Chapter 163: Chapter 159: The Stare from White Willow

White Willow found a great spot on the mountain, the perfect angle to clearly see every movement of the Worker Ants on the slope. I’ll see how you all slack off, and then tell Dragon Cypress, and he will deal with you, White Willow thought.

The Worker Ants weren’t always idle; they still went out early in the morning and did some work for a while. Then they would take a walk and bask in the sun, day after day.

「After a week to ten days,」

the weeds around the temporary Ant Nest entrance were cleaned up.

A Specialized Worker Ant named Black Cory suddenly changed his usual behavior, leading the swarm out of the nest in formation, marching up the slope to explore.

Ten Large Soldier Ants, divided into two squads of five, marched in front in a zigzag pattern.

Six Specialized Blue Ants walked in the middle.

Thirty Large Worker Ants followed behind.

Black Cory walked at the very end.

They set out early in the morning and made their way through the forest.

In the afternoon, they reached the Ridge and walked along it.

In the evening, they returned the same way they came, foraging along the way.

White Willow watched, confused, but upon observing the next day, he suddenly realized what was happening.

The next morning, bright and early, Black Cory led the swarm out of the nest. He took the lead, expertly navigating through the forest and up the Ridge, where he found a rock on the mountain and lay on it to sunbathe. The ants gathered in small groups, facing the woods and the lake, their Tentacles pointing and gesturing as if admiring the scenery below.

They didn’t descend until twilight, foraging along the way.

For the entire day, the ant swarm did absolutely no work at all.

White Willow was furious and continued to observe from the shadows. For many days, these ants genuinely stopped working completely, spending every day sunbathing on the mountain and admiring the views.

Even the Natural God couldn’t stand it anymore.

Heavy rain poured from the sky, which then turned into a light rain.

The ant swarm was trapped in the Ant Nest, unable to leave. White Willow was secretly delighted; these lazy creatures were finally being punished.

Even though Dragon Cypress had left plenty of Blue Ants, they only hunted just enough food to eat each day. With no stored food, they could only starve now.

The light rain turned into an unending drizzle. The rain continued for three days, and the ant swarm starved for three days.

While White Willow was happy, he also began to worry: Could they starve to death?

After much hesitation, he took off, soared through the sky, grabbed a rabbit, and dropped it at the Ant Nest entrance.

Upon reflection, he remained frustrated. These lazy ants should just starve, he thought.

White Willow picked up the rabbit, tore it in half, and left only one half, thinking they should stay hungry but not starve to death.

But then he thought again. Would half a rabbit be enough? Surely one whole rabbit wouldn’t even be sufficient?

White Willow circled around, then threw the other half of the rabbit back down.

He perched on a rock at the mountain peak in the rain, continuing his observation.

Two Soldier Ants emerged from the nest and dragged the rabbit’s body into the cave. After a while, the Worker Ants tossed out the bones, picked completely clean.

The gloomy sky continued to drizzle.

「The next day,」

White Willow caught a wild chicken and threw it at the entrance of the Ant Nest.

「On the third day,」

White Willow caught a large green fish from the lake, ate half of it himself, and threw the other half to the ant swarm.

「The fourth day brought clear skies.」

As usual, Black Cory led the ant swarm out of the nest. However, they clearly hadn’t eaten enough these past few days, so they hunted all the way until noon before finally going up the mountain.

They had clearly learned no lesson from the previous days of starvation and still didn’t understand the need to hunt more and store food.

Just like before, they lay on the mountain rocks to watch the scenery and enjoy the sunlight.

Next time, I’ll make sure I watch you starve to death!

White Willow lay on a distant rock, holding a Metal Can, dipping into Ant Honey with his forelegs, and coldly watching the ant swarm.

Black Cory keenly sensed the distant, unfriendly gaze. He thought for a while, slowly got up, and, with an escort of five Soldier Ants, leisurely walked towards White Willow.

Black Cory walked to the base of the rock, looked up, and met White Willow’s gaze. He then tried to climb the rock, moving closer, and prodded the Metal Can, peeking inside.

White Willow was puzzled.

Seeing that White Willow did not stop him, Black Cory tried to dip his Tentacle into the Ant Honey, held it with his forelegs, and tasted it.

The taste was not bad.

