CHAPTER 389: CHAPTER 389: WEAKENED VERSION OF NETHERWORLD FIRE FIREFLIES

"Zhong Xiaonan, why are you here?"

Shen Siyuan was quite surprised to see Zhong Xiaonan, but quickly recovered and his gaze shifted to the object in front of her that resembled a bird cage.

"Did you succeed in breeding?" Shen Siyuan was greatly surprised.

Zhong Xiaonan first nodded, then shook her head.

She did not speak, and Shen Siyuan wasn’t surprised; this girl seemed wild, like a sprite from the mountains, rarely speaking the truth and somewhat introverted.

In Shen Siyuan’s eyes, her beauty even surpassed that of their team leader, Song Meixian.

Song Meixian was undeniably beautiful, a kind of flawless perfection, but because her beauty was too intricate, it somehow appeared less attractive to Shen Siyuan.

Of course, perhaps Shen Siyuan was the only one who thought this way, because Song Meixian’s beauty was not just about her looks, but also related to her abilities.

Unfortunately, her abilities were of no great use to him and had no effect on him, so he naturally remained sober.

When Huang Yuntao saw Shen Siyuan coming down, he was just about to stand up when he saw him directly walking towards a beautiful woman nearby.

Although he was a bit surprised, he didn’t say anything, silently standing by and watching.

He had noticed Zhong Xiaonan before, but seeing her sitting there, like a fairy unreachable in the woods, he hesitated to approach, never expecting that she knew Shen Siyuan.

"Take the stuff and go to my room," Shen Siyuan said.

After all, being in the hotel lobby with many eyes was not good.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiaonan quickly picked up the box in front of her and stood up.

"Brother Shen," Huang Yuntao hurriedly called out.

He was worried that if he didn’t make a sound, Shen Siyuan would forget about him.

"I have something, wait a moment," said Shen Siyuan.

"Okay, okay, take your time," Huang Yuntao said, showing a knowing expression.

Shen Siyuan knew he misunderstood, but didn’t bother to explain, after all, whether he misunderstood or not, it had no impact on Shen Siyuan.

Zhong Xiaonan didn’t think much and directly followed Shen Siyuan into the room.

It wasn’t that she trusted Shen Siyuan’s character, but because with Shen Siyuan’s ability, what kind of girlfriend couldn’t he get? If he really was interested in her, her leaders would probably be overjoyed.

The reason why the task of interacting with Shen Siyuan was assigned to the second group initially was not because the second group was strong, or because the group leader was beautiful and they intended to use her beauty to entice; however, it turned out Shen Siyuan was entirely indifferent to Song Meixian, but seemed more close to her.

"After the last failure, we used the embryos to combine with gene technology and scientific methods, and finally bred a new batch of Iron-eating Fireflies."

As soon as she entered the room, Zhong Xiaonan eagerly lifted the black cloth cover on the glass box.

Inside the box at the very center, two elongated worms emitting a faint glow, precisely the pair of mother worms Shen Siyuan had given her.

Surrounding them, however, were densely packed many small short worms.

If the pair of mother worms were as long as an adult’s middle finger, then these small worms were at most the size of an adult’s pinky finger section.

But these issues were not big; after all, they were not fully mature yet, and expected to grow larger.

"However, there is one problem, that is... that is..."

"What is it?" Shen Siyuan, seeing her hesitant behavior, curiously asked.

"It seems like they have lost the Iron-eating Fireflies’ trait of devouring metal and gold," Zhong Xiaonan said, somewhat distressed.

"We have tried many approaches, but none have been able to retain this trait."

"I see..."

Shen Siyuan examined the worms in the box, thinking that Iron-eating Worms without the ability to devour metal were useless, indistinguishable from ordinary worms, without any value.

"Open the box, let me have a look," Shen Siyuan said.

Hearing this, Zhong Xiaonan hurriedly opened the lid, and Shen Siyuan directly reached his hand in.

Zhong Xiaonan subconsciously wanted to stop him, then abruptly realized that these were his creatures, already tamed by him.

During this period, he had indeed been frightened by the might of this pair of Iron-eating Fireflies, hence the instinctual anxiety.

The two Fireflies, no, to be precise, the Netherworld Fire Fireflies as if summoned, immediately fluttered their wings landing on the back of Shen Siyuan’s hand, their speed so fast, an afterimage appeared.

