Chapter 253 Chapter 253 Heavy Fog
Everyone who heard the news fell silent.
This explanation is so outrageous that it seems like something made up by a temporary worker. Is this really just a joke?
Not really
How could a small, 18th-tier shelter like theirs, which couldn't even find a few scientific researchers in biology, genetics, etc., have the scientific research capabilities to explore the causes?
At most, you can say that the mutant ants have gone crazy.
The reason why this somewhat outrageous conclusion was reached and made public was that the shelter immediately reported the matter to the capital base after the mutant ant colony launched the attack.
After receiving calls for help from several shelters regarding dangerous situations in a short period of time, the Capital Base immediately mobilized a large number of experts from relevant fields to form a special investigation team to study the matter.
Finally, after several experts worked day and night, they finally found the root cause of the ant colony's madness.
In other words, even if the shelter wanted to make up an excuse, it wouldn't make one that looked so fake.
That's no joke.
Everyone gradually accepted this somewhat outrageous fact, but they couldn't help but worry.
The power of the mutant ant colony can be imagined.
After they plowed the ground that day, it took three full days before small gray mushrooms began to grow one after another.
The mushroom's reproduction rate has dropped significantly, to less than one-third of what it used to be. I don't know how long it will take to recover.
For this reason, the shelter has deliberately closed the above-ground entrances and exits to give the mushrooms time to reproduce. Otherwise, it won't be long before the mushrooms are all picked clean by humans.
——Gray mushrooms that reproduce on their own in the wild have become an important source of food and income for people.
If the number of gray mushrooms in the wild decreases significantly, serious problems will also arise in the social ecology within the refuge.
The result is predictable.
So most people were quite understanding and only made a few small complaints, while more attention was paid to guessing when the mutant ant colony would launch its second attack.
After all, if the interval is too short, and the ecosystem that has not yet recovered is destroyed again and again, humans will be left with nothing.
And it's not just humans who need gray mushrooms; a large number of insects also feed on them.
Suddenly losing the resources they rely on for survival, the competition among the mutated insects will become more intense in order to survive, and it is difficult to guarantee that the large insects will not target humans.
After all, if they can't deal with strong adults, how can they deal with the elderly and children?
The top priority is to restore the ecological environment on the ground as soon as possible.
The Capital Research Institute speculates that the reason why the reproduction rate of gray mushrooms in the outside world has slowed down is that the ants eat or destroy the spores of gray mushrooms while looking for food.
The shelter not only banned people from going out to pick mushrooms, but also took out hundreds of kilograms of gray mushrooms from the mushroom cultivation base and evenly spread them in the safe zone.
Many people who knew about this incident felt that it was against Tiangang.
Not only do they not allow them to go out to pick mushrooms, but they even throw away the mushrooms they have worked so hard to grow. Isn't it just because they have too much to do and are bored?
However, not everyone thinks this way, and there are also many people who understand the situation and support it.
Besides, the arm cannot twist the thigh, and no matter how those people objected and protested, the measure was still firmly implemented.
It turns out that this approach is very correct.
With the large-scale intervention of humans, the external ecological environment has improved by leaps and bounds. Within seven days, dense gray mushrooms occupied a large area.
It’s a pity that those wild flowers and weeds can’t come back.
…
Day 15
The entrance to the ground was finally opened, and people picking mushrooms came out one after another, led by the guards.
The world outside looks no different from before the lockdown, but people know in their hearts that it is different.
The sudden ant colony attack resulted in 172 deaths, 56 missing persons, hundreds of families broken up, and dozens of children orphaned.
I think that at least for a long time in the future, mushroom pickers will not easily stray too far from the entrance and exit - if they earn less, they earn less, but if they lose their lives, it would be a big loss.
Everyone huddled together, and those who were quick and agile quickly picked the big mushrooms, while those who were slow to react had very little harvest.
Now is not the time to give people time to work.
In order to fight for a few gray mushrooms, there was continuous cursing and shouting in the safe zone. If there were no guards watching, fighting would be inevitable.
He Junxia took advantage of the chaos and walked away.
He used his mental power to confuse the guards on the watchtower and quietly left the safe zone.
All I saw was a mess.
Hollow tree trunks teetered, and the ruins bore traces of struggling creatures. The mutant ant swarms attacked not only the safe zone, but also areas outside the safe zone.
He Junxia wandered outside the safe zone for a long time and finally found the nest of the mutant ants.
The outward spiritual power began to spread downwards, and an extremely large underground kingdom appeared before his eyes.
The queen, worker ants, and drone ants each perform their duties, keeping the kingdom running smoothly. Densely packed insect limbs pile up on the ground, occasionally revealing a few primate finger bones.
White and transparent ant eggs are laid out layer upon layer. When all these ant eggs hatch, tens of thousands of strong mutant ants will emerge.
He Junxia frowned.
Kill the queen ant?
No
He Junxia immediately rejected this idea.
An insect manual he had read before had introduced that the queen ant in an ant colony would secrete a pheromone that inhibited the ovarian development of worker ants.
Now the mutated worker ants have developed a desire to reproduce, but they have been suppressed by the queen ant, turning this desire into a crazy appetite.
Once the queen ant dies, a large number of mutant worker ants with reproductive ability will lose their control and "nuptial flight" may occur.
Perhaps the chaotic ant colonies will not intentionally attack humans for a short period of time, but soon, a large number of small ant colonies will appear and reproduce wildly.
At that time, humans will face an even more terrifying and bloody ant tide.
This practice of killing 200 enemies and losing 1,800 of one's own is really stupid and may even push the entire Yue City into the abyss.
He Junxia lowered his eyes and pondered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two mutant insects fighting fiercely not far away. A flash of inspiration suddenly came to him.
How could he forget
There is a simplest and most effective way to control the number of mutant ants - fighting
As long as they find another ant colony and let the two ant colonies meet and clash, both sides will continuously launch attacks. The dead ants can also feed other mutant insects, indirectly maintaining the natural ecology.
He Junxia's lips curled up slightly.
He once again used his mental power to search for another ant nest. His efforts paid off. Two hours later, he finally found another large ant nest on a mountain in the suburbs.
The distance between the two ant nests is a bit far, but it is not a big problem for He Junxia.
He used food to lure them and mental power to control them, and soon the worker ants from the two ant colonies that came out to look for food collided with each other and engaged in a fierce battle.
Soon, more and more worker ants joined in, turning the park into a bloody battlefield. Even the passing wind was not spared from being beaten.
A giant bird circled in the sky, and the gray-green toads hiding in the fountain showed their eyes, as if they also wanted to have a share.
He Junxia leaned against the railing and watched the scene with a smile. After a long time, he stretched and left with satisfaction.
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