Paul’s eyes lit up as he listened to Fang Senyan. He actually had a decent relationship with Daldanyan, and the price for the fresh glands brought back from the One-Horned Flying Ant nest was truly tempting. Besides, for anyone, raiding a monster’s lair sounded like a wonderfully profitable endeavor.

So, Paul gritted his teeth and immediately shed all reserve: “Then what are we waiting for? This damned place has a shorter day than Earth, and if we delay further, dawn will break. Executing this will become ten times harder.”

Fang Senyan hesitated for a moment: “Then… should we call them before we set off now?”

Paul, consumed by greed and fidgeting like an ant on a hot pan, sighed deeply: “You remember them, but they probably don't remember you! Look at you, such a shrewd man, yet so naive about these matters? Aldaris is the one who escaped the pursuit of the Seven One-Horned Flying Ants; he must know the terrain and route around Mushroom Rock intimately, right? We have a guide, so what are we waiting for? If the others get there first, we can’t exactly start a turf war with them, can we?”

Fang Senyan glanced at Aldaris, who then said: “Fine, but setting out in the pitch dark is significantly more dangerous than during the day.”

Paul hesitated slightly: “I’ll have Hercules clear the path, and Mariner’s Ramtas follow behind us. Nothing should be able to stop us.”

Fang Senyan’s earlier pretense was all calculated to elicit this exact offer from Paul voluntarily. If Fang Senyan had proposed it himself, Paul, being a man riddled with suspicion, might have started overthinking things. There was no way to achieve such legitimacy now.

