Expedition to the Ant Nest

Regarding the matter of men and women, from ancient times to the present, no country can claim to have completely solved it, and their small camp of about a hundred people cannot possibly find a perfect solution either.

Uncle Wei is a bit old-fashioned, having been single for over ten years since his wife passed away, so he is not bothered by such issues at all. Therefore, when such problems arise in the camp, Uncle Wei initially didn't know how to handle them well and simply let them handle it themselves. However, today, Uncle Rong brought up the issue, indicating that it couldn't continue to be left unchecked and intervention was necessary.

Should the seven women be driven out? Not just Uncle Wei, but others couldn't make that decision either. Bozi felt it would be better to restore their professions; if anyone in the camp wanted to engage in such activities, they could negotiate directly.

But Uncle Wei vetoed this proposal, and the problem remained unresolved, destined to erupt sooner or later.

Iron Scraps had no experience in this regard. He felt it was simply asking for trouble and a waste of his time, so he left early to return to his laboratory.

Uncle Rong suggested that the single men in the camp should compete freely, and the seven women could each choose one to live with. This could be considered the most compromise solution, and Uncle Wei, after some thought, felt it was the only way to go for now.

Tom had some additional thoughts on this matter. He felt that some people had developed habits of idleness and it might not be so easy for them to live peacefully for a short time. Therefore, some restrictions needed to be imposed.

Having moved between two orphanages since he was young, Tom always believed that order was the best weapon to maintain a group or organization. Having seen various ugliness, selfishness, and laziness, he had a strong insistence on maintaining order. In his view, once rules were established, they must be strictly adhered to, and once violated, strong measures must be taken to maintain the authority of the rules, even if it meant sacrificing the interests and freedoms of the violators.

So he proposed to Uncle Wei that both parties involved must remain loyal to their partners. In the event of jealousy, the violators, regardless of gender, must be subjected to imprisonment, reduction in supplies, and the most severe punishment of expulsion from the camp.

Uncle Wei felt that Tom was making a big deal out of it, but he simply chuckled and passed it.

Tom didn't bother to delve deeper into it and immediately left for the cardboard laboratory. His Old Street Zero still awaited improvements.

The battle with the mutated cockroach yesterday exposed some shortcomings of Old Street Zero.

For example, the waist connection was too tight. Although it increased defense, it affected flexibility in turning. Some armor plates had to be loosened or even removed to prioritize flexibility in turning the waist.

The gap in the helmet face mask was too small, affecting observation during battles. When the giant cockroach pounced, his head-turning movement was too slow, and his field of vision was too narrow. The final solution was a movable face mask that, when opened, exposed the entire face without providing protection. Although it lacked protection on the front, it provided a broad field of vision. Even if his head was attacked, he could choose to defend with his arms. In case of special circumstances, he could pull down the face mask.

From head to toe, each component needed more or less improvement. Although there had been action practice experiments before, in real combat, every ounce of attention must be highly focused, and every movement must strive to be the best, fastest, and most powerful, exposing the problems with the armor.

In addition to addressing previously discovered issues, Tom also had new ideas during the improvement process, so it took longer than expected.

If it weren't for the consecutive ant invasions in the camp, Bozi judged that the ant colony had set its sights on the camp and needed to be resolved quickly, Tom would have wanted to make more improvements.

It seemed they didn't have much time left. Without the restraint of the mutated bamboo green, the ant nest, in order to expand the number of mutated colonies, had set its sights on their camp. Tom could only rush to finish the adjustments and prepare to attack the ant nest, seizing the initiative before the swarming attack on the camp and locking the battlefield in the enemy's territory to avoid losses in the camp.

Two makeshift flamethrowers were made from lighters. Since it was anticipated that the largest mutated creature in the ant colony would be the soldier ants, there was no need for stronger cold weapons. Therefore, Tom only equipped himself with a pig-killing short knife and an electric shock iron fist.

Upon learning that they were going to march to the ant nest, the camp's mothers worked day and night, cutting out the leather of the mutated cockroaches they had brought back before to make leather armor.

The carapaces of these mutated cockroaches were not very hard, but they were extremely resilient and had exceptionally smooth surfaces. Therefore, when a sharp knife was used, unless the force was very great, it would slide off, making it impossible to cause damage to the surface. It could be said that the protective power was not inferior to thin iron armor. And because it was thin and light, it was lighter than iron armor when made into armor, giving it an advantage against the agile ants.

Yes, in addition to Tom wearing the Old Street Zero armor, Bozi also brought ten young and strong fighters into battle, including five candidates released from the glass jars.

In this battle, Tom remained the main force, but compared to Tom's heavy tank, Bozi and his men's task was to act as infantry coordinating with the tank.

Switching into battle mode, the Old Street Zero moved slowly, consuming Tom's energy considerably. Dealing with the mutated soldier ants was manageable, given their limited numbers. However, it became challenging to contend with the numerous worker ants without diverting attention. After all, their numbers were overwhelming.

