Chapter 74
Following the first wave of spy monster invasions, Nightmare University suffered several consecutive malicious sabotage and invasions from other strange domains.
The first failure did not severely undermine the confidence of the domain lords. On the contrary, it strengthened their determination to pull Nightmare University off the list of the top 100 must-play games.
Nightmare University is now ranked first on the list of the top 100 must-play games. It already has a huge amount of traffic, but Nightmare University also has an extremely large ghost domain, which can swallow up nearly one-third of the players in one go. The remaining ghost domains can only pitifully pick up some that slip through the fingers of Nightmare University.
The remaining two-thirds of the players are divided into other strange domains, and most of them are often divided into the top ten strange domains in the rankings.
As a result, the ghost domains ranked in the middle and lower levels basically have no way to survive.
With a huge survival crisis imminent, how could the lower-ranked domain lords not be anxious? Naturally, they all set their sights on Nightmare University.
If they allow Nightmare University to dominate the market, the gap between them and Nightmare University will sooner or later become wider and wider until they can no longer compete with it. Lying down will only lead to death, so it is better to give it a try, maybe there will be a chance to turn things around.
As long as Nightmare University collapses, they can divide up the one-third of the players. Moreover, without Nightmare University competing with them, they can adjust the death rate back to its original value.
It's a good deal no matter how you look at it.
As a result, the domain lords in the middle and lower rankings all turned their attention to Nightmare University, and there was even a tendency for them to unite.
They attacked Nightmare University in groups, wishing that Nightmare University would disappear from the rankings tomorrow, and the followers they sent were stronger than the previous ones.
Although none of their followers have ever returned, they firmly believe that Nightmare University is already overwhelmed by the constant invasions, and once Nightmare University is in chaos, that will be the time for them to launch a large-scale attack.
A worker ant crawled forward along the dark passage. This narrow road was only wide enough for two worker ants to pass side by side. The road extended in all directions and led to hundreds of different sub-nests.
The layers of sub-nests are enough to dazzle humans, and the criss-crossing roads can easily make humans lose their way.
But for worker ants, identifying the road is not a problem.
The worker ants extend their antennae and bump into each other worker ant that comes towards them to exchange information, and can easily obtain the path to their destination.
Its destination is the main nest, which is the "bedroom" where the queen ant lives.
The worker ant has no concept of time and does not know how long it has been crawling. There is no light in the nest, and it moves forward at a constant speed in the darkness. Finally, it completes its mission and arrives at the main nest carrying the information it wants to convey.
Compared to the thousands of secondary nests, the main nest is very large, with dense holes leading to the secondary nests in all directions. This place is also called the "queen cell."
And right in the center of the queen cell, the deep red queen ant is lying lazily. Its body has a black and red luster, and is covered with black and red patterns. Its oval abdomen is extremely swollen, making its head and thorax appear particularly slender.
On top of its bulky body, it has a beautiful face with a bright and lively look. Its pair of front legs have turned into thin white arms. If you ignore the abnormality of its lower body and only look at its head and hands, it is like a beautiful woman as beautiful as a flower.
The worker ant crawls forward and transmits all the information it receives along the way to the queen ant through its antennae without reservation.
The deep red antennae emerged from the queen ant's black hair and shook gently a few times.
“Agree to join forces”
"New players in the cave and followers sent by Nightmare University, the Qingyi level"
After the message was delivered, the queen ant extended her green fingers, gently stroked the worker ant's head, and said softly, "Good boy."
"They've all agreed to join forces. It seems I'm not the only one who sees Nightmare University as a thorn in my side."
Shortly after the first batch of public beta players entered the nightmare world, the Queen Ant noticed the suddenly emerging strange domain of Nightmare University.
The Queen Ant was the first domain lord to send her followers to Nightmare University to gather information. When she sensed that the soldier ants sent to Nightmare University died almost instantly at the same time, the Queen Ant knew that Nightmare University was by no means that simple.
Because of this, it did not rashly attack Nightmare University, but chose to form factions and incite other domain lords to explore the way for it.
It succeeded, and eight domain lords agreed to join forces with it. Soon, they will raid Nightmare University together and divide up this piece of fat meat.
Of course, the queen ant would not be stupid enough to be the vanguard. She would only hide at the back of the team. If she was defeated, she would push the other domain lords out and escape safely.
The queen ant thought this, caressing the worker ants more gently. "The followers sent by Nightmare University have come to our nest? Are they trying to take over my nest? They are so naive."
The terrain of the "ant nest" is not as complicated as that of Nightmare University. Countless sub-nests are closely connected together, like a neural network composed of countless neurons. Whenever an enemy invading the ant nest appears, the worker ants on the neural network will instantly notice it and rush to destroy the enemy at all costs.
So, no matter what Nightmare University is planning, the followers it sends will become food for the queen ant.
The queen ant sneered and gave the order to eliminate the invaders.
The worker ants obeyed the order and crawled away. The rustling sound of crawling faded away, and the dark nest was once again filled with dead silence.
