CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51: GRAY ROCK ANT QUEEN

The seven looked at the dark passage, a sense of panic inexplicably emerging in their hearts.

The passage was extremely quiet, as if no living beings existed.

Chu Chen clicked on the communication bracelet again to send a distress signal, detailing their location and specific situation.

Sending the distress signal was merely to leave a glimmer of hope for everyone; their location was behind the beast tide, and they would only have a chance of rescue if the beast tide receded. For now, they could only rely on themselves.

The group continued to flee along the passage.

Soon they saw a stone chamber, but inside it was empty except for a few droppings of the Gray Rock Ants.

The group didn’t linger and continued forward.

Uncertain of how long they had been walking, they finally discovered something different.

Another stone chamber appeared, with numerous ant eggs stored inside, numbering in the hundreds, and several worker ants tending to these eggs.

Before Chu Chen could speak, Zhang Yingjie commanded the Terrain Spider to kill all of the worker ants.

The group displayed expressions of great joy upon seeing the stone chamber filled with ant eggs; these were all Beast Taming Eggs. Although the quality of the Gray Rock Ants was very low, each egg was worth several thousand Alliance Coins, making the value of these ant eggs tens of thousands of Alliance Coins.

But the group quickly showed expressions of regret. The ant eggs were the size of footballs, and without spatial equipment, they couldn’t take so many with them.

Chu Chen had previously returned the Beast Taming Ring lent to him by Li Yue, and now he wished he had kept it.

"Let’s summon all our Guardian Beasts. Although we can’t take these ant eggs with us, we can maximize their use. The eggs contain rich nutrients, which are very beneficial to the Guardian Beasts," Chu Chen said with a smile.

Hearing this, the group immediately summoned their Guardian Beasts with joy.

It had been an hour since the appearance of the beast tide.

Within this hour, several Guardian Beasts were either fleeing or fighting, depleting their stamina and Star Power. The available eggs were a wonderful replenishment that they couldn’t miss.

Shortly after, the Guardian Beasts stopped feeding, and their round bellies looked quite comical.

Nearly a hundred ant eggs were consumed, leaving only half behind.

"Lei Yao, destroy the remaining eggs," Chu Chen ordered.

Lei Yao obeyed without delay. Watching the eggs break, the group couldn’t help but feel a pang of loss.

Chu Chen felt no guilt over this. Ultimately, the Gray Rock Ants were enemies of humans, and naturally, he would not show mercy to the enemy’s offspring.

If these eggs all hatched, humanity would face many more foes.

However, Chu Chen also harbored a selfish motive; he wouldn’t miss out on the free Slaughter Points awarded for this.

At this moment, Skinny, who was on guard duty, suddenly spoke, "The ant swarm has caught up."

Hearing this, Chu Chen quickly said, "Quick, let’s keep moving inside."

The seven embarked on their escape once again, but the further they went, the more uneasy Chu Chen felt.

They passed several stone chambers, some containing more ant eggs.

Chu Chen directed Lei Yao to use Thunder Blade to destroy the eggs.

The other stone chambers contained much blood food and some pale animal bones.

"Something’s not right, everyone, prepare for battle," Chu Chen suddenly said.

Hearing this, the group was startled and looked at Chu Chen with surprise.

"Based on the stone chambers we’ve seen, I can deduce that we’re approaching the Ant Queen’s abode," Chu Chen explained grimly.

Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions became solemn. They had no doubt about Chu Chen’s judgment, as he had been commanding them effectively along the way. Without him, they would have perished in the beast tide long ago.

Now their retreat was cut off by the ant swarm, and their only option for survival was to break through.

A few minutes later, the group reached the end of the passage, facing a massive stone hall.

The visibility within the ant nest was very low, and Chu Chen and the others could only see about ten meters ahead. This was due to the physical enhancement they had from contracting Guardian Beasts; otherwise, they would be as blind as bats in such an environment.

The depths of the stone hall were pitch-black, causing the group to halt in place out of instinctive fear of the unknown.

Chu Chen picked up a palm-sized stone from the ground and threw it forcefully into the hall.

The sound of the stone hitting the ground echoed.

The echo revealed how spacious the hall was, with an area of several thousand square meters.

The group didn’t rush into the hall but maintained a vigilant watch.

A few breaths later, the hall remained silent.

"Let’s enter," Zhang Yingjie said as he observed the approaching ant swarm.

"Wait, I’ll go in first to scout," Li Zitao said, commanding the Earth Spider to enter first.

"Come in, everyone; it’s safe here."

Hearing this, the group quickly followed inside.

At this time, a rustling sound came from the passage as the ant swarm reached the entrance to the stone hall.

The ants waved their antennae quickly, expressing their inner anxiety, but they didn’t enter the hall. Instead, they roamed outside like ants on a hot stove, as if there was something inside the hall they feared.

After entering the hall, the group didn’t venture too deeply but stopped to carefully inspect the surroundings at every step.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the right, causing them to quickly turn toward the noise.

They saw a large shadow slowly approaching.

The Guardian Beasts growled threateningly and instinctively took a few steps back.

Seeing this, Chu Chen’s expression changed dramatically, and he quickly shouted, "Lei Yao, use Thunder Blade, but do not attack."

Lei Yao was puzzled but didn’t defy Chu Chen’s command.

Soon, a blade flashing with lightning emerged before Lei Yao.

With the help of the lightning’s radiance, the group finally saw the approaching creature clearly.

It was a gigantic monster, with its front half resembling a Gray Rock Ant and its back half like a large grub, entirely white, about four meters tall, and up to ten meters long.

Seeing this, Chu Chen immediately checked the Slaughter Atlas.

Star Beast Name: Gray Rock Ant Queen

Life Level: Mature Stage

Star Beast Quality: Ordinary Level Upper Grade

Star Beast Talent: Super Reproduction

Star Beast Level: Ninth Rank War General Level

Power Talent: D-level

Defense Talent: E-level

Agility Talent: F-level

Physical Talent: F-level

Soul Power Talent: D-level

Star Power Talent: E-level

Star Beast Attribute: Earth Element, Spiritual Element

Star Beast Skills: Meat Egg Tank (Ordinary Level, Entry Realm), Stone Skin (Ordinary Level, Entry Realm), Intimidation (Elite Level, Mastery Realm), Soul Cone (Elite Level, Entry Realm)

After reading the Ant Queen’s details, Chu Chen couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the Ant Queen’s realm reached the peak of War General Level, it was quite weak in battle.

However, its massive figure was indeed intimidating.

Chu Chen recalled information about the Ant Queen from the library. Normally, a Gray Rock Ant Queen was only ten times the size of a common Gray Rock Ant, but this one was dozens of times larger.

Moreover, this Ant Queen was a rare spiritual-type Star Beast. It could launch soul-targeted attacks, a highly difficult assault to guard against, making it quite a troublesome Star Beast.