Ashen God
Chapter 264 - 263: Killing the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants

Chapter 264: Chapter 263: Killing the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants

Besides the matter of the Crimson Iron Residue, Zhang Yanhang noticed another equally important issue: as the third line of defense of the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants should have been guarding the inner area of the nest, yet they were abnormally present in the outer zone of the Crimson Iron Ant Nest.

"What could be the reason for this? No matter how I think about it, it seems abnormal, and there are also dozens of Crimson Iron Flying Ants that have mysteriously appeared. Could it be that the Crimson Iron Ant Queen has finally reacted? I really don’t want to complain, but isn’t this reaction speed just too slow?"

Zhang Yanhang had been in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest for nearly four hours now, and only just now had the Crimson Iron Ant Queen begun to show some response. He was starting to doubt whether the individual who had summoned over two thousand Crimson Iron Ants to besiege him was really the Crimson Iron Ant Queen.

"Forget it, slow reaction or not, in the end, it’s just an ant. Even if its Intelligence attribute is at least in the double digits, or even at a Second Tier level, its IQ might still not be up to par."

The reason why Zhang Yanhang speculated that the Intelligence attribute of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen could possibly be at a Second Tier level was that even the First Tier Two-star Crimson Iron Soldier Ants possessed the ability to use magic attacks like shooting Crimson Flame Fireballs; therefore, it was only logical that the strongest being in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, the Crimson Iron Ant Queen, would have this capability.

And if the Crimson Iron Ant Queen indeed possessed magic attack abilities, then based on the probable strength of the queen being Second Tier Four Star Level, having Second Tier level Intelligence attribute would be quite reasonable, as after all, it was a Lord Monster, and is definitely not expected to lag in the basic attribute value department.

During the time Zhang Yanhang was absorbed in thought, looking at the attribute list, more than a dozen Crimson Iron Soldier Ants only twenty meters away from him were continuously spitting Crimson Flame Fireballs at him. The relentless assault had been going on for about a minute without any sign of stopping.

However, these Crimson Flame Fireballs failed to even cause a ripple on the surface of Zhang Yanhang’s Energy Shield when they hit him.

Even without considering the fifty percent increase in Flame Resistance from his recently equipped gear, just the defensive power inherent in Zhang Yanhang’s Constitution, which had reached the Second Tier Limit, was far more than what these First Tier Two-star Crimson Iron Soldier Ants could break through.

Although the Defense Coin, which could only reduce physical damage, was of no use against the Crimson Flame Fireballs from these Crimson Iron Soldier Ants, the ants were still far from causing a reaction from the Energy Shield.

Moreover, while under normal circumstances an Awakener who specialized in Physical Attacks like Zhang Yanhang would have a lower resistance to Energy attacks compared to Physical attacks,

That was not the case, because besides Constitution, Zhang Yanhang’s main attribute also included Intelligence. The Constitution attribute mainly enhances Physical Defense and incidentally increases Energy Defense, while the Intelligence attribute primarily boosts Energy Attack and resistance to Energy attacks.

So, in a certain sense, because he benefited from the bonuses of two main attributes, Zhang Yanhang’s Energy Defense was actually much higher than his Physical Defense.

Thus, Zhang Yanhang’s development could only be described as exceptionally well-balanced; he had no weaknesses, and it was utterly impossible for someone like him to exhibit a case similar to Superman: maxing out in Physical Resistance but lacking in Magic Resistance.

By the way, although Superman is indeed poorly endowed in Magic Resistance compared to his Physical Resistance, this does not mean that just any low-level magic user would be able to defeat him with magic.

"Speaking of, there can’t actually be a Superman in Ashen World, can there? I feel like there’s a good chance, seeing as there are movie and game-related monsters, so wouldn’t it be normal to have a comic-born, animated-debut, movie-legend, game-flop Superman too?

And, given the specifics of Ashen World, if there really is a Superman, he’s likely to come with an entire Krypton map. If I can get my hands on a piece of kryptonite in advance, wouldn’t I be able to kill at will in the Krypton area? After all, even Batman, an ordinary human with a kryptonite spear, can whoop Superman...

Forget it, no point in thinking about these baseless things. Who knows where the Krypton area actually is in Ashen World."