The queen ant's swollen abdomen squirmed for a while, and she laid dozens of eggs again. A dozen brood ants soon appeared and transported these young eggs to the larval ant area for incubation. Once this batch of young eggs successfully hatched, she would have hundreds of new low-level followers.
During the rest period, the queen ant suddenly raised her head and looked towards a hole.
It suddenly sensed a breath that made it extremely uneasy, but the breath dissipated so quickly that it made it wonder if it was an illusion.
The queen ant was inexplicably anxious, but at this moment she didn't know where this anxiety came from.
In a sub-nest, several players were running for their lives in the passage.
Behind them, countless huge worker ants, half a person's height, were crowded in the passage, chasing them relentlessly.
"Damn it! Didn't we agree to lower the death rate? These rubbish Territory Lords are going back on their word again!!"
"I'm dying, I'm really going to die this time!"
"Damn it! Could it be that this Domain Lord is treating us specially just because we are students of Nightmare University?"
The professor leading the way suddenly shouted, "This way!"
They subconsciously obeyed the order and followed the professor into a small cave.
The cave wasn't very big, only big enough for four people. After they entered, they realized the professor hadn't come in. They hurriedly reached out to pull him in, but the professor dodged and spoke quickly to them, "This is where the eggs hatch. There's still the scent of young ants inside. Stay hidden here. I'll find a way to deal with the queen ant."
The players were all shocked. One player couldn't help but lower his voice and urgently advised, "Teacher Cen, don't go. This queen ant is at least at the Yellow Cloth level. You can't deal with it!"
Cen Xun said calmly, "I know what's going on. Just hide well. I won't care if you die."
The players were unable to persuade him and could only watch him slip away, leading most of the worker ants away on his own. They were so moved that they burst into tears on the spot.
Teacher Cen, what do you think?
You are a blue-clothed monster, so what’s the difference between you and committing suicide when facing a yellow-clothed monster!
"It was to protect us that Teacher Cen went to his death."
"Teacher Cen is so kind. She is still thinking about us at this time. She is worthy of being called the fairy white moonlight teacher."
"Shh, stop talking. We can't let Teacher Cen's sacrifice go to waste."
The players quieted down, but an infinite sadness welled up in their hearts.
I’m afraid this farewell may not be forever!
If they had known the Ant Nest was so dangerous, they wouldn't have followed Teacher Cen to the Ant Nest to conduct the spy mission! Not only did they not come themselves, they also tried to persuade Teacher Cen to give up this dangerous idea.
Now that Teacher Cen is about to pass away, how are they going to explain this to the students at Nightmare University when they go back?
Cen Xun didn't know that his unlucky students had already figured out how to hold a memorial service for him. After getting rid of these four burdens, his efficiency increased several times, and he no longer had to hold back to maintain his image.
Countless puppet threads quietly spread along the passage, piercing the heads of all the worker ants encountered along the way and stringing them together on a line.
At first, Cen Xun planned to use puppet silk to search for the queen ant's location, but soon, Cen Xun gave up this idea.
The ant nest is too large and there are too many forks. It is difficult to find the queen ant efficiently in a short time relying solely on puppet threads.
But Cen Xun's patience is running out.
Instead of trying hard to find the enemy, it is better to change your thinking.
Not long after, the queen ant received a message from the worker ants: they caught the follower monster sent by Nightmare University, but the monster was very difficult to chew. After they bit it, their jaws were broken, and even the poisonous stinger on the tail could not penetrate the monster's body.
They were at their wit's end and had no choice but to ask the queen ant what to do.
The queen ant thought for a moment. The follower was just a Qingyi-level monster. It didn't look scary at first, but it was obviously only a Qingyi-level monster, but it could successfully resist the poison needle. This was a bit weird.
The queen ant is the brain of the entire ant colony and her position cannot be easily exposed. To be on the safe side, the queen ant did not let the worker ants carry the follower over, but asked the worker ants to carry him directly to the larval egg area.
The larvae of this type of ant will secrete an acid that is highly corrosive. Even the strongest-shelled creatures will eventually be corroded and become food for the larvae if thrown into it.
The queen ant had a good idea. She would wait until the monster was half-dead in the acid and no longer threatening, and then she would devour the monster's power. This would be safer.
But for some reason, after the worker ants left with her orders, the queen ant felt more and more uneasy.
It raised its upper body a little anxiously, wanting to call the worker ants and carefully inquire about the specific situation of the follower, but after waiting for a long time, no worker ant responded to the call.
In the quiet main nest, the flowing air seemed to suddenly stagnate.
The queen ant's red eyes suddenly froze and stared in one direction.
It felt that something huge was coming towards it from that direction.
He was so huge, and the overwhelming power he exuded was like a huge shadow covering it, making it unable to move and too desperate to even think of escaping.
The queen ant's neck seemed to be pinched by an invisible giant hand, and her beautiful face could no longer maintain an expression, showing a distorted look of extreme fear.
It stared at that direction intently, knowing that it shouldn't look directly at it, but its eyes seemed to be glued there and couldn't be moved away.