Hence, Bozi and others needed to assist in eliminating the scattered ants. Upon learning of their plan to use fire, Uncle Rong insisted on participating despite others' attempts to dissuade him.

Although he moved slowly, Uncle Rong possessed the ability to control fire, making him invaluable after Tom ignited the flames. Tom considered that Uncle Rong's assistance would indeed make the fire attack more efficient. Therefore, he requested Bozi to prioritize protecting Uncle Rong, who would be stationed beside the Old Street Zero, ensuring the safety of the less agile Uncle Rong.

With the battle plan finalized, everyone rested and prepared for the upcoming battle. Only Skinny Wang San went on a reconnaissance mission to ensure they had sufficient intelligence for the next day's battle.

The next morning, Tom, with the assistance of others, donned the Old Street Zero armor and, along with Bozi and his men, marched boldly towards the third floor.

On the way, they encountered Skinny Wang San, who had returned early from his reconnaissance mission. He reported that the ant colony seemed to have dispersed a large number of worker ants early in the morning, with only one being a mutated worker ant.

"Uh-oh, could they be planning to attack the camp?" Uncle Rong's face fell upon hearing this news. He deeply cared about his late wife, and upon learning that the worker ants had left, he became concerned about the situation at home.

"Don't worry, I made arrangements early on, and with plenty of alcohol in the camp, it won't be easy for them to attack." Bozi reassured Uncle Rong, easing his worries.

Upon hearing Bozi's words, Uncle Rong finally relaxed.

So, the group marched resolutely to the room where the ant nest was located. The outside worker ants were the first to detect their presence. Apart from a few that went back to report, the rest charged straight towards them.

These ordinary worker ants, barely the size of human feet, didn't require Tom's intervention at all. Bozi's men took care of them directly.

Soon, dozens of worker ants rushed out, with four of them being mutated. Still, Bozi didn't let Tom intervene. Instead, he and two others went to meet them head-on. Bozi, wearing a red crystal, which tripled his arm strength, wielded a big knife without even wrinkling his brow, swiftly dispatching the mutated worker ants.

Since they were all wearing cockroach leather armor, not even the mutated worker ants could harm them.

Skinny Wang San knocked on the glass window and sneaked in, opening the door. Tom, clad in the Old Street Zero armor, slowly pushed open the door.

The room was crawling with ants of all sizes, with a particularly large number gathered in the deep corner.

"Be careful, the queen may be in there, and it seems she's mutated too. I'll go in first to attract the attention, and when the fire starts, you escort Uncle Rong up to control the flames!" Tom instructed.

"Got it!" Bozi replied loudly.

With a snap, Tom dropped one of the flamethrowers he was carrying and marched straight towards the depths of the room.

Although they were prepared, the sight of the dense ant colony still made everyone's scalp tingle. The sheer number of ants was terrifying. What used to be a nuisance now seemed much more intimidating when they saw hundreds or even thousands of ants, even though many of them were small in size.

"Probably more than a thousand," Tom said as he smashed a mutated soldier ant rushing towards him with one punch, but more soldier ants crawled towards him.

Tom didn't rush to kill these soldier ants, allowing them to get close for a scuffle. He also signaled Bozi and the others not to approach rashly.

The Old Street Zero's counterattack was simply to grab the mutated soldier ants crawling on him and throw them back into the ant swarm. Meanwhile, it slowly advanced. In Tom's eyes, each mutated soldier ant was a potential source of fire. Killing them outright was a waste.

The pincers of the mutated soldier ants were extremely sharp and hard enough to crush a person in half. However, against the iron armor, they could only leave shallow scratches.

At this moment, besides the large crystal on his back, Tom also had a red crystal tied to his head. For mutated ants that had tasted human flesh or gems, this crystal was simply irresistible. Hence, they kept crawling towards him, most of them ignoring Bozi and the others behind him.

Occasionally, a few "reckless" worker ants were easily dealt with by Bozi and the other twelve people. For a moment, they watched as Tom was covered with ants of all sizes.

"Wait until the fire starts... Won't it burn Tom too?" Skinny Wang San asked worriedly.

Uncle Rong patted his chest, "Don't worry, with me, Zhou Guangrong, here, it's nothing. I won't let the fire touch Tom. Back when I was in the army, I used flamethrowers to burn monkeys. With my abilities now, it's a piece of cake."

Bozi shouted loudly, "Watch out! Tom's moving!"

The crowd saw the Old Street Zero shake its body, shaking off two ants climbing on its head. Then, Tom tore off the red crystal tied to his head and threw it forward.

Some of the mutated soldier ants turned their heads and crawled towards the red crystal on the ground.

Tom had a large lighter hanging from his right arm. With a slap of his left hand, the spray nozzle ejected liquefied fuel gas, which, upon encountering the high-voltage sparks generated by the electric shock iron fist on his left hand, emitted a purple flame with a whoosh.