The voice was full of energy, sounding like a middle-aged man in his forties. However, it was clearly coming from a large, fat ant.

It was simply too bizarre.

"Where have you been? You disappeared for so long! Hurry up and get over here!"

The middle-aged man seemed furious at the other party’s irresponsible attitude, repeatedly calling for Worker Ant 808 to come over.

Seeing the surrounding ants getting closer and closer, Pei Ye—who was Worker Ant 808—spoke up, "Coming!"

Then he lowered his voice and spoke on the communication channel, "I'll follow them first. Everyone, keep in touch and remember the rules."

Qiao Zhi was worried that something might go wrong, so he wanted to stop him, but Ruan Xing pressed down on his hand. "These pollutants haven't shown any aggression yet. But if we don’t follow the rules, we might face more than just these few."

Qiao Zhi withdrew his hand.

"What if we are all separated? This is too dangerous."

Ruan Xing quietly watched as the ants on the wall angrily called out their numbers—just like employees from different departments had gone to the toilet together to slack off, only to be caught and called back by their supervisor.

"Do you remember your number?" Ruan Xing asked.

Qiao Zhi swallowed hard. "Yes, Worker Ant 1005."

"Good. We might be taken away by a 'leader.'"

Sure enough, a somewhat slender ant stepped forward. Its voice was sharp and had a touch of coquettishness, but it was clearly male.

"Alright, you two are the last ones. Let’s go. It's time to work."

—

Fu Gui woke up in the bumpy ride.

The first thing it noticed was how odd its position was. It distinctly remembered losing consciousness due to oxygen deprivation while he crouched atop Ruan Xing’s head inside the mascot headpiece.

So why was it suddenly hanging in midair?

A second later, it realized—it wasn't floating. Ruan Xing's entire body had been flipped upside down!

Peering through the mascot's eye sockets, Fu Gui saw that they were dangling at least three meters high inside a tunnel.

"Ga!" Fu Gui almost cried out, but Ruan Xing’s sharp gaze stopped it.

"What was that?" A high-pitched, effeminate male voice rang out.

"1004, did you bring something?"

"No." Ruan Xing said calmly, even though his face was already red from standing upside down for too long.

"You’d better not be sneaking anything in. Slacking off during work hours is strictly forbidden. I’ll overlook your collective disappearance this time, but you have to work properly from now on. Oh, and I almost forgot—you lost a few legs. But that doesn’t mean you can be lazy.

A fresh batch of food just arrived recently. We need to process it quickly to make our colony stronger.

Everything for Her Majesty, the Queen!"

"Everything is for Her Majesty the Queen." Ruan Xing followed the slogan.

A few restrained voices echoed the phrase, albeit with less enthusiasm. "Everything is for Her Majesty the Queen."

The situation was chaotic. Fu Gui adjusted its position, leaning forward to get a better look through the mascot's eyes.

They were no longer in the main hall but inside a tunnel. The massive head of the ant gleamed with an oily sheen, and on its back were Qiao Zhi and Ruan Xing.

"You two may have lost some legs, but that doesn’t excuse you from work. And since you were technically absent without permission, this doesn’t count as a work-related injury. Carrying you here is already a kindness on my part, so don’t cause any trouble." the supervisor ant grumbled.

"Understood, supervisor." Ruan Xing responded smoothly, calling the ant "Supervisor" so naturally that the ant quickened its pace.

"Don’t try to sweet-talk me. Just focus on healing—your legs should recover in three to five days. Until then, you’ll be assigned light duties."

The so-called light duties turned out to be tending to a type of fungus growing inside the nest.

The ant carried them into a small chamber before leaving, giving them one last warning before it left. "Work hard. No slacking, and no stealing food! I’ll be back to check in half an hour."

The cave was packed with dense, white hyphae threads covering the entire space, intertwining endlessly. Due to gravity, many delicate strands hung loosely, as if they could drop at any moment. Under the filtered light of the night vision goggles, the whiteness was almost blinding.

It was unclear how this chamber was constructed, but the hyphae-covered ground was uneven, making it difficult to stand without stumbling.

Beyond the hyphae, scattered along the ceiling and walls, were several tunnels of varying sizes. Counting roughly, there were seven or eight in total, each just large enough for a supervisor-sized ant to pass through.

Qiao Zhi grimaced at the maze-like layout. "Should we just pick a tunnel and run for it?"

Ruan Xing removed his gloves. He felt the faint airflow from the tunnels and shook his head slightly. "We can’t be sure if the place beyond those paths is as safe as here."

He raised his head and gently touched the mycelium. The soft white mycelium seemed to have its own consciousness. It gently wrapped around his fingers and twirled around them intimately.

Qiao Zhi chuckled. "That’s kind of cute."

But Ruan Xing didn’t share the sentiment.

These things have no intelligence and react entirely on instinct. The way they clung so affectionately… it felt less like curiosity and more like hunger over flesh and blood.

Their main task was to trim the mycelium. Their supervisor said that this thing should not reproduce too much. Otherwise, it would affect the oxygen content in the cave.

Qiao Zhi pulled out a folding knife, hesitated for a moment, then grabbed a strand of fungus and sliced it down.

