The fourth floor of the anthill is the laboratory.
The room was brightly lit and filled with people, but the entire laboratory was quiet as they listened intently to the sounds outside.
The laboratory was located in the center and had no windows, so they had no idea what was happening or what was going on outside.
There was a loud rumble and the earth trembled earlier. Some people couldn't resist going to see what was happening, but they were stopped by the guards: "The master said that everyone should wait here until the gate opens."
The guards obeyed only Saman's orders, and those who disobeyed were executed.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and Saman granted them the privilege of acting first and reporting later.
"Wait, wait, wait! We've been waiting all night! How long are we going to have to wait?" A hot-tempered soldier in the crowd couldn't help but say. "We've already followed his orders. Everyone left the cave and went underground after the bell rang. What's next? You should at least tell us."
"Exactly, how long are we going to wait like this, in such a confused state?"
"It won't take long."
The door leading from the fourth floor to the sixth floor suddenly opened, and Saman's voice, tinged with ice, appeared.
Like a Siberian wind, the entire laboratory was silent, and the hearts of all those waiting were in their throats: their supervisor was not someone to be trifled with.
But then they saw Saman walk out from inside, a knife stained with blood, and in his other hand he was grabbing a soldier or civilian with a ferocious expression: "There are a few survivors upstairs, bring them all down."
"Yes." The guards obeyed his order and formed a small team to head towards the sixth floor. The others, looking at him and the soldiers and civilians under his command, couldn't help but back away, chuckling, "Who is this?"
Saman did not answer. He waited for a while, and then the guards brought down four bound, naked soldiers and civilians, both men and women.
The faces of these people were filled with uncontrollable terror, and some of them had splattered blood on their bodies. They were terrified of Saman, and their eyes were filled with fear.
The group exchanged bewildered glances, and one of them asked in a low voice, "Weren't we supposed to wait for God's messenger? What's with these people?"
Saman sneered and kicked the soldiers and civilians who were bound hand and foot to the ground: "This is the messenger of the gods you are looking for."
"Ah!" the divine messenger cried out as his wound was aggravated, but Saman remained unfazed.
Having lost that strange, glowing, close-fitting clothing and without the UFO as their backup, the divine messengers were like fish on a chopping board. Their physical abilities were even inferior to those of the valiant native soldiers.
The so-called messengers of the gods are nothing more than petty people who abuse their superior technology to bully the weak.
"You've made the wrong decision." The divine messenger looked up at Saman with a cryptic smile. "You've provoked an enemy you can't afford to offend. You don't know what awaits you."
"You mean to say that the guys at your headquarters will still find their way here using the coordinates, right?"
"That's right, we…"
"Shut up, shut up." Another bound divine messenger kicked his companion. This was a god of war, but also a clever man; he couldn't be treated like an ordinary primitive.
They're just dead, but if their coordinates are erased, they'll be sinners for all time. You have to understand, finding this place from among countless worlds and pinpointing its location took them a tremendous amount of effort.
Once the location is destroyed, it will be difficult to find it again.
"You're saying they're messengers of the gods? This... how is that possible?" The locals on the other end finally realized what was happening.
The people on the fourth floor were momentarily unable to accept this change. The high and mighty gods were actually... one of their own kind? And appearing before them in such a disheveled state?
"But how did they do it?" As locals know it, they simply cannot imagine how all of this could have happened.
"You can think of them as another race far more powerful than us; they even created tools that could fly over mountains and rivers in the blink of an eye. But…"
Samantha paused, then lowered his head to wipe the blood from the blade with a handkerchief: "They have lost most of their queen and nobles."
He had already interrogated these people on the sixth floor and extracted a lot of information. After more than half of the invaders died, these people finally understood what it meant to be a wise man when he could adapt to circumstances.
They did indeed come from a parallel world, a much more advanced one. The people there had entered the interstellar age; they no longer suffered from basic hunger and had achieved most of their desires.
However, human desires can never be satisfied.
In that world, their race was vast, occupying several planets. Nobles were honorary rulers, wielding little real power and serving more as symbols. There was little distinction between laborers and soldiers, creating a harmonious world.
These people, however, want to redefine the human genome.
The strengths and weaknesses of the workers are not obvious, the soldiers are powerful and intelligent but have extreme flaws, and the noble queen controls reproduction but is physically weak.
"Is it possible for a new kind of human being to emerge in this world, one that combines all the advantages?"
And so the human experiments began.
In the end, instead of designing a powerful new human, they created a virus specifically targeting the nobility.
Initially, the virus appeared with the benevolent guise of 'improving human genes,' but over the decades, it spread rampantly. By the time they discovered that the virus could impair the fertility of the nobility, it was too late.
The previous generation of nobles died out in large numbers, and the next generation has only a handful. As of now, the noble population is less than one ten-thousandth of the total population.
In order to prevent their race from becoming extinct, they devised a plan: to plunder the secretions of queens from other parallel worlds to replenish themselves.
At first, they plundered the queen and nobles, and planned to abduct people. However, for some unknown reason, these people died soon after leaving their original world, including the strong and healthy soldiers and civilians.
They had no choice but to settle for a grazing model.
The so-called grazing model refers to ant nests, which are managed in a unified manner and provided with blue liquid.