Shen Siyuan just moved his fingers, and the mother worm immediately emitted a faint sound, indiscernible unless one was not ordinary like Zhong Xiaonan.

With the sound, a worm flew out of the glass box and landed in Shen Siyuan’s palm.

Shen Siyuan did not hold back, directly reaching out to pinch the insect, yet he did not manage to crush it.

Somewhat surprised, he exerted a bit more force and finally succeeded in killing the bug.

"What a burden," Shen Siyuan sighed.

These insects, though slightly stronger than ordinary ones, were still far from matching their original form and lacked the ability to devour metal, rendering them quite useless.

"I’m sorry," Zhong Xiaonan said.

She felt that Shen Siyuan’s trust in her, entrusting her with this task, and her failure to handle it well, had let Shen Siyuan down.

"No worries, it’s not your fault," Shen Siyuan responded.

He had already figured out last time what the issue was. The Iron-eating Fireflies, after all, originated from a primitive species and the primary condition to become such a species was having a special environment for growth.

The birthplace of the Iron-eating Fireflies required not only precious metal veins but also an ample amount of nature’s spiritual energy.

In this world, lacking spiritual energy, it’s commendable that Zhong Xiaonan managed to cultivate a degenerated version of the Iron-eating Beasts, with immense effort and dedication.

Certainly, the support from the Special Affairs Bureau was indispensable; otherwise, without their assistance, Zhong Xiaonan alone could not have achieved this, since she wasn’t a biological sciences researcher.

"So now..." Zhong Xiaonan asked tentatively.

"They are useless to me, but if you want them, I’ll give them all to you," Shen Siyuan said.

"Thank you," Zhong Xiaonan’s face showed delight.

What Shen Siyuan discarded like worn-out shoes were treasures to her.

Though not as tough as the parent body or like Gold-piercing Stone, once matured, they could easily handle battling tigers and hunting bears.

Zhong Xiaonan joyfully reached out to take the box back, but Shen Siyuan suddenly gestured for her to wait.

"Wait a second."

"Ah?"

Zhong Xiaonan was stunned and reluctantly set the box back down.

Seeing her reaction, Shen Siyuan couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhong Xiaonan’s cheeks turned instantly red, and her eyes watery, making her look as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Shen Siyuan was at a loss for words as her personality was just so; he couldn’t say much else.

Shen Siyuan lifted the lid of the glass box, flicked his finger inside, and a ball of pale blue flame fell upon a group of insects. Instead of dying in the flame, the surrounding insects even gathered towards it.

"Huh?" Shen Siyuan was also surprised.

The Netherworld Fire Fireflies evolved from the Iron-eating Fireflies, but unexpectedly, the artificially bred Iron-eating Fireflies did not retain the characteristics of the original but instead held onto the traits of the Netherworld Fire Fireflies, capable of absorbing Netherworld Fire.

So, Shen Siyuan threw a large cluster of Netherworld Fire into the glass box, which instantly filled up with the fire, glowing with a pale blue light.

All the insects flapped their wings and flew within the Netherworld Fire, as if cheering and leaping for joy...

Shen Siyuan closed the glass box again and turned to look at Zhong Xiaonan, only to find her keeping a considerable distance, not daring to get close.

No wonder she was frightened; her body was covered with the Spiritual Body of insects, and encountering Netherworld Fire was like throwing a matchstick into gasoline; it could ignite her instantly.

"Take it away," Shen Siyuan covered it with a black cloth again.

"Huh? For me?" Zhong Xiaonan widened her eyes in disbelief.

Shen Siyuan giving her ordinary Iron-eating Fireflies wouldn’t have surprised her.

But seeing these Iron-eating Fireflies survive in the Netherworld Fire and even devour it, she had already prepared herself mentally to lose these insects. Hence her surprise.

"These insects are of no use to me."

Netherworld Fire was the cheapest thing for Shen Siyuan; he could have as much as he wanted, even several little creatures could emit Netherworld Fire themselves.

"Thank you."

Gratefully, Zhong Xiaonan reached out to take it, now forgetting her fear.

"Remember to continue feeding them with Insect Spirit. Once they fully absorb this Netherworld Fire, they are highly likely to evolve the ability to control Netherworld Fire. Since you’ve been feeding them with Insect Spirit, they won’t harm you..." Shen Siyuan instructed.

"Okay, I got it."

Zhong Xiaonan gratefully nodded, her eyes brimming with tears, seemingly moved to tears.