CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: THE IRRITATED SHADOW WOLF KING

The dozen or so soldier ants were knocked askew by the Earth Spider, and as they got back on their feet, they saw six Shadow Wolves charging at them.

This made the soldier ants extremely annoyed. As the overlords of this area, those Star Beasts would usually avoid them at all costs.

But now, two groups of Star Beasts had intruded into their territory and were even trying to force their way into their nest. It was simply ignoring them.

The soldier ants released pheromones to notify their kin inside the ant nest and then quickly reorganized their formation to block the wolf pack.

The Shadow Wolf King let out an angry howl at the sight. How dare this bunch of Servant Level trash obstruct me.

It raised its wolf claw and directly swatted a soldier ant to death, and the other five Shadow Wolves quickly followed suit.

In just one encounter, they slew all the dozen or so soldier ants.

At this moment, Chu Chen’s group of seven had already entered the ant nest, greeted by pitch darkness.

Fortunately, the Earth Spider and Green Poison Scorpion had night vision abilities, so they continued to rush deeper into the ant nest without stopping.

After a moment’s adaptation, Chu Chen and the others could barely make out their surroundings.

The ant nest was situated in the belly of a large mountain, with the tunnels having a diameter of about two meters. The inner walls were made of rock.

The tunnels branched out in all directions with many forks. The seven of them had no time to be careful and let the Earth Spider roam the tunnels freely.

Most of the Gray Rock Ants inside the ant nest were resting; only a few Worker Ants were still laboring.

Chu Chen and the others didn’t deliberately hide their presence, and they were soon exposed to the Worker Ants’ sight.

As the Worker Ants released pheromones, a large number of Gray Rock Ants swarmed out of the resting stone chambers, quickly filling the previously empty tunnels.

Seeing this, Chu Chen was not the slightest bit panicked, as this was exactly what he wanted.

His aim was to use the Gray Rock Ants to block the wolf pack.

Since the tunnel was only two meters wide, it could only accommodate two Gray Rock Ants side by side at most. Although they were trapped, they only needed to deal with four Gray Rock Ants at a time.

Chu Chen looked at the stone chamber a dozen meters away and said in a deep voice, "Have the Earth Spider charge ahead, and the Green Poison Scorpion cover the rear."

Zhang Yingjie and the others did not hesitate for a moment and immediately acted according to Chu Chen’s command.

It was unknown when Chu Chen had regained leadership of this fugitive team.

Perhaps it was the performance during these three days of assessment that conquered Zhang Yingjie and the others, or maybe his plan had temporarily gotten everyone out of danger.

Dealing with two Gray Rock Ants simultaneously was not difficult for the Earth Spider.

Its eight spider legs were like eight long spears, and the Gray Rock Ants were utterly defenseless against them.

In the face of the relentless Gray Rock Ants, the Earth Spider still carved out a bloody path.

The Green Poison Scorpion only needed to swing its pincers to fend off attacks from the Gray Rock Ants behind.

Soon the Earth Spider reached the doorway of the stone chamber.

Chu Chen looked into the stone chamber and found that there were still a few Gray Rock Ants inside.

With a wave of his hand, Chu Chen summoned Lei Yao.

"Kill them all," said Chu Chen, pointing to the Gray Rock Ants in the stone chamber.

Without any hesitation, Lei Yao unleashed a Lightning Fist and charged forward.

"Earth Spider, advance another two meters, and everyone else get into the stone chamber immediately," Lei Yao said in a deep voice.

The group dared not hesitate and rushed into the stone chamber.

After everyone, including the Green Poison Scorpion, entered the stone chamber, they finally forced the Gray Rock Ants back and hid inside, with the last to enter being the Earth Spider.

The entrance to the stone chamber was the same size as the tunnel, and they only had to deal with two Gray Rock Ants.

However, Chu Chen did not relax. The large number of Gray Rock Ants clogged the stone chamber entrance, their pressure forced the Gray Rock Ants at the front inside. Even if they were two corpses, like this, the entire stone chamber would be filled with Gray Rock Ant corpses.

In the end, Chu Chen and the others would also be crushed to death by the Gray Rock Ant corpses.

