“Okay, Hai-ge, I’ll go get it now,” Zhou Qi said, hanging up the phone with an excited expression.
The Army Ant Queen would undoubtedly be much stronger than the Digging Ant Queen.
Zhou Qi drove hastily towards the city.
He arrived outside Li Ruhai’s Insect Home shop about half an hour later.
“Hai-ge, I’ve been looking forward to this, where are the Materials?” Zhou Qi asked impatiently as soon as he got out of the car.
“Here, it’s already prepared for you,” Li Ruhai said with a smile, pointing to a small glass box behind him.
Zhou Qi quickly walked forward.
He saw an Army Ant Queen several times the size of a regular Army Ant, as large as a plump red date.
Its brownish-black shell was hard, its head was small, and its compound eyes were shiny black. Its thick abdomen was covered in short hairs, a clear contrast to its tiny legs.
Its initial size was already comparable to a Five-Tier Bullet Ant; who knew how strong it would be after enhancement.
Zhou Qi thanked Li Ruhai, then carried the glass box and placed it in his passenger seat.
He pressed the accelerator and headed back towards the farm.
As soon as he arrived at the farm, Zhou Qi eagerly took the glass box into the breeding shed.
Locking the door from the inside, Zhou Qi took out the Army Ant Queen.
He glanced at his current Evolution Points: 11,700 points.
“Ding, consuming 5 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a One-Order Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Elementary intimacy with the One-Order Army Ant Queen.”
The Army Ant Queen’s size surged, doubling to 10 centimeters.
… …
“Ding, consuming 50 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a Second-Order Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Advanced intimacy with the Second-Order Army Ant Queen.”
After the enhancement, Zhou Qi stopped his plans for further upgrades.
Because the Army Ant Queen was now 20 centimeters long, and if its size doubled with each tier, it would reach 1.6 meters at the Fifth-Tier.
This growth was too terrifying; there was no place to hide it.
At this moment, Zhou Qi suddenly thought of the cave in White Snake Mountain, which was uninhabited.
He could bring the Army Ant Queen there, which would be perfect for exploring the bottomless underground tunnels inside.
The time was not yet ripe; Zhou Qi planned to wait until he accumulated over 50,000 Evolution Points, enough to enhance the Army Ant Queen to the Fifth-Tier in one go, before setting off.
The next day.
October 4, 2016.
Evolution Points: 17,600 points. (Subsequent numbers will be rounded.)
On this new day, Zhou Qi looked at the log displayed on the light screen; he was still a ways off from his target of over 50,000 points.
Zhou Qi answered a call from the delivery person, who said the items he bought had arrived at the entrance.
By the gate, he saw several large cardboard boxes.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the Yellow Mealworms and some Materials and equipment he had ordered online.
Zhou Qi began moving them one by one into the large shed, then unpacking and assembling them.
Before long.
A total of 3 stands were completed, neatly arranged on the left side of the shed, with 27 wooden breeding boxes stacked layer by layer on the stands.
Zhou Qi opened several bags containing Yellow Mealworms larvae, and dense, maggot-like Yellow Mealworms continuously squirmed inside the bags.
Anyone with trypophobia would probably faint at the sight of this.
Zhou Qi took a deep breath, lifted the bags, and, as instructed by the seller, placed the larvae into the breeding boxes.
Approximately 5,000-10,000 larvae per square meter; these 10,000 larvae fit into two feed boxes.
After pouring them in, he shoveled a scoop of wheat bran into the two feed boxes.
Later, as the larvae grew, they would need to be re-boxed, and insect droppings would need to be sieved out every 7 days.
Then, feed would be added according to the larvae's consumption, and when they became adults and laid eggs, they would need to be collected promptly…
Zhou Qi handed all these tasks over to the 10 Five-Tier Ants he had previously enhanced.
Their daily tasks would be feeding and cleaning, allowing him to be a hands-off manager.
Zhou Qi began calculating the harvest. According to the information provided by the seller, these were all high-aged larvae about to pupate.
If the pupation rate was 80%, the pupa eclosion rate was 90%, and the adult male-female ratio was 1:1.
And if the adults began laying eggs and successfully hatched within one month, with each pair of adults producing an average of 30 eggs per day and an 80% hatching rate.
Then the number of larvae produced within one month (30 days) could be approximately 2,592,000!
Even if calculated at 0.1 Evolution Point per larva, that would still yield over 200,000 Evolution Points! Zhou Qi couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.
——————
October 5, 2016.
Evolution Points: 24,680 points.
October 6, 2016.
Evolution Points: 32,070 points.
As the Five-Tier Ant Queen continuously reproduced, the number of One-Order Ants also increased, and the Evolution Points gained also rose steadily…
October 9, 2016.
Evolution Points: 64,680 points.
Early in the morning, Zhou Qi saw that his Evolution Points had finally met the standard, and he couldn't help but grin. It wasn't easy, truly not easy.
After a simple breakfast, Zhou Qi packed the Five-Tier Annam Centipede and the Second-Order Ant Queen into his backpack.
“Why are you running to the mountain every day now?” Zhou Ruhai asked Zhou Qi, annoyed.
“Dad, I’m imitating Xu Xiake, traveling through mountains and rivers.”
Saying that, Zhou Qi darted away towards the path.
As before, 10 Five-Tier Bullet Ants and thousands of One-Order Ants scouted ahead, checking for danger.
Large beasts were rare on the mountain, but various venomous insects were everywhere.
Zhou Qi stayed behind, prioritizing safety above all else.
“Woo-wah,” the branches swayed, and a few leaves fell on Zhou Qi’s head.
A small macaque chattered in the tree.
The Five-Tier Annam Centipede poked its head out of the backpack, emitting a dangerous “hissing” sound.
Zhou Qi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, stuffing it back in. He couldn't kill the macaque just because it chattered a few times.
Enhanced insects were too bloodthirsty, or perhaps their innate genes simply didn't include peaceful coexistence.
After walking for a while, he reached Xiao Xi.
The One-Order Ants huddled together, forming basketball-sized spheres, and rolled directly across Xiao Xi.
Zhou Qi pushed aside the bushes covering the cave entrance, creating an opening for him to pass through, and then entered the cave.
The cave was pitch black, without a trace of sunlight.
Zhou Qi turned on his powerful flashlight, put down his backpack, and took out the Second-Order Army Ant Queen.
“Ding, consuming 500 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a Third-Order Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Elementary loyalty with the Third-Order Army Ant Queen.”
The Army Ant Queen’s size reached 40 centimeters, comparable to an adult house cat.
“Ding, consuming 5,000 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a Fourth-Order Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Advanced loyalty with the Fourth-Order Army Ant Queen.”
The Army Ant Queen’s size surged again, reaching 80 centimeters, completely comparable to a large dog.
“Ding, consuming 50,000 Evolution Points, the Army Ant Queen has evolved into a Five-Ranked Army Ant Queen. Congratulations to the host for obtaining undying loyalty from the Five-Ranked Army Ant Queen.”