Chapter 3 – 003: Dominating Throne

Ants have Pheromones that can be used to mark paths, but their duration is limited.

Dragon Cypress did not act rashly. Instead, he first conducted repeated tests and practice to familiarize himself with the duration of his own Pheromones. Only then did he set out, carefully timing each journey to quickly return to the main passage.

Days of continuous exploration revealed nothing but violently destroyed doors and rooms pillaged clean. Some rooms even had their removable doors taken away. Occasionally, he would see unidentifiable items that had been shattered because they could not be removed.

Melde was right. Though the Starship was large, every Ant King could command an Ant Army tens of thousands strong. Over the long years, everything that could be taken had been, and everything that could be destroyed had been.

But there were exceptions…

Dragon Cypress memorized many paths, growing bolder and venturing deeper.

He accidentally entered an unusually wide corridor. The rooms on both sides had thick, round metal hatch doors that looked extremely sturdy. The doors were covered in various destruction marks, showing they had been subjected to the frenzied attacks of a Metal System Insect King but had not been breached.

In total, there were ten such doors, ten rooms. Nine of them had been damaged by Insects from the side, and inside, there was nothing left. The remaining room had no holes in its walls, just a moderately-sized, damaged opening near the ceiling.

Dragon Cypress flew to the opening to inspect it closer. The outer layer of the wall’s metal had been severely damaged by the brute force of an Insect King from an unknown era but was stopped by a layer of dark golden Metal Plates sandwiched in the middle. The Metal Plate itself was intact. On this Metal Plate was a regular round hole, presumably an original feature of the room, about six or seven centimeters in diameter.

Dragon Cypress pressed his face to the hole to look inside the room and immediately cheered with excitement.

There was something!

In the center of the room, on a base, sat a huge spherical object with one-quarter missing. The missing section had a cushion and armrests on both sides. It resembled an Outworld Civilization Artifact he had once seen while traveling with the Caravan—a chair.

Through Perception, Origin Force entered the room through the hole and gathered around the sphere. It seemed it was also an artifact that autonomously gathered Origin Force, aiding in cultivation!

Dragon Cypress looked at the scarred door and tested the wall’s thickness, growing more ecstatic.

Surely the item is valuable; hence the exceptionally sturdy room protection. And perhaps because the spherical chair is too large and too heavy, it was luckily preserved. I definitely can’t move it… but I live nearby! Can I use it to accelerate Evolution?

Thinking this, Dragon Cypress entered the room and cautiously approached, flying around the spherical chair, observing it from top to bottom, left to right. Its surface was made of a deep Azure metal material. The armrests had a wood-grain texture in cyan-blue. The seat cushion and backrest appeared to be made of metal weaving, Deep Blue with white wave and cloud patterns.

Having followed the Caravan and visited many Insect Clan Lords and Insect Kings, Dragon Cypress had seen and understood many strange Outworld Civilization Artifacts. After checking it all around, he was one hundred percent certain this was a super-sized chair that gathered Origin Force and aided in cultivation.

Should be safe, right?

Dragon Cypress calmed his excited and exhilarated heart, flapping his membranous wings up and down, back and forth, inside and out, carefully checking it several times. He could not see any danger in the object, nor could he feel any, which allowed him to boldly settle down on the cushion.

As expected, as soon as he settled, the chair seemed to respond. The dense Origin Force autonomously covered Dragon Cypress, aiding absorption. Dragon Cypress happily fluttered his membranous wings, remaining vigilant for a while. Once he was one hundred percent certain there was no danger, he folded his wings and comfortably lay down.

After lying down for a while, he quickly got up, squeezed out through the hole, and followed the Pheromone trail he had left, keeping an eye on every door he passed and remembering every corridor junction. After flying back and forth three times, he had memorized the route from the main passageway to the chair’s room.

He returned to the Starship exit where he resided, dragging a Spider Silk Bag filled with winter food. He struggled along the way, resting twice, and finally reached the chair room’s entrance with difficulty. Over several trips, he moved all his food and the Spider Silk Bag into the room.

Once the move was complete, he comfortably settled on the chair’s cushion, greedily absorbing the Origin Force.

After relocating to live inside the Starship, Dragon Cypress also kept track of time. He took a wax leaf, and each day, he bit a notch into it. In the pitch-dark room without sunlight, one could not tell the time. But this did not hinder Dragon Cypress. The Pheromones lasted about half a day; through their natural evaporation and dissipation, he could grasp the rough passage of time.

「Eleven days later,」

Dragon Cypress faintly felt an evolutionary breakthrough was imminent. He took out three grains of Black Sparrow Wheat that Melde had given him before parting—which he had treasured for almost half a year without daring to eat—and consumed them in three portions.

With the replenishment of Origin Force Food, the last layer of fuzziness was broken through. Dragon Cypress began to feel drowsy, a state that lasted for a while before he fell into a deep sleep. The Giant Chair seemed to sense this, accelerating its absorption rate of Natural Primordial Force. This force converged around Dragon Cypress, and with ongoing accumulation, the extremely dense Origin Force emitted a snow-white, hazy, fluffy light that looked like a Light Cocoon.

「Time passed, unknown for how long,」

The Origin Force Light Cocoon suddenly scattered.

Dragon Cypress, who had awoken, slowly raised his head. He remained silent for a long while before coming to his senses: he was in a room inside the Starship, and he had fallen into a deep sleep on a Giant Chair that assisted in cultivation.

Dragon Cypress exerted a gentle effort, and a crack opened in the Carapace on his back. He twisted his body and wriggled out little by little from the old Carapace. His newly tender body began to swell after the Evolutionary Metamorphosis. He spread his membranous wings and waited silently until the new Carapace took shape and hardened.

