No hesitation. Six Dragon Hornets dead — Shen Cong loaded the carcasses onto Great Vajra immediately and drove.

Partway along the route, he stopped to coat both the Dragon Hornet bodies and Great Vajra's exterior armor with gasoline, masking the scent trail. Dragon Hornets tracked by smell. He wasn't going to lead them anywhere that mattered.

He took the ring road east and stopped only when he reached Dianbu River in Feidong County.

He didn't return to the Mingfa Camp. If Dragon Hornets followed the scent and found him there, the camp would be destroyed in the resulting swarm retaliation, regardless of whether he personally survived. Better to wait here.

Great Vajra sat at the river's edge. If a Dragon Hornet colony came tracking, he'd drive straight in. The Dianbu River — Hefei's mother river — ran a hundred meters wide, deep enough at its center to submerge Great Vajra completely. The vehicle had been built fully sealed against flooding; a retractable ventilation port in the roof could supply air for an extended period underwater. Getting back out was the awkward part, but the winch would handle it.

He checked the Antgod's condition. Wounds across its body, numerous but not critical. Rest would handle it. Blackhead's carapace had been bitten through — same prescription.

Then he noticed something about the Antgod that hadn't been there before.

Its abdomen was significantly larger.

"Are you a queen now? Carrying eggs?"

The Antgod's response came back through the link, simple and certain: Mother. Eggs. Find place. Build colony.

"The ant burrow is yours." He'd built the room for both of them. The Antgod was back, and back as a queen. He gave her the space without hesitation.

Rescuing the Antgod had been a calculated risk that had just paid unexpectedly well. A colony of giant ants, eventually — that was worth thinking about. Directing a colony in combat someday, experiencing the chaos of swarm tactics from the commanding side.

The Antgod settled into the ant burrow to recover. Blackhead installed herself at the door as an entirely self-appointed guard, ferrying food and water…