He woke up sharp and rested.

Every trace of last night's exhaustion was gone. Body and mind at full capacity.

The sun hadn't risen yet.

He'd already washed up, worked through a boxing form, and eaten a full breakfast before it crested the horizon. Then he went to the greenhouse to check on the Treasure Bees, the Activity Sweet Potatoes, Life-Saving Yellow Soybeans, Activity Peach seedling, Awakening Lotus, and Mechanical Vine.

All normal.

He moved on to the ant burrow.

The colony had grown considerably. Five ant pupae, seven larvae, twelve eggs — Blackhead busy with all of it around the clock. The Antgod, Talent boosted from the meteorite fragment exposure, had grown another increment in size.

"Hm."

Something was different today. Among the twelve eggs, there was a thirteenth — twice the size of any of the others.

"What's this?" He sent the inquiry through his perceptual link with the Antgod.

Her response came quickly: Evolution... stronger... special.

He thought through what that meant. "You're saying this egg is an evolved egg — or that it's a special egg you laid deliberately?"

Special.

"A special egg you produced. Is this differentiation?"

He picked up the oversized egg and examined it. The Talent reading: 0.6H — compared to approximately 0.45H for the standard eggs, a gap of 0.15H. And Vajra Ants gained additional Talent during molting and pupation.

Which meant this individual might eventually reach approximately 0.8H Talent. Higher than the Antgod's current 0.774H.

"The Vajra Ant colony can differentiate. Excellent."

He set the egg back down, visibly pleased.

Differentiation was a natural phenomenon in certain ant species — analogous to the natural variation in body type among any population, but structured. Different ant breeds had different growth patterns. Species like leafcutter ants and bullet ants could differentiate into large, medium, and small worker and soldier castes, along with ultra-large specialist soldiers and divine-tier major workers — individuals that could be dozens of times the size of standard ants.

Among hobbyist ant-keepers, the most anticipated moment was when a colony produced specialist-tier individuals. A specialist soldier standing among ordinary workers…