Thank you to nomofoxx-kun, the most unnamed gentleman, and 4399 Big Dipper five-star jun for the monthly pass.

The main character, draped in felt, first burrows into a hole in the root of the banyan tree from the ground.

The hole at the base of this large banyan tree was excavated to expand the area of the nest in the [Waterfront City]. At the beginning, the area of [Linshui City] was all on the trees, there was no underground area, the space was very narrow, and the warmth effect was also poor, and it was difficult to survive in winter, and a large number of ants stationed in the city were frozen to death every year, and the rest were also killed in the invasion of the paving ant barbarian army.

Every year, after the reconquest war, the old big-headed ant kingdom gets an empty city that is destined to be lost, and naturally there is not much thought about expanding here.

After the protagonist takes control of [Waterfront City], he can already lower than the winter invasion of the Paving Ant Barbarian Army. The strategic location of [Waterfront City] is very important, and the protagonist almost manages this place as his "winter capital", spending every winter here, and naturally expanding his business on a large scale.

In addition to digging a hole downward in the limited land on the island where Waterfront Castle is located, and making full use of the natural cracks and caves in the rock plate, the tree cave area of Waterfront Castle has also been expanded.

In the past, the big jaws of the big-headed ants were helpless against the wood of the trees, so they could only use the burrows of borers, which was naturally difficult to expand. And the ants of the Divine Envoy King's legion, which have copper tools, can dig some soft xylem on their own, although it is more laborious than digging a hole in the ground, but it is not impossible.

The large banyan tree was so large that it had to reduce its density to maintain a strong trunk, with a lot of low-density soft parts and a lot of cavities in the trunk.

In the past, the big-headed ants could not open these natural tree holes, but the ants of the Divine Legion could, and they dug a large number of passages criss-crossing the large banyan tree, and transformed the hollow parts of the trees into nests and connected them.

But even so, in winter, they still have to move underground, and the trunk is far less warm than the earth, which is the biggest defect of the nest.

The hole in the root of the protagonist is the junction of the [Waterfront City] tree hole part and the ground hole part.

When the meandering passage zigzags upwards from the ground level, the xylem on one side of the passage becomes a soft, white part of the bark, and the protagonist knows that he has reached the ground.

A chill hit, today it was only zero degrees outside, and although there was a layer of bark in the tree cavity, there were still a few degrees above zero, but it was no longer suitable for ant activities.

The protagonist's felt is draped on his back, and he is simply tied around his neck with ant silk, similar to a cloak, and the effect of keeping out the cold is not bad, but he feels a little cold in his abdomen, so it is better to wrap a layer of silk wool on his body to warm it. However, it is easy to breathe when wrapped in silk wool.

It's so hard for ants to have a piece of clothing that fits in winter, and although they have been able to weave some coarse textiles, they are more often used for upholstery, bed sheets, or to make some wrapping skins, which are simply not suitable for wearing, and they lack the necessary tools to process textiles into clothing.

The passage in the tree hole is pitch black, but the protagonist can see secretly and is almost unaffected.

In other seasons, the passage is illuminated by a faint blue fluorescent fungus. But in winter, fluorescent bacteria can't survive anymore.

On the inner side of the passage of the tree hole, there was a regular black mud-like material painted on the wall every ten or so steps, and there were the remains of burnt yellow fluorescent bacteria that had dried up and were as thin as a thread, and it was completely impossible to see the beautiful blue light it once was.

These are the soil for planting fluorescent bacteria, which are composed of ant droppings and some organic waste, and the fluorescent bacteria absorb the nutrients in them to be able to shine.

Although the fluorescent bacteria have died at this time, there are still mycelium in the soil, and the fluorescent bacteria will come back to life after the temperature warms up in spring next year.

In the cave of [Waterfront City], there are also a large number of such soil with mycelium, which can replace those fluorescent bacteria that have withered due to the depletion of nutrients in the soil at any time.

Before the protagonist promoted agricultural planting, fluorescent bacteria were the only crops that could consume ant excrement and household waste, which kept the ant nest clean and hygienic to a certain extent. In addition, the soil with fluorescent hyphae does not have a foul smell, and it may be that it can secrete substances that kill other bacteria and fungi, so that the soil will not be decomposed into foul-smelling gases such as hydrogen sulfide.

Walking in the dark and winding tree hole, it feels like exploring a maze in an RPG. But the protagonist doesn't need to go around trying his luck, he has lived in [Waterfront City] for a long time, and he has traveled all these roads at the beginning, and he has a three-dimensional map in his mind.

Even if the protagonist covers his compound eyes that can't be closed, and imitates those soldiers or workers with poor eyesight who are like blind soldiers or workers in this environment, he can't go wrong.

Follow the outer passage inside the bark all the way up, then drill into a horizontal fork, pass through an orange-sized tree hole, and then drill into a fork in the road to the protagonist's summer residence in [Waterfront City].

This summer residence is much better than the small dirt cave where the protagonist now lives, consisting of a bedroom the size of a broad bean, a storage room the size of a walnut, and a living room the size of a plum. There are also simple wooden beds, pottery tables and other furniture.

This is the most heavily defended area in the [Waterfront City] Tree Cave area, and it is also an area where other ants cannot enter without permission.

In the cramped space [Waterfront City], having such a two-bedroom apartment is already the treatment of a presidential suite. When I first moved to the cave, I didn't take any furniture with me because of the narrowness of the cave. As a result, the protagonist can only sleep on a bunch of silk beds now, which is similar to the accommodation conditions when he first crossed over.

The protagonist ignores the furniture and goes straight into the storage room.

There are several large jars in the storage room, the mouth is sealed with coarse cloth and yellow mud, and inside are some honeydew and fermented drinks, which have not been taken away, anyway, the temperature is low in winter, these honeydew and fermented drinks can be stored until the beginning of spring next year. The food stored in the burrow is enough for the ants to consume.

The protagonist is not here to find the sweet luxuries that ordinary ants flock to, and his gaze turns to a corner.

There, there was a small, oval-shaped thing with a pitch-black carapace, the same color as the Destroyer's outer carapace.

This is a large mystery ball brought back from the corpse of the destroyer, which was originally moved by the protagonist from [bridgehead] to [Waterfront City], and was ready to study it while he had time in winter.

As long as this strange thing doesn't break, it's still very safe and stable.

The protagonist picks up the mysterious ball with a pair of forelimbs, and finds that the mysterious ball, which was originally unresponsive, has a warm temperature at this time.