Novel Full Chapter 320: New Ants.
Chapter 320: New Ants.
“So… all these are…”
“Yes, they are all mine.”
Imperia nodded, and Kael gulped as he stared at tens of thousands of Ants of different sizes around him. Just like Zhaxrah, all these Ants had bowed their heads as well, greeting their Mother and their Mother’s Father.
It was… quite overwhelming.
These Ants had covered all the ground. No matter how far Kael looked, he could only see Ants. He couldn’t even imagine how ridiculously high their number was.
“Father?”
Imperia called out, pulling him out of his reverie.
He once again glanced at everything around him, and his eyes fell on four Ants that stood out from the rest.
Without waiting any further, his eyes turned golden as he activated the Eye of the Ancient—
[Name: Mycoria]
[Race: Mornment Ant Queen]
[Rank: Rare]
[Age: 65]
[Level: 72]
[Strength: 15]
[Agility: 90]
[Speed: 110]
[Stamina: 200]
[Defense: 18]
[Mana: 350]
[Intelligence: 220]
[Charisma: 240]
[Strengths: Ice Fungiculture, Tundra Reclaimer, Hive Garden System]
[Weaknesses: Physically Fragile]
…
[Name: Garnethrax]
[Race: Deepmaw Ant Queen]
[Rank: Rare]
[Age: 86]
[Level: 88]
[Strength: 58]
[Agility: 80]
[Speed: 90]
[Stamina: 150]
[Defense: 70]
[Mana: 200]
[Intelligence: 250]
[Charisma: 220]
[Strengths: Mineral Sense, Ore Marking, Safe Digging]
[Weaknesses: Slow]
…
[Name: Vulkarra]
[Race: Brimback Ant Queen]
[Rank: Epic]
[Age: 59]
[Level: 78]
[Strength: 120]
[Agility: 80]
[Speed: 70]
[Stamina: 170]
[Defense: 300]
[Mana: 200]
[Intelligence: 150]
[Charisma: 200]
[Strengths: Living Bulwark, Reactive Armor, Ashen Spit]
[Weaknesses: Slow]
…
[Name: Selithra]
[Race: Crybleed Ant Queen]
[Rank: Epic]
[Age: 68]
[Level: 85]
[Strength: 160]
[Agility: 170]
[Speed: 150]
[Stamina: 140]
[Defense: 140]
[Mana: 180]
[Intelligence: 250]
[Charisma: 220]
[Strengths: Cold Venom, Pack Coordination, Corpse Eater]
[Weaknesses: Weak without her Pack]
…
Kael raised his eyebrow as he glanced at all the Ant Queens. Honestly, that stat screen wasn’t helping. One thing he could note was that all Ants were weaker compared to normal Magical Beasts, and it wasn’t surprising. Imperia did tell him that Ants’ strength lies in their numbers.
So instead of his system screen, Kael decided to trust his daughter. Imperia, knowing what her Father was thinking, nodded with a grin. She then jumped out of Kael’s pocket and landed on his head.
Then, she pointed her little leg towards the Ant with the biggest Colony Size out of all he had seen so far,
“She is Mycoria, the Queen of Mornment Ants. She has a total of 85,210 children in her colony.”
“Eighty-five thousand!?”
Kael widened his eyes in surprise.
“That is correct.”
Imperia nodded.
“Her children are all common-rank Ants, so they reproduce much more quickly than others. Because of that, their lifespan is also the shortest out of all. Most only live for about 20 years, the Queen is the only exception to this rule.”
Kael noted, staring at the absurdly large number of Ants in front of him.
Their Queen, Mycoria, was a bloated, pulsating monarch. Her translucent abdomen glowed with swirling fungal cultures. Veins of blue bioluminescence throbbed beneath her chitin as she ceaselessly produced spores.
Vestigial legs dangled uselessly while specialized nurse ants tended to her constant secretions. Her elongated mouthparts dripped enzymatic gel.
Honestly, she was somewhat gross, especially considering she was about 20 cm big, so she wasn’t easy to miss.
*Picture*
But Kael knew he couldn’t say that out loud. After all, she was still his daughter’s child.
“The Mornment Ant Queens are often called Bloom Mothers.”
Imperia began introducing.
“Bloom Mothers?”
“Mhm. Mornment Ants have but one purpose—Food Production.
They can create stable and scalable food sources even in the cold, barren terrains. These carry frost-resistant fungal spores in their abdominal sacs. They secrete a nutrient-rich gel that allows these spores to grow rapidly even on bare rock or permafrost.
Their gel also breaks down organic waste—dead plants, moss, and animal remains—into fertilizer for subterranean mushroom farms. Specialized caste ants regulate temperature in their farms using heat-retaining chambers built from insulated stone and organic resin.
They cultivate three primary food sources: nutrient mushrooms, edible frost moss, and compressed fungal biscuits rich in calories.
Their Queen regulates the entire process, making sure they produce enough food for all of them.
Zhaxrah actually knew about them even before because she orders her Ants to steal the food they produce. This is how they survive since they do not have the ability to hunt on their own.”
Imperia explained, and Kael only had one question,
“The food they produce…”
“Yes. Because they produce the simplest nutrients that are easiest to digest, the food they produce can be consumed by any race, including humans. What they produce is actually healthier compared to the food humans usually consume.”
Imperia nodded, and in an instant, Kael’s opinion changed. The gross thing now looked absolutely adorable to him.
“How much food can they produce?”
Suddenly, Lavinia asked a question.
According to the reports Lavinia had read back in Drakthar, she knew the Velmourns were facing a food shortage, especially during winters. This was also the reason winter was so feared here.
So yes, it was a good thing that these ants could produce food, but Lavinia was more practical. After all, there were eighty-five thousand of these ants. If all the food they produce is consumed by them, they were of no use to them.
However—
“As I said, their food sources are stable and scalable.
Their entire farming system works underground and can be expanded as needed. They don’t need sunlight, soil, optimal temperature, or normal crops. Instead, they use waste—dead plants, frozen moss, and even beast remains—and turn it into gel. This gel allows special mushrooms and frost moss to grow even on cold stone.
The amount of food they produce is equivalent to the number of hours they work and their numbers, and I have power over both these factors.”
Imperia then looked into Lavinia’s eyes, as if knowing exactly what she was thinking and,
“With their current capabilities, they can produce enough food to feed the entire population of Ashen Heights and still have leftovers.”
Hearing those words, Lavinia stared at Mycoria and—
—even she started finding the gross creature adorable.