Black Cory waved his Tentacles in praise, then turned his head, walked down the rock, and leisurely departed.

White Willow was utterly perplexed.

Did he steal my Origin Force Food?

Isn’t he a Specialized Worker Ant?

Can Worker Ants eat Origin Force Food?

Can I teach him a lesson on behalf of Dragon Cypress?

If he dares to steal again, I will catch him and throw him into the lake.

White Willow thought silently and rested on a giant rock at the mountaintop for the night.

「The next day, in the early morning,」

Black Cory led the ant colony out of the nest, but instead of heading uphill, they formed an exploration formation and walked down the slope.

The ant colony walked down the slope, traversed the forest, and arrived at the Lakeside.

They discovered several of White Willow’s Arbor Life Seeds and began weeding and turning the soil.

Having brewed up his resolution overnight to severely teach Black Cory a lesson, White Willow only felt like he had pounced on thin air.

White Willow was not a diligent dragonfly. Or rather, a dragonfly’s wings cannot be folded, making it inconvenient to move through forests. Its mandibles and six-legged structure are built for battle, not for caretaking.

It was last winter while fishing that Dragon Cypress had incidentally directed Worker Ants to help clean up.

A year later, White Willow’s Life Seed Plants on land were a complete mess.

Could they accidentally uproot my Life Seeds as well?

White Willow, concerned about his Life Seeds, circled and landed at the Lakeside, guarding the Blood Orange Life Seeds he had just sown this spring.

Black Cory stared at White Willow for a while, then turned around and continued working with the Worker Ants.

White Willow currently had only fourteen Life Seeds in total: six grew in water, and there were eight Arbor Life Seeds on land. Two White Willow Tree Life Seeds had preliminarily grown to a considerable size. The rest were mid-sized saplings: one Maple Poplar Tree, one Dominant Chestnut, one Silver Cypress Tree Life Seed, one Black Emperor Peach Life Seed, and two Blood Orange Life Seeds.

The number of Life Seeds was small, and they were not yet large in scale. By mid-afternoon, the ants had cleared all the weeds and turned over the soil.

Black Cory then led the ant colony back up the slope, lifted the Stone Slab of the Marsh Gas Pool, fetched water with Bamboo Tubes, and had them carried down the mountain for irrigation.

White Willow watched for a while, then fluttered his wings and took flight. He soared over the lake, suddenly swooped down close to the water’s surface, caught a grass carp, and threw it under the White Willow Tree on the shore.

White Willow vanished into the woods in a flash and quickly returned, carrying a python two to three meters long.

“Thank you for your help!”

“This food is for you!”

White Willow attempted to communicate with Black Cory.

However, Black Cory stared blankly at White Willow, unresponsive. After a moment, he waved his Tentacles and directed the Worker Ants to divide the food. The colony then began to eat cheerfully.

White Willow thought for a moment, picked up the Metal Can containing Ant Honey, and called out, “Black Cory! Black Cory!”

Though Black Cory was only a few meters away, it took White Willow calling out with his spiritual power for some time before Black Cory finally noticed and looked up.

“Black Cory, Ant Honey!”

White Willow pointed at the mouth of the can with a Tentacle.

This time, Black Cory understood immediately. He jogged forward, prodded the Metal Can, took a peek, dipped his Tentacle in, and tasted it.

Then he turned his head and walked away again.

Specialized Worker Ants cannot evolve.

But Black Cory is clearly different; he eats Origin Force Food.

But it’s useless for him to eat Origin Force Food because he cannot evolve.

Why can Cypress and Fragrant Cypress evolve, while Worker Ants cannot?

White Willow thought seriously.

Inherited Memory only stated that ’Assistant Kings,’ nurtured by Ant Kings and Bee Kings, could evolve by following their king’s steps. They could even reach the same level as a king. However, Worker Ants and Worker Bees could not evolve. But the Inherited Memory did not explain why.

White Willow thought and thought, then suddenly had an insight:

Cypress and Fragrant Cypress are smart! Black Cory is foolish!

Black Lotus Seeds enhance the brain and have the additional effect of making insects smarter.

White Willow had three Black Lotus Life Seeds. He sold the production from two to Dragon Cypress and kept the output from one for his own use. He had not yet had time to consume this year’s harvest.

At this thought, White Willow immediately took off, flying toward his dwelling cave.

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