Chapter 1119: The Ant Zone

The two of them looked up and saw a face hanging from a tree branch not far ahead. The face had short black hair that spread out in the air, and it wore a row of perfectly aligned white teeth with a wide grin.

"Don't be shy, come on over!"

He must have been sitting on this tree for a while, as he hadn't made a sound until now.

When someone is hanging upside down, it's challenging to get a clear view of their appearance. So, it wasn't until the man flipped over and sat up on the tree branch, turning toward them, that Lin Sanjiu noticed his face was slightly distorted as well.

He had handsome features, and he appeared quite young, making his face seem quite charming. However, his lips didn't align properly, with the upper lip slanting to the left and the lower lip slanting to the right, as if the surgeon had made a mistake during a stitching procedure, misaligning the two halves of his face.

"Are you newcomers from the post-human group?" The man sat on a not-too-thick tree branch, swinging his legs, leaving one to wonder why he hadn't broken it. "It's impressive that you didn't fall for the tricks in the Mushroom Society."

Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia exchanged glances.

Since they were tasked with uncovering the secret of why post-humans weren't teleporting, perhaps this was an opportunity that presented itself. She cleared her throat and asked, "Um, we did come from the Mushroom Society... Can you tell us more about this truth you mentioned?"

The man tilted his head as if he were contemplating, and his eyes, filled with both thought and suspicion, glanced over the two women before he smiled.

After a moment of contemplation, he started laughing, and his already asymmetrical lips parted even further. "Well... I can't smell the spore odor on you. That's good. Unbrainwashed individuals are always welcome, the more fellow survivors we can save, the better."

Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief, but then he suddenly asked, "However, there's one thing I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?"

"You clearly saw it—"

The man suddenly raised his hand high and pointed to the treetops above. "But you still came in voluntarily, without fear or hesitation. Why?"

Through the dense foliage, the massive shadow of the ant queen was sliced into countless deep brown fragments, filling the gaps in the branches. Lin Sanjiu quickly averted her gaze and hesitated, trying to find a reasonable excuse. "We... we saw an ant once when we were in the Mushroom Society. So we wanted to... come and see what's really going on between the mushrooms and the ants, um, which side is telling the truth."

Bohemia gave her a look that seemed to say, 'Is that the best you can do?'

Upon hearing this, the man slowly lowered his head, his gaze still fixed on their faces. His neck also seemed to be poorly stitched together, slightly twisted as if the vertebrae were damaged, resembling a snake winding down from a human shoulder.

"It's not every day we come across such curious post-humans," he said, squinting his eyes and pausing.

The fact that this man could recognize them as post-humans wasn't particularly surprising, considering the reputation post-humans like Bohemia had for dressing as they pleased. However, what truly surprised Lin Sanjiu was that she couldn't determine whether this man was a post-human or not.

The silence persisted for several seconds, and as tension slowly crept into their backs, the man suddenly smiled, and the upper and lower halves of his face appeared to be about to separate and fly away from each other. "But I really like your spirit of exploration."

He leaped down from the tree branch, a height that an agile regular person could manage. Lin Sanjiu took a half-step backward, placing Bohemia behind her, raised her guard, and smiled at him, "Are you a post-human too?"

"What does it matter?" He shrugged, looking quite amiable. "The people here have all escaped from the Mushroom Society. Whether they are post-humans or not, everyone is equal. We used to be enslaved and deceived... Those days are gone."

"Enslaved? Deceived?" Bohemia raised her voice.

"A living person working day after day for the mushrooms, isn't that a form of slavery?" He grinned. "All this talk about finding meaning and fulfilling lives, if you look at it from a different perspective, isn't it just an illusion created by the mushrooms to make people willingly serve them?"

Bohemia, who had a natural inclination towards conversion, couldn't hold back any longer. "Ordinary people don't have spores in their heads, so how can this be called an illusion created by the mushrooms? Isn't it right to find the meaning of life?"

"I mean the illusion in a broad sense. Through induction, brainwashing, education, and operational mechanisms... they create a collective consciousness throughout society. And now, people no longer have spores in their heads. How can you be sure that in the beginning, the first generation of citizens didn't have spores?" He clapped his hands, as if pleased to offer a counterargument. "Let me tell you, the mushrooms have long since altered the shape of their brains. Through generations of genetic selection, they've reached a point where they no longer need spores. They've produced so-called 'pseudo-humans' who are noble in nature, peaceful at heart, and don't even care about sex."

