
Of course, Tang Shaoyang knew nothing about the path in the nest. He was following the warm flow in this ant nest. He was following where the warmest air came from, hoping to find the core of the nest where the Queen Ant resided. If there was a treasure in this nest, then the treasure should be near the Boss.
Li Na at first could not tell that the man was following the warm flow in the tunnel. But soon she realized that as the air was getting hotter. Sweat started to form on her forehead.
An hour, it took them an hour to find the source of the warm flow. It was a massive underground cave filled with hot steam. Yes, all the tunnels were leading to this place, the core of the nest.
Even without the fire spear, Li Na could see the surroundings clearly. Many stones were glowing in red, it was like steel burned by fire, that kind of red. The stones were sticking to the wall and the roof of the cave. Not only were they glowing, but these stones were also the source of the hot steam. There were a lot of them, filling the wall and roof that brightened the massive cave.
However, the ground was free of those stones for some reason. Only the wall and the roof.
Tang Shaoyang extended his hand, signaling the girl to stop, and asked her, "Has Moon recovered yet?" Through his [Dragon Eyes], he could see many gigantic ants that were bigger than the ants they encountered on the surface.
She was quick to realize what happened, Li Na immediately contacted Moon through her connection, "Have you recovered yet, Moon?" She asked the Mystical Bear with a concerned tone.
—I am ready for another round of battle, Master! Don't worry, your summon is stronger than you thought!
Moon instantly replied as soon as he heard the call.
"Are you sure? You sound still exhausted," Li Na was not easily fooled by her summon.
Since Li Na spoke out aloud, Tang Shaoyang could hear the conversation. Even though he could only hear Li Na's voice, he could know the whole situation. Moon had not recovered yet.
"It's okay if Moon has not recovered yet, I have my spirits to take care of them," as they were conversing, the occupant of the massive underground cave revealed themselves.
A row of two meters tall Scorched Ant came out of the hot steam. Their whole bodies were releasing the hot steam just like those stones. These ants looked furious at him and Li Na, he could perceive their emotion for some reason, 'maybe because of my high Sense.'
Soon he realized that those glowing stones were not stones. Those glowing things were the eggs of the Scorched Ant, "I see, I see. They are angry with us because we entered the forbidden territory, the breeding room."
[Basic Detection]
He did not forget to cast the detection on them.
————————
[Scorched Ant]
Affiliation: Ant Kingdom - Scorched Colony
Evolution: Stage 5
Class: Scorched Guardian
Level: 148
Skill:???
————————
It was the same Scorched Ant, albeit it was a higher-leveled beast and also had a class. He glanced at Li Na, she seemed to be concerned by the power of their enemies.
'Do you ready to fight, Karan? Have you guys recovered?' Tang Shaoyang asked his spirits.
—I am ready for a battle anytime!
As always, when it came to a battle, Karan was the first one to react and the most excited one.
—I don't think I can join the battle, I almost exhausted all my mana before. I can't join the battle with that shitty avatar.
Zowen voiced her reason that she would not be able to join the fight that earned a mock from Karan. The Orc was laughing at her.
—I am ready!
Zaneos gave him a short and firm answer.
'What about you, Malki? Are you ready to join your first battle?' His fifth spirit did not respond to him, he had to call Malki by the name.
—I am at your order, My Lord.
Meanwhile, Li Na was taking out her bow and prepared the short sword too. She was ready to join the battle even without her summon.
"Just stay behind with your bow, my spirits and I will take care of the enemies!" Tang Shaoyang said to her while extending his right forward. He cast [Spirit Avatar] skill to summon Karan, but…
[Skill is in cool down! (19 hours 34 minutes 27 seconds)]
An alert popped out in front of his eyes. This was his first time that he found out the skill had a cooldown. He usually could use the skills consecutively.