The scene before them was undeniably brutal, yet it was also the crucial reason Fang Senyan believed the ant colony was not playing tricks; no colony would willingly incur such a devastating cost merely to mislead an enemy. A feint carried out to this extreme degree was a Pyrrhic victory, even if successful.

As mentioned before, the future development of a Rhinoceros Ant larva was largely determined by its diet.

In the incubation chamber now, the larvae that had survived were those that had consumed ant eggs or other larvae. Their resulting appearance was bizarre, starkly different from other Rhinoceros Ant larvae, having mutated ferociously into beings of sheer aggression.

Ramtas, meanwhile, charged forward with unrestrained excitement. The hulking brute began ravenously devouring these mutated Rhinoceros Ant larvae. Though fierce, these larvae were like young lions unable to contend with an adult hyena. As Ramtas plunged in, swinging his club while emitting excited, porcine grunts, he dispatched and knocked out the larvae one by one without much effort, hastily stuffing them into his maw to allow his six stomachs to fully absorb the nutrients.

After gorging himself, Ramtas let out a roar of agonizing transformation, then furiously dug into the earth, burying himself underground.

Several tens of minutes later, a massive earthen cocoon slowly pushed its way up from beneath the soil. The mud shell cracked open, and a powerful figure emerged, immediately striking a signature bodybuilding pose—flexing mightily and scattering the dry mud casing everywhere, leaving Fang Senyan dusted and disheveled.

Clearly, after consuming those larvae like buckets of chocolate sandwich cookies, Ramtas had successfully evolved. This was something Fang Senyan, the instigator, had never anticipated. It seemed this evolutionary ability was a bonus feature resulting from Fang Senyan adding his own blood when formulating the special serum.

Ramtas now appeared even larger, with armor plating resembling the exoskeleton of an ant covering his vital areas. Some of his coarse bristles had transformed into appendages resembling insect antennae.

However, Fang Senyan could clearly perceive, through their blood connection, that Ramtas’s most significant changes lay in two areas: First, his strength had at least doubled. Second, he had gained an acid attack capability, allowing him to vomit powerful acid onto enemies, an acid so tenacious it clung like hardened chewing gum.

In addition, his sensory perception had sharpened, and both his health pool and defense had increased to varying degrees.

To put it plainly, if Ramtas’s direct combat power previously fell short of Paul’s metal combat golem, he now possessed the capability to engage Hercules in a head-on confrontation, and Ramtas’s support capabilities and ease of maintenance were simply beyond comparison to Hercules.

Naturally, Paul’s envious gaze at this moment likely needed no further description.

Although the cave was utterly dark, with no light penetrating, they could estimate from the time that daylight must have broken outside. The rest of the team, unless blind, would certainly realize that Fang Senyan and the other two had "vanished."

What is the greatest agony in life? It is surely when, after clearing every obstacle, someone else rushes in to snatch the spoils…

Ah. To help the reader gain a deeper understanding, translating this into game terminology: it’s when you bring a BOSS down to a sliver of health, and suddenly a few other players jump in, PK you first, then claim the boss with its last bit of health, walking away with multiple pieces of equipment valuable enough to sell for real currency…

Therefore, the group urgently hastened back to the three-way fork in the ant nest, heading down the largest tunnel. According to Fang Senyan’s estimation, this should lead to the Queen’s chamber, and Ramtas’s sense of smell corroborated his judgment.

After proceeding nearly a hundred meters down this branch passage, three androids suddenly halted simultaneously, reacting to something. They took out the portable measurement instruments from their backpacks—devices previously mentioned that could sensitively detect the presence of Promethium.

The screens of the readout devices were now glowing a deep green! This indicated a medium-purity Promethium ore vein within a ten-kilometer radius. When the androids increased the instrument's concentration threshold, the screen's glow remained deep green, leading to only one conclusion: the deposit was remarkably rich.

However, Fang Senyan couldn't help but sigh. The fact that the reader showed no reaction when they first entered the tunnel, but only deep inside the nest, strongly suggested that this medium-purity Promethium vein lay some ten kilometers deep underground… Mining deposits at this depth held very little practical value because the cost of extraction would be astronomical; thus, presenting this discovery as a success for their mission briefing was nearly impossible.

