"What are they trying to do?"

The four of them huddled in a corner of the cave, their hearts tightening as they watched the grand formation before them.

Nearly fifty Soldier Ants of varying sizes were lined up from the center of the hall to the entrance.

The newly hatched young ants happily scurried between the Soldier Ants, too young to understand what was happening.

A surging, scorching heat filled the cave. If Yin Yi hadn’t cast a Frost Shield for everyone in time to lower the surrounding temperature, even their enhanced bodies would have been baked to the point of dehydration by the intense heat.

They had only ever seen similar scenes on TV or in anime. To have it happen right before their eyes was a completely different level of visual impact.

"It’s probably not aimed at us. They might be preparing to get revenge on the mushroom-heads." Han Ning thought of the two groups of Soul Beasts they had encountered in the Mushroom Forest and guessed there might be some bad blood between them.

"So you’re saying we can go out with the ant colony to get revenge?" Luo Chen’s eyes lit up. He’d long been annoyed with the mushroom-heads that had chased them all this way.

"Hard to say..."

"Xiaohong, Xiaohong, do you know why?" Lin Tianhe lowered his head and patted the large ant that had guided them earlier.

"Xiaohong? Is that the name you gave it? How lame." Han Ning couldn’t help but retort.

Lin Tianhe’s expression was serious. "It’s to tell it apart from the other Soldier Ants... Besides, a name is just a label. The Soul Beasts don’t know which names sound good. Xiaohong is so descriptive."

CHITTER~ Xiaohong ignored Lin Tianhe, instead prostrating itself solemnly in the direction of the Ant Queen.

At the front, the Ant Queen looked down upon the prostrating Soldier Ants, continuously emitting a melodious series of chirps from her mouth.

"CHITTER CHITTER~ CHITTER!"

"CHITTER!"

Upon hearing the Ant Queen’s call, the many Soldier Ants raised their heads in unison. Within their pairs of flame-like insect eyes, an even more brilliant radiance erupted.

They turned in an orderly fashion and marched out of the cave. In the more spacious hall outside, they formed up their ranks and finished assembling.

Immediately after, the Ant Queen’s gaze fell upon Han Ning and the others.

Just then, Xiaohong scurried over to them, let out a low chirp, and continuously waved its two antennae toward the outside.

"Are they inviting us to go out with them?" Lin Tianhe was stunned.

"I don’t know. Let’s follow them out and see." Lü Xiuning shook his head and took the initiative to follow the ant.

The four followed Xiaohong out of the Ant Queen’s chamber and into the spacious hall outside.

Xiaohong didn’t stop. It waddled over, found a particularly massive Soldier Ant, and climbed directly onto its back.

Then it used its antennae to repeatedly point at the backs of the other Soldier Ants while chirping a few times at Han Ning and his group.

"Does it mean it wants us to get on?"

"Seems like it..."

The four of them exchanged glances, hesitating for a moment.

These dozens of ants were at least two meters long, their bodies significantly larger than their own.

As the saying goes, enough ants can bite an elephant to death, but some of the Soldier Ants before them were even bigger than elephants.

Finally, one Soldier Ant seemed to grow impatient. It let out a sharp chirp at them and charged directly at the closest person, Lin Tianhe.

Lin Tianhe’s Silver Lotus Wood instinctively tried to protect its master, but the Soldier Ant casually nudged it and tossed it directly onto its back.

Next was Lin Tianhe. The Soldier Ant, which stood over 2.5 meters tall, gently flicked its antennae, wrapped them around Lin Tianhe’s waist, and tossed him onto its back as well.

At first, Lin Tianhe was so scared his face went pale, but once he came to his senses, a look of pleasant surprise gradually appeared on his face.

He hugged the Soldier Ant’s fiery-red carapace tightly as if riding a horse, his tone filled with amazement. "It’s not hot at all up here! It’s warm! You guys, hurry up and get on!"

’So it really does want us to get on...’

Seeing this, the other three no longer hesitated. They each found a Soldier Ant and, with the help of the Silver Lotus Wood, vaulted themselves on.

Han Ning rode on a large Soldier Ant that was nearly 3 meters tall and 5 meters long. Its fiery-red carapace radiated a faint warmth that wasn’t scorching.

Yin Yi sat a little in front of Han Ning, her vine-like feet dangling and swaying as she constantly turned her head to observe their surroundings.

"CHITTER-CHITTER!"

Once the four were seated on the Soldier Ants’ backs, the largest one standing at the very front suddenly let out a shrill cry.

It then moved its red-and-black limbs and ran toward the largest cave entrance in the southwest corner of the hall.

Seeing this, the other Soldier Ants followed in perfect unison.

A powerful force pushed him back into his seat. Han Ning felt a gale rush against his face as the surrounding scenery rapidly receded.

The Soldier Ant beneath him was like an armored tank, giving him a sense of peace through superior firepower.

’With so many Soldier Ants marching out together, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.’

Watching the Soldier Ants travel one after another through the dim cavern, Han Ning activated his Spiritual Power and summoned Egg Pancake.

"Squeak squeak!"

Egg Pancake plopped into his arms.

Its body, over a meter long, already had some weight to it, feeling heavy in his arms.

Egg Pancake blinked, looking around in confusion.

"Don’t move around, or you’ll fall off," Han Ning said softly, patting its head.

"Squeak!"

Egg Pancake immediately sat up properly and behaved.

The Soldier Ants traveled at an extremely high speed.

They followed a wide tunnel straight ahead, and the path gradually began to slope upward.

As they neared the surface, dense, grayish-white roots suddenly appeared on the rock walls on either side and overhead.

’What kind of roots could possibly pierce through solid rock and into a tunnel?’

Looking at the roots hanging just overhead like sharp arrows, Han Ning had a faint guess.

’Could it be... these are the roots of the giant mushrooms from the Mushroom Forest?’

’There are so many of them, so their roots must be dense. In order to absorb nutrients, they would grow frantically into the earth, affecting the survival of the ants underground?’

The route the Soldier Ants were taking was not the one they had used to enter, but another, wider subterranean passage.

After a few minutes, a faint light appeared up ahead.

The light grew brighter and brighter, and the Soldier Ant beneath him leaped out.

A towering Mushroom Forest came into view.

Han Ning looked up and around. This was a completely unfamiliar area.

Though he didn’t know where they were, Xiaohong clearly knew the paths through the forest. With it and the Soldier Ant it rode leading the way, the other Soldier Ants all unfurled the cicada-thin wings on their backs.

BZZZ~

A low-pitched buzzing of wings echoed through the forest.

The Soldier Ants spread their wings, making no attempt to conceal their movements. They menacingly flew into the air as surging flames erupted around their bodies. Like a cluster of blazing little suns, they suddenly streaked across the sky, rushing in the direction Xiaohong indicated.

"I never would have thought we’d end up as companions with a swarm of giant ants." Han Ning looked around at the surrounding ant swarm wreathed in fire, feeling an indescribable sense of strangeness.

’What a magical world.’