The antman camp had finally grown quiet.
Most of the warriors slept. Only the night watch remained alert — and above them, high in the dark sky, Adam and the remaining Red Sons flew slow, tireless patrols, their black capes invisible against the night sky.
The massive bonfire had burned down to a bed of glowing embers. The scent of spiced meat and beer still lingered in the humid air, but the laughter was gone.
Inside his personal tent, Antares sat cross-legged on the low bed of furs. A single lamp cast soft light across the canvas walls.
Outside, the ocean breathed against the distant cliffs. Inside, only the quiet hum of his own thoughts remained.
He stared at the empty air for a long moment.
Then he spoke.
"System."
A bright blue ethereal screen unfolded in front of him, edges sharp and clean.
Antares leaned forward, elbows on his knees, blood-red eyes reflecting the glow.
He had problems that needed solving long before he could even think about revenge against the goblins beyond the Godwall.
The first and most urgent was food.
Hunting and foraging had kept the tribe alive through the long years of decline, but they would never support the empire he intended to build. He needed true agriculture — fields that could feed tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands.
He needed to expand the celcane and mushroom farms already growing in the northern underground settlement, and he needed new surface crops that could thrive in the southern heat and the vast empty plains of his territory. Diversifying the Hive's diet was no longer a dream but It was a necessity at this point.
The second problem was population.
The entire Ant Tribe numbered between twenty and thirty thousand at most. The majority were regular antmen. The rest were divided among the clans. For the plans forming in his mind — surface fortresses, expanded farms, standing armies, trade routes, and eventually war — that number was dangerously small. He needed a big population. Workers. Soldiers. Specialists.
And for that, he needed one thing above all others.
Ant queens.
Antares exhaled slowly.
"System. How many Essence Points do I have at the moment?"
He already had a rough idea. The fighting, the killing, the constant expenditure of power in the north had not been free. Still, he wanted the exact number.
The screen shifted.
[Current Essence Points: 10,000]
Antares nodded once. Exactly as he had expected.
"How many Essence Points do I need to create an ant queen?"
The System's voice answered, calm and precise.
[Depends on the type of brood you desire, Host.]
"Explain."
[Different Queens produce different specialized broods, each suited to specific roles. The cost, requirements, and capabilities vary significantly.]
Antares frowned slightly.
"So Solara can only give birth to Red Sons?"
[Correct. Queen Solara is locked into a combat-specialized lineage. The Red Sons she produces are few in number compared to standard broods, but their individual combat potential is exceptionally high.]
He nodded. That matched everything he had already seen.
"Can I upgrade her egg sack using Essence Points?"
[Yes, Host. However, you must first strengthen her entire physique. Producing high-tier combat broods places extreme strain on the Queen's body. Without prior reinforcement, forced upgrades risk permanent damage to the Queen's health or even lead to death.]
"I'll do that too," Antares said. "Later. For now… what types of ant queens can I create at my current level?"
The screen expanded.
A long list appeared — far longer than he had expected. Dozens of entries. Some costs sat in the low thousands. Others climbed into the hundreds of thousands. A few reached into the millions and spoke of divine-grade broods that could reshape continents. Many of the higher entries were locked behind special conditions.
Antares scrolled slowly, eyes narrowing.
One entry required the blood of a god, the consumption of its heart, and the burning of its corpse with divine flame. He stared at it for a moment, then let out a quiet, incredulous breath.
"How the hell am I supposed to do with that?"
He kept scrolling.
After nearly an hour of careful reading, filtering, and mental calculation, he found what he needed.
Verdant Ant Queen
Cost: 5,000 Essence Points
Brood Special Trait: Loved by Nature
- Manipulation of plants,vines, and fungi
- Natural farmers
- Natural resistance to poison, disease, and magical corruption
Perfect for future farmers and healers. Right now he had only one expert healer — Riya — and she was still recovering in the north. The Hive needed more than a single overworked medical specialist.
Grandia Ant Queen
Cost: 5,000 Essence Points
Brood special trait: Adaptable
- Significantly higher brood output than most other Queens
- Versatile offspring suitable for infantry, labor, construction, and support roles
- No extreme specialization, but excellent adaptability
Numbers. Pure, scalable numbers. Exactly what he lacked.
Antares stared at the two entries for a long time.
Ten thousand points. Everything he currently had.
He would be left at zero.
But the southern jungle was full of monsters, and monsters meant Essence. He would refill the pool. He always had.
"Purchase both genes."
[Genes purchased.]
[Verdant Ant Queen Gene acquired.]
[Grandia Ant Queen Gene acquired.]
[Essence Points remaining: 0]
A new notification flared brighter than the others.
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Council of Queens]
[By acquiring multiple Queen genes, you have triggered a hidden mission path.]
[Reward: Essence Point capacity expanded to 25,000]
[New levels of the Ant King's Tower have been unlocked and are ready for exploration.]
Antares's eyes widened.
The expanded Essence pool was valuable. But the Ant King's Tower…
He had found Helios there. He had found the fortune that bought the alliance with the Redbeards. If new floors had opened, what else waited in the dark beneath the palace?
A slow, fierce smile crossed his face.
Then reality settled back onto his shoulders.
He closed his fist. A faint red aura flickered around his knuckles before fading.
He was still only at Master rank.
Stronger than most, yes. Strong enough to cut the ocean and terrify a pirate prince. But the goblin warlords beyond the Godwall would not fall to Master-rank power alone. He needed to climb faster. Much faster.
Antares let the System screen fade.
"That's enough for tonight."
He stretched out on the furs, staring up at the canvas ceiling. Tomorrow Tayron would send the first intelligence reports.
He would need Queen candidates for the new genes. He would need to plan the expansion of the northern farms, the first surface agriculture trials and his eventual return to the Tower.
Too many threads. Too many moving pieces.
Sleep did not come easily.
But eventually, exhaustion won.
The Ant King closed his eyes, and the southern night closed in around him.
Outside, Adam and the Red Sons continued their silent watch under the stars, unaware that their father had just set the Hive on a path that would one day cover the continent in chitin, green growth, and overwhelming numbers.
The real work would soon begin.