Chapter 28: The Terrifying Silver Dark-Flame Ant and Su Mu's Intention!

"Activate Absolute Protection!"

Su Mu barely managed to activate the Holy Light Shield before the explosion sent a dizzying shock through him, causing him to lose consciousness immediately.

When Su Mu regained awareness, he found himself back on the surface. The Socrates Basin had completely collapsed, buried beneath countless rubble stones.

The little dragon and Sword Slash stood vigil nearby, their faces filled with concern as they looked at him.

"What just happened?" Su Mu asked, still a bit dazed. He activated his Holographic Eye, a device that recorded everything happening around its host for later review.

It turned out that the moment Su Mu killed the Flame Giant, the mine exploded and collapsed. Fortunately, with Absolute Protection, none of them suffered serious injuries; they were merely trapped under the debris.

Sword Slash and the little dragon had worked together to break through the rubble and drag him back to the surface.

"Sword Slash, Little Dragon, thank you," Su Mu said, turning to his two comrades with gratitude.

Sword Slash gave a human-like smile, while the little dragon affectionately rubbed its head against Su Mu’s cheek.

"Ha ha ha!" Su Mu instantly felt revitalized, bursting into laughter. "I, Su Mu, am truly destined to be the strongest lord. I knew we wouldn’t lose."

"Let me see what rewards we gained from this battle."

Filled with excitement, Su Mu opened his panel.

[Host: Su Mu]
[Level: LV1]
[Attack Power: 66,000]
...
[Skeletal Warrior: Sword Slash]
[Level: LV1]
[Attack Power: 100,000]
...
[Pet Warrior: Little Dragon]
[Level: LV2]
[Attack Power: 70,000]
...

"I can’t believe I already have Platinum 6 strength, Little Dragon is at Platinum 7 and even leveled up, but the most impressive is Sword Slash—he’s already a Diamond-tier combatant."

"Looks like this battle was well worth it."

Su Mu nodded in satisfaction and then used his Holographic Eye to scan the land beneath him.

[Location: Socrates Basin]
[Owner: None]
[Resources: Two Level 4 iron mines.]

This was a huge piece of prime territory he naturally wouldn’t let slip away. However, his team only had three members, so no one was available to guard it.

Returning to his territory to summon soldiers to garrison here was impractical, as Su Mu’s current campaign aimed to seize land spanning forty miles.

The Socrates Basin was merely a starting point; he had many other tasks to accomplish.

"Anyway, these mineral veins won’t run away. I’ll leave it for now. Anyone who dares to claim this land, I, Su Mu, will slaughter them all."

With that firm resolve, Su Mu decided to forgo immediate occupation and continue expanding his domain.

"Sword Slash! Little Dragon! Let’s go!"

Su Mu led his companions onward once more, their destination this time—the Dark Plains, D3 Sector.

This was the territory of the Iron-Eating Beast tribe, essentially panda warriors, about fifteen miles away.

A group of fearsome panda warriors lived there, their strength ranging from Gold 3 to Gold 9.

The weakest was at Gold 3.

Their numbers were unknown, but their combat power was formidable. The three major overlords in the region—

Bloody Mary, the Vampire Queen of the Six Lords, who held the northwest Blood River;
King Yu, the Fallen Knight of the Seven Lords, dominating the northeast Dark Dominion;
The Dark Pope, the saintly ruler of the Southwest Dark Cathedral—

had all attempted to conquer this territory but failed.

Su Mu had not wanted to provoke these golden warriors initially.

But since they blocked the center of his eastward expansion, he couldn’t achieve his strategic goal of expanding eighty miles without taking their land.

Therefore, this battle was inevitable.

...

The team pressed onward.

[Successfully killed 600 Bronze Zombie Bears, experience +1500!]
[Successfully killed 400 Level 5 Silver Zombie Leopards, experience +2000!]
[Successfully killed 300 Level 7 Silver Zombie Tigers, experience +4500]
[Successfully killed 400 Level 5 Silver Zombie Leopards, experience +2000!]

Monsters kept harassing them along the way, but Su Mu’s team easily dispatched them all.

With their current strength, they could freely move about the D3 Sector in the northwest corner of the Dark Forest.

...

[System Alert: Large number of Silver Dark Fire Ants ahead; host advised to avoid.]

Suddenly, the system’s warning sounded in Su Mu’s ear.

"Dark Fire Ants?"
"Terrifying colonial creatures?"
"Traveling in the thousands—so threatening even Diamond-level creatures avoid them."
"They possess incredible resilience; Silver-level ants can resist Platinum-level attacks and evolve infinitely, making them truly fearsome."

Information about the Dark Fire Ants quickly appeared in Su Mu’s mind.

"Retreat!"

Su Mu immediately ordered evasive maneuvers. They found a very tall tree to hide behind.

Dark Fire Ants had poor eyesight and usually wouldn’t attack unless they detected enemies.

Soon, a swarm of about thirty thousand Dark Fire Ants appeared before Su Mu. Each was roughly the size of a human fist, ebony-black with a faint golden flame flickering over their bodies. Their sharp screeches grated on Su Mu’s nerves.

The ants blanketed the ground like a shimmering golden lake in motion.

Along the way, three enormous Golden Dark Steel Bears ambled slowly, oblivious to impending danger.

In an instant, they were engulfed by the golden flood. When it passed, only three massive skeletal frames remained standing, which the wind soon toppled into fragments.

Not only those bears, but everything the Dark Fire Ants passed was devoured clean—living creatures blocking their path, huge stones, even the soil itself.

Su Mu gasped in shock. This was the power of the Dark Fire Ants?

One might be insignificant, but tens of thousands united were overwhelming. Not just Platinum-level beings, even Diamond-level ones would struggle to withstand them.

"Good thing the system warned me in advance, or we’d have ended up like those poor Steel Bears—nothing left but bones."

Su Mu silently breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he deeply realized the terrifying nature of the Dark World. A simple mission might unexpectedly expose him to dreadful creatures.

Fortunately, he had acquired several god-tier sets at the start, or else he wouldn’t even know how he died.

Just then, the unexpected happened—the swarm of Dark Fire Ants stopped right beneath the tree where Su Mu hid.

They formed a tight circle, completely surrounding the tree.

"Damn," a bad feeling surged through Su Mu’s heart.

What’s going on?

Could these Dark Fire Ants be targeting him?

He had only killed a single Diamond-level Flame Giant; the Dark World wouldn’t send such terrifying creatures just to eliminate him, would it?