The big-headed harvester ants possessed a certain level of memory, thought, and discernment. They remembered the appearance of Spots and knew where Spot's dwelling was.
The act of robbing seeds immediately stirred up emotions among the colony. Countless soldier ants departed from the nest, charging towards Spot's chamber.
"Stingy creatures."
"Yesterday's fruit was picked by me for you all."
Spot stood at the entrance, swaying his antennae to release threatening pheromones. Under the unique aura of the forceful biological entity, the big-headed harvester ants hesitated and dared not approach to cause trouble.
After a brief standoff, the ant colony withdrew.
"Only bearing grudges, not appreciating kindness, can hardly be considered intelligent life, let alone lower intelligence."
Spot shook his antennae helplessly.
Of course, he couldn't bother with these creatures, whose body size was only a tenth of his own.
Having spent a considerable amount of time with them, Spot still appreciated the survival wisdom of ants: tirelessly working day and night, diligence; elderly members of the colony taking on dangerous reconnaissance and lookout duties, sacrificing themselves; without commanders, yet able to cooperate perfectly through division of labor to complete tedious tasks, unity...
They possessed various admirable qualities upheld by human societies.
...
Surviving in the jungle was not easy.
The ripe grass seeds in the Cun Grass Field attracted a flock of birds. Birds were the real thieves; they plundered the hard work of the big-headed harvester ants and mocked them with chirps and tweets.
Among the few wandering snakes in the Cun Grass Field, only one remained, and it had grown to over 200 centimeters. It had a stroke of luck, lurking in the grass and successfully capturing a bird.
Similar predation and being preyed upon occurred constantly in the jungle.
Birds came and went suddenly, leaving behind a devastated Cun Grass Field where the seeds were left scattered on the ground.
The big-headed harvester ants remained industrious as ever, meticulously searching and collecting each grass seed, drying them, and storing them. Meanwhile, more big-headed ants joined the weeding team, using their mandibles to cut grass leaves into small fragments.
After a heavy rain, the fragments of grass leaves slowly decomposed, depositing and becoming organic fertilizer for the Cun Grass Field, maintaining its fertility in this primitive way.
Spot silently observed everything before him, noticing an incredible phenomenon: almost completely cut grass in the aftermath of the rain sprouted fresh green shoots again.
Spot thought of a possibility: Cun Grass could yield two seasons a year!
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Under the management of the big-headed harvester ants, seeds were sown in early spring, the first season was harvested in midsummer, and the second season in late autumn.
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"The resilience of Cun Grass is remarkable! It can sprout new shoots even after being cut." Spot immediately thought of another question, "If the seeds nurtured by Cun Grass can survive the winter, can they live on indefinitely?"
Spring birth, summer prosperity, autumn decline, winter death; short lifespan was the fatal weakness of herbaceous plants. Therefore, based on the memory of inheritance, using grass seeds to nurture life seeds was not recommended at all.
Spot then observed for a whole day and discovered that tender shoots of Cun Grass were not afraid of intense sunlight; on the contrary, they grew vigorously under ample sunlight.
After careful consideration, Spot concluded: Cun Grass was not afraid of heat, and its mature root system buried in the soil could provide enough moisture for the tender shoots to grow well.
If that was the case, then it was worth considering sowing his first life seed!
And it was necessary to sow it soon.
When Spot was at L1, the rate at which his shell absorbed cosmic force was more than enough for his growth. Now at L2, although the requirement for growth increased, the absorption rate of his shell did not increase. According to this trend, it could be predicted that around L4, the rate of cosmic force absorption of the shell would not meet the demand, delaying growth.
There were two solutions, the best being to consume force fruit, which not only provided force but also strengthened genetic abilities. Under normal circumstances, with the care of tribal elders, junior warriors would pass through this weak phase.
However, Spot's situation was not normal; the tribal elders were gone, and in the vast jungle, there was no one to seek help from. Thus, the only other solution was to sow life seeds as soon as possible and rely on life seeds to assist in absorbing the required force for growth.
A thunderstorm solidified Spot's determination.
The life seed was placed under the nearest chestnut tree, on the sunny east side.
The location was well chosen; in the morning, the slanting sunlight could shine on it, while the scorching sun at noon was blocked by the dense chestnut tree branches and leaves. In the afternoon, the evening sun could shine on it again.
Two days after sowing, tender new shoots broke through the soil, establishing a very weak but wonderful feeling of "closely connected, life intertwined" with time.
Spot brought in stones and arranged a fence around the seedling, guarding it around the clock to prevent it from being nibbled by grasshoppers or other herbivorous insects.
Luck was on his side as another heavy rain came, providing sufficient water for the seedling to thrive, developing into three leaflets smoothly.
Following the precipitation pattern of the jungle summer, the next few days would face a "dry period," during which the surface soil moisture would quickly evaporate under the scorching sun.
Spot made preparations in advance, finding a hollow plant stem and collecting dew from the leaves every morning to water the soil near the life seed, maintaining its humidity.
As expected, the life seed maintained vigorous growth, almost gaining 5 units in height every day, and the growth rate increased as it grew longer, smoothly passing through the most vulnerable stage. As the grass plant grew, the inexplicable sense of "closely connected, life intertwined" became clearer bit by bit.
After a thunderstorm, Spot carefully dug it up and transplanted it to the entrance of the nest.
For the soil at the entrance, Spot deliberately added some bird and animal feces to enhance fertility.
The transplant was also successful; the plant grew even faster than the second batch of ordinary Cun Grass with mature root systems.
The leaves were slightly different from ordinary Cun Grass; the veins were purplish-black, thicker and tougher. The force absorbed by the plant was partly used for its own growth, and the surplus was stored in the leaf veins.
Life seeds shared the same characteristics as naturally born force plants: when the force stored in the leaf veins was saturated, a faint deep purple halo would emit from them at night, indicating the release of excess force.
This was extremely dangerous; various phototropic insects were attracted, followed by small nocturnal predators, and then it was likely to attract large predatory animals. In the midst of the struggle, the fragile and tiny plant might easily suffer.
After a close observation, Spot speculated that the probability of naturally born force plants was not as low as imagined, but due to this characteristic, they often perished.
The characteristic of force plants emitting light at night also had its rationale; the carcasses of dead animals would become excellent nutrients after decomposition.
Spot currently didn't need the force of life seeds, but this problem was easily solved. He would start swaying his antennae every evening, constantly releasing pheromones representing anger, with the aura of force creatures lingering, effectively deterring and expelling various flying insects.
With the insects kept at bay, subsequent troubles would naturally be contained at the source.