Suddenly, the "ladybug" scout flying ahead shuddered, then smashed into the adjacent wall with a sharp clank. Immediately, it burst into flame, flying a few difficult meters in the air before crashing to the ground, sizzling. Its outer shell was clearly being corroded by acid.

Fortunately, Fang Senyan and his team were prepared for an attack. The instant something felt wrong, they flung out several glow sticks. These sticks could also float in the air and were immune to damage; in fact, being cut into pieces only resulted in more light sources, instantly illuminating the surroundings with stark clarity.

They could see a tiny hole where the acid had been sprayed, but now dirt was trickling down from it. Then, with a plume of dust, a loud crack echoed as dense fissures spread across the wall of the ant tunnel to their right!

The entire wall let out a sound like the death rattle of a frail elder, then collapsed. Amidst the flying chunks of earth, half a glow stick flew into the space behind the collapse, revealing an enormous chamber. Within it lay two drone males and three worker ants, sprawled in pale blue bodily fluid, seemingly dismembered and already half-eaten!

Occupying nearly half the hall was a clearly, deliberately constructed brood nest. In front of the nest was a trench-like depression that showed clear signs of gnawing. Inside the nest itself, there was a massive, fleshy red object, resembling both a deflated sac and half a train carriage—astonishingly large and covered in wrinkles and depressions. At one end of this fleshy mass was a distinct wound, about the size of a millstone, from which spilled copious amounts of internal organs, continuously oozing a greenish-black fluid.

Upon seeing this sight, everyone present understood instantly: the Queen, sensing extreme threat and driven by agonizing hunger, had directly killed and consumed the bodies of the nearby workers and drones, then forcefully bitten through the connecting tissues of her own abdomen, separating the cumbersome egg sac from her body.

This meant the Queen would not live long, but she had gained temporary freedom, possessing the opportunity to take her enemies down with her. This demonstrated an incredibly powerful intellect, comparable to that of a human.

But—but! What struck all three with a chilling sense of crisis was: where was this Queen, who was ruthless to her own kind and even more so to herself? Up to this point, Fang Senyan and his team had only seen the aftermath of her violent struggle; her true location remained undiscovered.

A thought immediately flashed through Fang Senyan's mind: If I were the Queen, what would I do?

The answer came instantly, and Fang Senyan spun around and fled without hesitation. His action provided an excellent example for the other two, and merely five or six seconds after they bolted, violent tremors and huge impacts erupted behind them. A massive, thick limb smashed through the wall, and fissures instantly spread outward. Dirt began raining down from the ceiling…

The horrifying plan of the Ant Queen was to bury the three of them alive!

Evidently, her biological ability allowed her to move freely underground, meaning Fang Senyan’s team had no hope of tracking the monster. Therefore, fighting this creature underground would undoubtedly spell certain death!

Fortunately, the three of them were all reasonably fast runners. Paul was the weakest link in this regard, but Fang Senyan commanded Ramtas to carry him, a gesture that still warmed Paul’s heart.

When entering, they had been cautious; now, fleeing at full tilt, they utilized the strength granted by their Contractor status. They escaped the tunnels in less than two minutes. The sky was bright now. Fang Senyan surveyed the surroundings and immediately retreated to the foot of the Mushroom Rock massif. Even if the Queen possessed mutant abilities, traversing solid rock would surely expend considerable energy.

All three knew that by severing her own body and abandoning the egg sac, the Queen had resolved to die, meaning she now harbored an intense hatred for them. No matter how far they fled, she would pursue them until death was the only outcome.

Since the hatred was fresh, there was no need to worry about her wandering off. They chose advantageous terrain and braced for battle.

At this point, Fang Senyan began dispensing medication. Aldaris cast an Ion Shield over everyone, which would inflict burns upon enemy contact. Paul, meanwhile, plunged his hands into the ground and closed his eyes.

They could clearly see metal components within the nearby earth being extracted by Paul’s formidable ability, shimmering as they materialized in the air before attaching themselves to the vital points of each person.

The Ant Queen did not keep them waiting long. Discovering that her collapse plan had failed, she began a relentless pursuit, slowly emerging from the distant soil!