Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Venomous Insect Valley (독물곡) 3

A vast basin sprawled with a thick carpet of red.

As the sun began to set, the red chitin of the ants sparkled, emitting a radiant glow.

It was as if a well-armored army was stationed there, and in the center, a red sphere slowly grew larger like a rolling snowball, indicating that the ants were setting up their temporary camp as night approached.

Some ants interconnected their bodies to form makeshift shelters.

The bodies of the ants and their powerful mandibles acted as a living barrier.

Only after confirming the sight of that massive ant colony did I understand the reason behind the unusual circumstances we had faced.

If such creatures had swept across the land, it was no surprise that no other insects or animals could be seen.

I recalled reading in a book that when those kinds of ants passed by in a previous life, the insects and small animals in their wake completely vanished, as if everything had been disinfected.

This was likely why the locals inexplicably welcomed those ants.

A wave of predation that consumes more than a hundred thousand visible insects in a single day.

Their movement had such significance.

“So Ryong, do you know what kind of ant that is? I’ve never seen it, and it’s not even in any records of the Tang Clan,” my grandfather asked, approaching with a look of astonishment.

I nodded in response to his question, whispering back.

During the day, they move like crazy, and at night, they huddle together to create temporary shelters.

These ants were significantly larger than the ones from my past life, yet they were highly aggressive and roamed without building homes—this was the definition of Army Ants.

Those massive creatures were clearly a colony of Army Ants.

“Yes, I’ve never seen such a size, but it must be Army Ants.”

“Army Ants?”

“They’re a type of ant that roams like a marching army without establishing permanent nests.”

They don’t always wander; usually, they stable in one place but begin to roam when food becomes scarce.

They had likely been living in Venomous Insect Valley, but due to some reason, their numbers had increased significantly, prompting their wandering.

“So, that’s why we haven’t seen any animals?”

“That would be because of them. If we get swept away by those marching ants, nothing would be left of us. We should retreat; those things are quite aggressive…”

Army Ants were fundamentally aggressive.

It was common practice to sweep away anything that came before them, so I suggested retreating as I began to back away.

-Crack!

The sound of a twig snapping reached my ears.

Turning my head, I saw one of the soldiers looking dismayed as he stepped on the broken branch behind him.

-Crack. Crack. Crack…

The sound from his foot echoed through the basin, spreading out like wildfire.

“Damn it.”

Army Ants recognize and react to movements through vibrations.

Indeed, the peculiar sound that led us here immediately erupted all around us.

-Swoosh!

What I had thought was merely the sound of bamboo branches or grass swaying in the wind turned out to be the rustling noise made when the ant colony moved.

The colony, each doing its own part, turned in waves towards the sound of the snapping twigs.

What soon came into view were the terrifying figures of those enormous mandibles amidst the red tide.

The sound of their jaws clashing resonated in my ears.

-Clack! Clack! Thud!

The crashing and snapping noises engulfed the surroundings, while each time it rang out, chills crawled up my spine.

Now that the need for silence was gone, I shouted in a panicked voice.

“We need to retreat!”

“Everyone, fall back!”

As I turned my head and yelled at the soldiers who were overwhelmed by the might of the ant colony behind me, a wave of ants began to surge toward us from the basin.

A living tide as red as blood.

That gigantic wave swept toward us like a flood.

-Swoosh!

The vanguard rushed toward the direction we had come.

If we were to be swallowed by that dense, red wave, our fates were sealed.

-Thud. Tap.

As I dashed madly through the jungle, branches mercilessly slapped my face and arms, scratching me all over.

But I didn’t have time to care about that.

‘If I get caught, I’m done for!’

Being caught would be like being thrown into a blender.

So we ran forward crazily.

Army Ants weren’t particularly fast, but they didn’t feel slow either.

“To the river! Across the river!”

As I remembered that they hadn’t crossed the river yet, I changed my direction and leaped into the water, hoping my escape would end there.

-Clack. Clack!

Watching us from the riverbank while tapping their empty jaws, perhaps because it was just before sunset, they began to return to the basin.

Having arrived safely on the opposite bank, overwhelmed by the ant swarm, everyone exhaled breaths they had been holding.

“Haah…”

“Wow…”

“It feels like I just dipped my foot into the River of Death…”

As I lay on the heated pebbles by the riverbank, Chao poked her head out of my pocket and began to wiggle.

Soaked to the core, Chao climbed out and started licking the moisture off my face.

-Slurp.

“Are you alright, Chao? The Ogong don’t usually like water. I’ll dry you off in a bit, okay?”

As I took off my shirt to wring out the water and dry her, my grandfather and Deputy Commander Gu Pae sat beside me, speaking in hushed tones.

“Those are impressive creatures.”

“So Ryong, that was a truly remarkable kind of ant. That sound! It was so eerie it could chill a person’s bones.”

Both looked thoroughly shaken.

Even the head of the Tang Clan, Mandok God, who had never backed down from a one-on-one fight, displayed a resigned expression.

“I Mandok God have never felt fear facing any adversary, but when those creatures surged, it was the first time I felt the sensation of fear. For such small ants to instill fear in me…”

“Yes, they seem to have a tendency to eat whatever appears around them, so we must be very cautious.”

After cleaning Chao’s moisture off and surveying the surroundings, I noticed the exhausted soldiers lounging peering at the dying embers of the evening.