The behemoth was getting closer and closer. The queen ant could almost see colorful black and white silk threads pouring out from a hole like a tide, slapping towards her fiercely. But when she dodged in horror, she found that the silk threads had inexplicably disappeared out of thin air, as if everything was an illusion.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard in the deadly quiet main nest.
The slow and unhurried steps caused echoes when they landed, which sounded more like a death warrant to the queen ant.
It opened its eyes wide and locked onto a certain hole. Its eyes were bloodshot and almost bleeding.
Who is who?
The dark environment did not affect the queen ant's vision. As she approached, a young man in a black shirt appeared in her sight.
Human?
No, not human.
This aura is that of a half-awakened monster!
Moreover, the opponent's level seems to be far above it.
The queen ant tried her best to suppress her trembling voice: "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" The other person stood on the high cave entrance, looking down at it condescendingly, with a hint of coldness in his voice: "Haven't you guessed it yet?"
"You've brought so many surprises to our school. As the principal, it would be unreasonable for me not to return the favor."
Wh, what? He said, who is he?
How could the president of Nightmare University be here? No! No, the president of Nightmare University, how could he be a half-awakened monster!
How could a half-awakened monster possibly possess its own domain? How could it possibly control such a large number of followers?
The queen ant was stunned by the sudden news until the whole cave was suddenly illuminated by fire, and she suddenly came to her senses.
In just a blink of an eye, the entire ant nest was engulfed in flames. The queen heard countless worker ants and young ants wailing in the fire, praying for her salvation. She saw the worker ants huddled together to protect the young eggs in the center, wanting to sacrifice themselves to fight for a way out for the young eggs, but they still turned into ashes in the sea of fire along with the young eggs.
The queen ant howled sharply: "No"
The nest was transformed into a purgatory in the sea of fire, and the disciples were reduced to ashes in agony. The queen ant finally realized the purpose of the other party's coming and immediately begged for mercy: "My lord, my lord! Please forgive me, I never intended to covet your strange domain, it was all forced by other domain masters!"
The high temperature scorched the air, leaving traces of deformation. Even the queen ant began to gasp painfully in the increasingly hot air. However, Cen Xun's expression remained unchanged, and even his tone was cold: "Oh?"
"Really! Please forgive me! I, I won't dare to do it again!"
"I'm right, I can do something for you! I just ask you to spare my life!"
The queen ant's face was filled with tears, and she acted very pitiful. If it were someone else, they might have been soft-hearted, but unfortunately she met Cen Xun.
"But you make me very unhappy." Cen Xun said gloomily: "Because of you, I have lost sleep so many times. Tell me, how should you compensate me?"
Without waiting for the queen ant to answer, several puppet threads attacked and instantly cut it into tens of thousands of pieces.
The unhatched eggs in the abdomen slid out through the hole and scattered all over the ground mixed with mucus. The queen ant's head fell to the ground and happened to see this scene. She opened her mouth in horror but could not make any scream of fear.
The queen ant blinked her eyes again in excruciating pain after being torn into pieces, and was faced with a dark green corrosion tank. She was thrown into the corrosion tank, and her skin was corroded instantly. She struggled to float up and down in the corrosion tank, watching herself and the eggs in her belly gradually decompose and turn into part of the acid.
Constantly resurrecting and dying, the queen ant fell into madness in endless hallucinations. She crawled desperately towards the young man sitting high on the bones, trembling and humbly begging him to forgive her mistakes and give her relief.
The young man crossed his legs elegantly, as if he had admired the other's embarrassment enough, and the murderous gloom on his face finally disappeared.
The black and white puppet silk wrapped around the queen ant's neck, forcing it to raise its head. Every time it touched the side of its face, it would leave a deep scratch on it.
"You should be thankful that you still have some value."
Cen Xun's low, smiling voice carried a hint of malice that sent shivers down the ant queen's spine. "As for the other domain masters who contacted you, they won't be so lucky."
"I'll send them to real hell."
Not long after, the eight domain lords who agreed to join forces with the Queen Ant received news from the Queen Ant again.
They picked up the photos sent by the worker ants and didn't understand what they meant at first. It was not until they saw the content of the photos clearly that they were shocked.
The photo was taken from an overhead perspective. There was nothing else in it except a huge pattern made up of tens of thousands of worker ant corpses.
That's a school badge.
The huge butterflies appeared in their sight unscrupulously, like branding irons, causing them to feel a phantom pain as if they were burned.
They have been planning the same thing for many days, so it is impossible for them not to know what this school badge represents.
When I turned the photo over, I saw a pattern graffitied on the back.
It is a doll with long hair and a round face. A few simple strokes outline the lips that almost reach behind the ears, making it look particularly creepy.
After discovering this seemingly casually scribbled graffiti, all the domain masters felt a chill.
Because, among the nine domain lords who planned the raid, there was indeed one whose true form was a doll.
It's clear, then, why Nightmare University sent this photo.
This is a death notice letter.
The fall of the ant nest is just the beginning.
Nightmare University has already chosen its next target.
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