Colony Tunnel Network
Several Worker Ants have worked day and night in the makings of a larger tunnel network.
But compared to their previous treatment by Astranul's Underling, Nadia's was vastly different in comparison. The Worker Ants worked with regular meals, given time off as long as they don't exploit it, and common punishments are a rare occurrence.
Should a worker ant find themselves facing punishment, The supervisors in charge will provide reasonable punishments from relocation to the Central Colonies or their reassignment to other tunnels under a supervisor's supervision.
Speaking of Supervisors, This specific role was given by Nadia as a way to promote the workload more efficiently and establish a network of information that goes all the way to her ears.
So far, The progress within the tunnels has gone smoothly. Save on the accounts of monsters and possible cave-in caused by them.
But Nadia didn't have to worry about it since the soldier ants stationed in the tunnels were more than capable of handling monsters while cave-ins are easily manageable since Worker Ants are hardworking individuals.
Then there's the chance of rousing the enemy's suspicion.
To avoid such a thing, Nadia specifically ordered to have some of the goods, consisting of rich materials and gems, be gathered in a certain area and have a few ants disguise themselves as Astranul's underlings to deliver said goods to the Main Capital of the Western Region.
This keeps Astranul from suspecting anything as Nadia's ants continue their work in the tunnels.
Surface
The Western Ants slowly prospered as the rule of Astranul's Underlings faded away.
In addition, Some of the ants become a bit inventive after Da Vinci provided some lessons on the basics of mechanical engineering.
A couple of days later, a few ants showed promise as they worked toys with some screws, gears, etc.
Hence, those with mechanical ingenuity were transported to the Central Colony and practiced their talents there for future use.
However, some find these teachings quite redundant since they prefer [Adaptation] over Mechanical Engineering. Though they wouldn't voice their opinions until a report was sent directly to Nadia.
Her response was to send these ants to Altan and have them study under him despite the latter's lack of morals. Though Altan isn't one to teach, he is one to give as he biologically altered the minds and bodies of his 'students' to think for themselves and make their hypotheses.
To put it simply, Altan altered his adepts to follow the way of Evolution.
The results of Altan's 'teachings', Some of his adepts were overcome by the effects of Altan's experiment and went psychotic. These ants were exterminated as Altan deemed them failures to adapt to his biological experiment.
As for those who succeeded, Altan instructed them not to work together but to work for themselves. From his perspective, The flow of evolution is unique but separate.
Hence, Some of Altan's Adepts stayed but established their workspaces away from each other and the rest wished to move to the Central Colony to work there instead.
A Few Days Later, the Soldiers were preparing themselves for war as half of those ants were well equipped with the latest weaponry, and half were biologically enhanced to the bone.
Everything would be ready...
...
...
...
Until a letter delays their plan...
Colony Capital
Nadia prepared the strategy in a private room she had taken over and planned to discuss it with her officers soon.
But she gets sidetracked when someone knocks on her door.
"Come in," Nadia said,
Reese enters the room with a letter in hand, "Nadia, A letter has arrived from the Central Colony,"
"Central?" Nadia repeated, and takes the letter off his hand,
She then opens the letter and notices that the written message was heavily encrypted. The words appeared to be randomized, there weren't any spaces used on the letter and punctuation mars
"Doll..." Nadia muttered, then places the letter on the table,
"What does the letter say?" Reese inquired,
"It is something meant for my eyes and ears only," Nadia clarified, "Hence, I must ask you to leave,"
Reese was curious to know the details of the letter but abided by her command as he bowed once and left the room. Nadia then double-checked if anyone was hiding inside the room, then proceeds to seal the entire room with an almost unbreakable barrier.
Then she focuses on the letter...
[Do you think it's bad news?]
"I'm not sure, but we'll find out once we've deciphered this letter," Nadia declared, and places her hand on the letter,
Then, she slowly raised her hand, and some sort of bubble was being pulled out of the paper. Once the bubble was out, she proceeds with the decryption of the letter since they were embedded with a specific type of magic.
