Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 54: Little Warrior, Brown Wasp Mantis

Slowly rising, its slender body emerged from the nest, flapped its wings, and took flight. Its compound eyes scanned the entire Chimera plant. Leafweed couldn't help but ask in bewilderment:

"Chimera, where is that insect you've never seen before?"

"Under my insect trap lid, Ye Zhi, this guy stole my prey! Quickly, get it down and into the insect trap!"

The tree spirit sent a message with a hint of anxiety. Upon hearing this, Ye Zhi scanned the area beneath the giant insect traps of the "Chimera" and finally discovered the insects that the "Chimera" had mentioned that she had never seen before.

The insect, about five or six centimeters long, was hanging upside down furtively between the fang-like protrusions of the chimera trap. Its mottled body was hidden in the shadow of the trap lid, and it was hard to see clearly without careful observation.

Just then, a hoverfly was attracted by the primal force-like attraction wave released by the Chimera, and it vibrated its last pair of wings to move forward and slowly approach the trap.

But then, from between the pair of ferocious fang-like protrusions on the cage lid, a pair of sharp, knife-like forelegs shot out like lightning, clamped down on the unfortunate hoverfly, and dragged it to its front.

"A praying mantis?"

The triangular head moved forward and bit off the neck of the unfortunate hoverfly in two bites, then began to gnaw on its body from the head. This skillful killing action immediately reminded Ye Zhi of one of the most famous predatory insects.

"No, it's not a mantis, it has antennae, it's a mantis fly?"

Upon closer inspection, the antennae of that creature were not as slender and long as the mantis's whiskers, but rather thicker and rod-shaped. The shape of its long, slender, knife-like forelegs, which are called catching legs, also differed slightly from the catching legs of a mantis in one's memory.

Combining the mottled figure with a pair of faintly visible, transparent, veiny wings that resembled a lacewing rather than a mantis, a name surfaced in Ye Zhi's mind.

However, the mantis's body is much smaller than that of a praying mantis, only one or two centimeters is the limit, while the insect in front of her is five or six centimeters in size... tentatively, Ye Zhi released a wisp of spiritual power to probe forward.

"Um?"

Seemingly sensing something, the mantis suddenly dropped the dead hoverfly from its forelegs, letting it fall into the chimera's trap. The chimera swiftly extended white, root-like objects to capture it and then flapped its wings to take flight.

A strange fluctuation of primal force appeared as the figure broke free from the "Chimera's" insect trap. The source was the large "Mantis Swarm," which confirmed Ye Zhi's guess: a little Mantis Swarm warrior that looked to be in its early first instar!

This little guy is quite clever. He can use "Chimera" to attract the primal force fluctuations of other insects to cover up his own primal force fluctuations, waiting for his prey to come to him. If "Chimera" hadn't been a divinely bestowed seed that gave birth to tree spirits, it would have really fooled him.

Seemingly upon seeing Ye Zhi's appearance, the little mantis warrior fluttered its wings and flew away in panic, its body appearing in the sunlight, allowing Ye Zhi to see its full appearance.

Its body was covered in a dark brownish-red mixed with bright orange-yellow stripes, and from a distance it looked like a stinging wasp. This behavior seemed to be called Beth's mimicry in Ye Zhi's previous life.

By comparing the inherited memories, Ye Zhi determined its specific name - Brown Bee Mantis. After ascending to become a Force life form, its awakened elemental talent is the extremely destructive fire element, making it a race known for its fighting prowess.

However, being only a one-year-old, Ye Zhi, who was five years old and had evolved using divinely bestowed food, had no chance of winning. At this moment, she was clever and immediately fled.

"Hmph, trying to escape?"

But Ye Zhi wouldn't give its opponent a chance to escape. It flapped its wings and caught up. From the end of its abdomen, a thicker thread of ant silk was pulled out, bent into the shape of a lasso, and then it shook its abdomen, throwing the lasso out and flinging it in front of the running mantis warrior.

The ant silk rope tightened, and the opponent's flying body suddenly froze. It was clear that it had been caught, and no matter how its wings flapped, it could only spin in the air.

"You're a mighty and valiant man, the one who catches ants!"

Ye Zhi silently hummed a poorly adapted tune from her past life, slowly retracting the lasso made of coarse ant silk rope, and pulled the little mantis warrior, who was frantically waving its catching legs in an attempt to cut the ant silk and escape, back to her side.

The ant-silk rope was pulled out, skillfully binding the opponent into a dumpling. Then, it stretched out its six limbs, grabbed the opponent, and slowly landed on the broad leaves of the "Chimera". The leaf-woven antennae swayed, and the compound eyes sized up the panicked little mantis warrior with its triangular head.

"Ye Zhi, it's the one that stole my prey! Kill it for me!" The Chimera tree spirit sent a telepathic signal to Ye Zhi with a surge of emotion.

"King Ant...King Ant, spare me! I didn't know it was your divinely bestowed seed. You are a wealthy King Ant who possesses a divinely bestowed seed. I don't have much flesh on me, and I'm not tasty."

A pleading mental signal came from below, originating from the mantis-like little warrior who was already bound like a dumpling, causing Ye Zhi to glance sideways.

This little guy is quite clever; he's very skilled at using telekinesis, even more so than Ye Zhi when she was just one year old.

After confirming that the other party was a Force-based life form, Ye Zhi didn't actually intend to kill it; he would have to consult the Black Ant King first. However, after a moment's thought, he slowly spoke, his tone slightly threatening:

"I won't kill you, but as you can see, my divinely bestowed seed is a pitcher plant, which eats insects. If you move around again and get eaten, I won't be responsible for you."

"Don't worry, Ant King, don't worry, I won't move." The little warrior really stopped struggling, with only a pair of short, rod-shaped antennae still swaying, conveying a plea for mercy.

"I'll take you to see my elders, and they'll decide your fate." Ye Zhi transmitted his mental power, then flapped his wings and took flight, grabbing the brown bee-mantis warrior beneath him who was still bound like a dumpling, with only his head showing.

The little soldier resignedly nodded its antennae, then lay down obediently without struggling, letting Ye Zhi carry it through the forest, heading towards the main nest of the tree ant kingdom where the King of the Cicada Ants resided.

When encountering patrolling worker ants along the way, Ye Zhi would deliberately lower her altitude, allowing the little mantis-wing warrior to fly directly over the heads of the fierce worker ants, frightening the little warrior into curling up tightly in the ant silk.

Skillfully darting through the nest entrance and flying along the stepped passage, Ye Zhi flew towards the main nest chamber where the Black Ant King resided.

The little warrior beneath him was already terrified by the powerful aura left by the lord-level ant king, curling up even tighter, his body trembling slightly, physically clinging to Ye Zhi's leg.

Ye Zhi found it amusing, but did nothing. Instead, she continued flying along the familiar, wide ant trail, passing through increasingly dense clusters of support worker ants, turning a few corners, and finally arriving at the entrance to the main nest of the Black Cypress Ant King.