Rui grew fascinated by the ants as the two of them began vigorously extracting the esoteric ore deposits one by one. They aggressively went all out with picking and storing them in the dimensional storage ring.
The reason for this was they didn't have any time to waste. Unlike with the other dungeon floors, they were on a time limit. They had to get as many esoteric ore deposits as they could before the ants, despite their slow pace, found and extracted all of them.
Unlike normal, the two of them worked till they were absolutely exhausted, before immediately consuming rejuvenation potions to bring themselves back to their peaks.
It was only half a day before they completely drained all of the esoteric ore deposits of the seventeenth floor, barring the stockpile at the center of the ant mountain.
"Have another physical rejuvenation potion," Rui told him. "Also, have a mental rejuvenation potion too."
"I just had a physical one a while back," Kane frowned.
"I know," Rui nodded. "But it is best if you're at your absolute peak for this, wasting a potion is better than dying."
"Alright," Kane sighed before quickly consuming two potions in rapid succession. "Now what?"
"Your max time limit for a single rung of Void Step is twenty minutes," Rui told him. "That's not enough time to get all of the esoteric ore deposits in the center of the ant mountain when you factor in the time needed to get in and out of the ant mountain."
"What do we do then?" Kane frowned. "Do we go in for a second round?"
"No," Rui shook his head. "We should be able to get around seventy-five or eighty percent of the esoteric ore deposits, we'll leave the rest back here."
"You want to leave behind that much?" Kane furrowed his eyebrows.
Twenty percent may seem small, but given the sheer amount of revenue that the esoteric ore deposits of a single floor could yield, that was no different from leaving behind dozens of millions of Kandrian gold coins worth of esoteric ore deposits.
"Yeah," Rui nodded. "The reason for that is because it is quite likely that the queen ant needs those esoteric ore deposits to reproduce and lay eggs producing monsterified ants. Without it, she most likely will be unable to reproduce to replace the slain ants that will run into Martial Squire adventurers."
"Meaning…?"
"Meaning the ants won't be a permanent threat to the Martial Squires without it. If she has enough to reproduce the slain soldiers in time for the new supply of esoteric ore deposits to come from the ants who returned after leaving the floor, then she'll be able to maintain a rate of reproduction that matches the rate of the ants dying against Martial Squires, what that means is that unless the Martial Squires actually find the seventeenth floor and kill the queen ant, the ants will never stop being a threat and never stop being replenished. They will be able to hinder the other adventurers even more if we make sure to leave behind some esoteric ore deposits to ensure that the queen can sustain the population."
"So those esoteric ore deposits we leave behind are kind of like a commission from us to the ants to hinder the other adventurers as much as possible. The ants are kind of like mercenaries, and we are the clients," Kane understood Rui's plan, likening it to a human analogy.
"More or less," Rui chuckled. "Although the ants are unaware of this deal and aren't exactly consenting. So it's closer to us manipulating them to get what we want. It's an effective way to essentially convert a part of our profits into hindering our opponents."
"And you're sure that they'll leave the dungeon to get more esoteric ore deposits?" Kane asked, with a dubious expression. "I thought you didn't have that much knowledge on the ants."
"You're right, I don't. But I have other ways to ascertain what they'll do,"
Rui turned back towards them as he paid attention to the macro and micro-gestures that they made in addition to the sounds they produced.
It wasn't every day he got to use his Fauna Flow technique, one that allowed him to accurately interpret animalistic communication and even communicate using that same language, but it was useful in times like these.
FOOD
FOOD
FOOD
FOOD
FOOD
That was the only thing these ants conveyed when he interpreted their auditory and non-verbal communication. They were like drones, or robots with no other thought process at all. It was also why he was unsure whether these incredibly inhumane creatures were even susceptible to the Void Step technique.
"Alright, if you say so," Kane shrugged. He was already accustomed to trusting Rui over matters like this, and so far Rui had an almost perfect track record.
"Alright, you should make sure your mental state is absolutely ready for what we are about to endeavor on," Rui told him. "I honestly don't mind if you take your time to center and focus yourself. It's worth it."
"Then I'll take you up on that," Kane replied as he settled in a tunnel, cross-legged as he closed his eyes.
He quickly employed a breathing technique that aided with concentration. Rui could feel the pressure that Kane was radiating increasing as time passed as he was bringing out everything he had.
Fifteen minutes later, a faint sense of pressure prickled at Rui as Kane opened his eyes. Kane was truly at his peak at the moment.
"Let's go," He told Rui simply, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Right," Rui smiled. "Activate Void Step when I tell you."
The two of them immediately set out towards the ant mountain, before getting close enough to be spotted by the ants.
"Now," Rui told him.
Kane immediately activated the technique. The two of them immediately dived into a tunnel leading into the mountain as they disappeared out of the field of vision of the ants, who promptly returned to their jobs as if nothing happened.
