"Damn it!"
Ye Feng turned his head and saw two flying desert ants rapidly approaching from behind. They clearly intended to ambush him like they had done to the elephant.
"Bang bang!"
Without hesitation, Ye Feng took out his Glock 18 and fired two shots. The two desert ants fell into the river in response.
"Such cunning creatures!"
Ye Feng frowned. Monsters that ambushed were the most troublesome.
"Big brother, look, more are flying over!"
Xiao Xiao called out while paddling along the river. This time, the winged desert ants were not targeting Ye Feng, but Xiao Xiao beside him.
"Bang bang bang!"
Another series of shots. Three winged desert ants fell into the river and sank instantly.
"This... no wonder these desert ants are afraid of water!"
Seeing the desert ants that fell into the river, Ye Feng suddenly understood. The dark, shiny armor of the desert ants dissolved upon contact with water, even melting the flesh beneath.
"This ordinary water for humans is like sulfuric acid to desert ants."
Ye Feng narrowed his eyes.
"Xiao Xiao, come, let's paddle hard and quickly get away from this place!"
Ye Feng said to Xiao Xiao. Looking at the densely packed, constantly stirring desert ants behind them, Ye Feng had a bad premonition.
"Sizzle sizzle! Squeak squeak! Sizzle sizzle!..."
Suddenly, a sharp, unpleasant sound, somewhat like an electric current, came from the middle of the desert ant swarm. Immediately after, the previously agitated desert ants fell silent. A large number of thin desert ants, about the size of a thumb, were pushed to the front. Behind them followed much sturdier desert ants, and then, a few flying desert ants.
"Do these desert ants have a command center?"
Seeing the neat formation of the desert ants, Ye Feng looked towards where the "sizzle" sound had come from.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!..."
At this moment, a dense sound like rain erupted. These were the sturdy desert ants, the size of adult fists, throwing the thumb-sized ants forward, aiming for Ye Feng.
"Damn! There's even this!"
"Suicide squad?"
Seeing the dense black dots, Ye Feng was astonished.
"Xiao Xiao, quickly, use the paddle to hit the water!"
"Don't let the desert ants fly into the raft, or they'll puncture this inflatable raft!"
As he spoke, Ye Feng vigorously slapped the water with his paddle, splashing water onto a group of small desert ants that were being thrown. The splashed water immediately knocked the small desert ants off course and corroded most of them, causing them to fall into the water.
"Splash~ slap~ slap~..."
Xiao Xiao, following suit, continuously slapped the water with her high-strength plastic paddle, sending the flying small desert ants into the water.
"Bang! Bang!"
While paddling, Ye Feng occasionally fired a shot or two, shooting down desert ants that attempted to fly over.
"These guys!"
Ye Feng squinted, took out a white phosphorus grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it into the desert ant swarm.
"Boom!"
The white phosphorus bomb exploded, instantly igniting a large fire and killing a large number of desert ants. Many that were not killed but had white phosphorus fire on them fled in panic, causing more desert ants to catch fire. The burning desert ants also fled, igniting more desert ants... In an instant, the once orderly formation of desert ants descended into chaos, with fires erupting everywhere.
"Sizzle sizzle! Squeak squeak! Sizzle sizzle!..."
At this moment, the strange and unpleasant sound Ye Feng had heard before rang out again, and it lasted longer than before. After the unpleasant sound ended, the desert ants that had been in chaos and fleeing suddenly became orderly again. The desert ants began to divide into small groups, led by the flying desert ants, and systematically killed the burning and still fleeing desert ants... In a short while, only the area where the white phosphorus bomb had initially exploded remained burning.
"These desert ants really have a commander, is it the queen?"
Ye Feng took out his monocular and observed. After a while, he indeed spotted a large, white, plump desert ant the size of a 200-jin wild boar in the center of the swarm. It must be the commanding queen! However, the queen was surrounded by layers of dense black desert ants, making her almost impossible to spot without close examination.
"Xiao Xiao, keep paddling, don't let the desert ants fall into the raft!"
Ye Feng said to Xiao Xiao, then took out two more white phosphorus grenades, pulled the pins, and threw them forcefully towards the queen's location.
"Bang! Bang!"
"Boom! Boom!"
After two explosions, two large flames erupted, spreading out and igniting large swathes of desert ants. The formation of the desert ants became somewhat chaotic again.
"Sizzle~ Squeak~ Sizzle~..."
At this moment, the queen once again issued that unpleasant command. The black desert ants surrounding the queen immediately took action. They killed any fleeing desert ants that approached the queen, regardless of whether they were on fire. Subsequently, a group of desert ants continuously changed formation, burrowing under the queen. In a short while, they lifted the queen and moved her away from the riverbank.
By this time, Ye Feng had already taken out his Barrett. The desert ants that had been so complex to deal with were no longer attacking them but were instead fleeing in all directions.
"Big brother, the desert ants are fighting amongst themselves?"
Xiao Xiao noticed that no desert ants were being thrown at them and stopped paddling, pointing in one direction. Ye Feng followed Xiao Xiao's gaze. He immediately saw that the winged desert ants had divided into several factions and were attacking each other.
"Without their leader, the powerful subordinates are fighting for the throne? Internal strife?"
"The strategy of capturing the king first is indeed effective!"
Ye Feng muttered as he swept his gaze across the chaotic desert ant swarm.
"Xiao Xiao, now is the time, let's run!"
"If they choose a new king or some new queen-like creature later, we'll be in trouble!"
As he spoke, Ye Feng sat down and began to paddle.
"Oh, okay!"
...