Chapter 81
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Chapter 81: I Really Have to Lay Eggs
Ah…
I have to be watched doing this again…
It’s just my belly swelling up – really not interesting at all! And being observed makes me nervous!
Yet staring into Red Pupil’s massive crimson eyes, Lin Yu found herself unable to refuse.
"What’s wrong, Mom?"
"Nothing."
She looks so expectant…
Fine then, you can watch.
Your preferences are so weird!
Activate skill "Egg Laying."
My abdomen gradually… isn’t really swelling much!
Eh? Why?
Skill activation failed? No – failures give system alerts… which means… which means!
The big one’s coming!
That’s why the expansion’s progressing so slowly?
This feels like it’ll take longer than last time’s hour.
Two hours? Three? Wait… At this rate, shouldn’t it take four hours minimum?
This duration seems unbearable…
And I’m looking more like an actual pregnant woman!
…
Though the egg-laying process required considerable time, Red Pupil watched with undiminished fascination.
Being poor at small talk, Lin Yu could only maintain eye contact throughout.
"Mom, may I touch?"
"Touch what?"
What are you scheming now…
"I want to feel my sisters."
You mean touching my belly…?
Come to think of it, I used to rub Yellow Fur’s belly often too… Hey! I’m not a pet!
Absolutely no belly-touching!
"Is it alright, Mom?"
"Hmm…"
No – don’t use that honeyed tone…
Making requests with that voice makes refusal impossible!
"Then…"
Red Pupil carefully extended her forelimbs to brush against the white ant’s abdomen.
Patpat…
This marked Lin Yu’s first experience of having her belly touched.
Averting her gaze, she felt warmth rise in her cheeks.
The atmosphere held warmth yet carried peculiar undertones.
Patpat…
Patpat…
Haven’t you had enough…
Patpat…
"That’s sufficient, Red Pupil."
Continuing will make me angry.
"Okay."
Red Pupil dutifully retracted her limbs.
During the abdominal expansion phase, Lin Yu issued commands to the Worker Ants and Military Ants monitoring the goblins.
The Worker Ants divided into two groups: half commenced tunnel excavation while the remainder cleared debris from the castle grounds.
The goblins were responsible for sweeping, gathering the dust and scattered soil into piles, allowing the Worker Ants to bind these accumulations with mucus into solid clumps for transportation.
As for the brooms used for cleaning? It was simple – binding branches together with tree bark created makeshift brooms.
The castle’s vastness made cleaning all rooms, corridors, stairwells, and the central courtyard a monumental task. After some consideration, Lin Yu decided against having the ants constantly supervise the goblins’ work.
Lately, the goblins had ceased their collective resistance attempts.
They seemed to finally comprehend the futility of rebellion.
Moreover, these castle-assigned goblins were all classless LV.1 creatures armed only with brooms, posing no conceivable threat to the ant colony.
Escape attempts proved equally futile, as Worker Ants labored outside the castle while lightly injured Military Ants and Iron Armored Ants patrolled the perimeter.
…
During this waiting period, Little Tear finally awoke.
After getting lost multiple times within the castle’s labyrinthine structure, she eventually located Lin Yu on the third floor.
Upon arrival, she joined Red Pupil in observing the egg-laying process, though Lin Yu paid her no attention.
Apart from deploying logistics-team Worker Ants, Lin Yu refrained from sending other ants to explore the Fog Zone.
The recent major battle had left most ants injured, and the red fruits used to rescue bleeding comrades had been exhausted. They could only await natural Health Value recovery.
This left them idly staring at each other in boredom.
Approximately three hours later, Lin Yu’s abdomen swelled near its bursting point.
It was coming…
Nervous anticipation gripped her.
New ant species had emerged after her promotion to Class C – surely this occasion would yield similar results?
And qualifications!
Thus far, only Red Pupil (A Qualification) and Little Tear (B Qualification) possessed notable rankings. Surely higher-tier daughters would appear now?
At maximum distension, a golden Magic Value circle materialized beneath her abdomen. Countless variably-sized eggs suddenly occupied half the bedroom’s floor space.
There it was! The golden magic circle!
This signified the arrival of A Qualification ants!!
Munching raw meat, Lin Yu eagerly began inspections.
The count came first – exactly three hundred eggs.
Next came species categorization:
Weak Ant, Worker Ant, Military Ant, Iron Armored Ant, Acid Ant… She skimmed past familiar types to focus on two new varieties.
The first consisted of 20 earthy-yellow eggs slightly larger than Military Ant Eggs.
The second type numbered merely five – gray eggs matching Military Ant Egg dimensions.
Though less impressive than the Iron Armored Ant eggs’ debut, these represented fresh species!
Time for Identification.
Starting with the yellowish eggs:
——
Name: None
Species: Earth Digging Ant
Qualification: C
(Details omitted)
——
Earth Digging Ant: Soil excavation specialists typically operating solo. Rare specimens. Lower-qualification variants generally lack independent intelligence despite possessing self-awareness.
Twenty C Qualifications… somewhat disappointing.
However, their soil-moving expertise suggested logistical value. Paired with Worker Ants, they might accelerate tunnel network construction?
Though… remarkable digging speed could prove combat-applicable too.
Regardless, they remained good daughters.
Now the gray eggs:
Such scarcity implied potency! This must be correct!
Perhaps A Qualification lurked among them!
Activate Identification
——
Name: None
Race: Stealth Ant
Qualification: B
(Omitted)
——
/Stealth Ant: A type of ant skilled in stealth assassination, possessing exceptional speed and offensive capabilities. They typically act alone. Due to their proficiency in stealth and extreme rarity, they are scarcely mentioned in continental history. Additionally, Stealth Ants possess independent intelligence.
Oh wow!!
They have excellent speed!
Previously, Red Pupil struggled against that Class B Dead Spirit precisely because of her lack of speed!
And they can perform stealth assassinations! Though the exact mechanics of their stealth aren’t clear, if they can bypass enemies undetected, the battle against Miyoshi Mitsui might become much simpler.
First, have the Earth Digging Ants tunnel beneath the castle. Then, the Stealth Ants can emerge from the passageway, infiltrate the castle covertly, locate Miyoshi Mitsui, and eliminate her…
With this plan, we might capture the castle without losing a single ant.
Of course, reality may differ from imagination—their actual combat capabilities remain uncertain.
Among these five Stealth Ants, shouldn’t there be at least one with A Qualification?
Let me check… Huh?
All are B Qualification…
But the magic circle was golden…
Lin Yu froze momentarily before shifting her gaze to the other ant eggs.
Weak Ant, Worker Ant, Military Ant, Acid Ant, Iron Armored Ant… Could an A Qualification appear among these?
