Chapter 86: Chapter 086 North Mountain Reservoir (Request for Subscription)

(PS: That was my mistake last night, sorry everyone. 11 Chapters were released the day it went on sale, and today’s update is Chapter 12.)

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Many ants make for great strength. After a good twenty days of effort, the big pond set aside for Ink Orchid’s Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed to take root was finally dug out.

The reservoir on the hillside above, with a side length of about six meters, was also completed.

Several diversion channels had been excavated horizontally; after just two or three spring rains, they could be filled to the brim.

The number of Specialized Worker Ants had now reached 300.

Inside the Ant Nest, newly bred large and mid-sized Worker Ants were emerging one after another.

Dragon Cypress and Round Cypress began directing the ant colony to dig at the mouth of the valley, first opening up a drainage ditch to divert the river, and then digging deeper to carve out a dam foundation over 50 meters long, 8 meters wide and 2 to 3 meters deep—a massive undertaking.

The lumber cleared and felled last year to plant Silver Cypress had now found a use as dam construction material, but the quantity would definitely not be enough.

Dragon Cypress took some time to scout the mountains, ring-cutting main trunks to first kill off a batch of arbors. When the summer sun dried them out, they could be directly felled and hauled away for use.

The most important material for dam construction was still: stone blocks.

No hunting in spring—Spiked Cypress couldn’t just stand idle either.

Could Soldier Ants handle stone collection?

Dragon Cypress summoned Spiked Cypress along with its 150 Specialized Soldier Ants, 30 Large Soldier Ants, and 30 Mid-Level Soldier Ants.

In front of Dragon Cypress, big stones, small stones, grayish-white, earth-yellow, black-brown and so on—various samples were lined up in rows.

Spiked Cypress grouped the Soldier Ants, ten in each squad, bringing them forward one by one to learn recognition.

Dragon Cypress continually sent out the signal: [Go into the forest and collect this kind of stone block. Bring them back—any size or shape, as long as you can move it, bring it!]

Ten in a squad—after a quick training, Spiked Cypress urged them into the forest to search.

The Soldier Ants set out in groups, and soon after came scurrying back in waves.

Spiked Cypress kept waving its tentacles, ordering the Soldier Ants to heap the stones together. Then, again in squads of ten, they went back into the woods to keep searching.

Worker Ants and Soldier Ants bred from the Dominating Throne were clearly much more intelligent. Most Soldier Ants could correctly bite onto rocks and bring them back; only a small handful would mess up and come back with prey. But when they realized the Ant King wanted stones and not food, they’d quickly drop the prey, pick up a lump of dirt as if nothing happened, and try to sneak it past everyone.

Soldier Ants had better obedience and discipline; after running the route twice, mistakes no longer happened.

There were plenty of stones, both big and small, in the mountains; Soldier Ants could handle a portion of the stone-collecting work.

…

There was always more work than time. Days flew by.

Another year—a season of blooming mountain flowers—the time when the roving merchants came had arrived.

Dragon Cypress kept an eye on the timing, tidied things up, and hurried out with Ink Orchid.

This year’s goods for sale to the caravan were still simple: 60 Azure Seeds, and 200 Xianglan Seeds.

“Dragon Cypress, should we tell White Ivy about the Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed?”

“Let’s not tell White Ivy yet! Next year, we’ll tell Melde first. Also, we can’t let them know we have two of them. My plan is: Ink Orchid, your Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed circulates on Cloud Trace Continent, while my Gorgon Fruit Seeds get sold to the caravans.”

“Oh—”

Ink Orchid: “So, with Ghost Fan, Red Fox, White Rice, and Mountain Persimmon, we also only mention one Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed.”

Dragon Cypress: “Smart!”

Ink Orchid: “Aren’t we telling White Ivy? Then are we still borrowing money from her this year?”

Dragon Cypress: “Yeah, we are.”

Ink Orchid: “Borrowing to buy metal cans?”

Dragon Cypress: “Those don’t cost much. The main thing is still to buy Origin Force Food.”

Ink Orchid mulled it over for two seconds, then said, “We’ve got enough capital for trade, and enough types of goods. We have more than enough Origin Force Food for our evolution and growth. So why are we borrowing money to buy more? We have to pay interest too.”

Dragon Bar: “Borrow a bit more, just to further diversify our product range. Besides, we also need to distribute some Origin Force Food to Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress—at least enough for them to go through one Age Period Evolution each year. If conditions allow, it’s best to let them evolve for two Age Periods annually.”

“Oh, right!”

Ink Orchid skipped topics and reminded, “We’re running low on Spider Silk Bags.”

