CHAPTER 413: CHAPTER 398: MOLAN CONTINENT AND DRAGON CYPRESS CONTINENT

"I get it now!"

"Get what?"

"Why did the Flame Spider Kingdom on Cloud Trace Continent suddenly disappear? They all transferred over here to the Origin Force Continent using the undersea starship wreckage!"

"Tens of thousands of Flame Spiders, billions of Source Stones—how did they cross the vast ocean? And how did they pass through the deep-sea passage?"

"The Spider King’s ability! Or maybe they had some clever maritime transport trick."

Ink Orchid sensed that Dragon Cypress was clearly making things difficult for her, and was quite displeased. With a flash, she rushed toward the metal gate carved with a Flame Spider pattern, lifted a claw, and pushed.

The gate didn’t budge an inch.

She hooked her toes on the relief and tried to pull it back.

Still didn’t move a hair.

She swept with her spiritual power.

Only then did she notice—both doors were fused as one; the seam was just a decorative vertical line.

Her spiritual power swept downward and she discovered that both the top and bottom of the gate extended deep into the ground and the doorway, completely fused with the interlayer metal.

"This..."

"Dragon Cypress! This door is absolutely impossible to open!"

"???"

Dragon Cypress hurried forward to check, instantly dumbfounded and frustrated.

After a quick inspection up and down, he figured out what was going on.

Originally, this gate could definitely be opened and closed.

But after the Flame Spider Kingdom completed its migration, the Spider King—who possessed Metal System Talent—had simply and crudely fused the doors together with an overwhelming Metal Ability, locking them shut completely.

"Dragon Cypress, it won’t open."

"It won’t open."

"Any ideas?"

"Let me think..."

Dragon Cypress crawled along the gate’s relief pattern, examining closely, growing more desperate the longer he looked.

Not metal made by Outworld Civilization.

But its overall strength wasn’t inferior to that lightweight alien metal at all.

Looking closely, beneath the black metallic base, faint traces of Original Energy Patterns showed through.

Very familiar...

He’d seen similar Original Energy Patterns in quite a few Insect Clan ruins...

A spark flashed in Dragon Cypress’s head—a possibility: Jinhe Fruit, Jinhe Pattern

"Maybe, there’s a way..."

Dragon Cypress mused aloud, slowly saying, "Have a Jinhe Fruit produced, assign one to Ghost Fan..."

"Ohhh—"

Ink Orchid heard this and instantly understood, adding, "Give Ghost Fan a few more Divine-Given Origin Force Foods that enhance comprehensive Metal System Abilities. Afterwards, have Ghost Fan try it out."

Ink Orchid: "If the enhanced Jinhe Pattern Ability from the Jinhe Fruit caused this, then in turn, once Ghost Fan has mastered the Jinhe Pattern Ability, she should be able to break it."

"Exactly!"

Dragon Cypress flicked his tentacles, looked up again, and gazed at the ceiling map.

He quickly found Cloud Trace Continent.

Then located the southern sea region of Cloud Trace Continent, the equatorial Divine Force Barrier.

His eyes suddenly lit up again.

The place he occupied now should be an irregularly shaped island above the southern hemisphere’s Origin Force Continent sea region.

This island was formed from an undersea mountain range protruding above the surface, generally running north to south.

Dragon Cypress activated both vision and spiritual power, scanning and comparing back and forth.

Quickly, he roughly estimated that the island was about 60 kilometers long and about 10 kilometers at its widest point.

Total area calculated around 400 square kilometers—a large deep-sea island.

However, this area wasn’t enough for the Native Breed Flame Spider Tribe’s survival, even less so for the roving, wandering Round Purple Flame Spider Tribe.

So after completing the migration, they simply sealed the giant gate and crossed the ocean to develop on a vaster land.

Which means...

—The island is empty?

—If the blocking gate could be opened smoothly, couldn’t he expand a new nest here and expand territory once more?

—After reaching Evolution King Level, could he and Ink Orchid stay in the Origin Force Star Realm a while longer, using this island as a base and migrate here to develop on this continent?

—Could he and Ink Orchid delay their departure until after the ninth age period?

—If Yellow Stem heard this, she’d probably go crazy with joy!

Dragon Cypress’s mind spun rapidly, a whirlwind of calculations, an outline of future plans quickly forming.

Focus.

Carefully study the new continent map.

Ink Orchid followed along, raising her head to observe, fluttering her wings, hanging upside down from the ceiling. She dashed across, treading atop the new continent map.

"Dragon Cypress, let’s name it!"

"..."

"How about Molan Continent?"

"Pretty good. Just be careful when reporting the name."

"Careful about what?"

"Careful not to get killed by other insects for it."

"Temporary name! Just a placeholder. This continent obviously already has a name. Once we get there and ask around, we’ll learn the real one."

"...Fine."

Dragon Cypress accepted.

Ink Orchid quickly ran to the continent next to ’Molan Continent,’ asking, "Are these two continents connected?"

