On her second day of rest, Maki did something rare—she stayed home and slept peacefully under a thick quilt.
Why, you ask?
Because the Aokami was gone. So was Tenkai-ro. The Kohibi was gone. Kurohana, Mitsu, and even Shinra—gone too.
She's talking about her ant empires. One by one, over the span of a few months, every colony collapsed.
The Aokami started off strong. Then, something went wrong—an error in its behavior algorithm. Suddenly, the entire ant nest began a death spiral, quite literally. The ants crowded together and began circling the queen nonstop in a crazed, endless loop, until they collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Maki watched the bizarre sight for an entire day. It looked like some kind of dark ritual, like they were summoning an evil god—ominous and disturbing.
Eventually, Maki had enough. She poured a pot of boiling water over them, and just like that, the Aokami was gone.
Tenkai-ro, though, was bold—too bold. Always trying to expand beyond the boundaries Maki had drawn for it, curious about the world, eager to "discover the Grand Line" and see new lands. It barely had any fleets but was already getting reckless. Maki figured that instead of letting it get wrecked by nature, she'd end its journey herself and cure its sea obsession. So that was the end of that.
As for Kohibi, its territory was too small. It overexploited its limited resources until the whole system collapsed. In a final frenzy, ants began devouring each other. It was utter chaos. The fat queen was torn apart first. Then, the rest of the colony turned on itself. One by one, they killed and cannibalized each other until not a single ant was left alive.
Maki was disappointed. She had provided enough resources for them to thrive—enough to sustain a decent-sized colony indefinitely. But they were too greedy. That kind of ravenous, self-destructive behavior wasn't what she wanted from her ants.
Kurohana? It shattered.
One night, the queen of that massive empire was suddenly killed. Without her, the worker ants—her sisters—began singing their own songs, forming independent legions and attacking each other on sight. The fighting was vicious. But none of the new "leaders" could reproduce.
Maki watched with morbid fascination. She was curious—would any of them evolve parthenogenesis at the last minute? Would someone rise up as the next queen and save the collapsing empire?
But no. They all died.
No one really knows why the queen was killed in the first place. What they do know is that the whole civil war was over a boy. Apparently, there was one particularly handsome ant, and none of the sisters wanted anyone else to have him. If one couldn't win him, she'd rather kill him than let her sisters have a chance. No heirs, no rivals.
Very petty. Very dramatic.
Each colony fell for its own reasons. But it was Mitsu that truly broadened Maki's perspective.
In that colony, a group of worker sisters held the queen hostage. They controlled her reproductive rights, used her as a puppet to dominate the others. The rest of the ants toiled endlessly, while the ruling caste gorged themselves on food, lying lazily atop piles of resources, growing fat and indulgent.
When a worker ant collapsed from exhaustion, they'd force the queen to continue laying eggs. And if she refused, they beat her into submission.
The worker ants weren't happy about the protests and strikes, so they were fed honey—one by one. As soon as they were fed, they began working again, cheerfully.
And just like that, society kept functioning.
"Why are you keeping all these ants for New Year, anyway?" someone asked.
Maki casually scooped them all up and dried them under the streetlamp until they became proper ants.
As for Shinra, well… all I can say is: that's just how it tastes.
Along the way, various villains had enslaved multiple ant colonies planted by Maki. The number grew like an inflating balloon. At their peak, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them the strongest force around.
They built concentration camps to control prisoners, treating it like a game.
But this wasn't the kind of ant Maki wanted.
She was looking for ones that were hardworking and intelligent, incredibly strong yet cautious—neither too aggressive nor afraid of conflict. Ideally, they'd be sustainable too: able to farm, unlock agriculture, and build long-term.
But so far, that kind of ant hadn't appeared.
Still, Shinra was powerful, and it seemed promising. If it could successfully raise a swarm, then maybe that was enough.
But Maki didn't have much time to hesitate.
Because Shinra was gone.
It started with a captured queen ant who committed suicide out of humiliation. Her swarm descended into chaos. Shinra tried to control it by force—and ended up killing them all.
When the other queens saw this, they followed her example and killed themselves, one by one.
The remaining queens, refusing to face death, stopped laying eggs. Without cheap labor being born, Shinra's empire started to unravel.
He frantically tried to suppress the chaos, but with the queens gone, the slaves had no command structure. Corpses piled up. Driven into a frenzy, Shinra killed the remaining queens himself—and his slave empire collapsed almost instantly.
Eventually, the last survivor gnawed the corpse of what once was an empire… and fell beside it.
Watching it unfold was strangely epic. But when it ended, another feeling took over.
All that effort.
All of it… wasted.
But at least now Maki could finally get some sleep.
In her dreams, everything was fine.
---
Hitomi and Naori sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the curled-up form of Maki with hopeful eyes.
"Maki! Get up and eat!" Yumi shouted from downstairs.
Maki squirmed like a worm under the covers.
Hitomi and Naori's eyes grew even more eager.
It was impossible to sleep with a mask on.
As Maki began to stir, they leaned in closer, practically holding their breath.
With a groggy expression, Maki finally lifted the blanket and sat up. Her dark purple hair was a mess, several tufts sticking out stubbornly.
She looked around blankly. Her eyes landed on the disappointed-looking Hitomi and Naori.
Didn't I already wake up?
Maki flopped back down and covered herself again.
Then suddenly, she shot upright.
"Who even sleeps with a mask on!? What kind of person does that?" Naori said in confusion.
Hitomi nodded rapidly in agreement.
Maki scratched her hair, annoyed.
"You two really want to mess with me, huh!? Get out!" she snapped, pointing toward the door.
Naori didn't seem to mind. She pulled a nervous Hitomi with her and stepped outside—thoughtfully closing the door behind her.
That Naori… she definitely broke in without asking.
Maki sat stunned for a moment, her groggy mind slowly returning. She clapped her hands sharply, and a strange purple hue spread across her body.
Three minutes later, Maki patted down her mask. A mechanical sound emitted from her mouth, followed by a puff of purple smoke.
The microbiome was seriously useful—especially for hygiene. It was way easier than housing dangerous bugs.
Most bacterial parasites couldn't be removed easily, but microscopic ones could.
No matter how much candy you ate, you didn't have to worry. The excess calories even helped the microbes digest faster.
After washing up and getting dressed, Maki yawned and headed down to the second floor.
As for why she slept with the mask on? She just got too used to it and forgot to take it off before bed.
Especially when sleepiness hit hard.
---
As always, breakfast at Maki's house was a feast.
Naori was already enjoying her food with a smile.
Hitomi stared stiffly at the plates piled with all sorts of insects, swallowing hard.
"U-uh, isn't eating something this rich in the morning bad for your stomach…?" she muttered.
"It's already noon," Naori replied matter-of-factly.
Maki glanced at Hitomi and ignored her.
Eat as much as you like.
She added a bowl of rice and reached for her chopsticks.
"If you're too scared, I can make something more normal," Yumi offered kindly.
"I'm not scared!" Hitomi protested, offended. She stabbed her chopsticks into the food with renewed determination.
Yumi tilted her head, slightly confused by this child.
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