Chapter 141: Researching the Brain Core
In the pitch-black underground nest, when an Ironthread Snake found the location of the marching ant queen, the terrified marching ant queen immediately sprayed ant acid solution.
The ant acid solution, capable of corroding metal, instantly turned the Ironthread Snake into a pool of pus-like liquid.
Outside the ant nest, after locating the marching ant queen’s position, Zhou Ming immediately drove Silver Scale to open up a passage.
The marching ants were large in size, but the passages they used were still unable to accommodate Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming treated Silver Scale like a shield tunneling machine, following the original narrow passage as a route and carving it into a massive tunnel that extended deep underground.
Amid rumbling sounds, Zhou Ming followed Silver Scale and quickly entered the interior of the ant nest.
Compared to the ant nest entrance, the interior space of the nest was very large, at least enough for Zhou Ming to move around freely.
“ You really made me search hard for you. ”
Inside the largest cavern of the ant nest, the marching ant queen was dragging its bloated abdomen as it moved slowly.
The organ that had originally been able to continuously produce ant eggs had now become a burden to the ant queen’s escape. Without the support of the ant colony, movement became even more difficult.
Zhou Ming activated his Dark-gold Serpent Pupils and slowly approached, suppressing the marching ant queen that still wanted to resist.
Meanwhile, the Inkband that had been lurking in the shadows quietly appeared beside the marching ant queen while Zhou Ming drew its attention.
Crimson venom fangs pierced into the soft abdomen, injecting a fixed dose of snake venom into its body, completely depriving the marching ant queen of its ability to resist while not killing it.
To completely dismantle the marching ant queen’s resistance, Vermilion Jade used the bone blade at the tip of her tail to sever the marching ant queen’s upper jaw and legs.
With all resistance gone, the marching ant queen was at Zhou Ming’s mercy.
Zhou Ming drove Vermilion Jade to climb onto his own body and used the bone blade on Vermilion Jade’s tail as a knife, easily removing the armored carapace from the marching ant queen’s head.
“ Zhi…… ”
Feeling intense pain, the marching ant queen instinctively let out a miserable screech.
Zhou Ming ignored it and instead took out a surgical knife from his Spatial Ring, beginning to peel away the brain core.
After a short while, Zhou Ming used his nimble hands to perfectly separate a brain core the size of a fist.
“ It truly is an artistic creation. ”
In the pitch-black cavern, Zhou Ming examined the brain core in his hand and voiced his admiration.
The brain core looked as though it had been carved from transparent crystal, with something resembling golden threads embedded inside. This was a special network constructed from brain core fluid.
The substance required to refine potions that enhance Spiritual Power was precisely this golden brain core fluid.
However, for Zhou Ming, the special network formed by the golden brain core fluid was the aspect he valued the most.
The secret techniques used by Beast Tamers were special models constructed by Beast Tamers using Spiritual Power, combined with potions or special resources, thereby granting Beast Tamers additional special abilities.
When Beast Tamers activated these additional special abilities, they also had to cooperate with the Beast Tamer activating the model.
Within the nebula of Zhou Ming’s Spiritual Sea, there was a special secret technique model whose shape resembled several snakes twisted together.
The reason he was able to create his own secret techniques was not only due to his own research, but also benefited from the knowledge brought by the Half-Beastman Class Advancement materials.
Now that Zhou Ming possessed the marching ant queen’s brain core, he intended to use the internal structure of the brain core to establish a secret technique model belonging to Snake Swarm Will.
Without wasting any more time, Zhou Ming immediately ordered the snake swarm to clear out the ant eggs within the ant nest as well as the newly hatched marching ants. The marching ant queen was also directly swallowed by Silver Scale.
As for himself, he directly sat cross-legged to the side and used Spiritual Power to sense the internal structure of the brain core.
He needed to perfectly integrate the knowledge he had learned with the internal structure of the brain core in order to construct the secret technique model he required and complete the final step of Snake Swarm Will.
Three days later, Zhou Ming had completely understood the brain core structure of the marching ant queen.
However, there was no joy on his face, clearly indicating that the marching ant’s brain core had not met his expectations.
“ It seems I need more brain cores. It would be best to conduct a live experiment once. ”
Looking at the brain core in his hand, Zhou Ming always felt that something was still lacking, as if he had missed something.
Since a single brain core could not meet his requirements, he would search for more brain cores to verify his ideas.
Five days after leaving the marching ant nest, Zhou Ming once again found a smaller-scale ant nest.
It was still the same method, gradually clearing out the marching ant colony bit by bit, thereby cutting off the marching ant queen’s claws and fangs.
This time, when Zhou Ming removed the armored carapace from the marching ant queen’s head, he did not immediately peel away the brain core. Instead, he used various methods to stimulate the marching ant queen in order to sense changes within the brain core.
Especially when he used Spiritual Power to sense the brain core’s changes, the marching ant queen’s mental shock caused him considerable trouble.
Fortunately, the ant colony had been cleared out by him, leaving the marching ant queen unable to draw upon the mental consciousness power of other marching ants.
Otherwise, even if Zhou Ming did not become an idiot, he would still have suffered severe mental damage.
Yet it was precisely this risky behavior that allowed him to perceive the mysterious changes within the brain core.
It was a change in spiritual consciousness that, when combined with the brain core’s unique structure, allowed the marching ant queen to command the entire colony.
Unfortunately, because there was no professional equipment in the wild to maintain the marching ant queen’s life, before Zhou Ming could fully perceive all the changes, the marching ant queen’s life aura had already vanished.
For such a result, Zhou Ming did not feel discouraged. As long as he could find the correct direction, it was enough.
In the time that followed, the ant queens and bee queens of Cloud Mist Basin suffered great misfortune.
Whether marching ants or Tiger-headed Golden Needle Bees, any Ferocious Beast that possessed a brain core could not escape Zhou Ming’s ruthless hand.
The human-sea tactics they relied on faced the suppression of the Ironthread Snake swarm and Dark-gold Serpent Pupils, making it difficult for them to exert their maximum effectiveness.
Especially since Zhou Ming never confronted them head-on, instead using various methods to clear out ant colonies and bee swarms before finally going after the ant queens and bee queens.
Two months later, in the forest near the core region of Cloud Mist Basin, raging flames were burning.
The corpses of the ferocious Tiger-headed Golden Needle Bees burned within the inferno, and the beehive constructed atop a banyan tree with a diameter of two meters had already been destroyed.
If there were other hunters present, they would never believe that someone would dare to provoke Tiger-headed Golden Needle Bees.
This type of Ferocious Beast was similar to marching ants, except Tiger-headed Golden Needle Bees hunted using their stingers.
These stingers were ten centimeters long and could be launched like a powerful crossbow bolt, possessing enough power to pierce ordinary protective suits, with anesthetic toxins attached to the tip.
They would generally store an additional stinger within their bodies. After using it, it required a full day to recover.
Tiger-headed Golden Needle Bees, which possessed long-range attacks, were even more dangerous to deal with than marching ants. Even Zhou Ming had no choice but to use incendiary bombs.
Although the Ironthread Snake swarm suffered considerable losses, he finally achieved his objective. The brain core changes of bee queens and ant queens in a living state had been completely investigated by him.
Now, he only needed to construct the secret technique model required for Snake Swarm Will and then purchase the class advancement materials he needed before he could begin the Class Advancement Ritual.
After staying in Cloud Mist Basin for nearly three months, he finally chose to leave Cloud Mist Basin.