Feeding city.
Zhou Qianli stood beside the bomb-blasted pit, surrounded by an army unit, watching as they excavated the collapsed area. The pit had revealed the intricate underground termite tunnels. Scattered throughout were giant termite corpses, half-buried in soil.
Once a temporary ladder was built, Zhou Qianli descended into the pit with his backpack. He took pictures of the termite bodies as he moved deeper into the tunnels, pulling out a petri dish from his bag. He put on gloves and carefully pried open a crack in a termite’s skull, cutting a small piece of skin and flesh to store for later analysis.
As he examined the mutated termite corpses, he couldn’t identify any specific abnormalities beyond their immense size. The true nature of the mutation would need further testing once he returned to his lab.
He moved farther into the tunnels, where bright lights illuminated the dark underground. Guards were stationed every kilometer along the path. Zhou Qianli continued his examination until he reached the queen’s chamber, but the queen termite had been blown to pieces during the operation. Frustrated, he bent down, trying to find remnants of the queen’s body.
“The situation was critical. We had to bomb the nest to prevent the termites from spreading and attacking the population,” a young man’s voice came from behind.
Zhou Qianli turned to see Ye Changming and Yan Shengbian approaching. He nodded at them. “I understand. Given the number of mutated termites, burying them with explosives was the best decision at the time.”
However, Zhou Qianli frowned. “The termite mutations seem to have happened simultaneously. There’s a possibility that something triggered it.”
“Do animals experience collective mutations like plants do?” Yan Shengbian asked. His white coat was wrinkled, and stained with coffee, evidence of sleepless nights spent analyzing the situation.
“I’ve never seen it before, but termites always act as a collective. Maybe they encountered something that triggered the mutation en masse,” Zhou Qianli speculated.
Yan Shengbian, who had been at the forefront of research into mutations for years, looked concerned. “It’s been 41 years since the first recorded mutation. Even the slightest anomaly now could change everything.”
“I’ll do my best to study these termites. We need to understand what happened here.” Zhou Qianli straightened his back and said. Even though the two were the same age, he always had a little more respect for Yan Shengbian, not just because Yan Shengbian respected him.
“Buzz–”
Just then, Zhou Qianli’s light brain vibrated. He answered the call, and the director of the Ninth Agricultural Base appeared on the screen. “Dean, a sheep has mutated within the white wall of the East District.”
Zhou Qianli, who had just started to relax, tensed up again. “Were there any injuries? Did anyone escape?”
The director hesitated before lowering his voice. “No one was injured or killed, but…”
Zhou Qianli could sense there was more. “What else?”
“A sophomore animal husbandry student brought three freshmen through a hidden hole in the wall. They witnessed the mutation firsthand.” The director looked away nervously. “The mutated sheep was shot dead by one of the students.”
The information hit Zhou Qianli all at once. He was shocked to learn of a hidden hole in the white wall and irritated that a student had taken such reckless actions. But what intrigued him most was the shooting of the sheep. “Whose family does this student belong to?” he asked, knowing only those with influential ties could get their hands on a weapon.
The director replied, “It’s Wei Li.”
Ye Changming, standing nearby, suddenly turned his head sharply at the mention of the name.
Zhou Qianli continued, “Who were the other students involved?”
“Tong Tong from Horticulture B, He Yuesheng from Agronomy C, and Zhao Linong, also from Agronomy C. Her grandfather is Zhao Xian.”
Zhao Xian? Both Zhou Qianli and Yan Shengbian recognized the name.
Yan Shengbian recalled, “Zhao Fenghe—Zhao Xian’s daughter—missed the researcher selection exam all those years ago. I remember her because we were both competing for the same spot.”
Zhou Qianli brought the conversation back to the present crisis. “Are you certain only one sheep mutated? Was there anything unusual about it?”
The director hesitated. “Only one sheep was affected. But is any mutation considered normal?”
Zhou Qianli sighed. “Since there were no casualties and the sheep have been dealt with, there’s no need to escalate the matter. I’ll stay here to continue studying the termites. You’re in charge of sealing that hole in the East District, and make sure no students enter again.”
