Chapter 902
Rather than immediately attempt to take out the last vestiges of the Void Scrying Sects power, efforts were instead focused on securing their position throughout the wider area. That included perimeter bases under their control.
As for planets, that was a matter of much contention. It was already difficult to keep a handle on Egnos and Andrade alone, stretching their forces thinner was a troublesome prospect. Even if many of the people of Egnos understood their abandonment, that didnt suddenly negate their distaste for foreign forces coming in and taking over. Nor did their relative lack of participation negate the bitterness the Shining Cooperative and Lower Realms Alliance felt towards anyone who had been under the banner of the Trigold Cluster.
Progress was slow in the whole region, and it was hoped that the other side of the civil war would finish them off. Contact and negotiations with the Fearsome Menagerie and their allies were inconsistent at best, even as they now shared borders.
The one avenue where there was significant progress happening was with regards to the third faction, those from smaller groups disillusioned by the actions of the Trigold Cluster. Tor, the Shimmering Spears, and others who had also been concerned about the devastation in Zunrose. They managed to take control of multiple planets simply because the forces of the larger factions had consolidated in the core worlds- and because they had more than a few groups on board. Yet so far, their controlled worlds represented only a tiny fraction of the overall population. The movement hadnt yet shown itself to be a threat to either of the larger factions, especially not compared to the two high stakes wars happening.
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It was strange, to suddenly be in charge of other void ants. The Son of the Queen didnt feel he had done much to deserve his new status but he also couldnt deny that hed been somewhat effective in his previous mission. Surviving might not have been merely through his own determination but factors beyond his control but he was given a position regardless. And that meant upholding the duties assigned to him, just as he had always wanted.
He had thought that those assigned to his command might resent him for taking a position meant for one of them, for being a male that should not have lived. But they were under orders of the Great Queen, so how could they not perform their best for him? Except he knew that void ants werent just rigid structure. Indeed, many of those assigned to him were more unusual sorts who had trouble within the normal hierarchy. They seemed to appreciate him more for his uniqueness.
The Son knew he wasnt going to accomplish missions no other void ant could manage. But he would do his best. This mission had involved familiarizing himself with enemy communications devices meant for humans to employ. That was only a small part of it, but hed studied diligently.
His final verdict was that humans were too big. But at least if a few hundred void ants joined together, they could press buttons and flip switches. Their purpose was to do so, to arrive at a certain planet and then send a message.
The planet in question was Rotaire, the last of the core worlds occupied by the worst of their current foes. There had previously been eight such worlds, until Zunrose was destroyed. Along with Egnos, Xeotov, and Anrade, it had made up the four that wound up under the control of the Void Scrying Sects faction. Now it was the last of them, with two taken by the lower realms natives and one by their former allies- ones who clearly did not appreciate being left out of the loop and losing all of their disciples and investments on Zunrose.
The Son of the Queen didnt have much hope for common empathy among Trigold Cluster cultivators, so perhaps they might not have cared if they had been given the opportunity to be part of the plans. Plans to get their hands on a worldheart, and perhaps a starheart. But one group grew too greedy and had underestimated his people.
Specifically his human people. They hadnt really known about the void ants, which was too bad for them, because now they couldnt be rid of them. Speaking of which, their transport capsule was almost to Rotaire.
Were going to gather food as part of our search, he instructed his squadron. While the local black ants would certainly have searched for food, they were simple individuals. They were unable to recognize larger structures or make educated choices about where they would likely find food.
Rather than attempting a swift infiltration, he had a longer term plan. He could already make out likely areas for the sects to have warehouses that stored food. He scouted out the area with his squadron, finding what they sought in the third building. Then there were only slight issues with formations meant to keep out insects. Obviously void ants didnt have trouble with them, easily pushing through the weak barriers. But they needed their foolish cousins to help them test the local human populace.
The food is not for us to eat. Not yet, the Son declared. Instead, we shall create a trail for the local ants. We will then observe the response of the humans. If they react as if these ants are void ants, we may see their countermeasures. And if they recognize them as simple ants, they may grow complacent should we be revealed, once exposed to enough infiltration of these ants.
Nibbling formations was going to take a great bit of their time in the near future. Making it look like natural decay was important. They would also create routes around formations for the standard ants to follow, and they would do so given a proper application of pheromones. It was easy enough to fake something to the tolerances of the unintelligent.
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It took longer for the Son of the Queen to provoke a response than he had thought. It was days before anyone noticed a trail of ants in the back of the warehouse, even though cooks and apprentices seemed to draw from its stores daily. Simply a travesty. Perhaps they should have ignored complexity and simply gone for what they desired.
Except food stores were a relatively insecure location. That was foolish, of course, as they could have easily been poisoned by infiltrators. But that was a tactic that would speak of intelligence. Instead, the ants were simply acting as they would naturally, with a bit of a nudge.
The humans responded appropriately by leaving poisoned bait. A diabolical tactic that was easily recognized by those of any thought. Humans never poisoned their own food stores, after all. They simply made the poison more convenient.
They were a bit too eager with their efforts, however. A powerful poison meant that those workers collecting the food died before reaching the nest. Even unintelligent ants would tend to recognize the dangers. Dead ants near food meant bad food. They removed both from their path, and the humans were able to see the success of their plans. Hundreds or thousands dead.
Which was literally nothing. Without the death of the queen, and with the injection of a significant amount of food before the poisoned morsels, the growth of the colony would continue. That meant they could continue to be used to evaluate the responses of the local humans even further.
Ants were poisoned, swept away, and crushed. The latter was most terrifying to the void ants, as that was the most likely method to actually kill them. They might react better than normal ants, avoiding a thumb, but then they would be revealed. Fortunately, most cultivators could not be bothered with squishing individual ants.
The colony was directed to various different parts of the sect grounds, really just all of the nearest buildings. Soon the humans would be used to their presence. Would they react more strongly with the continued presence, or just give up and ignore the insects? That was but one of many tests taking place over the next week. Meanwhile, the void ants moved carefully and swiftly, going nowhere humans would look. Nor where they would pay much attention to their energy senses, as the slight nothingness of void ants could tip them off.
The infiltration had just begun. Hopefully, these methods produced the results they needed to reach important information and retrieve it.
