Chapter 1222 - 758: Tree Aralia, Nebula Crabapple_2

"And they need to help manage the planets. The most important tasks are helping search for Divine-Given Seeds and newly born Little Warriors, and running designated fruit orchards of special plants, such as the Soul Constructing Tree, Black Lotus, Black Emperor Peach, Silver Cypress, Zhibai, Rainbow Parasol Tree, Nine-Leaf Huangqian, Frost Birch, and other Top-Level Plant Seeds."

"They'll stay until they break through to the Evolutionary Three Trace Realm, then leave the Azure Star System. Either remain employed in our Xianglan Mountain Commerce Guild, or go seek their own livelihood—the choice is theirs."

Ink Orchid: "Mm. Yeah."

Ink Orchid said gravely: "Dragon Cypress, if we do the math, during the Ten Thousand Years lease of the Azure Star System, three to four thousand Insect Clan Warriors will be born. Can our Xianglan Mountain Commerce Guild afford to raise that many?"

Dragon Cypress: "We can't. So we can only keep the best."

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

Silence.

Harsh reality:

Most Insect Clan Warriors born in the cosmic environment will, due to lacking Ability and resources, spend their whole lives stuck in the Scar Realm.

Only a small fraction—the smart ones, the lucky ones, those with high Elemental Talent and firm willpower—get a chance to keep evolving upward.

…

Tree Aralia finished eating the Ant King Honey and stared eagerly at Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress sighed softly and said, "Tree Aralia can be trained carefully. The first thousand Warriors to be born can all be nurtured with care. Based on each one's nature and strengths in Ability, we'll assign them to the Military Department, Plant Department, or Commerce Department, filling out our guild's roster."

Ink Orchid: "...Yeah."

Ink Orchid let his Tentacles droop to the ground and called out, "Tree Aralia, that's enough! You can't eat too much Origin Force Food at once. Come on, back to the mountain with me!"

"Okay."

Tree Aralia obediently followed along his Tentacle, climbing onto the top of Ink Orchid's head.

Dragon Cypress went along as well, heading to Stone Orchid Star to check on the situation.

The Ladybug Warriors were born in the planet's northern, relatively cold region.

Ink Orchid, however, was used to operating in the south, busy using his Ability to transform and reclaim wasteland there.

So it was perfectly normal that he hadn't discovered Tree Aralia in time.

Dragon Cypress made a round of inspections, confirmed there were no problems, then rushed on to Cold Orchid Star to tell Great Leader Redwood about this matter, asking him to arrange Warriors every autumn to search on a fixed schedule.

…

The mountain where little Tree Aralia lived was named "Ciqiu Mountain."

Ink Orchid relocated and settled on Ciqiu Mountain, gaining a little follower.

To be safe,

little Tree Aralia still followed an Evolution pace of one Age Period every four months.

Two years later,

just before entering the aging phase, Tree Aralia successfully broke through to intermediate warrior, its Life Span extended to thirty years; evolving further after that became simple.

…

On another day,

Black Leaf brought a Specialized Blue Soldiers to Hulan Star and sought out Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress took one look, swept it once with his Soul-Setting Ability, and understood the situation.

"Great King, this Specialized Blue Soldiers has undergone Soul Mutation. It should be able to leap in Evolution and advance to Assistant King, right?"

"Exactly!"

Dragon Cypress asked symbolically, "Black Leaf, how did you discover it?"

Black Leaf: "It's really smart, kept circling behind me. I gave it a sweep with my Soul-Setting Ability, sensed something unusual, and brought it over."

The Specialized Blue Soldiers recognized Dragon Cypress, this Ant King. It proactively trotted forward, stood neatly side by side with Dragon Cypress, raised its Tentacles high, and braced its Spirit.

Black Leaf: "..."

"Very spirited little fellow!"

Dragon Cypress laughed heartily and praised, "Not bad. Much better than that half-dead Nebula Banyan."

As he spoke, the Divine Mark on his forehead flashed. He took out a vial of Black Lotus Gene Potion, opened it, controlled one bead and floated it before the Specialized Blue Soldiers, giving the command: Eat.

The Specialized Blue Soldiers opened its mouth and swallowed, froze for a moment, then happily shook its Tentacles, rubbing itself against Dragon Cypress's Carapace.

"Great King, give me another bead~"

Dragon Cypress kept observing for about ten seconds. Once he confirmed it could leap in Evolution to Assistant King, his Mind shifted slightly; two pale-blue Crystal Beads floated in front of the Specialized Blue Soldiers.

Back in the day, Nebula Banyan had already verified that for a Half Star Realm Specialized Ant, three Black Lotus Seeds a day was just right.

Black Leaf asked, "Great King, according to the rules, this Assistant King will join the Seventh Legion, correct?"

Dragon Cypress: "Correct."

Black Leaf brightened and asked, "Should we notify Second King to come over and give it a name?"

"..."

Dragon Cypress waved his Tentacles, indicating he should hurry.

Second King was invited over, and the other Assistant Kings also arrived one after another upon receiving the news.

The second Fourth Generation Zuo King was worth a small banquet to celebrate, and was officially named "Nebula Crabapple."

For now it stayed at Dragon Cypress's side to help, managing Ant Nest logistics and taking care of the Larvae.

…

…

He and Round Cypress had agreed to meet once every 600 years.

Another 600-year period came and went.

The total Water volume of Cold Orchid Star had long since reached 300 million cubic kilometers. After two hundred years of continuous rainfall, the planet's overall temperature had preliminarily dropped.

All told, it took over a thousand years, but the 330 Ecological Base Stations in the tropical regions were finally reclaimed, linked together into continuous tracts, operated and grown into a flourishing tropical rainforest covering 8.58 million square kilometers.

In the Northern Hemisphere and southern cold-temperate regions of Cold Orchid Star, there were still 220 Ecological Base Stations waiting to be reclaimed...

Running in parallel was Cicada Orchid Star, where three million Specialized Blue Soldiers continuously did Water Making, and the planet's Water volume gradually reached the target. Using the same method, cold sources were established at both poles to vent the planet's internal heat through the north and south poles.

After 600 years, the overall temperature of Cicada Orchid Star dropped below one hundred degrees Celsius and it too entered a torrential-rain period...

Hulan Star was also being worked on in parallel. With the number of Specialized Blue Soldiers reaching three million, Nebula Crabapple assisted with command, and Dragon Cypress patrolled daily to push progress. The Water Making pace wasn't slow.

Everything was ready,

they were just waiting for Chairman Blackberry's Star Spider to come over and help transfer the Ecological Base Stations and Life Bases.

However, they waited and waited, and still no Insect came.

They had agreed to come once every 600 years. Now, long overdue, Dragon Cypress speculated there were only three possible reasons:

The first: something happened at Xianglan Mountain—almost zero probability.

The second: on the way here, Chairman Blackberry's Star Spider ran into trouble and got stranded. In that case, they could send out a distress signal through the Star Network, notifying a professional team to rush in for rescue. It would delay things, but it wouldn't cost any lives.