Dragon Cypress: “Let’s try to get more.”

Ink Orchid: “Then you ask White Ivy for ten more!”

Dragon Cypress: “…”

Ink Orchid giggled, then thought for a while and, as if just chatting idly, said:

“Dragon Cypress, there’s something I’ve never figured out…see, we only have Ghost Fan, Red Fox, White Rice, and Mountain Persimmon to trade with, and the Origin Force Food we earn is enough for the two of us to grow and evolve. But the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent has millions, tens of millions of Insect Clan Warriors—it’s so rich—so how come White Ivy is still poor?”

Dragon Cypress thought for a moment, chose his words carefully, and said, “There are many reasons, but I’ll tell you the two most important ones.”

“First, Flame Spider Roving Merchants are divided into five main tribes: Round Purple Flame Spider, Illusory Color Flame Spider, Purple Flame Spider, Dulai Flame Spider, and White-Legged Flame Spider. There are a lot of Insect Clans on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, but there are also plenty of Flame Spider Roving Merchants. The ones we’ve dealt with so far have been only from the Dulai Flame Spider tribe.”

“Roving merchants chase profits. When a place is rich, countless merchants swarm in. If a single tribe is prosperous, there will be many caravans looking to enter and get their share. But those that can secure steady trading rights in the end are always the strong, big caravans. The rest, those weaker caravans, can only go to areas with sparse insect populations and poor Origin Force.”

Ink Orchid asked, “So White Ivy…is the type that has to go to poor regions and deal with poor Insect Clan Warriors as a roving merchant?”

Dragon Cypress: “Pretty much. She works with Melde sometimes and even goes to trade with Melde’s clients. Melde will pay her a certain fee.”

Ink Orchid: “What’s the second reason?”

Dragon Cypress: “Over on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, all the tribes live in groups and interact with each other. Clan-to-clan, tribe-to-tribe—they can trade among themselves, exchanging whatever they need. The Insect Clan Warriors over there rely far less on the Flame Spider Roving Merchants than those on Cloud Trace Continent. Each Insect Clan Warrior only needs to buy and sell a relatively small amount of Origin Force Food from the caravans every year.”

It’s easy to see~ Ink Orchid: “I see!”

…

…

…

White Ivy cut in line, sticking closely behind Spider King Spurge as she entered the open flatland at the foot of the hill.

Spider King Spurge picked a spot and spat out the Life Seed, letting it take root and grow.

White Ivy hurriedly scurried to position herself as well, and spat out her own Life Seed.

“Spider King Spurge, can I go trade now?”

This time, White Ivy had learned her lesson: instead of dashing off, she asked Spider King Spurge first.

“White Ivy, don’t rush…”

Spider King Spurge deliberately paused a moment, then drawled slowly:

“Last year, I heard Melde complaining that the Little Ant King called Dragon Cypress was getting more and more cunning. I think it’s necessary to carefully go over the details of dealing with the roving merchants with you again.”

“No need! Melde already nagged me about it a hundred and one times before we came. I remember everything.”

White Ivy turned and left.

She walked over to the foot of the hill, picked up her pace to climb it, and broke into a run toward the small grove where they’d traded the year before last.

“Ink Orchid!”

“Little Dragon Cypress?”

“Wow, is that the Origin Force Food from your ’Deep Blue God-Given Seed’? Those blue seeds? What type of enhancement effect is it?”

After all, she was Mountain Lord Level; even from a distance, White Ivy could sense the goods in Ink Orchid’s Spider Silk Bag via the Flame Spider’s special silk perception.

“There’s not much there.”

White Ivy grumbled, and before Dragon Cypress could reply, pressed on, “So it ripened last year? Then your Deep Blue God-Given Seed must have bloomed by now, right? How many flowers did it have this time, and how many fruits set?”

Dragon Cypress was speechless for a moment, then replied methodically, “The Deep Blue God-Given Seed yields exceptionally tasty berries, with a unique flavor unlike anything on land. Ink Orchid and I ate all the pulp, so there’s just these 60 Azure Seeds left.”

“As for the enhancement, it matches what we guessed before: an overall boost to Water Element Ability.”

“It hasn’t flowered yet this year. It’ll do so in early summer.”

After Dragon Cypress finished.

Ink Orchid added helpfully, “Dragon Cypress is now a Mid-Level Ant King, but the Origin Force content and quality of the Azure Seeds are already equal to High-Level! Truly a Superior Grade Divine-Given Seed from the ocean!”

White Ivy: “!!!”

Superior Grade!

Finally, it’s my turn to strike it rich!

White Ivy was overjoyed and said, “Quick! Let me see!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep