Chapter 1431 – Colony Crawls Forward

It was slow at first, but accelerated quickly. The vents, which had been spewing mana directly into the heart of the Colony’s claimed territory and surrounds, reduced their output, and eventually stopped.

Solant was somewhat pleased.

“We return to the standard timetable immediately. I want alternative plans to handle vents within our marked borders drawn up within the hour. Juliant and Subutant, you’re on that.”

“How do you want them handled?” Juliant sought clarification.

“Containment. We won’t destroy something we don’t understand. Trying to do something drastic may well just blow up in our mandibles.”

“Got it, general.”

The two carvers scuttled away to work on designs and plans that could be incorporated into the grander scheme as Solant turned her attention to other matters. They’d been put behind schedule, and in a race against time, that wasn’t something she was happy with. Work had continued, but the expansion and exploration which were such key planks in this scheme were dramatically behind. Currently, the blue mana only covered less than a third of the area required for the safe construction of the fortress.

“Leonidant and Washingtant. I want you to find the Eldest and get them back into the depths. We can’t push deeper without their help, not even remotely as quickly, at least.”

“What about the guardians?”

“If they are willing, they should return to their assigned posts.”

The situation was so fluid and dynamic that perfect information was impossible to come across, but the Colony’s network of runners and mages did their best to relay information straight back to the command post so the model could be updated in as close to real time as possible, moving markers across the enormous, detailed model of the terrain. In many ways, Solant didn’t need it, she saw the whole campaign in her head, just from catching the scent of the updates as they came through, but looking at the model seemed to help her think.

Right now, orders were being sent out to the entire expeditionary force to once more press for expansion. The entire safe-zone was a hive of activity, with ants frenetically running all over the place, reconnecting with their battalions and getting back on schedule. In fact, they had far more antpower than they needed right now. The waves of troops pouring in from the fourth hadn’t ceased for a moment, even though they weren’t able to reach their assignments.

For the time being, they’d been absorbed into the already deployed battalions until such time they could enact their tasks. Throwing more ants at a problem wasn’t always a way to make it go away faster, but it usually helped.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

With all of the problems the fifth was throwing at them, having more ants around to push back wasn’t a bad thing in Solant’s book, not at all.

Into the chaos of the command post came two respected figures, just as rushed and hectic as everyone else.

“Ellie, Bella, nice to see you,” Solant greeted them in clipped tones. “How can I help you?”

The two core shapers looked at each other for a brief moment before turning back to Solant and speaking at the same time.

“It’s about the wuffers,” they both said.