This was a tactic that was used in her past life. A precaution to avoid said information falling into the hands of the enemy. Though the tactic existed for generations, it was still effective to this day.
Minutes after of reconfiguring the letters, rearranging the words, and finalizing every sentence. The following message appears before her
"Nadia. I have an urgent report for you"
"A Noble has learned the background of the Central Region"
"Gathered a group of Adventurers
"They will Venture to the Central Colony"
"Erza, His Party, and I are their guides"
"Marquis Isaac..."
"Do not trust him"
"Time of Departure"
"A Few Days From Now"
"Doll..."
Nadia was visibly concerned with this report. If a noble had taken an interest in the Central Colony, who knows what he'll get when he arrives at the Central Region.
What's more, The timing was too coincidental since she calculated the return time of Ezra's party, the time of their absences in the Central Region, and the day this message arrived.
In conclusion, This noble has his motives...
Nadia then scrambles the words, added several letters, punctuation marks, and various symbols, merged them all together to make the message unreadable, and pushed the bubble back into the letter.
Nadia then folds the letter, puts it in the envelope, and burns it with regular fire instead of fire magic. This was something that she would do in her past life.
It may seem excessive, but it guarantees the destruction of the letter should there be an enemy whose capable of restoring a letter by gathering its ashes.
Then she establishes a telepathic connection with certain officers.
"Everyone, This is Nadia speaking. Gather up for half an hour, we have an emergency to discuss," Nadia explained, "Any questions you have, withhold them until the meeting proceeds,"
Nadia dispels the barrier, then leaves the room.
Gathering Room
Everyone was been gathered, though Nadia was the last to arrive and all eyes were on her. Those who are present today were Reese, Willow, Osman, Adham, Shakir, Nassor, and Alia.
However, all of them seemed on edge especially when they saw how serious Nadia looked.
"Thank you all for coming," Nadia thanked, "Now that everyone's here, let us proceed with this meeting,"
Everyone listened as Nadia sat on her chair, and clasp her fingers together. Then came the information she received from Doll...
"A Human Noble?" Osman inquired,
"Yes, and this noble in particular is planning an expedition to the Central Region in three days," Nadia explained, "Alongside him is a large group of adventurers, and their guide is Ezra and his party,"
"Do you plan on exterminating this group?" Nassor inquired,
"No, I plan to greet them and see what this noble want," Nadia specified, "But if I wanted to exterminate these people, I'd leave Ezra and his group as an exception,"
"Is it because of that woman that travels with them?" Willow inquired,
"That, and those people seem more trustworthy than a bunch of strangers that I'm about to meet," Nadia remarked,
"Ah, I see..." Willow understood, "But let me know if they try something, they'll be dead before you know it,"
"Can you not resort to violence?" Nadia questioned, then clears her throat, "But anyway, the reason as to why this is an emergency meeting is because I will be returning to the Central Region. Hence, I'll be leaving Reese and Osman in charge until I sort this all out,"
"May I come with you?" Alia requested, "I wish to return to Da Vinci-chan's side since there's nothing else for me to do around here,"
"Very well," Nadia approved,
Alia nods then turns to Osman, "I'll leave everything to you, Osman,"
"Understood, My Lady," Osman agreed,
"We'll leave tomorrow," Nadia said, then turns to Willow, "Gather your fastest subordinates,"
"As you wish," Willow complied, "... But,"
"Let me guess, you want to come along with me," Nadia guessed, and her question was answered when Willow frantically nods in response, "Seriously?"
Nadia scratches the back of her head, and Willow seemed worried that she rejects her request. The others just watched and waited somewhat intensely since they were expecting her to reject Willow's request.
But a smirk on her face had proved that they were wrong.
"Why would you think that I'd leave you here?" Nadia stated, "You're more useful to me if you're around me. So don't think twice that I'm going to abandon you and all,"
Willow seemed relieved, then bows her head with grace. Then the meeting continued.
