Queens Memories

Four hours after his victory, he had absorbed the Queen's memories, gaining insight into her life from hatching to the present. The Queen, around eleven to twelve years old, had a storied past marked by conquest and bloodshed. She had plundered and massacred three large-scale colonies, fourteen medium-sized colonies, and over fifty small ones, targeting various species including ants and termites.

Her early years were also marked by daring raids on bee and hornet nests, which nearly proved disastrous for her colony. These encounters forged bitter rivalries with the Queen of the Southern Bees and the Queen of the Western Hornets.

The Queen's life took a dramatic turn with the discovery of the magic lake by one of her workers. While disposing of a termite queen's remains in a storage room, the worker stumbled upon the glowing lake and reported it to the Queen. Intrigued, she inspected the room, unaware of its existence despite having detailed knowledge of her nest.

As she inspected the water, she was drawn to its allure and took a few sips. Soon, her abdomen swelled, and she began producing eggs at an accelerated rate. These eggs developed into larger and stronger soldier ants, prompting her to rely on the lake's water instead of traditional food sources.

However, the water's potency began to wane over time. Initially, she produced over 200 robust soldier ants, but this number dwindled to 40-50, with the ants being smaller and weaker.

Determined to restore the lake's power, she experimented with various methods, including adding dirt and other substances. The breakthrough came when she threw living organisms or their parts into the lake, starting with the workers assisting her. Though this approach yielded some results, it was the addition of queen body parts from defeated colonies that truly revitalized the lake, making it stronger than before.

With the lake's power, she underwent an unintended evolution, surpassing typical ant intelligence. She also gained the ability to shape her ants into diverse, stronger forms, including false queens and doorhead ants.

The queen tested the lake water's effects on various castes:

- Workers: abdominal explosion

- Soldiers: head detachment

- Drones: instant death

- Princesses: 97% death by abdominal swelling, 3% chance of mutation into stronger queens with enhanced egg-laying abilities

Those princesses who survived and mutated were promptly executed by the queen.

The honeypot's survival and evolution were remarkable, given the high mortality rate among ants exposed to the lake water. This lone honeypot likely succeeded because it stored the lake water instead of digesting it, leveraging its natural role of storing honey to feed workers.

The queen's approach differed; she utilized the lake water for egg production, channeling its power into creating eggs or false queens. This strategy allowed her to harness the water's potency while minimizing its toxic effects.

He pondered these dynamics as he approached the lake—a glowing, green body of water. Upon reaching it, he saw that the remnants of sacrificed bodies had dissolved, leaving the water crystal clear.

The water's sweetness belied its deadly nature; a drone like him would succumb instantly. Undeterred, he planned to utilize the lake water later.

Observing the geography, he realized the lake was near his new abode. He ordered the queen to instruct the false queens to construct a tunnel connecting the lake to his hideout. Within two hours, a sturdy passage was completed.

He had learned from the Queen's memories that false queens were engineered from a combination of soldier, drone, and worker castes. With their unique composition and larger size, each false queen was equivalent to a workforce of fifty ants.

As he waited, he examined the water up close, dipping a leg into its warm, green depths. The water's temperature wasn't extreme, but it contained compounds that broke down organic tissue over time.

"I'll study you further when I have more time," he thought as he headed back to his hideout. There, he had replaced the guards and cricket caretakers twice already, as his mind control abilities had previously rendered them dysfunctional, leading to self-starvation.

Now, with refined control, he ordered the general to clear non-puppet ants from the area. He then possessed seven ants, including the general, and instructed them to retrieve horsehair worms from a cricket.

The ants carefully extracted the worms, and he eliminated their consciousness. Drawing from his scientific knowledge, he directed the ants to surgically modify the worms, removing reproductive organs and digestive tracts.

He then connected the worm's body to his own digestive tract and nervous system, creating a vein-like structure linking his nervous system to the worm's ventral nerve cord. This would effectively grant him additional neural capabilities.

As he finished the procedure, a spider-like ant appeared in response to his mental summons.

Initially reluctant, he mind-controlled the spider honeypot to facilitate his plan. The ant poured a tiny drop of lake water into the connected flesh, prompting an immediate merge. Another drop healed the injured areas, bonding their bodies.

After a brief stillness, he regained mobility, albeit unsteadily due to the added weight. He slowly controlled the worm-like tentacles.

Extracting the worm's memories, he learned how to utilize his new appendages and discovered the parasite's unique intestine. This organ broke down nutrients into distinct components, including life-sustaining and reproduction-supporting nutrients.

Intrigued, he tested his new ability on nearby worker ants, sucking their life force through his tentacles. The process was swift, yielding a cold, energizing sensation.

However, the workers' life force was insufficient, prompting him to wonder about the nutrient yield from other ant castes. He proceeded to absorb from a soldier puppet, eager to explore the potential of his newfound ability.

The soldier's life force was roughly twice that of a worker's, requiring 20-30 soldiers to satiate him. A false queen, however, yielded a substantial amount of life force, equivalent to 40 workers. This surprised him, given the false queen's composition.

He then visited a door-headed ant tunnel, where a queen ant was imprisoned, laying eggs for the colony while unaware of her captivity. The supreme queen's system exploited these queens, boosting colony numbers while focusing on producing false queens for conquest.

After absorbing the queen's life force, he pondered the results. A normal queen's vitality seemed lower than that of a false queen, possibly due to the lake water's influence.

Overwhelmed by the absorbed nutrients, he decided to test his control over the tentacles by strangling a young worker ant instead of absorbing its life force.

"I can utilize these tentacles as arms and weapons, but they compromise my speed. Adding the last two will render me immobile, relying on puppets for mobility," he thought, observing the struggling horsehair worms.

Two days passed, marked by digestion, sleep, and growth. His body had expanded to the size of a young false queen, but it was more akin to fattening up. His wings had fallen off, and an intense desire to mate consumed him.

As a drone, mating was his programmed purpose, and he struggled against this instinct. The influx of life force and his newfound form seemed to amplify this internal conflict.