Mice dominate the dungeon

As soon as Tucci finished speaking, the atmosphere between the rats and ants instantly plummeted to freezing point!

But faced with Twitch's stern questioning, the Queen Ant remained unusually calm, as if she had expected it, and slowly replied:

"Normally, I wouldn't be able to produce so many people in such a short time, but..."

"Before our burrowing ants took their nuptial flight, they brought a very rare mineral to this place."

"This ore comes from the 'labyrinth' where I was born..."

Upon hearing this, Tuqi frowned and asked, "Is it a 'local specialty' from your area?"

The queen ant didn't know what "local specialties" meant, but that didn't stop her from continuing to explain:

"It is thanks to the power of this mineral that I am able to command a large and mature army of burrowing ants!!"

Twitch silently brought up the Queen Ant's exclusive panel, and then continued to ask:

"This ore's effect is to allow you to produce more eggs at once?"

"No..." The queen ant shook her head and denied it, "This ore contains a huge amount of life force, which can put me into a wonderful state."

Seemingly knowing what the Rat King Twitch beside her would ask, the Queen Ant spoke directly:

"I don't know how to describe this state in words..."

Tucci, still somewhat skeptical, pressed on, "Is there really such a miraculous mineral?"

"Of course!" the queen ant replied with absolute certainty. "It is just that beautiful and magical!!"

Twitch glanced discreetly at the Queen Ant's status panel.

The above does not show any "guilt" or "unease," but only strong emotions such as "excitement" and "infatuation."

It seems the existence of the ore is most likely real... Twitch muttered to himself.

Where are those ores now?

Twitch showed great interest in the magical mineral the queen ant had mentioned.

Perhaps this ore can also provide him with considerable assistance...

Upon hearing Twitch's words, the queen ant, who had been agitated, gradually calmed down.

He first glanced at the small mouse nestled beside him, then wriggled his enormous belly and said awkwardly in a low voice:

"In order to successfully take revenge on you, I used up all the remaining ore."

"..."

Twitch's face darkened slightly, and the Queen Ant could only try to salvage the situation by saying, "There should be some more of this ore in the 'Maze'."

"The ore is in a 'maze' of unknown depths, and I'm currently on the ninth level. How am I supposed to obtain it?"

"You don't need to do it yourself, Rat King..." The Queen Ant paused, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Perhaps when the next batch of reserve ants arrives here, they will do what we did before, carrying ore with them on their mating flight!"

Tuqi, his expression slightly changing, asked, "You mean there will be burrowing ants migrating to this place through the holes?!"

"Very likely!"

Tucci fell into deep thought. He had initially assumed that the queen ant beside him was one of the last burrowing ants to take their nuptial flight...

If what the queen ant said is true, then he must implement the highest level of oversight of the "hole"!

Once the burrowing ants with minerals successfully complete their mating flight, a giant ant colony will rise up on the ground in a very short time!

Twitch crouched down, extended his claw, and patted the queen ant's enormous abdomen with satisfaction, saying:

"You're much more human-like than the last queen ant!"

"..."

In Tucci's plan, after extracting all the information from the queen ant, he intended to directly drain its body to obtain abundant resources.

But now he has changed his mind.

Letting this intelligent queen ant live might bring him a different kind of surprise.

With that thought in mind, Tucci sent out commands to the rats in their minds as he rushed toward the "hole".

The bloated queen ant was left alone on the spot...

--------

Twitch mobilized all the cattle, horses, and rats from the first division in one go, ordering them to move all the remaining "walls" to the vicinity of the hole.

Under Tucci's command, sections of the city wall were laid down around the hole, encircling it.

Immediately, activate the sniper effect on the city wall to monitor the hole from all angles!

Once a burrowing ant couple flies out of the hole, Twitch can immediately grasp all their actions and trajectories.

It is absolutely impossible to give it any time to develop!

They blocked the spawn point completely!

As the "wall" completely landed, Twitch's consciousness suddenly vibrated.

[Partial areas of the map are now highlighted (notes are welcome)]

[Tribal Territory Expansion +1]

[Lord Experience ↑↑↑]

[Level 21 → 22]

[Holy water reserves are increasing...]

Gold coin storage has increased...

Wow! I've reached level 22... Twitch opened the system, overjoyed.

After the burrowing ants and the mad frogmen's revenge failed, many corpses were left on the battlefield, and these monster corpses gave Twitch a lot of experience.

Upgrade him from LV20 to LV21!

Now, thanks to the experience gained from destroying ant nests and expanding the map, he has successfully leveled up again!

Generally speaking, Twitch isn't very interested in upgrades that aren't level 5 or integer levels, but this upgrade has caught his attention.

After reaching LV22, its storage capacity of holy water and gold coins has reached "9000".

The reason we're keeping an eye on changes in storage is because the growth potential that the "Level 3 Base Camp" provides for Twitch has reached its limit!

At the level 3 Town Hall scale, Twitch has few buildings and units left to upgrade.

All have reached the maximum upgrade level.

If Twitch wants to advance further, he needs to break through this bottleneck and upgrade his "Town Hall Level 3" to "Town Hall Level 4"!

The changes brought about by this upgrade are no less significant than those of Tucci's previous life—upgrading from a junior college degree to a bachelor's degree!

Upgrading to a "Level 4 Headquarters" requires investing a whopping "9000" gold coins!

The increased storage capacity resulting from the upgrade was a crucial step.

As for the amount of gold coins, it's not particularly impressive right now, because he just spent a lot of money repairing the damaged buildings in the park.

According to Twitch's own estimate, if all the monster corpses stored in the park were consumed, he should be able to get a value of "9000"!

Regardless, Twitch is determined to upgrade his base!

After seeing the first division's defenses gradually improve, Tucci withdrew his attention and stopped wasting his energy there.

With the return of most of his consciousness, Twitch's true form, who was in the base camp, also opened his eyes.

Twitch immediately stepped down from the throne and headed towards the warehouse where the monster corpses were stored.

Now he has to use gluttony to break down enough gold coins.

When Tucci opened the gate to the base camp, he saw a figure fall into the room through the crack in the gate.

Big Ears, who was sleeping with his back against the door, suddenly lost the support of the door and fell backward to wake up.

Big Ears stood up groggily and looked at Tuqi, saying:

"Boss! You're finally awake?!"