With the sun setting over the ridge, I spoke to them.

“Now that it’s dark, let’s see if we can raise a few of those ants.”

Let’s see if we could properly raise them.

“Are you saying we should try?”

“Are you actually going to try?”

However, they looked bewildered at the notion of checking if we could raise them like the Golden Hair Bees.

Deputy Commander Gu Pae desperately started calculating the odds, probably thinking that I wouldn’t seriously suggest risking our lives again.

“Are you suggesting we venture back there after just escaping with our lives? Surely not.”

With a smile, I pointed across the river.

“The sun has set, so let’s just go over and catch a few.”

Since some of the Army Ants are poisonous, they are indeed venomous insects.

As the Spicy Fabre, it was only right for me to inspect a few before bringing them back.

At that moment, I exchanged glances with Deputy Commander Gu Pae, who seemed to be pleading for help from my grandfather.

I reinforced him with a nod.

“Of course, Grandfather will be going with us, right?”

*

“Huff! Huff! I can’t believe I’m about to do this crazy thing again! I thought when you said we should go at night, those ants would be sleeping like the Golden Hair Bees!”

Deputy Commander Gu Pae, breathing heavily, looked as if he had wet himself from fear.

After all, he had run here with a giant soldier ant clinging to his back because we had disturbed a colony.

The Army Ants never let go once they clamped down, and unfortunately, the one on the tree decided to latch onto Gu Pae’s collar.

“Hahaha… Ants don’t sleep, you see…”

Recent research indicates that Army Ants take breaks every 12 hours, but they only sleep for a mere 8 minutes.

Moreover, they rest in groups, so when one ant sleeps, the colony moves continuously.

By human standards, they seem like creatures that don’t sleep at all.

“Still, we succeeded, didn’t we?”

When I pointed out our accomplishments, Gu Pae shivered once more, looking horrified.

It seemed today’s incident would leave a lasting trauma for Deputy Commander Gu Pae, but I was honestly overjoyed since we managed to acquire four of the six ranks within the Army Ant colony through our midnight venture.

Excluding the Queen and the male ants, I had obtained the four ranks of Army Ants: large soldier ants, sub-large soldier ants, medium soldier ants, and small soldier ants.

All four types were in my hands.

Army Ant workers are categorized into four ranks from birth:

Large soldiers with massive sickle-like mandibles.

Sub-large soldiers with crushing jaws.

Medium soldiers who handle all the menial tasks.

And small soldiers who take care of the Queen.

All four ranks were acquired during our nighttime escapade.

As we laid the ants out by the campfire made by the remaining soldiers, Gu Pae finally snapped out of his stupor and asked,

“So, can you actually raise them?”

At his question, I shook my head.

I had suspected it, but it seemed unlikely that we could raise them after all.

The small soldier ant, the size of a fist, I brought back showed no response to my words or anything else.

-Tick. Tick.

It merely moved its jaws about aimlessly.

Perhaps if it could make contact with a Queen like the Golden Hair Bees, there could be potential, but could I really navigate through that red tide and manage to persuade a Queen?

Watching the small creature’s reaction, I doubted I could truly command the entire army even if I managed to persuade a Queen.

Ants have a social structure similar to honeybees, possessing collective intelligence, but they differ vastly in memory capabilities.

The maximum memory span of an ant is only about three days.

Of course, these beasts might have better memory since they are close to being spirit-like, but Army Ants are primarily blind and communicate through vibrations rather than pheromones.

They cannot communicate without the Queen.

So, even if we tried to domesticate them, it seemed unlikely we would be able to control them.

“Does that mean our efforts were all for nothing?”

Gu Pae’s gloomy tone arose in response to my answer, stating it seemed impossible to raise them.

“Not at all! Just look how beautiful these ants are that we’ve captured! If we manage to carefully preserve them and display them at Mandok Hall, it will be marvelous. Just look at those mandibles! This is the very creature that clung to Deputy Commander Gu Pae’s clothing earlier, right?”

I insisted it wasn’t a wasted effort, yet the firelight reflected a slightly saddened expression on Gu Pae’s face.

‘Since Gu Pae chose the Venomous Insect Team…’

I thought of a jab from my past life but kept it to myself as my grandfather chimed in.

“By the way, if it’s going to be difficult to raise them, what do you plan to do next? Are you considering migrating to another place to search for other venomous creatures?”

There were ways to head west to Serye or further south to the thicker jungles of Xishuangbanna.

Now that we had acquired a sample, my grandfather was suggesting we move to find other venomous insects.

Smiling, I replied to his question.

“No, we shall follow those ants, or rather, we shall go ahead of them.”

“Go ahead of them?”

“Are you saying we should pass ahead?”

Those around me opened their eyes wide at the idea of overtaking the ants.

I explained why we needed to move ahead of them.

“Yes, if we travel ahead of them, many insects or venomous creatures will pop up around us in fear of those ants. If we target them, we can easily catch insects and other venomous creatures. It may be a bit tough, though.”

Normally, the procession of Army Ants is followed by many insects and birds; this is because they all attempt to seize the chances presented when the ants passing through frighten them.

What I suggested was to imitate that behavior.

“Isn’t that exciting?”

‘What’s with those faces? It seems really fun to me!’

At my question, for some reason, everyone appeared to don strange expressions.