The reason they provide those cheap supplies to the people here is simply to stabilize the population, because the amount of fluid secreted by the Queen will increase or decrease depending on the size of the population.
The population was too small, the queen's desire to have children decreased, and the amount of secretions was insufficient.
With an overpopulation of the race, the queen would no longer secrete excess blue fluid after satisfying her children's needs, and the quantity was still insufficient.
Their scientists spent a long time researching and finally found the optimal population ratio: how many people should be assigned to each queen to produce the maximum amount of blue liquid.
They used the amount of supplies in the Black Cube to stabilize the population here.
They have several such ranches.
If no one resists, what will happen to this place in the long run? It will never be able to develop, it will get used to being given handouts and fed, it will completely lose itself, and it will become a real breeding farm.
Until one day, when these people no longer need the additional blue liquid, the animals in the farms may survive, or they may not be able to adapt to death.
Saman also told the others about this, because they were the ones who had the most right to know.
Upon hearing the truth, the soldiers and civilians were utterly horrified. They held back for a moment, but couldn't resist kicking one of the 'divine messengers': "You should resolve your own mistakes! Why are you sucking our blood?!"
An elderly person wept, saying, "For so many years, we have maintained this system. When you say you want to rebel, you secretly have other thoughts. We are sinners against our community."
Instead of comforting these disheartened individuals, Samantha was more curious about what information these visitors from parallel worlds could bring.
"Didn't you get anything out of it?" The man who was kicked got up and retorted with a sneer, "From beginning to end, this was your own decision. We never forced anyone. Don't act like victims."
The soldiers and civilians were speechless.
Judging from myths and legends, they did indeed agree readily.
Seeing that these people were feeling guilty, the 'divine messenger' mustered his courage and pressed on, saying, "Do you dare say that you have no selfish motives? Especially the soldiers and civilians."
"It feels great to get food without having to work hard, doesn't it?"
"You exploit the workers to obtain resources, and then you corrupt the nobles, turning them into puppets in your hands, leaving them without desires and unable to awaken. Isn't all of this your doing? We have never taught you how to exploit your own people."
"Stop talking!" shouted one of the more reserved soldiers and civilians in the crowd. They weren't stupid; they could see that the current system benefited only the soldiers and civilians. Therefore, many were unwilling when Saman announced his plan to kill the god.
If it weren't for the fact that they had no queen and nobility and couldn't explain themselves, they would never have chosen this path.
But this thin layer of false pretense has now been torn away by the 'divine messenger,' leaving these people somewhat unable to face it.
The more they did this, the happier the divine messenger became.
Seeing that the leader, Saman, remained silent and even seemed to be encouraging him, the 'messenger of the gods' steeled his resolve and revealed many secrets.
The secrets of anthills.
They did establish many pastures, harvesting the blue liquid every seven days, and building ant nests, using black cubes to control the population. But other than that, they did nothing else.
The working class in the anthill is treated so poorly, while the nobles are kept in captivity. They are all the ruling class, and the decisions are made by the soldiers and the common people.
The messenger was practically yelling: Stop trying to pin this mess on us!
The soldiers and civilians who had benefited were embarrassed, their faces flushed, and their stance of questioning the divine messenger vanished. Saman, however, noticed the key point: "The nobles will awaken?"
Could the "Awakened One" in the hint mean this?
Upon seeing that it was Saman, the man sneered, "Why should I tell you?"
"You don't have to say anything." It was the same old tactic: threatening with a knife, but the other party immediately backed down, especially when they smelled the blood on it.
"I'll talk!"
Once the blade had moved away slightly, the 'divine messenger' glanced at the primitive people around him, gritted his teeth, and slowly explained:
"The best among the nobles may unleash special abilities when they face life-or-death crises or break through their limits for a certain purpose. We call this awakening."
"What special ability?" Saman adjusted his glasses with the back of his hand, urging him to continue.
"This ability only targets soldiers and civilians." The divine messenger chuckled, but was intimidated by Saman's cold gaze and said awkwardly, "You don't need to treat us like enemies. We build anthills for you and deliver supplies, which can't be considered entirely malicious."
"Stop beating around the bush and continue. What special ability do you have?"
Under Saman's threat, the messenger finally revealed the true meaning of awakening: "Our people are numerous but mediocre workers who serve as the main labor force in society."
"The soldiers and civilians are physically stronger and more intelligent, but they are fewer in number."
"Nobles are as fragile as glass, with a high mortality rate. If they become queens, they will affect the birth rate of the entire race."
At this point, he glanced at everyone again: "Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, both soldiers and civilians will become the rulers of their respective groups. Unchecked power will breed rebellion, which will unsettle the nobles, and some of them have awakened their abilities."
"They have a special scent about them. When people smell this scent, soldiers and civilians will obey them without question and be willing to die for them."
Halfway through his sentence, the 'divine messenger's' expression changed slightly, and he opened his mouth: "This taste...this taste..."
All the soldiers and civilians present had a strange feeling. An indescribable, intoxicating aroma flowed through the laboratory. Smelling this scent, all their vigilance and resistance subsided.
"This is the taste, isn't it?"
A person stepped out
from the crowd.