"The leader inspects several tribes in rotation. According to one of the Insect-n, the leader is due to visit their tribe in about one to two months,"
"What about the other common Insect-n? If they find the tribe’s Guardian has suddenly disappeared, won’t they go report it to the leader?" Han Ning asked.
"Probably not. I’m still clarifying this point, but the gist is that the common Insect-n are very weak, just like ordinary humans. Their only roles in the tribe are to reproduce and raise the insect swarms. They’re more like advanced livestock, confined to a specific area by their leader."
Han Ning frowned. "Then what’s the point of the leader raising a bunch of useless people?"
"To cultivate insect swarms. They use the power of the swarms to collect those black worms we encountered and process them into that pungent liquid, which is then handed over to the leader."
Lena flipped through her papers and said:
"Also, my observations over the past few days have revealed that these Insect-n can’t actually form contracts with Soul Beasts. Even the most powerful insects you encountered were elite specins, raised using the collective resources of an entire tribe. They use special thods to provide for these insects in exchange for their protection."
"What about the leader?"
"The leader... The information is incomplete, but it’s highly likely they’re like us and can form contracts with Soul Beasts."
"According to the translation of the Insect Language, they call their leader the—Insect Master."
"And those Insect-n who follow the Insect Master’s commands and can play flutes are called—Insect Servants."
"As for the common Insect-n at the very bottom, they’re probably—Insect Slaves..." Lena sounded a little uncertain.
"Insect Master..." Han Ning fell silent.
"All the tribe’s techniques for raising insects originate from the Insect Masters. They are incredibly mysterious; even the Insect Servants have rarely seen their faces."
"In that case... if we use the Insect-n’s techniques to raise insects, won’t we be at a disadvantage against an Insect Master if a fight breaks out?" Dean Wu asked.
Lena nodded.
"Yes, that’s highly probable. But, as you suggested, we can first use the insect swarms to gather resources. These Insect Servants don’t have contracts with the insects either, yet they can still command them."
"Have you asked how many Insect Tribes there are in this wasteland?" Lü Xiuning suddenly said.
"I did... Their answer was... countless? Perhaps they ant a great many, too many to count."
"How far is their tribe from us?" Han Ning continued to ask.
Lena took out a map drawn by the Insect-n, spread it open, and pointed to the northwesternmost part. "The scale of this map is roughly 1 to 30 kiloters. The Insect-man ruins you previously discovered are about two hundred kiloters from their tribe."
"Combining your descriptions with the information from the Insect Servants, that blood-red grassland is actually a shared insect-rearing ground for several tribes."
"And the ruin you entered is a Divine Hall created by the Insect-n to worship their Divine Beings."
"Are there conflicts between the Insect Tribes?" soone else asked.
"Yes. Between tribes, and between Insect Masters, they will fight fiercely over resources," Lena said with certainty.
"I happen to know a little about that." Lü Xiuning placed a waist pouch nearly identical to the one on Han Ning’s hip onto the table. From it, he took out a fist-sized, fiery red egg.
"This Insect Egg seems to be a precious resource that the Insect-n seized from another tribe, which we then confiscated."
"Those two fireflies by the door just now were larvae that had recently hatched from their eggs," Lena added.
Under the bright white light, the fiery red egg emitted a faint red glow.
A curled-up firefly could be vaguely seen inside.
As Han Ning listened to Lena’s explanation, a simple diagram of the Insect-man social structure began to form in his mind. He thought about the pungent liquid and how it might help everyone rapidly increase their Spiritual Power, so he asked:
"Lady Lena, how much knowledge about the Insect-n’s insect-rearing thods have we gathered so far?"
"We’ve only just begun. Although the Insect Language is simple, it still takes ti to learn. It will probably take at least ten days to half a month before I can translate so of their writings with relative accuracy."
’There’s only a month left before the Insect Master is likely to co for us...’
Even now, Han Ning couldn’t deduce what level the Insect Master was at.
But based on the fact that Insect Servants could command Awakening IV insects in battle, an Insect Master had to be capable of displaying at least Extraordinary Level power.