Ding!

A metallic clang rang out.

The delicate hyphae thread trembled violently, as if in pain, then suddenly tensed up in rage and lunged at him.

Qiao Zhi's face turned green as he dodged frantically. "This thing holds grudges?!"

Qiao Zhi exhaled heavily after finally breaking free from the mycelium thread’s entanglement. "Regular attacks don’t work at all. How the hell are we supposed to trim this stuff?"

Ruan Xing examined the area. "There are traces of dissolved mycelium here. The ants must be using some kind of liquid to break it down before trimming."

"Saliva," Qiao Zhi remembered that the ant had told them not to steal food before leaving.

"I wonder if other liquids would work."

Qiao Zhi’s eyes lit up. "Let's try!" As he spoke, he pulled out a bottle of highly concentrated sulfuric acid.

He poured the entire bottle onto the fungus.

As he poured the entire bottle onto the fungal threads, they seemed to let out a silent scream. They trembled violently, turned black, and then shriveled up—like burnt strands of hair.

It worked, but it wasn't quite what they had expected.

Qiao Zhi stroked his chin and said, "Not sure if the ants are gonna like this."

The remaining hyphae avoided Qiao Zhi, exposing what lay beneath.

The floor of the chamber was densely packed with severed limbs and broken bones. Layer upon layer, the deepest ones had already turned to bare white skeletons, with tattered remnants of fabric barely clinging to them.

On the uppermost layer, arms and legs were strewn about haphazardly. The blood had long since dried, leaving behind nothing but eerie, pale bones.

The bluish-white hue of the decayed human remains eerily matched the color draining from Qiao Zhi’s face.

"Why… why are there Investigation Corps uniforms here?"

Ruan Xing frowned.

These mycelium weren’t some cute, harmless things.

Qiao Zhi quickly calmed himself. "Serial numbers… 028346, 038432…"

"What are you doing?" Ruan Xing was a little puzzled. Qiao Zhi's face looked a little strange, but he was still flipping through the cloth on these "nutrients," tearing off their armbands and recording something at the same time.

Qiao Zhi swallowed hard. "We can’t save them. But we can’t just leave them here like this."

Fu Gui, who rarely spoke, sighed. "This… this is the true meaning of brotherhood!"

Ruan Xing didn’t understand, but he could sense Qiao Zhi’s sorrow for these people.

[Shhh… shhh… This is Pei Ye, do you copy?]

Pei Ye’s voice crackled through the earpiece.

"This is Qiao Zhi. I hear you. Ruan Xing and I have found traces of the investigation team!"

Pei Ye’s signal was weak, his words cutting in and out.

"Send your location."

Qiao Zhi and Ruan Xing exchanged glances. Qiao Zhi quickly pulled up his coordinates and transmitted them.

Moments later, a response came through:

[I’ve sent a… simple map to everyone. Prioritize safety, complete your assigned tasks first, then look for an opportunity to move freely. We’ll… regroup. Do you hear me?!]

A chorus of acknowledgments followed in the earpiece.

Qiao Zhi missed the last part and was about to ask again. "Wait, what do you mean—"

But Ruan Xing suddenly cut off the communication.

Qiao Zhi turned to him, only to see his gaze fixed on the ceiling.

The massive form of the supervisor ant was squeezing through an opening in the ceiling.

The antennae on his head rubbed against each other, like a fly rubbing its hands: "Who were you talking to just now?"

Ruan Xing reacted instantly. "We were praying."

"Praying?" The unfamiliar term puzzled the ant.

"It’s a way for us to express our loyalty to the Queen. Even though we can’t face Her Majesty directly, each prayer purifies our spirits, strengthens our motivation to work, and deepens our love for the colony."

Qiao Zhi stared in shock. He hadn’t expected Ruan Xing to speak so freely.

Ruan Xingren spent more than ten years of his life in the temple, so he was already familiar with these hypocritical holy words. With just a slight modification, they could become excellent speeches.

The supervisor had never heard such grand words before and was immediately awestruck. "A talent like you is wasted here. You should be in the incubation chamber to take on greater responsibilities!"

Though his face was hidden by the mascot costume, Ruan Xing lowered his head ‘bashfully.’ "It’s all thanks to your guidance, Supervisor."

Qiao Zhi’s jaw nearly hit the floor. Holy crap, this guy is a prodigy at acting!

"Enough with the flattery. Let me check your work first."

The supervisor climbed down the wall. The hyphae threads around it recoiled in terror, shrinking away as if facing their natural predator. Then, as soon as it passed, they gathered together again, like Moses parting the Red Sea.

"Hmm? What’s that smell?" The high-pitched ant lowered its head and saw the small, burnt patch of mycelium.

"Did you two eat secretly? Wait, why is the saliva black? How long has it been since you last brushed your teeth?"

After asking, the ant suddenly looked confused.

Weird… what is brushing teeth? Why does an ant brush its teeth?

Qiao Zhi stammered: "Uh, we… we developed a new flavor of mycelium."

The supervisor looked skeptical but still leaned down to take a bite. The moment it did, its massive compound eyes widened even further.

"Holy shit—spicy smoked flavor?!"