Zhang Yanhang had no hope of destroying Krypton; he thought he should focus on something more practical, like the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant that was still in front of him and continuously spewing Crimson Flame Fireballs at him.

"Don’t you guys ever get tired? Constantly spewing Crimson Flame Fireballs. It’s about time to give you all a break."

Zhang Yanhang silently summoned the Six-barrel Revolver Cannon into his hands. Unlike the M4A1 rifle, the Six Roots Pure Soul Gun was quite large, and holding it all the time would affect his movement speed, so while on the move he usually kept the Six Roots Pure Soul Gun in hidden mode.

After all, although the Six Roots Pure Soul Gun was indeed a single-person piece of equipment, just the barrels were over a meter long; it was indeed not as convenient as running empty-handed. Moreover, once proficient, switching between hidden and active mode could be done in an instant, without wasting time.

Zhang Yanhang lowered the muzzle and aimed at the dozen or so Crimson Iron Soldier Ants still twenty meters away and pulled the trigger.

Da da da—

The colossal sound of gunfire, many times more intense than that of an M4A1 rifle, echoed endlessly through the entire passage, forming echoes that spread rapidly into the distance.

The Crimson Iron Soldier Ants on the left flank of the formation were the first to receive the chance for close, even zero-distance contact with cannon bullets.

The dark bullets, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, struck the exoskeleton on the head of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant. In just an instant, the vibrant crimson exoskeleton armor had already shattered, and the flesh and tissues it protected were collapsing inward due to the formidable kinetic energy.

As the flesh collapsed, the dark bullets quickly reached what was most important to a biological organism—the brain tissue. Although ants don’t have a brain in the conventional sense, they possess a nerve structure similar to a brain, so, under normal circumstances, it’s directly considered an ant’s brain.

The simple and exceedingly fragile brain tissue of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant was instantly shattered into irregular fragments of nerve structure upon contact with the dark bullet.

Even the hardest part of a Crimson Iron Soldier Ant’s head, the exoskeleton, was quickly penetrated by the dark bullet, and it faced no resistance thereafter. The dark bullet then proceeded to burst into the ant’s chest and abdomen, tearing apart its internal digestive organs, nerve structures, tissue glands, and rudimentary blood vessels into fragments.

Although the entire process described above seemed quite long, in reality, it was just a blink of an eye. If an ordinary person were to watch this battle, at most, they could only see some of the more superficial aspects.

Like the thickness of a baby’s arm, the machine gun bullets continued to fire non-stop with a deafening noise, instantly piercing through the head of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant and exiting from the large abdomen at the end of its body—leaving deep holes in the wall of crimson iron ore—and the entirety of the bullets vanished without a trace of their tails.

After being hit by machine gun bullets, the body of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant began to explode layer by layer. First was the head, followed by the chest in the middle of the body, and lastly the abdomen at the end of the body, containing the digestive and excretory systems.

Large chunks of flesh mixed with exoskeletal fragments and thick crimson blood splattered quickly throughout the corridor—whether it was the ceiling, the walls, or the floor, everywhere was covered with bits and pieces of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant’s body tissue.

[Successfully killed a First Tier Two-star Monster ’Crimson Iron Soldier Ant (Ordinary)’ ×1, Soul points +7.]

[Successfully killed a First Tier Two-star Monster ’Crimson Iron Soldier Ant (Ordinary)’ ×1, Soul points +7.]

[Successfully killed a First Tier Two-star Monster ’Crimson Iron Soldier Ant (Ordinary)’ ×1, Soul points +7.]

...

While the huge noise from the gunfire still echoed incessantly in the corridor, Zhang Yanhang heard a dense succession of kill confirmation sounds in his ears.

"The Crimson Iron Soldier Ants seem much tougher than the Crimson Iron Flying Ants, but they’re only worth seven soul points each, just like the Crimson Iron Flying Ants? The Crimson Iron Soldier Ants are, after all, a magic-based unit, and they even have ranged attack capabilities..."

At first, Zhang Yanhang felt that an impressive Crimson Iron Ant like the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant should at least be worth eight energy points, but unexpectedly, they maintained the same price as the First Tier One-star Elite Monster, the Crimson Iron Flying Ant—even though a Crimson Iron Soldier Ant could easily beat a Crimson Iron Flying Ant.

