Dragon Cypress used the Dominating Throne to carry the essential dium, small, and micro Worker Ants and Blue Ants for pioneering the new nest, flying ahead to lead the way.
The Expeditionary Army set off, hugging the Divine Power Barrier as they advanced.
Crossing mountains and hills, riding waves and braving the tides.
King Level Specialized Blue Soldiers could rely on their own Hydrology Shield to pass through the Undersea Starship Passage.
The Snow Velvet Spider King and his group dug a new underground tunnel leading to the island's interior.
They walked through,
and the exit was on the northern side of an inconspicuous mountain, facing the Divine Power Barrier.
...
"Great King!"
Cypress jogged up the mountain peak.
Behind, the large Ant Army stread out of the tunnel one after another, swarming to the summit, standing on high ground, and gazing in all directions.
Verdant mountains and forests, vast seas.
"Great King! Even the sea breeze in the Southern Hemisphere slls different!"
"Yes, that's the scent of the Divine God-Given Seed of the Wind System!"
"Oh——"
"Great King, can that Eddy Scorpionfish Ant King really not co here?"
"That's an exceptionally clever Ant King. Before charging into the Zhibai Continent, how could it not plan a way out? It considered two options: first, if the Stone Hunt Blue Ant Army from Blue Island successfully took the continent and opened the Dragon Stride Mountain cross-realm passage; second, if the Blue Island war failed, it couldn't make it here, its life span ended, and it had to depart from the Origin Force Star Realm. It entered the Zhibai Continent with the Life Seed, so it never intended to force through the Dragon Stride Mountain blockade."
Dragon Cypress added, "Of course, there's a third possible outco: it was accidentally surrounded by powerful foes and died in battle on Zhibai Continent."
Cypress: "Oh..."
Cypress was speechless for four or five seconds before struggling to say, "Great King, that Eddy Scorpionfish Ant King is truly ruthless!"
Dragon Cypress: "The Ant Clan is belligerent, but never reckless. The Eddy Scorpionfish Ant King must have been fully confident that it alone could throw all the tribes of Zhibai Continent into chaos, leaving them restless; as a single ant, it could pin down the entire Zhibai Continent and even so of Bayonet Continent's forces."
Dragon Cypress: "So far, the Eddy Scorpionfish Ant King has succeeded—its claw is plunged into the enemy's belly. Not fatal, but able to claim a life at any mont. Most Insect Clan Warriors who rushed to reinforce Wave Tree Bay have returned to Zhibai Continent to protect their own tribes. Even Fla Spider Roving rchants hardly dare to roam. The Eddy Scorpionfish Ant King has pushed its advantages to the extre."
Cypress: "But it's also provoked the wariness and hatred of all tribes and kingdoms of Zhibai and Bayonet Continents toward Blue Island. In the past, many tribes didn't join the war, but such actions have forced those tribes or kingdoms to join the fight against Blue Island."
Dragon Cypress: "Those are all Insect Clans skilled in ground warfare."
Dragon Cypress: "Cypress, what you say is reasonable. But leave that for now. Co on, let's go take a look at King Ant Goldna's Ant Nest."
Cypress shook its tentacles to issue orders.
Whoosh—
The Blue Soldier army charged down the mountain...
...
Leafcutter Ants need to cultivate fungus.
King Ant Goldna's Ant Nest is mainly built beneath the mountain, in the damp underground depths, similar to the habits of the Giant-Headed Ants. With a ready-made Ant Nest, just widening the chambers a bit will let the Water System Blue Soldiers settle in directly.
The nest chambers established on the mountain are a bit few, requiring expansion to provide for ants other than those of the Water System.
Then they checked other branch nests elsewhere and found the situation much the sa.
Dragon Cypress and Cypress spent half a day dividing ten thousand Blue Soldiers into three units to garrison separately.
...
Next, they surveyed the island's terrain.
A narrow, north-south trending island about 60 kiloters long—narrow in the north and a bit wider in the south, but at its widest, barely 10 kiloters across, right where King Ant Goldna's Main Nest was.
The Main Nest remained, and the mountain where the Main Nest was would be nad 'Xianglan Peak'.
About four kiloters north of Xianglan Peak, they selected a mountain as the site for a future branch nest, planning to excavate a river and a large lake nad 'Azure Lake' beneath it, for Azure, Southern Gorgon, Northern Gorgon, and Sea Blue Tree Divine-Given Seeds to take root.
About four kiloters south of Xianglan Peak, they chose another hill and nad it 'Wangbai Mountain'—to open another branch nest there, with King Cypress taking root.
With Xianglan Peak as center, King Cypress and Azure at north and south commanding the ant swarm, Dragon Cypress's and Ink Orchid's God-Given Life Seeds could be planted in mixed stands, managed by the two of them respectively.
After finishing the survey and planning,
Cypress sprawled atop the mountain's high outpost.
Dragon Cypress personally used its claws, activating Earth System Abilities to dig a giant pit thirty ters wide and six ters deep, preparing for the transplanting of King Cypress.
...
The island had lain barren for twenty years. The orchards and woodlands once cleared by King Ant Goldna had been swallowed by rampant weeds, vines, shrubs, and wild trees.
The rivers and channels were clogged.
Torrential rains pooled water, and on ground not hardened by Earth System Abilities, large slopes collapsed and slid away.
The waterways needed clearing, orchards needed reconstruction, and the terrain needed replanning.
Zhibai, Goldna Tree, Rainbow Poplar, Long-Pod Inca Bean, and the Fey Oil Fruits refined and improved by King Ant Goldna—these ten or so arbors could be preserved and promoted for wider planting. The other vegetation originally grown in the orchards and forests could all be cut and replaced by Silver Cypress No. 3004 and 4002.
The island's defensive works also needed a complete overhaul.
Using a plan similar to Swinging Leaf Island, Dragon Cypress intended to build escape tunnels deep underground and construct a complex water vein network.
The engineering workload was imnse, requiring over four thousand Mountain Ants and Worker Ants of various sizes, as well as two thousand large and small logistics Blue Ants.
While working, Dragon Cypress also began cultivating the ant swarm.
...
In the coming days, travel between Northern and Southern Hemispheres might be required. To avoid delaying ant swarm cultivation, Dragon Cypress specially used Earth-Stone Ability to build a petite Ant Nest and placed it on the Dominating Throne to carry with him.
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