Long Qian was stunned when he discovered the situation on the ground. He had never expected such a thing to happen. In the high-altitude desert region, there were so many desert army ants, and their numbers and sizes were enormous. From the sky, each ant appeared to be as large as a rat.
The strength of insects was naturally immense. A single ant could lift tens of times its own weight. It was a pity that these insects were too small, and the damage they could cause was very low. People had never believed that insects could pose a significant threat, with the exception of locusts.
However, now, some giant ants were moving in large groups, which shocked Long Qian.
"How did this situation suddenly appear in the desert? What does it mean? Is this a new crisis?" Long Qian was completely bewildered by what he was seeing. He had never imagined that such a thing could occur in the world.
He had originally chosen to establish his nation in the cactus forest in the desert to avoid attacks from mutated beasts, as the mutated beasts were too large to traverse the cactus forest. But now, mutated army ants had appeared in the desert. These army ants were numerous and small, and they could move through the cactus forest without any hindrance.
"So many army ants! The ants on the ground number at least a million. If so many ants attack the city, we definitely won't be able to defend it!" Long Qian was stunned by this sight.
But then, something even more shocking happened. In the cactus forest, there was a type of venomous snake that often hid under rocks or sand. As soon as prey approached, they would strike. If bitten, the venom would quickly spread throughout the prey's body, killing it completely within ten minutes. This was a rattlesnake. However, now it was facing the desert army ants, and within a minute, the rattlesnake was reduced to mere bones.
Long Qian watched clearly from the sky. Under the onslaught of the desert army ants, the rattlesnake had no time to react. Its flesh was then gnawed away bit by bit. The saliva of these army ants had a numbing effect, and the rattlesnake was unable to resist. Countless ants swarmed it and quickly devoured the rattlesnake.
"These ants are truly formidable. I estimate that the missing soldiers have already turned into bones. If mutated venomous snakes cannot withstand this attack, my soldiers certainly cannot!" Long Qian now understood why his soldiers had disappeared. His soldiers must have been eaten by these mutated army ants.
Upon realizing the truth, Long Qian immediately recalled his bees. Then, he urgently began to consider how to resist the attack of the desert army ants. At this moment, the city had not yet been discovered by the desert army ants, but as long as the desert army ants kept moving, it was only a matter of time before they found the city.
"We cannot rely on bullets or artillery shells to deal with these desert army ants; they are completely useless. We must rely on area-of-effect attacks. It would be best to use gasoline and burn them all to death, but there isn't enough gasoline in the city!" Long Qian fell into deep thought.
The city in the cactus forest had its unique significance. While other cities were busy fighting, this city could recuperate and live a relatively comfortable life, like a paradise. However, due to the lack of material exchange, it was destined to receive no support from other places when facing danger.
Long Qian pondered for a long time, unable to find a solution. Fortunately, at this moment, he remembered that there were two patients in his hospital. One of them was the renowned Wind God, Shen Feng. Shen Feng was battle-hardened and a powerful esper himself. It was reasonable to ask for his help at this time.
Thus, Long Qian immediately went to the underground of the palace and found Shen Feng and Wang Feiying, who were recuperating from their injuries. He then explained the situation.
"Shen Feng, you have been staying at my place for a long time. I don't need any other repayment from you. I only hope that you can help me resist the attack of the desert army ants. This request should not be excessive, right?" Long Qian asked.
Shen Feng became interested upon hearing about this. The reason was simple: Li Keyi had previously warned him to be aware of dangerous insects around him. Now, the dangerous insects had appeared, and this matter needed to be investigated quickly.
"No problem, I'll help you with this! My body is almost recovered. The doctor's tests indicate that the radioactive elements in my body will be completely expelled within two months. Fighting at this time is a simple matter," Shen Feng nodded and said.
"Master, I want to go fight too! My body has also recovered a lot!" Wang Feiying quickly said.
However, upon hearing this, Shen Feng directly refused, "You should stay here and recuperate properly. Your hair and feathers haven't grown back yet, how can you fight? Besides, fighting is not your forte."
