Five days later,
In the sweltering midday heat,
Ye Feng was lying under the shade of a tree by the river, feeling rather dejected.
For the past five days, his [Shop] had not refreshed the medium-sized water purifier he wanted, nor had it refreshed any new mineral water.
This meant he had to find a water source every day, otherwise, his water supply would be insufficient.
Although he still had some mineral water, he needed to save some as a backup in case he couldn't find a water source.
"Big brother, this area of forests and rocks is so vast~"
"We've been walking for so many days, and we're still in this area~"
At this moment, Xiao Xiao, who was by the river, spoke up.
She was filling empty mineral water bottles with water from the 2L small water purifier, then refilling the purifier with river water, and waiting for it to purify more water to fill the mineral water bottles later.
"Yeah!~"
Ye Feng nodded, "This place is indeed quite large~"
Afterward, the hot, bored, and dejected Ye Feng jumped into the river to swim.
Of course, he stayed far away from Xiao Xiao's position, so as not to muddy the water and increase the burden on the water purifier.
"Beep~ Alert, Desert Army Ants are approaching!"
As Ye Feng was swimming underwater, the system's prompt suddenly sounded.
"What's going on?"
Ye Feng quickly surfaced and looked around, his expression quite serious.
"Huh? Xiao Xiao, did something happen over there?"
Suddenly, Ye Feng noticed Xiao Xiao also looking around, her expression tense. He couldn't help but ask.
"I... I feel like this place isn't very safe..."
"But I can't quite pinpoint why..."
Xiao Xiao scratched her head awkwardly, "Big brother, why don't we leave here!"
"Okay!~"
Having had the experience with the Gargoyle before, Ye Feng didn't hesitate at all. He quickly packed his things and left.
...
Half an hour later,
"Xiao Xiao, what's wrong?"
Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao had walked quickly for half an hour and were now quite far from their previous location.
However, Xiao Xiao's expression remained tense, showing no sign of relaxation, and she even seemed more anxious!
"Big brother, it's so strange!"
Xiao Xiao stopped and began walking in various directions.
"Big brother, when I sensed danger before, I only needed to cautiously take a few steps forward to feel which direction had the least danger!"
"But this time, no matter which direction I choose, the feeling of danger doesn't decrease at all~"
"And as we move, the feeling of danger in my heart actually intensifies!"
Xiao Xiao looked at Ye Feng with a worried expression.
"This... could it be that the danger Xiao Xiao senses is coming from all directions..."
Ye Feng quickly realized the gravity of the situation.
"Xiao Xiao, get up the tree!"
"Use the binoculars to observe the surroundings!"
Saying this, Ye Feng handed the monocular to Xiao Xiao and took out his Barrett.
"Huh?"
As Ye Feng took out the inflatable kayak he had bought earlier, he looked in the direction Xiao Xiao was pointing.
"Damn it!~"
Seeing the scene Xiao Xiao was pointing at, Ye Feng couldn't help but curse.
In front of them, a herd of elephants was running at high speed, seemingly about to escape.
But from the rear of the desert army ant swarm, a few male ants the size of two adult fists, with wings, accelerated and flew in front of the elephants, spraying formic acid into their eyes.
"Moo!~ Moo!!..."
The elephants, their eyes corroded by the formic acid, immediately cried out in pain.
The elephant herd, their direction deviating due to the attack on their eyes, crashed into each other, falling to the ground.
Then, dense swarms of desert army ants crawled onto the elephants, madly cutting and gnawing.
In a short while, the massive elephants were reduced to mere skeletons...
"Xiao Xiao, stop looking, quickly help me paddle!"
"We need to paddle to the middle of the river before the desert army ants catch up!"
Ye Feng shouted at Xiao Xiao and then pushed the kayak towards the middle of the river.
"Whoosh!~ Bang bang~!"
"Ssshh~ Crack~"
"Meee... Meee..."
"Hiss... Hiss~..."
As the desert army ants wreaked havoc, the large trees in the entire forest began to fall in large numbers.
Various animals let out cries of agony, eventually turning into bare skeletons...
It was only now that Ye Feng understood why these ferocious ants were called desert army ants.
Just ten minutes before, the forest had been lush and green. After the desert army ants passed... it had completely turned a dusty yellow.
These desert army ants not only devoured animals but also destroyed the plants.
It was not difficult to imagine that this area, without vegetation, would soon become a desert.
So, the desert army ants didn't live in the desert, but rather, they turned the places they passed into deserts!
"Bi... Big brother, as long as we stay in the river, those big ants, oh, the desert army ants, won't bite us, right?"
On the kayak, Xiao Xiao, who had just witnessed the terrifying scene, now looked at the dense, black masses of desert army ants on both banks of the river, her face pale with fright.
"This..."
Ye Feng's expression was grim.
If it were only the desert army ants crawling on land, Ye Feng would have been very confident.
But he had just seen flying desert army ants, much larger than ordinary army ants, and they seemed to employ some kind of tactic.
"Big brother, be careful behind you!"
Suddenly, Xiao Xiao's anxious voice rang out.
...