What was discussed was some instructions on the tunnel network as well as the other colonies. She also advised Reese and Osman to use strategies revolving around stealth instead of brute force.
She had also given them a schedule that revolves around the Underling's schedule when it came to delivering goods to the Main Capital such as Gold, Gems, and Liquor. The last part was due to the Underlings utilizing the Evolution Master's talents into creating a special brand of mead and shipping it off to the Main Colony as well as other colonies that ordered it.
Once everything was settled, Nadia prepares for her departure with Alia and Willow by her side.
A Couple of Minutes Later...
Nadia, Alia, and Willow have finished packing what they need for the journey. As for their mounts, Willow had tamed what appeared to be Desert Spiders and she kept them around since they're well adaptive in traversing through the desert.
Parting words were given, then the three mounted their respective spiders. However, the arrangement was a bit awkward for Nadia...
As Nadia sits on a large spider...
...
...
...
Willow sitting behind her, her large body was so close that her breasts were pressing against the back of Nadia's neck, her hands properly placed onto Nadia's legs, and a cheerful smile was beaming across her face.
Nadia's expression was deadpanned since she's mainly aware of how Willow behaves around her, and her officers sweatdrop at the very sight of this.
"Does this happen often?" Osman questioned directly to Reese,
The latter nodded and the former shrugged his shoulders.
"Good luck on your way back," Adham said,
"We will," Nadia responded, then turns her head towards Willow, "Let's get going,"
"Right," Willow responded, then telepathically commands her subordinates to march,
The spiders' shrieked in response, then pushes on while those who remained waved goodbye at the three.
Nadia couldn't wave back at them due to Willow sitting behind her. But she gave them her goodbyes via telepathy before focusing on what was in front of her.
As for Assassin, she was assigned as Alia's bodyguard and sat behind her. Though she remains invisible via Presence Concealment, it seemed necessary since it gives her the element of surprise and her accompanying the Western Heiress keeps her content.
Especially when she inherited an enthusiastic personality with machinery and augmentation from spending a lot of time with Da Vinci.
Meanwhile...
Zen and her assistant/lover, were handling paperwork as usual when the runner they'd sent returned with a different letter on hand.
Zen's assistant goes to the door and retrieves the letter. Then he passes it to Zen's hands, and she proceeds to open it.
As she read the letter, she turns to her assistant, "Notify the others, Nadia is coming home,"
"Understood," Zen's Assistant said, and goes on to tell the news to the others,
With Zen alone, she smiled to herself and waits for Nadia's arrival...
Back to Nadia...
Half a day passed, and their journey back home was delayed when a huge sandstorm came to their location.
Pressing onward during a sandstorm is said to be dangerous even with Alia as their guide. Hence, Nadia declared that they'd find someplace to take shelter until the sandstorm passes.
Willow covers that idea with the use of her new subordinates and dug a large burrow for all of them to fit in. Nadia also used Magic to harden the walls as they went deep into the sand.
Once the burrow was complete, Willow ordered another subordinate to cover the entrance with rocks that Nadia made with the sand.
With the entrance covered, Nadia creates an orb of light and lets it hover over them.
"How long do you think this sandstorm will pass?" Nadia inquired,
"For a couple of hours," Alia explained, "But with this size of the storm, it'll take the other half of the day just to let it pass,"
"So we're stuck til' then," Willow commented,
"If that's where you want to put it," Alia concluded,
"Is it always like this? These sandstorms," Nadia questioned,
"Yes, The Western Region has its fair share of sand storms even before the Demon Lord came to rule our colonies," Alia said, "I'd even say that it's been going on like this even before I was born. But just as we adapt to consuming our prey, we adapt well to nature. That is the cycle of how our people live through these times,"
"It must have been harsh then," Nadia remarked,
"Not really," Alia clarified, something that Nadia didn't expect, "As I said, we adapt well to Nature. That's one of the many reasons how I and my guards managed to reach the Central Region, we may not know where we were going back then. but we adapted well enough to survive the harshness of the sandstorms,"
"So you took your chances with a sandstorm to escape instead of waiting it out?" Willow presumed,
"Yes," Alia said, then a sorrowful expression appeared, "We did?"