Primary-Level 5th Age Period Ant King!

The whole process was incredibly smooth. This time, when he awoke from his sleep, he lacked the extreme weakness of the previous three times and only felt a hollow hunger in his stomach.

Dragon Cypress pulled over a strip of dried meat and bowed his head to eat while sorting through his memories.

Every successful Molting Evolution would awaken a portion of Inherited Memory, divided into three major categories: Skills exclusive to the Giant-Headed Ant, animal knowledge, and plant knowledge. In the memories awakened by this Evolution, a new species-specific Skill was included: the release of Pheromones to stimulate the development of Ant Eggs into Specialized Soldier Ants that were even larger than an Ant King.

A solitary Male Ant, where would I find Ant Eggs? Without Ant Eggs, the species-specific Ability awakened in the 5th Age Period Evolution is meaningless.

Animal and plant knowledge, on the other hand, had some uses.

For example, near the Territory where his Life Seed took root, there was a very tall Arbor laden with many fruits. Dragon Cypress did not recognize it before, but now he did: it was called ‘Junqianzi,’ also known as ‘Milk Date’ or ‘Wild Persimmon.’ The fruit was edible, but not advisable to consume in large quantities. The seeds of the Junqianzi, when nurtured, could become a Life Seed, and the condensed Origin Force Fruit it bore would come with the Ability to strengthen the digestive system.

Once I advance to a Mid-Level warrior, I can consider getting one to enrich the variety of Origin Force Food…

Dragon Cypress planned in his heart, eating while sorting through the newly acquired Inherited Memory. The inherited information was fixed; it required time and thought to mentally ‘read’ it several times before one could grasp it preliminarily, to be able to recall it promptly when encountered in the future.

“Hmm?”

Dragon Cypress’s nibbling suddenly froze. Mixed within the awakened knowledge seemed to be some chaotic and nonsensical information:

[Experiment number GADSSS541, Top secret]

[Creator Civilization, Dominating Throne, gene information identification and editing system overhaul complete, transported by the Alliance Expedition Army’s 168th Army, 741st Corps Commander Hou Wenfeng, handed over to Phoenix Galaxy GA541 laboratory director Liu Zhihong…]

[This battle encountered no organized resistance; the Creator Civilization no longer exists.]

[The end point of individual Evolution is eternity; the end point of Civilization’s Evolution is extinction.]

[The present of the Creator Civilization may be the future of Human Civilization.]

[The Dominating Throne was the last struggle of the Creator Civilization, not very significant, but it still has merits worth drawing from for Human Civilization.]

Creator Civilization? Human Civilization? Are Outworld Civilizations also subdivided into Tribes like the Insect Clan? It seems that the Human Civilization waged a war and exterminated a Civilization called ‘the Creators’. Oh! I get it now! The ‘Giant Chair’ beneath me was snatched from the Creator Civilization by the Human Civilization; it’s called the ‘Dominating Throne’.

Dragon Cypress understood some things but remained thoroughly confused, with many uncertainties. He especially wondered why he had received such a piece of information. He had felt something was off as soon as he woke up from his slumber; some connection seemed to have developed between him and the Dominating Throne.

Dragon Cypress pondered over this and could not sit still any longer. He quickly finished his dried meat, vibrated his wings to take off, and landed on the smooth spherical protrusion at the top of the chair’s backrest.

The vague connection became clear, and new information came through:

[Please select a type of Messenger]

[Guardian of Strength]

[Producer of Agriculture]

Messenger? Choose?

Confused and hesitant, Dragon Cypress randomly chose ‘Guardian’.

[Please select the number]

[Number 1]

[Number 2]

Having only two options, Dragon Cypress could only opt for [Number 1].

[Selection complete]

The Dominating Throne shrank rapidly, turning into a tiny chair with a diameter of merely six to seven centimeters. Dragon Cypress flapped his wings and took to the air. After a moment of shock, he calmed down and settled on the chair’s cushion. The Dominating Throne, now neither too large nor too small, fit Dragon Cypress’s size perfectly; he lay on it just right.

Another beam of blue light emanated from the hemispherical protrusion of the chair’s backrest and swept over Dragon Cypress.

[Scanning complete]

[Physical status poor, nutritional and Physical Strength deficits. Please replenish food promptly, ensure water intake, and exercise appropriately.]

[Messenger function closed]

Dragon Cypress: “???”

Dragon Cypress fell silent.

The Dominating Throne was the last struggle of the Creator Civilization… Although I don’t know what it’s for, I can confirm it’s a treasure, and that’s enough…

Dragon Cypress flapped his wings to land on the ground. He grabbed a strip of dried meat to continue nibbling while reaching out with his Mind, trying to control the Throne.

The Dominating Throne rapidly expanded, reverting to its original ‘Giant Chair’ form.

With another thought, the Dominating Throne shrank rapidly, reaching a limit of about three centimeters in diameter, unable to become any smaller. Dragon Cypress tried to lift it with both claws; it was extremely heavy, and his strength as a Primary-Level 5th Age Period Ant King was not enough to budge it in the slightest.

Can’t take it with me?

Dragon Cypress’s thoughts raced as he attempted to control the Dominating Throne to become lighter.

There was no response.

He then tried to control it to roll. The Dominating Throne actually began to RUMBLE and roll.

Delighted, Dragon Cypress looked at the exit hole in the room’s wall. I can’t roll it out through there either.

With another thought, he attempted to control it to take off.

The Dominating Throne actually left the ground.

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