Novel Lived
Chapter 197: 192: The Second Demon Ant_i
Chapter 197: 192: The Second Demon Ant_i
Translator: 549690339 I
After securing the lid, he resumed his study of this particular locust.
“Fourth, make it make its call and see if it can control those common locusts,” he said.
The sound it made was like a charging horn, possessing a strange magic.
There are many ways insects can attack.
Sonic attacks are one of them.
For instance, the death-seeking Jin Chan that Qin Niu sold used sound waves to attack.
Under Fourth’s control, the special locust vibrated its wings once more, sending out a piercing cry.
It was very sharp, agitating to the point of making one’s blood boil with irritation.
Upon hearing the call, many common locusts began to converge on this location.
In the blink of an eye, two to three hundred had gathered.
“Using this method to eliminate the common locusts isn’t half bad either.”
Seeing this scene, Qin Niu’s eyes sparkled.
Catch a few more special locusts and use their calls to lure and trap the common ones.
Unfortunately, only this one has been found so far.
Qin Niu was not in a hurry.
Instead, he walked forward to investigate from which directions the locusts were flying in.
In the fields, in the hills, locusts could be found in small groups everywhere.
They ceaselessly nibbled on the tender leaves of any plant they could eat.
After feasting, they’d lift their wings and fly forward in search of the next edible plant.
Grains of insect feces were randomly excreted below.
The locust plague had been going on for so long, why hadn’t there been any reaction from the Black Tiger Gang?
It didn’t feel right!
If the higher-ups of the Black Tiger Gang weren’t brainless, they must have sensed something was amiss by now. The correct approach would be to mobilize all Insect Masters within their jurisdiction to exterminate the locusts together.
Yet there seemed to be no significant movement from the Insect Master Association.
The Insect Masters were largely fighting on their own, guarding whoever paid them the highest price to watch their crops.
By midnight, the defensive line had been built to Qin Niu’s specifications.
The thatched cottage was also rather large.
The eldest son of the Yan Family had been supervising the construction onsite, which showed how seriously they took the matter.
After all, whether the defense line could hold determined the safety of the rear.
“Master Qin, please check if the bed inside the thatched cottage meets your satisfaction,” he requested.
He invited Qin Niu to inspect the thatched cottage.
“Why did you even bother to prepare a bed for me?” Qin Niu asked, surprised.
“You’ve been defending our Yan Family’s front line and clearing locusts, a most arduous and meritorious task. Naturally, we can’t let you suffer too much discomfort.”
“But there’s no need for such a big bed!”
“With the long night ahead, Master Qin, standing watch alone at the front, having a beautiful woman to keep you company should add some joy to the night.”
“No need, no need. My insects only recognize me, and please don’t let anyone else enter this area. If someone gets bitten, even I don’t have the antidote,” Qin Niu warned the Yan Family’s eldest son.
His Termites were fierce, but without orders from Qin Niu, they wouldn’t attack indiscriminately.
Only if someone violated their territory would they become aggressive.
“Master Qin, could it be that you find those pretty maids no longer virgins? I can arrange for a virgin maid to serve you,” he offered.
“I appreciate the thought, but really, there’s no need for that. The night is deep, Young Master Yan, please go back and rest. Leave this place to me.”
Qin Niu promptly sent Young Master Yan on his way.
These young masters of wealthy families were spoiled from a young age. It’s said that around the age of thirteen or fourteen, they had experienced maids teach them the ways of the bedroom. Changing women for them was truly as casual as changing clothes.
Unless it was their official wife, only then could they not be casually replaced.
Even as a concubine with little status, some people would send them directly to those in need of bribes to obtain greater benefits.
And the concubine could not resist.
She could only wipe her tears and accept the man’s heartlessness.
The next morning, Qin Niu looked at the seventeen special locusts he had caught in the Insect Jar, thinking to himself, “At only ten Wen Money apiece, am I earning too little?”
Seventeen locusts amounted to just one hundred and seventy Wen Money.
His wealth had already surpassed ten thousand taels. Treating the Fang Family’s special medicinal herb earned him a total of one thousand seven hundred taels, and taking out Old Master Huang had netted him over thirteen thousand taels.
Adding it up, his wealth was nearing fifteen thousand taels.
If he were to buy land with it, he could quickly become a landlord of a size similar to the Yan Family.
But he was not ready to buy land yet.
As long as the locust plague continued, land prices would surely plummet.
If the Nine Insect Gang clashed with the Black Tiger Gang, land prices would fall even further.
The gold of turbulent times, the land of a peaceful and prosperous era.
Although after the Nine Insect Gang took down the Black Tiger Gang, the ordinary peasants and landlords wouldn’t lose their land, the chaos would make people feel troubled, and few would be willing to farm.
Moreover, theft and robbery were rampant.
The hard-earned crops, just when harvest time approached, could be stolen or robbed overnight by those without food.
But then again, families like the Yan Family with their own guards were generally not afraid of being robbed or stolen from.
Qin Niu left a contingent of Termites to guard the line of defense, then he returned home.
After breakfast, he ascended the mountain.
Upon reaching the Ant Nest, he saw swarms of delicate, young Termites crawling out from the nest.
“I didn’t expect that the Ant Queen’s first batch of a thousand ant eggs would have metamorphosed into adult ants last night.”
He was delighted to see these little fellows.
A full one thousand of them!
And the current Ant Queen was a Grade Four Termite, producing larvae even stronger than before.
“Don’t rush, all of you line up outside. Let me take a good look,” he ordered.
Qin Niu commanded the ant swarm to form well-ordered lines outside the Ant Nest.
Grade Two large Force Worker Ants, 27 in total; Grade Two large Force Soldier Ants, 11 in total; a Grade Three Demon Ant; Grade Two Breeder Ants, 3 in total; Grade Two Elephant Nose Soldier Ant, 1 in total; Grade Two common Worker Ants, 673 in total…
To his great surprise, there was a Demon Ant and later, an Elephant Nose Soldier Ant.
Both types of Termites were rare varieties.
And all of these one thousand Termites were at least Grade Two.
The Demon Ant even reached Grade Three.
It was truly astounding.
To think, a regular Termite would need to be fed Banyan Tree Blood and go through a life-and-death challenge to metamorphose into a Grade Two Termite.
Now, with the Ant Queen becoming stronger, they were born as Grade Two Termites.
If cultivated further, wouldn’t they immediately become Grade Three Termites?
Qin Niu now finally understood why Old Master Huang could treat over four thousand Grade Three Army Ants as cannon fodder.
Because with a high-grade Ant Queen, Grade Three ants simply weren’t valuable.
“Locusts are nothing compared to my Termite Army,” he declared.
Qin Niu beheld the thousand new Termites, and in that moment, he finally felt hopeful.
“The old rule: common Grade Two Termites can only be mass-cultivated. Special Grade Two Termites and the Grade Three Demon Ant will be cultivated with precision on a one-on-one basis,” he decided.
Now, he had abundant experience in using Banyan Tree Blood to nurture Termites.
However, each of these special Grade Two Termites was precious.
Out of caution, he first chose a dozen common Grade Two Worker and Soldier Ants to cultivate.
The result was that all fifteen common Grade Two ants passed the life-and- death challenge with a success rate of one hundred percent.
This also made him boldly confident in cultivating the special Grade Two Termites.
When it came time to cultivate the Grade Three Demon Ant, he was still incredibly cautious.
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