"I think Master Fuli might be right!" The professors from the School of Animal Science, called in as external support by the agriculture teacher, agreed with Master Fuli's previous assessment of the potential for the Red Fire Ants' nuptial flight after surveying the field.
In the social structure of Red Fire Ants, they employ a multi-queen system.
In other words, the number of ant queens in a Red Fire Ant nest is bound to be plural. Even if some queens want to venture out independently, they're likely to take some worker ants to build a new house next to the old one.
Due to the multi-queen system and the lazy dog trait intrinsic in most queens, Red Fire Ants can easily create a community or village in a field, thereby forming what's commonly known as a "Super Red Fire Ant Nest."
Since this nest of Red Fire Ants shows signs of spiritualization, the professors now must consider a problem.
Can a propane and carbon dioxide explosion destroy all queens and sub-nests in one fell swoop?
The professors operated the drones, circling over the field to observe and differentiate, studying the potential of combining propane gas explosions with gasoline bomb blasts, sketching diagrams and calculating formulas to predict the final outcome's possibilities.
"Nonsense..."
Originally paying attention, Master Fuli's interest subsided as he rolled his eyes, observing the ant distribution in the field.
Master Fuli targeted an ant with an overall red-brown head, square shaped, with pincers reminiscent of a large beetle.
Its appearance and size easily classified it within the big-headed ant genus.
"Go, take me to your parents!"
With professors and students debating ant eradication, Master Fuli prodded the squarish-headed big-headed ant, signaling it to lead the way.
"!?"
The big-headed ant, clutching a Red Fire Ant in its mouth, was tapped by a fox's paw. Though unhurt, it visibly panicked. It abandoned its food, scrambling and tumbling into the woods.
Before leaving, it glanced back at Master Fuli, as if pledging to return with reinforcements to settle the score.
"Hey!"
Master Fuli chuckled, leisurely following the big-headed ant to a grove.
Red Fire Ants are indeed pesky for humans; their bites can cause shock.
But they aren't invincible; many creatures feast on Red Fire Ants. Big-headed ants, for instance, possess formidable strength, treating Red Fire Ants as mere sweets.
"Hmm..."
The bullied big-headed ant returned to its nest, rallying large worker ants.
Upon exit, they looked up to find white clouds hovering overhead, with a faint circle of black markings at the tail end.
The next instant, warm water flooded in.
The large worker ants were swept back twice within their nest by the warm flood.
The big-headed ants briefly paused, smacking their mouths, eyes lighting up, rushing deeper into the nest. Large worker ants carried the queen, advancing swiftly inside.
The ants seemed to receive a signal, transforming into conveyors, carrying their matriarch to the entrance.
"..."
The ant queen was baffled, entirely bewildered by the sudden rebellion tossing her outside the nest.
Until encountering the cloud's nectar, she quickly understood her offspring's good intentions, opened up to embrace it.
Moments later.
Queen fixed her gaze on Master Fuli, raising her arms, trying to communicate.
However, they were too small, their spiritualization insufficient. Master Fuli couldn't decipher their speech.
"No need to speak, just go and fight them!" Master Fuli picked up a dead Red Fire Ant, showing it to them, then smashed it with a fox paw onto the ground.
The queen hesitated, head sprouting an exclamation point, she turned towards her nest, raising her head high.
Subsequently.
Thousands of worker ants, led by nearly one-centimeter-long giant soldier ants, formed an aggressive ant trail through the wooded path towards the Red Fire Ant nest.
"Charge!"
The queen ranted in a local dialect, encouraging her offspring to take on the fire ants.
"Yay~"
Master Fuli, full of merriment, spoke to the big-headed ant queen: "Yeah! Hit them hard, and someday I'll treat you to a couple of bottles of Spiritual Power Potion for fun."
Master Fuli followed the ant army from the woods back onto the village path.
The professors were still calculating something, seemingly reaching a conclusion, preparing to mobilize something.
"Ah Qing, come and see! I've borrowed troops from the neighboring ant nest to attack the fire ants!"
Ansheng wiped away the ground's insecticide powder, cheering the bold big-headed ants onwards to the Red Fire Ant nest, calling to Ah Qing to watch the show.
"Xiaolan!"
Hearing the calls, Ah Qing turned to see the little fox squatting in the field, her eyes widened in astonishment, shouting:
"Didn't I say to stay beside the professors without running off? Watch out for your bell!"
Before entering the field, Ah Qing placed Xiaolan next to the professors, not worried about the little fox dirtying himself while running around; she genuinely feared the red fire ants biting his paws and bell.
Red Fire Ants are venomous.
Their bites can ulcerate, some remaining unhealed for months.
Fox Fox's bell wasn't reinforced, Ah Qing got alarmed upon seeing the little fox in the field, hurriedly calming him down, saying she was coming over quickly.
"I'm no fool; there's no way I'd let the Red Fire Ants bite me...."
Ansheng remained indifferent, glancing at the ant nest entrance, where big-headed ants seemed possessed by war gods, crushing the fire ants into disarray. Each Red Fire Ant was severed into two by the big-headed ants' powerful pincers, scattered on the ground.
"The only one to bite me was probably the reckless one trying to ascend to the moon." Ansheng internally mused.
These insignificant Red Fire Ants, if they could really injure me....
Well... Ansheng felt the Security Bureau might as well unleash subterranean missiles for the bombardment.
Meanwhile, as Master Fuli grumbled about Ah Qing's fantastical tales, thousands of big-headed ants formed paths to storm into the Red Fire Ant nest, engaging furiously, with a casualty ratio of ten to one against the big-headed ants.
More than ten Red Fire Ants were needed to significantly harm one worker from the big-headed ants.
Facing one-centimeter soldier ants, Red Fire Ants couldn't even breach their defenses.
The feeling was akin to adhering to a pedestrian crossing when a hundred-ton speeding truck approached, inducing helplessness and despair, a tinge of grudging laughter.
Fight fight fight—
The Red Fire Ant nest was plunged into chaos, with big-headed ants invoking maternal effusions and loyalty, fearlessly rushing to the fire ant queen's location.
However.
Upon entering the Red Fire Ant queen's nest, the big-headed ant army swiftly retreated from the fire ants' nest...
"Argh?"
Ansheng saw the big-headed ants like a tide abruptly retreating, filled with bewilderment, question marks popping up in his mind.
"What happened here? They were just massacring them."
Big-headed ants were routed, evidently defeated.
While Master Fuli wondered how big-headed ants could possibly lose.
From the entrance of the Red Fire Ant nest emerged a queen, with four wings on her back, entirely red turning purple, as thick as a woman's forearm.
"Hiss——" The queen fluttered her wings, issuing intimidating calls, exuding overwhelming might.
Master Fuli was completely stunned, staring at the nearly twenty-centimeter-long queen, eyes wide.
"Whoa....."
"Has Ah Qing's mouth received divine blessings?"
"This thing might truly sting my bell..."
The largest ants Ansheng had seen were merely two centimeters in length, and this one reached thirty.
Forget about the big-headed ants, even humans would fear it.