ATPnovel Chapter 1: Starting at Hell Difficulty?
Chapter 1: Starting at Hell Difficulty?
"I've been reborn. This time, I'm going to take back everything I've lost..."
Ye Zhi shook his head – he really couldn't make up any more stories.
The good news is that he was indeed reborn, but the bad news is that this start is incredibly difficult.
The last memory still lingers in my mind - the smooth green grass, the continuous low mounds that looked like ugly sores, a glaring red, and the stinging pain from under my skin, as if every cell was being burned by flames.
Those were the infamous invasive red imported fire ants, using their sharp stingers to inject deadly alkaloids and neurotoxins—then everything went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw something unfamiliar, something that he couldn't tell if it was a ceiling or not.
Now, what Ye Zhi sees before him is like the interior of a huge "building," its surface supported by countless irregularly extending skeletons, with the skeletons covered by a verdant, semi-transparent structure. The light source seems to be above, shining down through the "skin" between the skeletons, dyeing the entire space a verdant green.
Inside the "building," almost every corner was crammed with a kind of "monster."
A slender body, six thin limbs, a triangular head with sharp, scissor-like mouthparts, and some of its shadows cast long, swaying reflections by the light source shining through the "skin".
Based on his memories from his previous life, these "monsters" should resemble a type of weaver ant, but he doesn't know if they are the yellow weaver ants that were distributed in his hometown in his previous life or the long-knotted weaver ants that lived on the next continent.
Ye Zhi, having been reborn, naturally became a new member of this weaver ant colony. Based on the size of the weaver ants in his previous life, he estimated that his current body length was only about one centimeter, making him extremely weak.
But that's not all - what makes Ye Zhi feel most overwhelmed is the current state of his body.
He could feel his head; the pair of well-developed, scissor-like upper jaws in his chewing mouthparts were in a strange, asymmetrical shape.
The left mandible, like the nearby worker ants, is triangular and razor-sharp, while the right mandible is just a small, pitiful protrusion, which is a pair of antennae. The right antennae are noticeably longer and more developed, and are longer than the left antennae.
Looking back, its body was barely able to maintain a decent shape. The thorax was high among the three segments of head, thorax, and abdomen. It also had two pairs of transparent membranous wings on its back. Its abdomen was slightly crooked, and its right hind limb was not very intact, so it walked with a limp, dragging behind it.
Chimera, a term surfaced from a past life memory. A type of deformity caused by problems during the embryonic stage, typically manifesting as the presence of both male and female characteristics. In insects, this is characterized by bilateral symmetry, meaning that one side of the body is often male and the other female.
This body now seems to be like that, with the characteristics of a male ant on one side and the characteristics of a worker ant, that is, a female that is infertile, on the other side. It's just that the male ant and the worker ant look so different that it has become this strange appearance.
Since emerging from its molt, Ye Zhineng has sensed a kind of "rejection" from the other worker ants. It is an instinctive, spontaneous immune response, like the immune system rejecting diseased tissue.
"Does he have to be so heartless?" he sighed inwardly. But there was nothing he could do. After all, Ye Zhi didn't know if he would have another chance to start over, so he could only take it one step at a time.
Having just completed its metamorphosis, its six limbs, not yet fully hardened, moved with slight awkwardness. A pair of slender antennae swayed, and under the body's instinctive action, the pheromone scent permeating the surrounding air entered its mind.
These are nothing more than simple signals of demanding food and representing safety. To Ye Zhi, who belongs to human thought, they are even somewhat meaningless, merely the limit that an ant's limited brain, smaller than a grain of salt, can achieve.
But these simple signals intertwine to form an ingenious algorithm network. This pheromone network determines the behavior of each individual, and the individual, in turn, emits signals according to changes in the environment, thus altering the pheromone network.
While pondering, Ye Zhi's body stepped onto a "ground" woven from fine white silk threads, while in front of him, a "wall" made of the same material separated the space.
Weaver ants get their name from the silk-like threads secreted by their larvae that they use to sew leaves together into spherical nests. These leaf nests, called "ant mounds," are also divided into countless small "rooms" by these "ant threads," and Ye Zhi's nest is one of these rooms.
The entrance to the "room" was guarded by a few worker ants, all of them the strongest and largest worker ants, with six strong limbs, well-developed mandibles, and a body size similar to Ye Zhi's current body.
Upon seeing Ye Zhi approach, a large worker ant immediately stepped forward, slapping its antennae and shaking its abdomen, releasing a small amount of pheromone.
"Go back, go back..."
The room filled with larvae and pupae contained not only Ye Zhi, a newly emerged ant, but also countless other winged reproductive ants with two pairs of membranous wings, just like him.
Driven by their instinct to perpetuate their genes, these reproductive ants remain restless after their exoskeletons harden, attempting to break free of the nest, spread their wings, and fly into the blue sky to fulfill their mission of continuing the species.
However, it was clearly not the right time yet. Whenever a reproductive ant approached the exit, it would be blocked by the worker ants guarding the gate and driven away with pheromones. If it tried to force its way in, the large worker ants would grab its mandibles and drag it back into the nest.
But Ye Zhi had already made up his mind—if he continued to freeload in the nest, he was almost certain to die. Not to mention that the worker ants could kill him, this deformed individual, at any time, even if he could disguise himself as a breeding male ant, he still wouldn't escape.
Based on his understanding of ant colonies, most ant reproductive ants only appear during a specific period of the year. After this "reproduction period," if any reproductive ants have not yet completed their reproductive tasks, they will be killed by worker ants who will then recycle their nutrients.
Therefore, Ye Zhi could not stay in this ant nest for even a day longer. He had to find a chance to bypass the worker ants and leave this seemingly safe but actually dangerous nest.
As for waiting for the right moment to leave with the main army of reproductive ants? That would be like wishing for an even quicker death.
The reproductive behavior of ants is called "nuptial flight." In most species, male ants from different nests and winged female reproductive ants will fly into the sky at the same time to complete an act that represents the great harmony of life in a specific airspace.
Subsequently, the male ants die, while the female ants, carrying the seed of life, shed their membranous wings and become new queen ants, seeking space to establish a completely new colony. However, this process inevitably attracts a large number of predators!
After much thought, the safest method was to leave immediately before the breeding season fully began. As for the specific method, he already had a general plan in mind.