Chapter 8: The Ant Nest
Once the two captains departed, Zhao Man returned to the bamboo grove and resumed digging. Three hours later, he had hauled all the excavated earth back to his courtyard, treated it with disinfectant, and packed it into sacks. There were seven bags in total. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to keep digging; rather, after digging down three meters, the subterranean soil also tested at high radiation levels.
Retrieving his remaining three sacks, he realized he had only a single length of cord left. Zhao Man fired off a message to Tang Heng: Can you lend me two sacks and five lengths of rope? I need to haul some things back tomorrow.
They’re yours, Tang Heng replied instantly.
Hah, shameless flatterer.
Setting an alarm for six-thirty, he shut off his terminal. After waiting a short while to ensure no one was coming to knock on his door tonight, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
At seven sharp the next morning, Tang Heng’s voice sounded punctually from outside the door. Having already packed his gear, Zhao Man hoisted his backpack, shouldered his shovel, grabbed the three folded sacks off the floor, and opened the door.
Tang Heng and Zhao Qingjin stood waiting outside. Zhao Man stepped forward and said, “Let’s go.”
Passing through West Gate 3, Zhao Man noticed it was still just the two of them. “Just you two?”
“The others are trailing behind. A massive squad draws too much attention,” Tang Heng replied.
“Fair enough.” Zhao Man nodded, then transmitted the footage of the bracken fern hollow he had recorded two days ago to both of them.
After reviewing the video, Zhao Qingjin asked, “Could you walk us through how you killed that ant and four-legged lizard yesterday?”
“Let me tell you, it was hair-raising…” The moment the topic was broached, Zhao Man hit his stride. After sleeping on it, his recollection of the ordeal had transformed into a thrilling, pulse-pounding saga where he was exceptionally agile, heroic, and imposing.
The two captains listened with deadpan expressions. Both felt that Zhao Man’s gift of gab was thoroughly wasted on scavenging, yet neither could immediately pinpoint what career path would suit him better.
Finishing with lingering enthusiasm, Zhao Man offered, “If anything was unclear, I can go over it again.”
“No need.”
After walking for half an hour, a rhythmic putt-putt-putt resonated from behind. Turning around, Zhao Man spotted two motorized tricycles chugging along, the drivers dressed in uniforms identical to Tang Heng’s and Zhao Qingjin’s. Behind the tricycles, a disorganized mob of patrolmen came jogging along in a chaotic scramble.
Seeing the three leaders look back, the runners waved their arms, their shouts carrying over from afar:
“Captain!”
“Captain, wait up!”
“We’re here!”
“Get out of the damn way, stop blocking my path!”
“Brigade 7, you bunch of morons!”
Zhao Man glanced at Tang Heng and Zhao Qingjin, mentally downgrading both of them to “average at best.”
Feeling Zhao Man’s gaze, Zhao Qingjin pushed up his spectacles. Tang Heng squinted, turning his head away to avoid looking at the embarrassment unfolding behind him.
The tricycles quickly caught up. Zhao Man pointed out the side trail, and the vehicles took the lead. The remaining crew hoisted their small packs and fell into two-by-two columns, marching onto the path.
Twenty minutes later, the whole group stood at the site of Zhao Man’s battlefield from yesterday.
“The carcasses are gone,” Zhao Man noted, pointing at the ground.
“The ants probably dragged them back to the nest,” Tang Heng said.
Zhao Qingjin and Tang Heng stepped over to Zhao Man’s side, walking about a dozen meters to the right. Zhao Man pointed toward the sandy incline. “Over there, that’s where the sand yams grow. The lizard nest should be right below it. As for the ant mound, it’s that way.” Zhao Man gestured toward the left.
Noticing that the sandy slope reached nearly to the crest of the hill, Tang Heng shot Zhao Man a look. “You’ve got some serious nerve.”
Rolling his eyes at Tang Heng, Zhao Man pressed forward. With so many people backing him up, even the gloomy woods felt distinctly brighter.
Leading them to the spot where he had stumbled upon the ant mound, Zhao Man turned to the two men. “I’ve pointed out both locations. Can I go dig up my yams now?”
The two captains exchanged a look before Tang Heng answered, “We’ll clear the four-legged lizards first. Wait a bit before heading up.”
Zhao Man turned and walked away without hesitation. Seeing their respective captains signal, the squads surged forward in swift formation.
Zhao Man walked over to the grassy clearing. Watching one squad fan out along the bracken hollow, he withdrew his gaze, drew his machete, and began cutting foxtail grass. He had cut less yesterday than the day before, leaving his bed feeling like a slab of rock.
Before long, Zhao Man sensed a subtle ripple of energy vibrating through the air. Straightening up, he saw the two teams completely encircle the bracken hollow. One by one, the men unholstered their weapons and began swinging them in coordinated patterns.
An hour later, the squads had swept the entire bracken patch. Zhao Man’s terminal chimed; Tang Heng was summoning him over.