After the call ended, Zhou Qianli glanced at Ye Changming, aware that Wei Li was his cousin. However, Ye Changming remained silent, his head bowed, showing no sign of concern or inquiry about his relative.
Zhou Qianli chose not to press the matter. Instead, he returned his focus to the mutated termites, determined to unravel the mystery behind their sudden transformation.
Outer circle 1-111 dormitory.
Zhao Linong sat in her chair, lost in thought, replaying the events that had unfolded within the white wall of the East District over and over in her mind. Something didn’t feel right.
Invariably, she thought about another mutated arthropod—the queen termite from the video Wei Li had sent. It was a shame she hadn’t finished watching it.
Zhao Linong absentmindedly twirled a black water-based pen between her fingers. She wanted to study a large number of mutated plants and animals, but only random mutated plants existed at the base. If only she had the chance to go outside the base in the future, though she’d need to hire a guard team. Her desire to become a researcher grew stronger.
To clear her head, she opened a document on her optical computer to compile the information she had learned. Perhaps because she had encountered mutated animals today, her thoughts turned to the mutated termites.
She typed the next page, outlining crop pests. It involved ten major pest categories, including underground pests, rice, wheat, cereals, potatoes, oilseeds, tobacco, and medicinal plants.
If anyone saw this outline, they’d be surprised by how comprehensive it was, covering almost all pest categories relevant to the base.
This material was based on what Zhao Linong had learned in “Agricultural Entomology” in her original world. She had always done well in her studies, excelling in every subject, including this one. She had even followed her mentor and seen nearly every insect mentioned in the textbooks.
Textbook knowledge combined with practical experience—she had mastered them all.
Zhao Linong knew the essay was too thorough to share just yet, but she wasn’t in a rush to finish it. After writing the outline, she drifted off in thought again before finally turning off her optical computer. She couldn’t focus after all.
Zhao Linong reached into her drawer and took out her “Mutated Plant Observation Diary,” where she started writing her thoughts and speculations on the mutated termites.
—
Mutated Termites: Isoptera insects
Termites feed on living and dried plants, fungi, etc. They are categorized based on the location of their nests: soil-dwelling, wood-dwelling, and soil-wood amphibious termites. Soil-dwelling termites build nests underground, wood-dwelling termites in wood, and soil-wood termites can nest in wood, underground, or on the surface. These termites are particularly damaging to structures.
—
Zhao Linong hadn’t seen a termite nest in person, so she could only analyze what she had gathered from the short video clip. After recalling what she could, she picked up her pen and wrote at the end:
—
[It might be a terrestrial termite colony. The queen has a darker body color, well-developed compound eyes, and residual wing scales on the mesothorax and metathorax. The abdomen…]
—
Zhao Linong paused and realized she hadn’t seen the queen in the video.
Termites are polymorphic social insects. The queen and king mate to produce eggs, which develop into nymphs. When the nymphs mature, they differentiate into various types of termites, including workers, soldiers, supplementary reproductive termites, and winged reproductive and nymphs.
The winged reproductive ant nymphs can further differentiate into winged or wingless reproductive termites. The queen is an individual that arises from the wingless reproductive termites.
Zhao Linong set down her pen, suddenly realizing there were no visible eggs in the queen ant’s abdomen—only a pile of dead branches.
She wasn’t an entomologist; her knowledge of insects had been for the sake of better crop management, so she hadn’t noticed it immediately.
A queen has a large ovary filled with ovules, constantly producing eggs. A queen can lay thousands of eggs per day.
As Zhao Linong frowned, the strangeness of the situation dawned on her. The number of termites seemed too small, and there were no visible eggs or nymphs on the ground.
Was this due to a mutated reproductive system? Or did the video fail to capture everything?
—
Meanwhile, across the city, Zhou Qianli had returned to camp. He powered up his optical computer to review the complete video of the ovule, quickly spotting the abnormalities.
Ye Changming had meticulously compiled all the ovule recordings from the Alien Killer Zero Team and handed them over to Zhou Qianli, who carefully watched each one from the beginning. He rewatched the video of the queen ant in the cave, murmuring in disbelief, “How can there be no king? Where are the eggs?”
This discovery was significant. Something about the mutation of these termites was deeply abnormal.
