Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 249: The depths of the cave

So that's why the undead couldn't detect these man-eating ants—they could turn invisible. However, even invisibility couldn't hide their life activities, and they would still be discovered.

Xiao Mu shot a laser from his finger, piercing the man-eating ant. Green fluid splattered out, corroding the surrounding ice and emitting white smoke.

"Their blood is highly corrosive," Xiao Mu warned. Alex then summoned the man-eating ant as a skeleton, placing it in front of Xiao Mu to clear the path.

At this moment, the Death Spirit had reached the end of the tunnel, where it encountered a fork. It sensed many invisible life forms around it.

The Death Spirit waited quietly for Alex to arrive. Suddenly, ice shot out from the tunnel behind, instantly freezing everything, revealing the invisible man-eating ants.

Soon, Alex and the others arrived. The space here was slightly higher, allowing them to stand, though Xiao Mu still had to duck. The tunnel's height was only suitable for Alex and Xiao Hui.

Alex quickly dealt with the frozen man-eating ants, turning them into undead. The Death Spirit possessed the strongest Commanding level undead among them.

"Esteemed Queen, please wait here while I explore further," the Death Spirit said, then split into several clones and entered the tunnels.

Alex and the siblings waited in the dark, damp cave.

The Death Spirit, being a flying undead without a physical form, could ignore all obstacles and move quickly through the tunnels. It created clones at every fork, and given enough time, it could fully explore the vast underground cave of the man-eating ants.

Nearly half an hour later, the Death Spirit returned, possessing an undead.

"Esteemed Queen, I have explored the area. We are still on the outskirts. Deeper inside, there is a massive underground space where the queen and king ants reside. There are many man-eating ants there, including several Monarch level ants. They seem to have sensed the intrusion and are gathering there."

"Good. Lead all the Monarch level undead there," Alex ordered. The underground cave was suffocating, and she didn't want to stay any longer.

At that moment, the Death Spirit relayed Alex's command to all the Monarchs scattered throughout the cave. They all followed the Death Spirit's lead, converging on the center of the man-eating ant kingdom.

The Death Spirit led the way, and Alex flew through the tunnel in a low, ground-hugging position. Her ice domain spread out, turning everything into solid ice and emitting a chilling aura.

This eliminated any possibility of invisible man-eating ants hiding within.

Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui quickly followed. Xiao Mu transformed into a light element, becoming a golden streak of light that illuminated the tunnel as he chased after Alex. Xiao Hui turned into a black mist, closely following behind.

As elemental Lords, flying was a trivial matter for them. They had been able to fly even before reaching Monarch level.

The complexity of the cave system surprised even Alex. The numerous forks made it easy to get lost. Without the Death Spirit, just exploring this place would take a tremendous amount of time.

Deep within the cave, a massive underground plaza teemed with thousands of man-eating ants, crawling back and forth.

These man-eating ants had red and black markings, with mandibles resembling giant pincers lined with sharp teeth. Corrosive green saliva dripped from their mouths, merging with the ground.

Their antennae twitched, seemingly communicating, and their mandibles clacked loudly.

At the edge of the spacious underground plaza were two caves, one large and one small, belonging to the queen and king ants.

The king ant, aware of the impending attack, was busy with the queen, producing more ants. Worker ants diligently handled the newly laid eggs, placing them in the hatching cave.

In addition to the man-eating ants, there was a middle-aged man named Donghae.

Donghae was both a traitor and a freelancer.

The man-eating ants had no concept of submission, so Donghae wasn't initially labeled a traitor. The king ant, one of the few intelligent ants, listened to Donghae's advice on race development.

This collaboration saved Donghae's life, and he became the "strategist" of the man-eating ant kingdom.

With human intelligence and the ants' abilities, their hunts were highly successful, with minimal casualties. The colony thrived and grew stronger.

Donghae, valued by the king ant, rose in status. When he could switch to a freelancer, he abandoned his castle and troops without hesitation.

Before coming to Eldoria, Donghae was an unemployed middle-aged man in Korea, with no hope for the future. After arriving here, he was even more despondent, contemplating ending his life.

But things took a turn. The king ant could communicate with him, and Donghae's methods proved effective, aiding the kingdom's development.

As a result, Donghae was allowed to taste the food first, except for the queen. He decided to live as an "ant," staying in the underground cave.

However, long-term consumption of food contaminated with man-eating ant acid caused his hair to thin, and he was nearly bald.

Donghae didn't want to comment on the king and queen ants' obsession with producing offspring. It was a primal instinct. He was more concerned about the current enemy.

Living in the dark underground for so long, Donghae had adapted to the darkness. He stood beside the king ant, eyes fixed on the northern caves.

Hiss—

Ice spread out, emitting a chilling white mist. Alex and the Xiao siblings flew out, golden light filling the underground space and illuminating the surroundings.

Undead of various forms emerged from other tunnels, gradually filling the spacious underground area.

The undead gathered in front of Alex, their eyes burning with eerie blue flames, staring at the man-eating ants.

In an instant, thousands of man-eating ants' antennae twitched wildly, all facing the intruders.

Alex observed the surroundings, not worried but rather impressed.

"I didn't expect such a large space here. It seems man-eating ants like big places too."

The moment Alex finished speaking, a ripple of transparency spread through the ground. Instantly, thousands of man-eating ants vanished where they stood and then, without hesitation, launched an attack on the intruding enemies.