The protagonist is annoyed when he receives the news that another praying mantis has attacked the drying ground where dried mealworms are dried.

Regardless of whether the attacker this time is the same as the praying mantis that attacked the hunting team in the northern depression, it has already exceeded the protagonist's patience limit.

What's more, the location of this attack is still close to the entrance of the heavily trafficked "Dongyang Castle".

By the time the protagonist returns to the entrance to the lair, the attack is over.

According to the worker ants at the scene, when they were busy drying the carcass of the mealworms they had hunted, a green praying mantis fell from the sky, and instead of attacking the working ants, it picked up a mealworm carcass and flew away.

The protagonist compares the information packets of the witnesses who were attacked twice, and from the outside, they are both Chinese giant sword mantises, with similar length and body shape, and it is very likely that it is the same one. It is estimated that it did not have enough to eat after snatching the prey of the ant hunting team in the northern depression, and somehow ran to "Dongyang City" to forage for food.

This praying mantis is elusive, and the protagonist with a group of ants that move on six legs can't keep up with each other's rhythm at all. The protagonist has no choice but to passively order all ants that leave the nest: they must act in groups, and they must not actively attack the praying mantis, even if they give up their prey. It is hoped that some losses will be reduced through this method, especially the losses of the veterans of the Genshin Impact King Legion.

No reports of a praying mantis attack were received for the next two days, and everything in the main nest continued to run as planned. The first mealworm larvae have broken out of their shells and are eating the mixture of chewed leaf pulp and berries provided by the ants.

However, on the third day, when the protagonist is inspecting the mealworm farm, a panicked worker ant suddenly runs up to the protagonist and tells the protagonist that the praying mantis is attacking the drying grounds.

The protagonist immediately calls out to the guards and crawls out of the entrance to the lair. He caught up with the end of the mantis attack, a green mantis knife with a mealworm corpse in it, glanced at the swarming ant army with interest, Shi Shiran spread his wings and flew away......

The protagonist watches as the praying mantis flapps its wings and flies into the air, glides several meters away, then takes off again and glides, and the cycle repeats. Each time, this praying mantis will try to land on a taller bush or grass stem for the next takeoff. The protagonist realizes that this praying mantis's flying ability is not very good!

The third attack of the praying mantis is over, and the ants have lost a mealworm once again. However, the second and third attacks did not cause any casualties among the ants, which is a blessing in disguise. Thanks to this praying mantis, the target is fat and tender mealworms, not ants with hard carapace and little flesh.

The protagonist isn't sure how intelligent the praying mantis is, but even insects with low IQ will develop a conditioned reflex if they find a place with food for a long time.

This is not good news for "Dongyang City", the drying field is less than half a meter from the entrance of the nest, if the praying mantis uses the drying field as a canteen, then the ants will have to worry about whether a sickle death will suddenly fall from the sky every day.

It is also not practical to change the location where the dried mealworms are dried, and this small black slate is the only place close to the entrance of the nest that is suitable for drying. If the drying field is set too far, the worker ants will not be able to work conveniently. And if the drying yard is moved, the praying mantis suddenly can't find food, and what if they are angry and hunt the ants at the entrance of the nest nearby?

This praying mantis must be destroyed! The next day, after the praying mantis comes running again and snatches the corpse of a mealworm, the protagonist finally makes up his mind. This time, after seeing that the ants were ordered to stop resisting, the praying mantis was arrogant and left after eating in the drying field.

The protagonist has roughly summarized the law of action of this praying mantis, a mealworm is about enough for him to eat for a day, which means that every day the praying mantis will run to the drying ground to snatch a mealworm corpse, and the attack time is basically around noon.

Since the praying mantis's actions are traceable, there is a way to deal with him. No matter how cunning a fox is, it is no match for a hunter.

The protagonist decides to lead an army to ambush the praying mantis in the drying ground the next day.

But the weather didn't work as expected, and the next day it started to rain, and all the ants' work outside was forced to be suspended. The protagonist also has to work hard to move the fire back into the nut shell and then move it deeper into the nest to protect it. However, on such a rainy day, I believe that the praying mantis will not go out rashly, and even if they come to the drying ground, there is no food.

The rain was heavy and light, and it rained for a day and a night until the third day before sunrise.

Near noon on the third day, the protagonist hides near the rocks in the drying ground with a hundred soldier ants as originally planned. The ants are small and hide under dead branches and leaves on the ground, and they will not be detected without careful search. Except for the protagonist himself, the other thirty-one male ants were not brought out, and he didn't want to lose his commander anymore.

The other workers are busy as usual, and today the workers have to clean up the little rainwater accumulated on the flat black slate, and then move the fresh mealworm carcasses to the slate to dry. During drying, you should also turn the mealworms from time to time so that they can be dried more evenly and dry.

The protagonist takes Mulan to hide under a half-rotten poplar leaf, quietly watching the movement on the drying ground. According to the previous rules, this praying mantis should appear around noon every day.

As the minutes ticked by, it was almost noon. The protagonist's eyes are almost sour, and he is about to take a break, when suddenly his intuition makes him turn his gaze to the east.

In the distance, a small green figure was leaping into the air and falling to the ground again. With this fall, the green figure is getting closer, bigger and clearer.

The praying mantis is coming!

However, except for the protagonist with excellent eyesight, the other ants have not seen this uninvited guest.

The protagonist does not act rashly, he watches as the praying mantis keeps gliding and approaching, flying several meters at a time until it lands on the drying ground.

The worker ants in the drying field then realize that there is an attacker, and according to the protagonist's orders, the worker ants do not try to resist, but flee into the surrounding humus.

The praying mantis watched the weak ants scatter and flee with satisfaction, and it picked out a mealworm that looked the freshest and fatter, picked it up with a large knife and began to eat.

The protagonist gives the signal for the first "attack", and as the unique friction sound sounds, the voices that respond everywhere also come and go, and all the soldier ants receive orders one after another.

The soldiers immediately follow the protagonist's previous plan, using the cover of dead branches and leaves, and hide under the humus layer to sneak up on the rocks in the drying field.

There was a rustling sound around the stones, the sound of the legs of a large swarm of ants scratching the dry fallen leaves. The praying mantis stopped eating alertly and looked up, but saw nothing unusual.

The leaves of the huge poplar tree also made a rustling sound under the wind, and the praying mantis did not distinguish the similarities and differences between the two sounds, and it settled down and continued to deal with the food in front of it.

After climbing to the edge of the rock, the protagonist hides under a tree branch, and after waiting for a while, he hears the rustle of ants crawling completely stops, and he thinks that all the soldiers have arrived at the attack position.

So the protagonist gives the signal to "attack" for the second time, and then jumps out of cover and kills the giant praying mantis.