In the next few months, when the weather permits, the protagonist will send an exploration team, and send five glances before and after, all of which are to scout and explore the territory of the leaf-cutting ant country in the west.

Although there are times when sudden weather changes cause expeditions that don't return, the sacrifices are worth it.

After the exploration team explores back and forth, the protagonist finally finds the specific location of the hematite in the territory of the leafcutter ants.

The hematite is not far from the nest of the leaf-cutting ants found by the first exploration team, about two days' journey from [.Xinyangcheng], and the specific territory of the red fire ants is also very close.

It was a small wooded open area, the terrain was very conspicuous, and compared to the dense vegetation around it, the surface vegetation had been completely cleared, and the ground cover had been dug up, revealing a pit the size of a manhole cover half a meter deep, and the bottom of it was red soil, which was mixed with hematite.

But the hematite is generally small in size, just like the ones that red fire ants capture from leaf-cutter nests, and are naturally small particles, which are ideal for ants to carry. If it is a large piece of iron ore, it is estimated that the leafcutter ants will not be able to move it.

By the way, the exploration team brought back a small amount of iron ore and passed the information back.

As the search expands, the protagonist discovers the use of the hematite, or one of the uses of the leafcutter ant.

The expedition team found that at the roots of some of the most large trees in the woods, there were identical intricate patterns drawn on the bark with hematite powder.

The protagonist reads the graphic from the packet and feels that the pattern seems familiar. The pattern is roughly a circle, but instead of a closed mouth at the bottom, it leaves a small notch; At the same time, a small seedling pattern with two leaves grows out of the gap; At the top of the circle, there are two short arcs that stretch to the left and right, which look like an ear.

When the protagonist sees these figures, he thinks about them, and they seem to be related to the belief of leafcutter ants, which are likely symbols of tree worship.

Ants also have a belief in gods, as in the old kingdom of big-headed ants, but they do not materialize gods. Previously, at the Big-Headed Ant Remnants, the protagonist learned that some of the gods they believed in had specific images.

For example, the supreme god believed in by the big-headed ant ant clan is an ant that lacks midlimbs and antennae, and has a smooth and soft body surface; They also worship the flake-like god of trees, the slab-like god of wind and water, the god of fire with circles, and the god of rain with many holes.

The protagonist couldn't understand such an image before, but after discovering that there were humans in this world before, and today he was affected by this peculiar symbol with obvious religious significance by the leaf-cutting ant, and the protagonist suddenly woke up!

it! The supreme god believed in by the big-headed ant remnants lacks midlimbs and antennae, and the image of an ant with a smooth and soft body surface is almost the same as a human!

Isn't the flickering flame-like god of fire with a circle like a stove?

There are many holes like a cake like a rain god, and it is a shower when it is connected!

Only the images of the tree god and the feng shui god are too simple and abstract for the protagonist to guess their shape!

The protagonist is convinced that his conjecture is right at the moment, and the ancestors of the big-headed ant remnants have obviously inherited some memories from the period of human civilization! Could it be that the origin of ant civilization was actually in the era when human civilization was not extinct? Could it be that this era is closer than you think?

Turning his mind back, the protagonist knows that it doesn't make much sense to discuss the relationship between human civilization and ant civilization right now. He turned his head and continued to think about the strange patterns that the leafcutters had drawn with hematite powder.

From the fact that these patterns only appear on particularly large trees, as well as the habits of leafcutter ants, the protagonist speculates that leafcutter ants have a custom of tree worship.

Tree worship is also very common in human civilization, almost all civilizations have it, such as some ethnic groups practice tree burial and so on. Even in the era of very advanced civilization, there were many people who believed in ideas such as peach wood to ward off evil spirits.

The leaf-cutting ants take trees as their home, live on trees, have tree worship, and regard some particularly large trees as sacred trees, which is also very reasonable.

Could it be that the pattern drawn by these hematite powders is the image of the tree god that the leaf-cutting ants think? Or is it a religious symbol like a cross, a crescent moon?

The protagonist looks at the symbol again in his mind: a circle, which is not closed at the bottom, leaving a small notch; A sapling pattern grows out of the gap; At the top of the circle, there are two more arcs stretching to the left and right, which look like a pair of simple ears.

This pattern seems familiar, but I just can't remember it! The protagonist always feels that he can't grasp the fault of the memory of his past life at a critical moment, and he really deserves to fight!

(Readers guessed this pattern.,It's estimated that many people are also familiar with it.,Can't guess the consciousness (*・ω・)✄╰ひ╯ go)

- I'm the dividing line -

This winter, the Divine Envoy King's legion not only found the location of hematite, but also made great progress.

With the use of iron tools, the ability of ants to process items has been greatly improved, relying on the application of new tools such as iron saws, iron knives, iron planers, iron drills, etc., the newly formed scientific research group has improved the parts of the ballista under the guidance of the protagonist, and to a certain extent, the standardization of the ballista parts has been realized.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, just like the great progress made by mankind in the Iron Age, the Divine King Legion has also achieved great development by relying on the only iron tools it has at present.

The protagonist uses a scarce little iron resource and hammering technology to create a simple armor for himself. The armor is fastened to the body by a silk rope, which can protect the head and most of the back and side of the body without affecting breathing and the flexibility of the limbs.

It's just that because the hinges and other structures are too complex, the protagonist can't make these armors completely cover the neck, limbs, waist, joints and other vulnerable parts, but only stick to the skull, back, etc. But at least it has also achieved progress from unarmored to ironclad.

The protagonist himself is still optimistic about the extra defense given by the iron armor, and later adds a few iron spikes to this armor, so that the enemy who tries to sting him will not be able to get down, and it also covers the weak parts that are not covered by the iron armor in disguise.

Due to the lack of iron resources left, the protagonist has only created this royal armor so far.

The protagonist's goal is naturally to make all three legions armored, and the increase in combat effectiveness is undoubtedly huge.

But it takes much more iron to make armor in large quantities than a simple pair of jawblades, and a small amount of hematite from the red fire ants is not enough.

Naturally, the protagonist targets the leafcutter ants who occupy hematite resources.

Of course, with the current strength of the Divine Envoy King Army, it is unrealistic to forcibly capture iron ore, and the protagonist knows that he needs to think of a way to obtain a more stable source of iron ore!