Dragon Cypress: "Not sure. But since they managed to map it, those Flame Spiders must have been there."

Ink Orchid: "Let’s call this one ’Dragon Cypress Continent’ for now."

Dragon Cypress: "Whatever makes you happy."

Ink Orchid: "Dragon Cypress, look closely, Dragon Cypress Continent isn’t really a proper continent, it’s all ocean."

"That’s right—"

Dragon Cypress’s attention gradually shifted to ’Dragon Cypress Continent.’

Most of it was ocean, with one large area densely packed with islands. It looked as if a complete continent had been shattered into thousands of fragments, big and small.

’Molan Continent’ on this side had far less land than the Cloud Trace Continent or Dragon Bamboo Continent of the Northern Hemisphere. This continent stretched north to south in a slim, narrow line, with ocean to both east and west, and numerous islands scattered all around.

Dragon Cypress calmed himself, inspecting closely, memorizing silently.

"I get it now!"

Ink Orchid, hanging upside down from the ceiling, suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Excited, she slipped off and crashed onto the hard earth below with a splat.

Jumping at every little thing, Dragon Cypress grew a bit annoyed and asked peevishly, "Ink Orchid, what did you ’get’ now?"

Ink Orchid: "Why did the Flame Spider Tribe want to leave quietly? Why didn’t they notify anyone, or bring Huagi Mountain or the other Insect Tribes along? Because the climate and environment are too different—if insects from Cloud Trace Continent migrated here, ordinary insects wouldn’t survive. And if ordinary insects can’t survive, no new warriors are born, the lineage ends, the tribe perishes."

"Ink Orchid, not bad."

Dragon Cypress’s tentacles swung in resignation, sighing, "At last, you’ve gotten a tiny bit clever."

Ink Orchid was displeased and challenged, "Is that not right?"

Dragon Cypress: "The Flame Spider Tribe’s quiet departure without bringing along other Insect Tribes has more reasons than that, possibly far more."

Ink Orchid: "There are other reasons?"

Dragon Cypress: "Of course! Plenty of possible reasons."

Dragon Cypress: "Here’s one possible reason..."

Dragon Cypress was talking when he abruptly halted, asking gravely, "Ink Orchid, did you ever notice: all Insect Clans have six legs and two compound eyes—except for the Flame Spiders. They have eight legs and eight eyes."

Ink Orchid helped supplement: "It seems only Flame Spiders can evolve into Insect Clan Warriors; other spiders can’t."

Dragon Cypress: "Precisely. Flame Spiders are an exception."

Dragon Cypress: "The Natural True God even granted intelligence to ordinary Flame Spiders."

Ink Orchid: "They’re the natural spirits favored by the True God."

Dragon Cypress: "Yes."

Dragon Cypress: "That’s why the Flame Spider Roving Merchants can travel between continents—most likely the Natural True God is watching over them, ensuring they don’t get lost in the Origin Force Reincarnation."

Dragon Cypress pointed at the wall murals around them, saying, "It’s possible the Natural True God is guiding them and told them not to bring other Insect Tribes when migrating across continents."

Ink Orchid: "That’s possible!"

Dragon Cypress: "That’s the first possible reason I wanted to mention—impossible to prove, but plausible..."

Dragon Cypress: "Now, let’s analyze the second reason... Ink Orchid, what you just said is absolutely right—that’s half the second reason, you got half of it correct."

Ink Orchid: "Half?"

Only half?

A spark flashed in Ink Orchid’s mind. She hurriedly said, "I get it! The other half is: if Cloud Trace Continent’s insects migrated to Molan Continent or Dragon Cypress Continent, lacking natural predators, they’d breed out of control, become a disaster, wreaking catastrophic havoc on the primitive ecology of the land, maybe even turning it upside down."

Rare moment of brilliance!

Dragon Cypress was moved and flicked his tentacles in approval. "That’s exactly right!"

Ink Orchid, in high spirits, her mind running on overdrive, had yet another flash of inspiration. "There’s still a third possibility!"

Ink Orchid: "When Cloud Trace Continent enters the Origin Force Silent Period, over here on Molan Continent and Dragon Cypress Continent the Origin Force Recovery Period has already begun. Insect Tribes are already being born. If Cloud Trace Continent’s Insect Clans migrate over, there’ll inevitably be violent conflict, war and chaos that’ll anger the Natural True God."

Ink Orchid: "Taking all three possibilities together, it’s clear—when the Flame Spider Kingdom left Cloud Trace Continent, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to bring other Insect Tribes, it was that they couldn’t."

Dragon Cypress: "Exactly!"

Dragon Cypress was relieved, happy, and elated. "Very good! Excellent! When we get back, I’ll organize the ant clan, dig a few more big lakes, and vigorously promote Black Lotus Seeds, aiming to cultivate at least one Black Lotus Divine-Given Seed. Ink Orchid, your brain still has hope!"

Ink Orchid: "???"

"Dragon Cypress! Damn ant!"

Ink Orchid erupted in fury.