"Alas, it seems that flying species indeed have an advantage over land-based ones," Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but sigh. Flight truly was quite a useful ability, and he too would like to have it, but unfortunately, he hadn’t found a way to obtain it yet.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Zhang Yanhang began to stand silently, waiting for the treasure box drop to refresh. He quietly watched the bloody corridor covered with fragments of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant’s body tissue, speculating about where the treasure box might appear.

Because the body tissue of the Crimson Iron Soldier Ant was scattered haphazardly, with large quantities distributed on both the ceiling and the walls, it was very likely that, this time, the drop treasure box might not appear neatly on the ground as usual.

By the way, when using the six-barrel revolver cannon to attack the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants, just one bullet was enough to blow the opponent into an unrecognizable state, so in the process of clearing the Crimson Iron Ant Nest this time, Zhang Yanhang didn’t bother to pick up the corpses and put them in his waist bag.

Of course, beyond these objective reasons, there were other equally important reasons why the corpses of the low-level Crimson Iron Ants were now of no use to Zhang Yanhang.

In the past, Zhang Yanhang could have used ant acid to create Ant Acid Bullets, which were highly effective even against Lord Monster Trackers, but now he had no need whatsoever for such bullets.

After all, having only just acquired the Six Roots Pure Soul Passage Spear, its power was more than sufficient for a long time to come, so Zhang Yanhang had no reason to modify anything.

Previously, the reason for modifying the ammunition for the M4A1 rifle’s 5.56mm caliber bullets was purely because they were not powerful enough. They weren’t very effective against the Prototype Tyrant, and probably even less so against a Lord Monster like the Tracker—it would be like scratching an itch.

Moreover, due to changes in ammunition structure, if Zhang Yanhang really wanted to modify it, he would have to spend a considerable amount of time researching again. Although he had plenty of free time, he wasn’t inclined to engage in meaningless activities. After all, lying in bed playing with a phone was definitely more comfortable than sitting in a study and doing research.

It was because of these various reasons that Zhang Yanhang did not pick up any corpses throughout the whole process, letting them quietly turn to ashes just as in Raccoon City.

After waiting in place for a few seconds, just as Zhang Yanhang had expected, a Drop treasure box appeared in a rather strange position, defying gravity and floating near the cave wall.

Zhang Yanhang quickly picked up the Green treasure box from the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants and put it in his Waist Bag, then immediately turned and ran into the distance. According to his Perception, these dozen or so Crimson Iron Soldier Ants were the only creatures still alive nearby, and he couldn’t be bothered to explore in the direction from which the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants had come.

After all, if he stuck to his systematic cleaning plan, it would only take at most two or three days to clear the entire Crimson Iron Ant Nest. As for whether the Advanced Crimson Iron Ants had any other schemes--the Ant Nest didn’t have an exit, and they couldn’t all escape together, so whatever it was, it didn’t matter to Zhang Yanhang.

In fact, if the Advanced Crimson Iron Ants could contact a larger Crimson Iron Ant Nest for help, Zhang Yanhang would only be happier because he could then move directly to attacking that larger Ant Nest after clearing the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu.

With the Ant Nest being such an enclosed environment, escape was impossible. Therefore, the methods the Advanced Crimson Iron Ants had to deal with him boiled down to two: one was to gather all the Crimson Iron Ants to surround and attempt a desperate battle with him, and the second was to call for help from other Ant Nests to bring over more Crimson Iron Ants to surround him.

Both of these methods were good news for Zhang Yanhang; they couldn’t harm him and would only speed up his hunting efficiency. Therefore, he wouldn’t try to disrupt the Advanced Crimson Iron Ants’ plans—it would be just giving himself trouble.

However, as much as they planned an ambush, Zhang Yanhang didn’t know when the Advanced Crimson Iron Ants would issue such an order, and there was also a chance they might not issue it. So, for the time being, it was still best to continue with the previously planned clear-out operation for the Crimson Iron Ant Nest to ensure safety.

Next, Zhang Yanhang planned to continue clearing the fifth area of the first phase of the clear-out plan for the Crimson Iron Ant Nest. Overall, the plan was progressing smoothly, and aside from the encounter with the Crimson Iron Flying Ants and the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants just now, there had been no other surprises.