He paused and glanced at them, then sneered, "Life inherently has no meaning. Just like trees, grass, loaches, or ants, we are no different. Those mushrooms turned me into what I am now. Do you really think they want to live in harmony with all species, as they claim?"

Feeling like the person behind her still had something to say, Lin Sanjiu cleared her throat, grasped Bohemia's sleeve, signaling her to be quiet, and continued to ask, "So, about the ants..."

"We need allies to break free from brainwashing, to resist the Mushroom Society, to regain human dignity. Of course, we need allies for that. Ants are naturally gentle, they like to eat mushrooms, and they have many resources we can use. They are the ideal candidates." The man thought for a moment, then waved them over. "Come, I can take you to see our base... If you're willing to stay with us, that would be great. We've always been short of manpower."

The so-called "base" was actually in the deep parts of the forest. As they continued deeper, Lin Sanjiu occasionally saw a few people sleeping on the large trees or huddled in tree hollows. More of them found a place to rest in the burrows dug by the large ants. Countless times, she saw a person crawl out of a mound's hole, followed closely by the trembling antennae of a giant ant.

"All those people are going out hunting," the man noticed her gaze and explained, "They will search for opportunities around the outskirts of the Mushroom Society, trying to capture some people... as long as they bring them back, we can help them undergo surgery to break free from brainwashing. Ants are indispensable allies for us when we go hunting, as they are especially sensitive to smells..."

While he was speaking, he gestured to several people who had just crawled out of the ground holes. Behind these men and women, a long, brownish insect leg protruded; a glossy, emotionless black compound eye looked left and right, slowly revealing a massive ant the size of a truck.

"Be careful today," the man spoke to the ant affectionately, "you almost hurt one of your legs last time."

It appeared that the ant couldn't understand what he was saying or perhaps understood but had no reaction at all. It simply turned its body covered in exoskeleton and joined the others, its legs, belly, and serrated jaws clearly visible in the sunlight.

As those men and women and the giant ant passed by, a strong, earthy odor wafted up, causing Lin Sanjiu to shiver.

"So, the 'truth' here is the mushrooms, and your 'truth' is the ants?" Bohemia couldn't help but taunt with heavy sarcasm.

"Oh, no," the man said nonchalantly as he continued walking, taking them forward. The massive ant queen's sturdy insect legs stood in the forest, getting closer and closer. Although it was similar in color to the tree trunks, the differences were becoming increasingly noticeable. That smooth, inorganic texture appeared to be lurking in the forest's shadows, quietly observing them.

"The 'truth' here is ourselves. We believe that truth should be in the hands of humans... only we have the right to decide what our lives should be like." When the man reached this point, he suddenly quickened his pace and headed forward. The trees became sparser, revealing an open area enclosed by the forest.

"Mom," he called out loudly to the enormous ant queen perched high above, his voice strangely gentle. "I've brought two guests!"

Just as Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia were taken aback, the gigantic ant above them moved slowly. As it bent down, lowering its head, the two of them could see that it was continuously gnawing on something in its mouth. Its serrated mandibles went up and down, making a cracking sound. When its face came to a complete stop right in front of them, Lin Sanjiu heard a faint swallowing sound behind her, as if Bohemia were making a great effort to swallow the surging stomach acid.

"Mom?" She felt a chill running down her spine as she faced the giant insect. "Why do you call it 'Mom'?"

"It's just a common title we use." The man shrugged, "Only this term can convey our gratitude and affection toward her... Oh, Mom, they don't have any spores on them."

The gigantic ant slowly opened its serrated jaws—several fragment-like things, coated with mucus, fell down with a loud crash, landing all over the ground. The liquid emitted an unusual odor, splashing onto the two of them. Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes and saw that those fragments looked like mushroom residues.

"Guests?"

1

The giant ant, incredibly, emitted a human language in a buzzing tone, as if a multitude of bees were passing by, "You're wrong; these two are not guests."

1

Time seemed to freeze.

"I watched them from a distance just now—these two women and another man. The man said you should catch the queen ant... I've been waiting for them to come closer for quite a while now."