Since the three of them had their data synced to the external fire control system, and the machine gun turrets outside were constantly unleashing torrents of roaring fire, the trio managed to slip out without making a sound. There was no violent storm or clashing thunder that night, only a heavy darkness enveloping the plains, providing a perfect camouflage for everything. Looking up, the Eublos Asteroid Belt cast a clear yellow glow in the sky, completely eclipsing the starlight. It fell gently onto the ground, and if one only looked at the ground without the sky, there was even an illusion of the tranquil feeling of moonlight cascading like water. However, the wilderness was far from silent. A multitude of insects were chirping—some mating, some luring prey, and others issuing warnings. More importantly, these sounds were absolutely not without threat. For example, the most typical was a creature called the Spoon-Tip Cicada, plump as the head of a spoon, differing from ordinary cicadas in only one aspect: its diet. Regular cicadas survive by sucking sap from trees. Spoon-Tip Cicadas, however, are carnivorous; juices from decaying animals, blood, and the like are all on their menu. Fang Senyan had been attacked by these perverse insects numerous times; they were quite distinctive. When you hear a drawn-out, peculiar cicada cry rapidly approaching from a distance, that is the sign of a Spoon-Tip Cicada. Its entrance is striking, feeling like a dive-bombing fighter jet zooming past at high speed. Then, its sharp proboscis, engorged with fluid, points forward like a single horn. It thrusts forward relentlessly, relying on the momentum of its impact—to be precise, imagine a large, robust nurse like Sister Furong gripping a syringe and stabbing fiercely toward you. And this was all happening in the dark! Against such suicidal attacks where failure meant certain death, not just human skin, but even the thick hides of water buffaloes and wild boars could not withstand this creature’s piercing strike. Fortunately, Ramtas’s nature magic proved highly effective. After casting the “Nature Mark” spell on everyone, the creatures shone brightly from afar, clear as a hundred-watt lightbulb clinging to shrub branches, allowing them to prepare and defend in advance. Along the way, Fang Senyan managed to dispatch over a dozen Spoon-Tip Cicadas. Initially, he tried hitting them like baseballs for home runs, but eventually, he switched to pure evasion, letting these kamikaze-like creatures crash directly into the soft earth. In that dark, damp environment, their plump bodies and sturdy wing muscles were delicacies long coveted by subterranean insects. These opportunists would never give the Spoon-Tip Cicadas a chance to take flight again. The trio proceeded, adapting to endless bizarre attacks. These special “amenities” from the planet Eublos were ceaseless. Fang Senyan, with his tough hide, feared nothing, but Aldaris and Paul inevitably suffered considerable trouble. Though not fatal, these annoyances were extremely vexing. Under the lead of Paul’s powerful metal golem, Hercules, the three finally reached Mushroom Rock after an hour. The rock still looked like a mushroom, but one whose cap had been violently gnawed away, and the peak was now covered in cracks. Another two or three moderate earthquakes, and the name Mushroom Rock would likely become history. To put it politely, the three arrivals were men of meticulous calculation; to put it bluntly, they were utterly shameless rogues, feet rotting while sores festered on their heads. Naturally, they already had a detailed plan for dealing with the One-Horned Flying Ants. They immediately tossed out a fresh ant gland they had stored in their personal inventory, then took up positions, effectively encircling the area. Following the habits of the One-Horned Flying Ants, if they sensed the pheromones of their kind, they would almost certainly come to investigate. Then the three could pounce... Soon, a One-Horned Flying Ant descended gracefully from the dark canopy. Its body wasn't covered in the usual membrane but rather chitinous wings, transparent and delicate, much like a termite’s. Moreover, its body size approached that of a lion, yet its overall shape was at least eighty percent reminiscent of an ant. Its bee-like abdomen constantly extended and retracted, subtly revealing a dark venomous stinger whose potency Fang Senyan had already directly experienced from the wounds inflicted upon Aziza and Daldanyan. Therefore, he had no intention of testing it himself. “That’s a male ant,” Aldaris quickly messaged the other two. “From birth, it has only two purposes: mating, to provide enough sperm for the Queen, and fighting. So don’t let your guard down.” “Hmm, so the male ant’s gland must be worth more,” Fang Senyan immediately added. “What we gathered before were only worker ant glands, but this one coming now is specialized for reproduction and combat. This allows us to deduce two things: first, the colony must have suffered heavy losses, forcing even this guard-like specimen out to run errands; and second, its gland is certainly worth double, oh wait, ten times the price of a common worker ant!” The moment Fang Senyan finished his last sentence, Paul immediately commanded his giant metal war golem to burst from the ground. The golem’s club, possessing astonishing weight, smashed down onto the male ant. Then, Aldaris’s dagger sliced across the ant’s wings. What followed, naturally, was a frenzied beatdown devoid of any chivalric spirit… Even so, the creature managed to hold on for nearly five minutes before dying. Furthermore, Fang Senyan’s Android No. 1 was pierced by the stinger, and the terrifying venom instantly corroded the plastic and rubber components. If they hadn't accumulated spare parts beforehand, it would have been declared scrap. Regrettably, the male ant’s violent struggle before death destroyed the integrity of its gland, so the expected harvest did not materialize, which infuriated Paul to the point where he wanted to vent his anger on the corpse. However, upon Aldaris’s intervention, the trio quickly butchered the body, stored the majority of the male ant in their private spaces, and immediately fled the scene. This was a lesson learned from the bloody experience of Hedikuri and the others: once a One-Horned Flying Ant is killed, the colony will immediately rush to reinforce, drawn by the released pheromones. If they lingered, they would find themselves surrounded. After hastily erasing their scent, the three escaped and observed the situation on the previous battlefield using hidden cameras. They discovered that the pheromonal signature of a male ant gland attracted significantly more attention than that of a regular worker ant. Five male ants quickly arrived, circled once, and carried away parts of their companion’s corpse. Three other male ants circled the area for a few laps, clearly reluctant to leave, before finally departing. In response to this situation, Fang Senyan and the others immediately devised an even more underhanded scheme. They divided the remains of the first male ant into five portions, then sent four androids, each carrying one portion, to abandon them in separate locations before fleeing. Since the androids were mostly made of plastic and rubber, they were difficult to track if they escaped immediately after depositing the bait. Utilizing this tactic, the five male ants were separated once more, and the inevitable outcome was that one of them fell prey to the ambush. This time, Fang Senyan and Paul had experience fighting a male ant, and their execution was twice as swift. In reality, once the number of male ants was reduced to four, it wouldn't have been impossible for the three of them, working together with Fang Senyan going all out, to subdue them. However, he saw no need to reveal all his trump cards yet, so they continued their strategy of attrition. But when the number of male ants dropped to two, they learned their lesson; no amount of luring would draw them out. For Fang Senyan and the others, however, the threat posed by two male ants had been reduced to an acceptable level. At this point, they could brazenly set their sights on the ant nest beneath Mushroom Rock!