Not to ntion their treacherous thods of controlling insects.
"A month... It’s not a long ti, but it’s not short either. We can only take it one step at a ti. First, we’ll complete the established plan, and then we’ll see what cos next."
Dean Wu’s expression didn’t change much, but because he had more information than he did two days ago, his constantly furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
...
「Afternoon.」
Han Ning stood in an open area near the dormitories, watching Yin Yi and Egg Pancake engage in a sparring match where Yin Yi was clearly going easy on him.
"JII JII!"
Egg Pancake brought its forelimbs together and took a light Vine Whip from Yin Yi head-on, stumbling back five or six ters before steadying itself.
"Egg Pancake, put so effort into it! Did you not eat? Use your full strength! If you can leave even a single mud stain on Yin Yi, I’ll give you five cans of at later."
"JII!"
Hearing Han Ning’s words, a hazy, earth-yellow glow spread from the tips of Egg Pancake’s claws. Globs of mud materialized between its claws and were then continuously hurled at Yin Yi.
Yin Yi made a simple gesture.
Countless small Flower Thorns instantly ford around it, flying toward the incoming mud balls like a sudden storm.
Seeing that its projected mud couldn’t hit Yin Yi at all, Egg Pancake stomped its feet and charged straight at Yin Yi like a small, wild bull.
Although it was a Soul Beast specializing in physical combat, Yin Yi was two major tiers stronger. Just by using ordinary vines, Yin Yi could flay the skin from Egg Pancake’s flesh.
"JIWU~ JIWU~"
Egg Pancake’s advance was blocked by the blurs of Yin Yi’s whips.
One after another, hard-to-see blurs struck its body, making Egg Pancake howl in pain.
Gradually, more and more whip marks appeared on Egg Pancake’s body.
The whips carried an effect that made wounds difficult to heal, greatly hindering the recovery speed of Egg Pancake’s injuries.
Before long, Egg Pancake’s skin was split open, and it beca a bloody Great Guardian.
"Alright, Yin Yi, stop. Any more and Egg Pancake is really going to cry," Han Ning called out to Yin Yi.
"Jii?" Egg Pancake wiped a sar of blood from its face, looking a bit dazed.
’Who said I was crying?’
A thin vine wrapped around its body. A faint green light flickered, and the wounds from the whipping began to heal rapidly.
’As expected. Only through high-intensity battles, with rapid consumption of Physical Strength and Spiritual Energy, can Energy be absorbed quickly. It’s finally reached its limit.’
Han Ning looked at Egg Pancake’s panel:
[
Race: Swamp Guardian
Gender: Male
Talent: F
Level: Entry Level IV (/)
Talent: None
Acquired Soul Techniques: Wandering Tongue Entanglent IV (/), Mud Missile IV (/)
Power: 19 (Limit Reached)
Body: 20 (Limit Reached)
Agility: 20 (Limit Reached)
Spiritual Energy: 4.5 (Limit Reached)
Elental Affinity (Earth): 2.3
Fire: 1
]
[This Soul Beast has t the requirents for its first evolution. The Swamp Guardian has multiple evolution paths. A choice must be made.]
[Rock-breaking Lizard: Power, Physical Strength, and agility as Primary Attributes; Spiritual Energy as a Support Attribute. Earth, E Talent.]
[Rock Fire Lizard: Power, Physical Strength, and agility as Primary Attributes; Spiritual Energy as a Support Attribute. Earth, Fire, E Talent.]
[Earth Vein Guardian: Earth Elent Affinity, Spiritual Energy as Primary Attribute, Earth Type, E Talent.]
[Forged Fire Guardian: Earth, Fire Affinity, Spiritual Energy as Primary Attribute, Earth, Fire Type, E Talent.]
’Oh? I didn’t expect Egg Pancake to have evolution branches focused on Spiritual Energy...’
Han Ning glanced over Egg Pancake’s panel.
But the Talent for the last two options—the Spiritual Energy paths—wasn’t as high as the physical paths. He dismissed them with a single glance.
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