In front, there was a 'hotbed' of animal waste from the breeding farm.
Behind, there was a mountain range with abundant natural resources.
This was exactly the ideal place Zhou Qi had envisioned for early-stage development!
Zhou Qi had the Queen Ant start digging a hole to hide under a small dirt mound on the border of White Snake Mountain, about 200 meters from their family's breeding farm.
The surrounding area was dense with trees, and fallen leaves covered the ground, perfectly concealing the location.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Zhou Qi left after the Queen Ant had dug a hole large enough to conceal herself.
A few days later, it happened to be the National Day holiday.
Since there wasn't much going on at the pig farm, Zhou Qi told Zhou Haidong that he was going out to play for two days.
Today, Zhou Qi planned to visit the city's flower and bird market to see if there were any rare insects.
The local insect species in Zhongyuan Province were too few; many fierce and powerful insects could only be found in tropical climates.
Before leaving, Zhou Qi first came to the Queen Ant's location, which Zhou Qi had now named No. 1 Base.
As soon as Zhou Qi arrived next to the small dirt mound, teams of First-Tier Ants emerged from the leaves under his feet; these were all recently bred by the Queen Ant.
Each one was about the size of a small soybean.
Thousands of them, densely packed around the small dirt mound, as if holding a welcoming ceremony for their master's arrival.
Zhou Qi looked at the Evolution Points accumulated over several days; they had just Breakthrough 10,000 points, and he immediately couldn't wait to upgrade the Evolution Space.
Immediately.
“Upgrade Evolution Space.”
“Ding! Evolution Space has been upgraded to Rank 2 Evolution Space. Congratulations, Host, the Evolution Space's radiation range has increased to a two-kilometer radius.”
“Ding! Rank 2 Evolution Space has successfully unlocked the Vassal Panel.”
“Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have obtained one evolution origin point, which can be placed anywhere. Evolution Points can also be harvested within a two-kilometer radius near the evolution origin point.”
The Evolution Space's notification sounds kept ringing.
“This Rank 2 Evolution Space has too many functions,” Zhou Qi said, widening his eyes as he looked at the light screen.
The area for collecting Evolution Points increased, and a new evolution origin point was added, meaning that in addition to his current location, he could also set up a new base.
As he spoke, Zhou Qi silently willed the evolution origin point to appear, and in an instant, a brilliant spherical object the size of a glass bead appeared in Zhou Qi's palm.
Then Zhou Qi took the evolution origin point and came to the small dirt mound.
“Place it here,” Zhou Qi murmured.
The evolution origin point slowly sank into the ground, as if merging with the earth.
“Ding! Please name this evolution origin point.” The Evolution Space's notification sound rang out.
“Name it No. 1 Base!”
Zhou Qi looked at the light screen, then at the swarms of First-Tier Ants near the small dirt mound, and also at the Five-Tier Queen Ant inside the hole.
He then glanced at the newly added Vassal Panel on the light screen and immediately opened it.
Apostle: Five-Tier Ants
Rank: Ordinary Lifeform
Species: Digging Ant
Gene: Elementary Ant Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based Life
Talents:
2-Star Talent: Ant Strength
1-Star Talent: Ant King Summon
Life Strength: 0.3.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Apostle: Five-Ranked Cockroach
Rank: Ordinary Lifeform
Species: Black-breasted Cockroach
Gene: Elementary Cockroach Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based Life
Talents:
2-Star Talent: Cockroach Body
1-Star Talent: Elementary Defense Enhancement, Cockroach Conscription
Life Strength: 1.5
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Apostle: Five-Tier Mosquito
Rank: Ordinary Lifeform
Species: Asian Tiger Mosquito
Gene: Elementary Mosquito Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based Life
Talents:
2-Star Talent: Blood Drain
1-Star Talent: Fast Movement, Proboscis Enhancement, Mosquito Conscription
Life Strength: 0.8
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Apostle: Five-Tier Queen Ant
Rank: Compound Lifeform (Mother Insect-Level Life)
Species: Digging Ant
Gene: Elementary Queen Ant Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based Life
Talents:
4-Star Talent: Super Body Reproduction
3-Star Talent: Mental Network, Thought Imprint, High-Speed Growth
2-Star Talent: Advanced Nesting, Advanced Defense Enhancement
Life Strength: 5.5
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Zhou Qi looked at the attribute panels of each Vassal and directly stated that the Queen Ant was over-spec.
According to the light screen's prompt, only Mother Insect-level creatures would display as Compound Lifeform.
Ordinary creatures had their own set of evolution routes.
“The Queen Ant's Life Strength is even higher than mine,” Zhou Qi exclaimed.
According to the light screen, Life Strength represents a comprehensive measure of a lifeform's various attributes.
It doesn't mean that 1 point is ten times 0.1 points, but rather that it increases geometrically, sometimes reaching differences of dozens of times.
Based on the Queen Ant's Life Strength, ordinary humans would have no ability to fight back against her.
The upgrade of the Evolution Space today brought Zhou Qi too many surprises.
Unfortunately, there weren't many Evolution Points left, and the Evolution Points required for the Queen Ant to evolve to Six-Tier had increased tenfold, requiring a full 100,000 points!
This could not be achieved in the near future.
The scene shifted.
Zhou Qi remembered today's main business.
He returned to the breeding farm and asked his father, Zhou Haidong, for the car keys.
It was an old Ford bought several years ago. Zhou Qi got in and started driving.
Thankfully, he had gotten his driver's license the previous summer and still remembered how to drive a manual transmission, otherwise he probably would have forgotten how to drive by now.
The vehicle slowly drove away from the countryside. Large fields of wheat gradually receded along the roadside, and occasionally a few birds could be seen flying over the ridges.
As the car moved forward, the low-lying farmhouses became fewer and fewer, replaced by more and more factories and warehouses. This area already belonged to the suburban industrial zone.
After driving a bit further, they entered the urban area. High-rise buildings rose one after another, traffic flowed, and pedestrians hurried.
Their Yingtian City was also developing better and better.
Zhou Qi parked the car in a park's parking lot and got out.
This park was called Yingtian Park, located near Yingtian Mall, and it was currently the largest park in Yingtian City, without exception.
It covered an area of thirteen square kilometers.
Naturally, at this time, the park square was also filled with a mix of people from all walks of life, of all kinds.
There were opera singers, people practicing Tai Chi and swords, bird-walkers, square dancers, and various vendors, fortune-tellers, and Feng Shui masters—everything imaginable!
Most importantly, inside the park was the flower, bird, fish, and insect market.
Zhou Qi turned into the park's locust tree path and saw a distant cluster of stalls set up with bamboo sheds, where human voices mingled with bird calls.
On the ground were several baskets of pothos, water droplets clinging to the petals, and an old woman selling flowers was watering azaleas with a spray bottle.
The thrushes in their cages flapped their wings, shaking off a few feathers.
Plastic basins at the adjacent fish stall were crowded with red carp, their tails churning the water onto the concrete ground.
A man in a T-shirt squatted in front of a bamboo basket, picking crickets, with straw insect containers piled up like small mountains.
The air was filled with the mixed scents of various life forms.
Zhou Qi observed each stall one by one.
“They're all just ordinary crickets and the like.”