"Uncle Li, does the Earth Spider have any spider silk left in it?" Chu Chen asked in a deep voice.

"It has just recovered a bit, should have about seven or eight strands."

"That’s enough. Have the Earth Spider wrap the Gray Rock Ant corpses at the entrance together, then use these bodies to block the entrance."

At this moment, the Shadow Wolf Pack also charged into the ant nest, only to be met by hundreds and thousands of Gray Rock Ants.

The Shadow Wolves stood about two meters at the shoulder and nearly four meters long. With such massive bodies, they couldn’t move freely in the narrow tunnels at all.

In no time, they were forced to retreat step by step by the Gray Rock Ants and had no choice but to exit the ant nest.

The Shadow Wolf King’s chest heaved violently, unable to suppress the anger burning within. It had roamed the central forest region for years but never felt so humiliated as today.

With a roar, it summoned an intense concentration of Dark Element.

In a blink, a black orb more than two meters in diameter formed before it.

Under the Wolf King’s control, the black orb shot toward the Gray Rock Ants’ nest.

"Boom!"

The black orb smashed into the ant nest entrance, instantly vaporizing the Gray Rock Ants, and expanding the entrance several times over, even causing the massive mountain body to tremble a bit.

The Wolf King looked at its handiwork with satisfaction.

It led the wolf pack to charge at the Gray Rock Ants’ nest once more.

The ant horde showed no fear, protecting their home had been ingrained in their hearts since birth.

Facing the seemingly tidal wave of ants, the Wolf King was exasperated. No matter how fiercely it attacked, the opponent showed no signs of retreat, and its own stamina and Star Power were mostly depleted. One of its kin was careless and swallowed by the ant swarm, while other kin suffered varying degrees of injury.

If they continued the assault, they would be exhausted to death.

"Being bitten to death by ants is not an empty phrase," it thought, unwilling to become that proverbial elephant.

Helplessly, the Wolf King retreated from the ant nest once more to recover.

It stayed at a distance, eyes locked on the ant nest, pupils burning with endless fury.

Meanwhile, Chu Chen and his group were blocking the entrance together. Although the Gray Rock Ant corpses were flesh, they began to break down under the ant swarm’s assault.

"Do you hear that? What’s that sound?" Cold Face anxiously asked, pointing at the rock wall.

Hearing this, Chu Chen quickly pressed his ear against the rock wall to listen carefully.

Moments later, he rose slowly, his expression becoming exceptionally grave.

"What the hell is going on?" Li Zitao asked solemnly.

"The ant swarm is chewing through the rock wall. It won’t be long before they bite through it."

"Then... what should we do?" Cold Face asked with a trembling voice.

Chu Chen did not respond but closed his eyes, deep in thought.

Seeing this, the others did not disturb him and quietly stood guard nearby.

After several breaths, Chu Chen suddenly opened his eyes, hurried to the rock wall, and began tapping around it with the hilt of his dagger.

Until the heavy thump turned into a clear clinking, he ceased tapping.

"Everyone direct your Guardian Beasts to attack here."

Upon hearing this, no one hesitated and quickly commanded their Guardian Beasts to attack.

"Boom!"

The combined attack of several Guardian Beasts blasted through several meters of thick rock in moments, creating an opening that connected to another tunnel.

The group was overjoyed at the sight and hurried toward the tunnel.

The new tunnel was exceptionally spacious, with a four-meter diameter, and showed no signs of Gray Rock Ants.

It seemed the Gray Rock Ants here had gone to support the ant swarm.

"Let’s keep running further inside," Chu Chen instructed again.

"Brainiac, how did you know there’d be a tunnel here?" Gangzi couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked.

The others also placed their gazes on Chu Chen, obviously intrigued as well.

"Here’s an example that’ll clarify it for you. As we pushed our way in, we found dozens of tunnels, all not far apart; they resembled tree branches, with the stone chamber we’re in being a leaf. The leaf is closer to other branches, and by the sound of tapping on the rock wall, I determined the closest tunnel to us," Chu Chen patiently explained.

Hearing this, everyone finally showed an expression of understanding and delight.