Wang Feiying had been in the hospital for too long and had forgotten what the blue sky and white clouds looked like. He just wanted to take the opportunity to go out and see, but his request was directly rejected by Shen Feng.
Wang Feiying had no choice but to stay in his room. His physical recovery was very poor, as his level of evolution was also low. He was only a third-tier esper and did not have Shen Feng's robust physique. It would take a long time for his body to fully recover.
Shen Feng followed Long Qian outside. Long Qian briefly explained how he discovered the desert army ants and then asked Shen Feng for a solution.
Shen Feng found it strange and finally said to Long Qian, "Don't you have the ability to control insect movements? Can't you just control these insects to go elsewhere?"
Long Qian had been preoccupied and hadn't thought of this. Now, being suddenly enlightened by Shen Feng, he exclaimed, "Yes, I can control insect movements, and desert army ants are also insects. Isn't this an opportunity for me to strengthen myself?"
Shen Feng continued, "Then the subsequent action is very simple. You and I will go together to inspect the condition of these desert army ants. If you can control their movements, then you will gain strength. If you cannot control them, then I will directly use a tornado to blow all these ants away. Fortunately, these ants are only the size of rats. If they were the size of cats or dogs, I might not be able to do it."
"Then I can only thank Lord Wind God for your assistance!" Long Qian said quickly.
Long Qian's abilities had always been for sneak attacks. Just like when he ambushed Yue Hengyi, he had controlled a mantis to inject Yue Hengyi with a tranquilizer. But now, he saw an opportunity to become stronger right before him, so he did not want to miss it.
Shen Feng was about to take Long Qian to depart. Originally, according to his wishes, he and Long Qian would be enough. Flying in the sky, they would not be hindered by the forest. However, Long Qian proposed to take a helicopter to the destination.
"Bring more people. In case of danger, they can provide support," was Long Qian's intention.
Shen Feng had to comply with this suggestion. Finally, the two of them boarded a helicopter and approached the area where the desert army ants were discovered. On the plane, Shen Feng reminded the pilots, "When I use my abilities, there will be strong tornadoes in the sky. If you don't want to be caught in them, you should leave quickly."
The pilots had heard of Shen Feng's reputation during this time and knew that he had accomplished many great deeds. Now, hearing Shen Feng say this through translation, they all nodded.
Ten helicopters flew towards the distant forest. In the sky, Shen Feng continuously scanned the ground, trying to get a clear view of the entire city. When he had first arrived in the city, he hadn't had time to observe it carefully, and then he had landed on the ground with the fighter jets, so he didn't know what the city looked like.
At the center of the city was a giant Ceiba tree. The top of this Ceiba tree was lush and covered with verdant leaves, appearing full of life. The city was built around the Ceiba tree, with low-rise houses surrounding it. In reality, there were larger spaces underground, but the underground spaces were rather dim.
On the outskirts of the city were vast tracts of farmland. These farmlands were worked mechanically. Although there were no rivers nearby, there was no shortage of irrigation water. This was because in the surrounding areas of the city, there were tall water towers used to extract deep groundwater. The reserves of deep groundwater were more than sufficient for irrigating the farmland.
"I didn't expect this fellow Long Qian to have such skills in city construction. Opening up farmland, building solar power plants, this city truly has a touch of paradise," Shen Feng thought to himself.
Shen Feng thought this way because he had seen many cities where people considered having enough to eat a luxury. The people living in those cities were truly unlucky. Incompetent city lords could bring misery to their entire city. Yet, in this foreign land, Long Qian could feed hundreds of thousands of people. Although they were a bit poor, at least they had food and clothing, which surpassed many city lords.
Not long after, the helicopters spotted their target. The land in the desert was originally a vast expanse of yellow. Even with the cactus forest, it couldn't hide the original color of the land. But in the forest, a black scene suddenly appeared. Upon closer inspection, it was found to be densely packed ants. These ants were extremely orderly, almost like an army, which was why they were called army ants.