Chapter Twenty-Three: The Heart of Youth

The group continued for three more rounds, each time facing increasing numbers of Scarlet Fire Ants. By the final round, over a hundred surged out at once. They fled immediately, not daring to linger any longer. Including those slain in the previous rounds, they had killed more than two hundred Scarlet Fire Ants altogether.

Despite their impressive tally, only two items were dropped: both were Tier One Source Pearls, not particularly valuable. In this world, the drop rates of monsters had long been studied and understood. Creatures that live in colonies and reproduce rapidly have the lowest drop rates, followed by those that are social but reproduce at a normal rate; the highest drop rates belong to solitary monsters. After escaping the Scarlet Fire Ants, the team paused to catch their breath.

Mu Kui, panting but unable to hide his excitement, exclaimed, "That was exhilarating! Captain, let's see what we've gained." At the mention of their loot, everyone perked up with anticipation. Though they had a rough idea, they were eager to hear the exact numbers. Shi Jiu smiled and produced a storage card, pouring out all the red sacs it contained.

"Here, let's count them."

"Fifteen... twenty-two... thirty-four... sixty-four... ninety-eight... one hundred sixty-eight... two hundred thirty-four!"

The instant the final count was confirmed, everyone's faces flushed with excitement. Divided evenly, each person would receive twenty-six red sacs! It took roughly thirty red sacs for someone at the early stage of Tier One to reach its peak. In other words, once they absorbed these sacs, everyone here would at least reach the peak of Tier One. Shi Jiu, already at the later stage of Tier One, might directly break through to Tier Two!

To put it in perspective, Wang Ziping, captain of Seventh Squad, had only just broken through to Tier Two himself. This was the power of opportunity: if they followed the usual path of cultivation, it would take about a year to reach Tier Two. But with this windfall, that time would be drastically reduced—even if they only advanced to the peak of Tier One, it would take just half a year to reach Tier Two.

But the Scarlet Fire Ant nest remained, teeming with more ants. With fifty red sacs apiece, they could guarantee a breakthrough to Tier Two. The opportunity was right before their eyes—would they shrink away? If they made one more attempt and harvested another two hundred plus sacs, it would be enough for all of them to ascend to Tier Two. After that, they'd withdraw.

Based on their calculations, the nest contained roughly three hundred more Scarlet Fire Ants—not an overwhelming number. So long as not more than a hundred poured out at once, they were confident of victory. Facing a hundred at once was not impossible, but the danger became unpredictable. Against fewer than a hundred, they could safely hunt; beyond that, the risk was far greater.

The real issue lay in their stamina. With full energy, there was little problem, but killing eighty or ninety Scarlet Fire Ants pushed them to their limits. After the earlier battles, everyone knew their own endurance. Their ease in killing the ants was only because they fought with all their strength; after all, the ants' carapaces were no mere decoration. Going all out consumed massive stamina in a short time, and though their bodies had been strengthened, they were still at the beginning, far from being able to fight for days on end without fatigue.

Shi Jiu, smiling, said, "I'll keep the loot for now. Let's rest a bit, then tackle the Scarlet Fire Ant nest as soon as possible." Mu Kui, grateful, remarked, "Luckily none of the other squads joined us; otherwise, we couldn't have kept all this for ourselves." The others agreed, all relieved that they'd found this treasure on their own.

While their spirits were high, Lu Sheng felt a pang of anxiety. He desperately wanted to destroy the Scarlet Fire Ant nest right away. He had killed forty-three Scarlet Fire Ants himself, and with his goblins, he had fifty-six combat cards in total. These Scarlet Fire Ants were all early or mid Tier One—none at the late stage or peak yet. He also had over seven hundred Bloodthirsty Mosquito cards, enough to upgrade all his fifty-six combat cards to mid Tier One. With this, Lu Sheng was confident he could solo the Scarlet Fire Ant nest.

But doing so might expose his unique abilities to Li Kuang. How could he possess so many monster cards? They were together every day, yet no one had seen him use blank cards to capture monsters. Where did his monsters come from? Without a plausible explanation, it would be clear he had some treasure. In this apocalyptic world, one could never fully trust others—who knew if his teammates would betray him?

Until he could deal with any potential threats, he would never reveal himself, even if it meant slower progress. He closed his eyes, calming his restless heart. In his previous life, he had dropped out of school at sixteen, worked for two years, and crossed over at eighteen. He was still just a youth, and enduring secrecy was torture. He longed to show off his special abilities, to flaunt them, to inspire envy. But did he dare? If he dared to boast, he had to be prepared for death the very next moment.

In this apocalypse, everything was unfamiliar; nowhere was home, nowhere a safe harbor. He had to bear everything himself—fail, and he would die. Fortunately, despite his youth, the two years of worldly experience in his previous life had taught him patience. He gradually soothed his turbulent emotions, and his inner lake returned to calm.

When he opened his eyes again, they were bright, clear, and wise, all traces of burning desire gone. Shi Jiu spoke at just the right moment: "How's everyone feeling? Let's give it our all and destroy the Scarlet Fire Ant nest in one go!"

"Yes! Destroy the Scarlet Fire Ant nest!"

"Smack!"

"Keep your voice down! Do you want the whole world to know?"

"My bad..."

The team returned to the nest. Outside the damaged mound, some Scarlet Fire Ants were busy repairing. There were about fifty in total. Their eyes lit up—this was the perfect opportunity; no need to lure them, just attack straight away.

The diligent Scarlet Fire Ants, absorbed in their repairs, didn't notice a fist-sized stone flying toward one of their heads.

"Bang!"

The stone struck an ant's head with a crisp sound. The hardworking ant suddenly spun around to face the direction from which the stone had come. Though it had no facial features, the team's members could sense its anger from the abrupt movement.

After the huge mandibles twitched a few times, all the ants repairing the nest charged at them.

"Perfect!"

Seeing the Scarlet Fire Ants rush toward them, their blood began to boil, a surge of excitement coursing through their bodies. Gripping their machetes, they decapitated the ants with a single blow. The Scarlet Fire Ants' defenses were formidable, but not unbreakable. Their biting power was terrifying, but the team wasn't foolish enough to let themselves get bitten. As long as the ants couldn't reach them, their mighty jaws were useless.

If stamina weren't an issue, they wouldn't even fear hundreds of Scarlet Fire Ants at once. Lu Sheng moved among them, silently killing one ant after another, keeping a low profile. His gains were greater than anyone else's—each slain ant became a new card for him. The only drawback was that he couldn't show off his success. Quietly amassing wealth was a delight, though the inability to boast was a minor regret.