Chapter 720 - I Promise I Won’t Eat More… Maybe
"The evacuation will start in two days' time," a middle-aged man whose hair was all white said as he looked at Jophiel's projection. "We have already sent the ships and they will be arriving at the designated time. I expect that you will be able to flawlessly handle this matter, Jophiel."
"You can count on me, Headmaster," Jophiel replied. "It will be done as you envisioned."
The Headmaster of Hestia Academy nodded his head. "How is that boy, William? According to your report, you, him, and his companions arrived on Antilia island four hours ago. Did you already mention the S Class Mission to him?"
Jophiel nodded. "I think that he will start moving when morning comes. For now, he and his companions are resting in their quarters."
"Pass him after he had eliminated a few of the Antz," the Headmaster ordered. "He has already proven himself worthy after clearing the 51st Floor of the Tower of Babylon. What we are doing is simply formalities."
"As you command, Headmaster," Jophiel bowed.
"Report to me if anything happens. Make sure to keep an eye out on the boy. We don't want him to accidentally die on the island."
"Him dying on this piece of land would be a great loss for humanity. Worry not, I will ensure that he arrives at the academy safely."
—--
While Jophiel and the Headmaster of the Academy were chatting with each other, William, and his companions had snuck out of the Outpost and infiltrated the forest, headed towards the nest of the Requiem Antz.
"I've heard about these Antz before," Kenneth said as he ran beside William. "The Elders had captured a queen from the Everlasting Evergarden and decided to raise it in one of their territories. However, they had underestimated the Antz capacity to evolve, and a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions broke out in their clan's ancestral grounds.
"Their plan was to make the Antz Queen a Beast Companion of one of the Elders, but she refused and resisted any kind of spiritual binding. After suffering hardships, the Queen retaliated and ordered her army to raze everything in their path.
"Tens of thousands of Centennial and Millennial Antz started to attack the Elven Clans. It was similar to a Beast Tide, but each Antz was a powerhouse with the weakest at the level of a Centennial Rank. It was simply too much for anyone to resist.
"Fortunately, the Guardians and Lord Sepheron Intervened. The Antz had all been wiped out, and the King decreed that such experiments shouldn't be done ever again. I'm sure that the same thing will happen here if the Humans think that they can control the Antz who hail from one of the Forbidden Grounds of the Central Continent."
William was dumbfounded by Kenneth's explanation.
Tens of thousands of Centennial and Millennial Antz was an obscene number. Without Pseudo-Demigods, and Demigods to guard against an invasion, these Antz could easily wipe out entire cities in the span of an hour or two.
"We should eliminate this threat as soon as possible," Kenneth urged. "They may be weak right now, with their strongest warriors at Rank B, but once they slay a higher tier beast, things will start to get ugly."
"Don't worry. I already have a plan in mind." William chuckled.
William wasn't worried even if it was true that the Requiem Antz couldn't be tamed. Unlike the Elves, and the Humans, William was confident that he could negotiate with the Requiem Antz Queen, with the help of a certain rainbow-colored Anteater.
With such a handy deterrent by his side, no Antz would dare to disobey his orders!
An hour later, the group finally arrived at the Antz Nest. They had masked their presence from the Antz by controlling their aura. However, it would be impossible to do that now because each entrance was guarded by Rank B Requiem Antz.
"What should we do now?" Zhu asked. "Should we just barge right in and make our presence known? If we do that, we might get swarmed by millions of Ants."
Sha nodded his head. "Although they are just small fries, if the commotion gets big enough, Jophiel will surely be alerted. There's no doubt that he will head in our direction at full speed and investigate. That will complicate the plan you have in mind, Will."
William nodded in agreement. He had already formulated several approaches to this problem and none of them was feasible, in the end he decided to use his Trump Card and get it over with.
"Kasogonaga, I choose you!" William said and he summoned the rainbow-colored Anteater from the Thousand Beast Domain.
"Oh? Are we already in the nest?" Kasogonaga looked around in curiosity.
William had informed it beforehand about his plan, and the anteater readily agreed. In fact, Kasogonaga informed William that it had even raised a Requiem Ant Queen in the past.
When William asked what happened to the Antz Queen, Kasogonaga only smirked as if saying "Don't ask questions you already know".
The moment the Requiem Antz Guards saw Kasogonaga, all of them ran towards the entrance of their nest like little crabs on the beach. Kasogonaga walked towards the entrance with an evil smile on its face.
Clearly, it was looking forward to the harvest that it was about to reap.
Unfortunately, William was there to stop it from its gluttonous appetite.
"You're forgetting our purpose for coming here," William said as he grabbed the drooling Anteater, who was very keen on entering the nest.
"Relax, I got this!" Kasogonaga replied as it patted its chest. "Do you think I will be tempted by these low-ranked Antz? I will raise the Ant Queen and feed it Centennial Beasts then Millennial Beasts then Myriad Beasts then… hehehehe…"
More drool escaped its mouth which made William shake his head helplessly. He carried the Anteater inside the nest like a repellant charm for insects who might try to ambush them underneath the earth.
What the Half-Elf didn't know was that the Superior Antz had already run for the Queen's location, in fear of the Anteater who was their natural enemy.
Using the System to scan the underground domain, William headed straight to the Queen's room in order to see whether she was open to negotiation or not. The only Ant Queen that he had seen was the Myriad Ant Queen that had become Princess Sidonie's Beast Companion.
Kasogonaga had told him along the way that Requiem Antz were very primitive creatures. Only when the Queen had evolved into a Millennial Beast, would she start to have human-like features.
After upgrading his Shepherd Job Class, William gained the ability to communicate with any beasts, including Ancient and Mythical Beasts.
"Is it true that you can't tame the Requiem Antz Queen?" William asked the Anteater he was carrying in his arms.
"The answer is Yesn't," Kasogonaga replied. "They can be tamed, but very few are capable of doing that. Fear is one of the most effective means to make someone submit to you. However, these Antz have a very strong tolerance to fear, so not everyone can make them bow their heads in submission."
William smiled. "That is where you come in, right?"
"You are indeed smart." Kasogonaga raised its head in arrogance. "Without me, you have zero chance in making them follow your orders. You should be grateful that you have me on your side."
"Yes. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing companion by my side."
"Um, can I have one of the Queen's legs? I promise I won't eat more… maybe."
William completely ignored the gluttonous Anteater's request.. He had even silently ordered Elliot and Conan to stop Kasogonaga at all costs, if it tried to eat the Antz Queen whom he was planning to add to his King's Legion.