"What's wrong?" Willow inquired,
"It's just... After I escape from the Demon Lord's grip, twenty ants, including myself, set off to the desert in hopes of finding a place to hide in the central region," Alia explained, "We often travel by pushing through the sandstorms that pass in our way, But along the way, I had watched make certain sacrifices that I still regret to this day,"
Nadia was uncertain at first, but presses a personal question to her, "What happened to them?"
Alia pauses and averts her gaze from Nadia. But as soon as she took a breath, she reveals the truth behind her hardship...
"They... died..." Alia pauses, and clenches her hands hard, "To feed us all..."
Both Nadia and Willow had their eyes widen at the revelation of her guards' death. What they expected was that her guards died fighting, but the truth of her guards being food for what remained of the group was something mortifying to hear.
"I understand cannibalism amongst ants, but... Why would they do such a thing?" Nadia questioned,
Alia's lips were quivering, but she was comforted by Willow as she moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her. She shed tears as she struggled to tell more.
But Nadia decided to stop as she leaned forward, and places her hand on Alia's, "On second thought... Let's just stop and wait for this sandstorm to pass,"
Alia sniffed once and nods as she calms down...
There was silence since the topic was too much for the three of them. Though Nadia had suffered before and was willing to share a story, she couldn't find it in her heart to be related to such a case.
What she does know was that people once sacrificed their lives for the sake of victory...
Their deaths vividly haunt her even when she first came to this world...
The Sandstorm still rages on, and Assassin remained outside their burrow as an active sentry since the sandstorm doesn't bother her in the slightest...
Back at the Human Kingdom...
Isaac had hired a group of four adventurers that he could hire with his finances. The consisting number of adventurers today was almost twenty, but some of these people have shady backgrounds.
Once every adventurer had been gathered, he proceeds with an introduction.
"Greetings everyone, may I have your attention please," Isaac called out, and every adventurer turns to him, "First off, I would like to thank everyone here for accepting this noble's request. I know some of you may despise us. but rest assured I am not like those people,"
Some of the adventurers scowled and clicked their tongues at his statement. But they decided to tolerate him as this request seemed important.
"Now, on to the first order of business," Isaac declared, then gestures his hand at the first group of adventurers, which was Ezra's party, "These five will be acting as our guide to the Ants' Domain. As you may all know, the Ant Domain is uncharted grounds due to several reasons that all of you should know,"
This info tempted them as the Ant Domain often holds a lot of treasure that can make one man rich, or rather make one a king. The real problem was the ants clashing against each other, and most people know the tragedy of interfering with their wars...
"As for your roles, the rest of you will act as my guards since the Ants' Domain isn't just filled with battle-readied ants," Isaac stated, "For those of you, who are rangers here. Sharpen your senses and alert everyone of any approaching threat. If they are monsters, you have my permission to kill them. But if they are ants, we must avoid any means of confrontation since we don't stand a chance should two armies clash from all sides. Do I make myself clear?"
The rest of the adventurers didn't sound enthusiastic, but they are tempted by the possible riches and responded to Isaac.
"Good enough," Isaac said, "Now gather everything you need for the journey, we will leave soon tomorrow morning..."
With that meeting settled, the adventurers went their separate ways to gather all essentials while Ezra and his party were the last groups to stay. Though the expressions they wore were out of concern...
"Do you think Nadia will find this acceptable?" Ezra inquired,
"To be honest... I don't know," Arnold remarked,
"What about you, Eva? Do you think Nadia will accept these people?" Carona inquired and all eyes were on her,
Eva glanced at every one of their eyes, then sighs as they are meant with uncertainty, "I... Don't know..."
This amasses some concern among them, they may be possible exceptions but the same cannot be said for the other adventurers.
But with the things they are now, they chose to keep this matter to themselves and hope that nothing goes wrong once Isaac meets with Nadia...