As Zhao Man approached, the vegetation in the hollow lay crushed in every direction, the surrounding turf trampled flat. Two heaps of four-legged lizard carcasses lay piled in the center, stark and conspicuous.
“This area is cleared. You can climb up from here to dig. We’re heading over to purge the ant nest now. While you’re digging, keep an eye on these lizard corpses so no scavengers swipe them,” Tang Heng instructed.
Leaving his shovel at the base of the hollow, Zhao Man scrambled directly to the highest ridge of the sand slope and began excavating his way downward inch by inch. As he dug out the sand yams, he ferried them down to the hollow. Standing to survey the area, he spotted several figures peeking through the distant brush. Zhao Man pulled out his terminal and shot Tang Heng a quick message.
A moment later, one member from each squad jogged over. They planted a squad flag on the left and right flanks of the slope before heading back to the ant nest.
Zhao Man harvested forty-eight sand yams in total. After scanning them all, only twenty-three proved edible. Five that were exceptionally stubby he stuffed straight into his backpack, wrapping the rest carefully in broad fern fronds and setting them aside. Scrambling to the right, he retrieved the inedible tubers he had cached beneath the tree roots two days ago.
Grabbing his shovel, he snapped open a sack and began loading soil. While harvesting the yams, Zhao Man had noted that they grew barely a knuckle beneath the surface; consequently, he shoveled up the dirt to a depth of half a palm.
Zhao Man had already tested the soil here; it was thoroughly irradiated. However, he had spent thirteen points yesterday purchasing an informational dossier, which confirmed that high-radiation soil could be remediated using chemical reagents.
Once all five sacks were filled, Zhao Man walked over to the ant mound. Over twenty patrolmen had formed a circular cordon around the nest. Eight men stationed at eight compass points held iron rods tipped with scanning hoops, sweeping the earth. As they scanned, the rest of the perimeter slowly backed outward.
“Captain, right here!”
The last scanner called a halt. The twenty-odd men had mapped out a circle roughly seven meters in diameter. Zhao Man realized they were probing the true underground footprint of the colony.
Tang Heng retrieved a small pennant marked with the number 12 and planted it two meters from the mound. “Watch this sector closely. The queen is underneath.”
“Prepare to engage,” Zhao Qingjin ordered.
Every squad member produced a protective suit from their pack—the same trash-bin green material—sealing themselves from boots to collar. Each man brandished a long weapon resembling a crook cane, its base and sides tipped with razor-sharp blades.
At a synchronized command from Tang Heng and Zhao Qingjin, the mound was forcibly toppled. Fiery-red ants erupted like a geyser. The patrolmen stood their ground, arms rising and falling with machine-like precision, splitting mutated ants in half with every stroke. Ants lunged forward, snapping their mandibles against the green suits, but the operators didn’t budge an inch.
The ground was carpeted in a sea of red. The patrolmen remained rooted in place, their weapons blurring into afterimages. A circle of sulfur-yellow powder had been scattered behind them; the ants writhed their antennae within the ring, pinned down firmly by the heavy atmospheric energy exerted by the squad.
Zhao Man watched for a brief moment before returning to the bracken patch. He had observed that wasteland plant growth was wildly erratic; tender shoots were often nestled beneath aged fronds. Searching stem by stem, he managed to unearth three thick bracken shoots—each as wide as a wrist and long as a forearm—testing safe for consumption. He wrapped them in fern leaves, bound them into a sheath of foxtail grass, and sat down on the ground to drink water and finish off yesterday’s boiled sand yams.
After resting for a while, Zhao Man strolled back over. The patrol squad had split into two crews: one harvested the ants with heavy tongs, while the other excavated the nest.
The interior tunnels were a labyrinth of intricate chambers, which the patrolmen navigated with practiced care. Three scouts conducted continuous scans, recording data in real time.
When the entire nest was unearthed, it looked from the outside like a miniature underground citadel plunged five meters beneath the surface. It was bristling with flags of varying shades; the deepest hue marked the queen’s royal chamber.
The patrolmen breached the outer perimeter first, exposing the colony’s food stores. Zhao Man even caught sight of the lizard he had slain yesterday. As more of the subterranean structure collapsed, clusters of larvae were revealed. The men produced specialized containers, gingerly plucking the larvae with tongs before sealing them inside. Finally came dense, glistening clusters of ant eggs, a sight so creeping it made Zhao Man’s skin crawl.
Once the spoils were secured, all that remained was the sector marked by the darkest flag. The crew held back as Tang Heng and Zhao Qingjin walked over to Zhao Man.
“Where’s the food you harvested?”
The three returned to the bracken patch. The two captains each picked up a sand yam, snapped photos, and rapidly keyed data into their terminals.
“We’re almost wrapped up. Got your gear packed?”
“All set,” Zhao Man said, gesturing toward five sacks of sandy soil and several bundles of foxtail grass.
“Good. Give us a few more minutes, then we roll out.”
