Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 10: If you do not abandon me, I am willing to become your godfather...

It was a deliberately leveled, bare patch of soil, devoid of any vegetation. In the very center of the patch, a towering tree rose from the ground, its crown barely visible, but conservatively estimated to be thirty or forty meters tall.

The giant tree has lush foliage, each leaf a flawless emerald green, adorned with delicate white blossoms that exude a subtle fragrance, carrying a familiar yet unique aroma.

The scent was similar to the "divinely bestowed seed" on the pitcher plant, and combined with its tall, astonishing shape and flawless green leaves, Ye Zhi could confirm that this was a mature "divinely bestowed seed".

Beneath the tree, a massive figure, three or four meters long and slender in shape, stood with its head held high and its antennae erect, as if gazing up at the towering canopy of the giant tree.

Judging from its appearance, it was also a slender ant, but it was not only larger in size, but its thorax was also raised high, and its abdomen was slightly swollen. Without a doubt, it was the queen of the slender ant.

According to inherited memories, only reproductive ants among ants can ascend to become Force life forms, and the queen ant who reaches the Force life level should probably be called the "Ant King" - of course, Ye Zhi himself, a chimera who has achieved Force life, doesn't know how to calculate it.

Most Force creatures lose the ability to reproduce after ascending, but ants, bees, and termites are exceptions, as Ye Zhi previously called them "eusocial insects."

According to the inherited memories, the ant queen, who is at the Force level, can give birth to worker ants and soldier ants at the "semi-Force level". These ants can inherit part of the ant queen's strength and, once they form a large enough group, can easily overwhelm other species of the same level.

Seemingly sensing the movement behind it, the slender ant "King" slowly turned around. On its oval head, a pair of compound eyes cast a gaze at Ye Zhi, and then it shook its abdomen, sending out a signal.

Upon receiving the signal, the worker ants immediately lowered their heads, their antennae touching the ground, seemingly signaling Ye Zhi to come down. Without hesitation, he turned and slowly crawled down along his antennae, looking at the enormous ant queen before him.

"Weaver ants?"

The enormous, slender ant king sized up Ye Zhi, and just then, a signal suddenly rang in Ye Zhi's mind.

Although he had never experienced this kind of communication before, he immediately knew that the slender ant king in front of him was communicating with him using what he had inherited in his memories as "psychic power".

"Emerald Green... Leaf-weaving Ant." Ye Zhi responded somewhat laboriously, learning to use "psychic power" from the inherited memories. The Emerald Green Leaf-weaving Ant was precisely the name given to this species, which was often called the Yellow Weasel Ant in the inherited memories, in this world.

"Little one, don't be afraid." Seeing that Ye Zhi's answer was a little hesitant, the slender ant king's telepathic signal softened a bit, "Your clan's Qingzhi ant king treated me as his own junior, and I will treat its junior as my own junior as well."

Force-based life forms cannot normally reproduce their offspring. Even the ant king can only produce worker ants that are semi-force-based life forms, and cannot produce reproductive ants at the force-based life level.

The inherited memories also describe the concept of "elders of the same kind." Powerful Force beings would protect ordinary members of their kind within their territory, and if a new Force life awakened among these members, it would be regarded as a "junior" by that powerful individual—almost like a son.

At this moment, Ye Zhi also recalled that in his previous life, he seemed to have heard of examples of yellow weasels and small, slender ants living in symbiosis. Their nests were adjacent to each other and they even shared part of the ant tunnels, but they did not have any conflicts.

Through the inherited memories, Ye Zhi learned that the creatures of this world develop primitive intelligence after awakening as beings of the Force, and this intelligence gradually strengthens as they advance and grow. The slender ant king in front of him should already be no different from humans in intelligence - no wonder it has such complex emotions.

The "Blue-skinned Ant King" mentioned by the other party seems to be a proper "elder of the same clan," another, more powerful Weaver Ant King, and the meaning expressed in the other party's words... is probably that this ant king has passed away for some reason.

The information that followed... sounded like good news - the other party's "telepathic" words were sincere, and there was no need for them to fake it. It was highly likely that they had a powerful backer to rely on, and they would no longer have to live in fear and trepidation.

Recalling the time when he was chased around by the giant ants, Ye Zhi's eyes welled up with tears. He even had the urge to rush up and shout, "If you do not abandon me, I am willing to become your godfather."

Unfortunately, his clumsy use of telekinesis was completely incapable of conveying such complex information. He could only cast a touching glance at the other party, not knowing whether it could understand it.

Seeing this, the slender queen ant waved its antennae, and a smaller, slender worker ant found a broad leaf of a banana plant from somewhere, laid it flat on the ground, and then regurgitated a small puddle of amber-colored viscous liquid.

Upon smelling the sweet aroma, Ye Zhi didn't care about anything else and immediately rushed forward. The slumber during his evolution had depleted the honeydew stored in his body's social stomach, and he had also been escaping the pursuit of the giant toothed ants. At this moment, he was indeed very hungry.

The liquid tasted sweeter than the honeydew from the aphids, and the texture was somewhat familiar. Ye Zhi paused for a moment, realizing it was honey. He wondered which unlucky bee colony had been attacked by the slender ants.

Seeing Ye Zhi begin to eat, the slender ant king finally spoke again: "Little guy, what happened to you during your molting and evolution process?"

It's no wonder the other party is suspicious. After Ye Zhi's body underwent a molting evolution, although it has finally become more coordinated and looks like a living organism rather than a chimera, the head, compound eyes, and jaws are still of different sizes, which is extremely strange.

"Born this way... molting once... even... improves." This kind of telepathic communication is quite mentally taxing, and Ye Zhi can only speak haltingly and barely manage to express himself. Or perhaps he can't care about that now; making honey is the most important thing right now.

"Born this way? Could it be... a chimera?" The slender ant king was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed in disbelief, "Is there something wrong with the life sac?"

The information in the inherited memories indicates that the life sac is the foundation for the insect warriors' survival. Without the large amount of primal energy food produced by the life plant, their subsequent growth and evolution will be extremely difficult.

"No." Ye Zhi raised his head, shook his antennae twice to send a negative signal, and then continued to bury his head in his food—he wouldn't stop until he had filled both his social stomach and his normal stomach.

"That's good. A couple more evolutions should improve things." The other's telepathic signal relaxed, as if it had let out a sigh of relief, and continued, "Little guy, welcome to the Tree Ant Kingdom. You can call me—the Cinnabar Ant King!"