Voices multiplied across the hollow. Zhao Man stood up to look; every man was holding a sand yam, snapping pictures and tapping away on their terminals, their faces practically glowing with the joy of striking it rich.
Seeing Zhao Man watching, Sun Chao strolled over. Seeing Sun Chao move, the rest of Brigade 12 followed suit. Noticing Brigade 12’s movement, Brigade 7 trailed along as well. Soon, a massive crowd was encircling Zhao Man in dead silence.
Zhao Man: “…”
Spotting their squads swarming Zhao Man, Tang Heng and Zhao Qingjin assumed trouble had broken out and hurried over. They caught the tail end of Sun Chao’s remark: “You’re pretty capable, kid. Want to exchange comm IDs?”
Followed immediately by Zhao Man’s crisp reply: “No thanks. I can’t afford to get cozy with folks out of my league.”
Tang Heng stopped in his tracks. The kid sure knows how to hold a grudge!
Zhao Qingjin barked, “What are you all standing around for? Is everything packed?”
The crowd scattered instantly.
“You alright?” Tang Heng asked.
Zhao Man shook his head. “I have five sacks of dirt and three bundles of grass. Inside that bundle are eighteen of my sand yams.”
“Understood. It’s two o’clock now—perfect timing to head back while the road is quiet,” Tang Heng replied.
With that, the two captains transferred thirty points each to Zhao Man’s account, then directed their men to load the respective spoils onto the tricycles.
Once packed, two guards hopped onto the back of each tricycle beside the drivers, and the vehicles sputtered off with a flurry of putt-putt-putts.
Zhao Man tallied the take: twelve lizard carcasses in total—seven for Tang Heng’s squad, five for Zhao Qingjin’s; four gunny sacks of ant bodies, split evenly; and twenty crates of larvae and eggs divided between the two squads.
The remaining squad members trailed after the tricycles in small groups, leaving only Zhao Man and the two captains behind.
Returning to the breached mound, Tang Heng and Zhao Qingjin flared their mental energy. Borrowing Zhao Man’s shovel, they cleaved through the heart of the nest, unearthing an enormous queen ant with a head the size of a basketball and a two-meter-long abdomen.
The moment the queen emerged, a wave of dizziness slammed into Zhao Man. Tang Heng flicked a small adhesive patch from his pocket onto Zhao Man’s chest. Dazed, Zhao Man took quite a while to clear his head, completely missing the gesture.
When his vision finally cleared, he saw Zhao Qingjin press a release on a compact cylinder from his pouch, which telescoped out into a long container with a sharp hiss. Tang Heng drew a thin metallic sheet from the casing, sliding it cleanly beneath the queen from abdomen to crown. Together, they hoisted the massive queen into the container. Out came their terminals for another round of snapshots and rapid data entry.
Zhao Man couldn’t help but marvel: True professionals.
Once the container clicked shut, both men reeled in their mental power. Tang Heng hoisted the shovel over his shoulder while Zhao Qingjin tucked the heavy cylinder under one arm.
“You holding up? Ant queens possess inherent psychic shockwaves. Keep your distance if you run into one down the road, or you’ll have your brain fried to mush.” Tang Heng stepped over and peeled the small patch from Zhao Man’s chest.
Only then did Zhao Man realize something had been stuck to him. “Thank you.”
“Let’s move.”
Zhao Man followed the two men all the way back to the main road before Tang Heng spoke up: “If you’re heading out to scavenge again tomorrow, steer clear of this sector. The base will probably cordon off that hill by this afternoon to convert it into a sand yam cultivation facility.”
“Huh?” Zhao Man blinked in shock. Setting aside the far slope, this side held only a tiny pocket of sandy ground. From Tang Heng’s tone, the base intended to remediate the entire knoll. He had been planning to circle the hill tomorrow to see if more patches existed.
“The base will analyze that soil pocket and terraform the whole hill into a cultivation zone based on its composition,” Zhao Qingjin explained. “When we submitted the discovery report, we registered it under your name for it: Sand Yam. That’s likely what it will be called from now on.”
“I noticed you bagged up that sandy soil—planning to cultivate it at home, I take it?” Zhao Qingjin added. “Once the base’s soil analysis comes through, I’ll slip you a copy of the report. Keep it strictly to yourself, but using it for private cultivation at home won’t be an issue.”
“Really? That’s amazing—thank you so much!” Zhao Man’s surprise gave way to genuine delight as he voiced his thanks.
“Don’t mention it. Consider it returning the favor,” Zhao Qingjin said.
“His mother and elder brother both work at the base’s Agricultural Research Institute,” Tang Heng chimed in. “His mother is a senior researcher there, in fact. Since he filed the initial report, the project will almost certainly be handed directly to them.”
Hearing Tang Heng’s explanation, Zhao Man understood completely: a massive pie had fallen from the heavens, landing squarely on their family’s dinner table.
Zhao Man had to admit: he was thoroughly jealous.
