Ant Lord in the Star Realm

Dragon Cypress flew under the scorching sun, controlling the Dominating Throne.

Soon, it noticed something interesting: on the top two levels of the Stump Ant Nest, all the worker ants had crowded onto the side covered by the Starship door panel.

"Black Cory? Why are you all crowded together?"

"Great King. It's cool."

"Oh!"

Dragon Cypress instantly understood.

The Primordial Energy Metal door panel had completely blocked out the sun's heat.

A two-meter diameter stump.

The door panel was about three meters long, shading both sides of the ant nest; with a width of about 1.2 meters, it covered most of it. Laying it out like this really cooled the inside of the nest quite a bit.

This broken door panel could totally be used as a sunshade on top of the ant nest!

However,

you guys are all comfy, but did you know your Ant King is about to be roasted alive?

"Black Cory. Get up here."

"Great King?"

"Come up and sunbathe."

"No need, Great King."

"Get up here!"

…

…

…

After a heavy rain, the temperature around Kiwifruit Mountain suddenly dropped, and the sun in the sky seemed a little farther away.

Still ruthless, but not quite so hot.

Ink Orchid was lying idly beneath a big hexagonal tree, staring at the entrance of a bulging-belly ant hole in front of it, watching little worker ants team up to drag a cricket leg they'd found from who knows where, struggling to carry it toward the hole.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple were just as bored, digging holes in the hexagonal tree and gnawing out the juiciest, crunchiest Tree Heart. As the forest's top scourge, odds are this several-decades-or-even-centuries-old tree wouldn't make it past this summer…

Suddenly,

Ink Orchid's antennae twitched, standing bolt upright, and it got up from the ground.

"Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, stop wrecking that tree already."

"Dragon Cypress is coming! Quick, let's head up the mountain."

From the tree trunk hole,

one blue and one black head poked out.

—We're going to Scarletlight Mountain?

—The Mulberry's Life Seed fruit is ripe?

—Ooo~wooo~

—Trade season's here!

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple cheered as they hurtled out of the tree hole, landing atop Ink Orchid's head.

Ink Orchid carried them, kicked off, and took flight, landing on the mountain peak, craning its neck, an expectant look in its eyes.

After a while, a ball of blue light appeared on the skyline, rapidly approaching.

"Ink Orchid."

"Blue Catalpa. Snakebark Maple."

Dragon Cypress stood atop the door panel and greeted them.

"What's this...?"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple looked on, puzzled.

"Dragon Cypress?"

Ink Orchid blinked, then exclaimed in delight, "It's a Starship Wreckage! You found it? Where'd you pick it up? Is there an Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot?"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple had heard Ink Orchid tell the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot story a hundred times. At the mention, their wings started beating like mad, racing straight for the Dominating Throne.

—Where is it?

—Let us see what the fuss is about!

Dragon Cypress: "…"

Dragon Cypress explained concisely: "I recently found a Land of Origin Force where I picked up a bit of Starship interior wall—just a partition fragment of an ordinary room, and a damaged corner door panel. For now, that's it—just two pieces."

Dragon Cypress went on, "There must be more nearby, but they're buried deep underground, hard to get out. Ink Orchid, you're sensitive to Origin Force fluctuations. Can you go look?"

"Got it!" Ink Orchid leapt onto the top of the Stump Ant Nest, the tips of its foreclaws tapping the door panel.

This door panel was pretty amazing; knocking on it made no sound. Must be both soundproof and heat-insulating.

"We'll help hunt too!" Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple scampered before Dragon Cypress, bouncing and flailing their antennae in excitement.

Dragon Cypress said sternly, "Ink Orchid's got real business, no time to babysit you two. Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, come with me to Scarletlight Mountain. Mulberry's Life Seed is ripe; you can pick lots of mulberries."

Blue Catalpa: "We're not greedy."

Snakebark Maple: "We've grown up already."

Blue Catalpa: "We can live on our own now."

Snakebark Maple: "We can help Ink Orchid!"

Dragon Cypress raised its antennae, almost smacking them, and said bluntly, "Busy right now. Don't you two mess around!"

Dragon Cypress: "This Specialized Worker Ant is pretty smart, can more or less command the other workers, even direct the Soldier Ants a bit. I'm naming it 'Black Cory.' I'll leave Black Cory, the Soldier Ants, and some of the workers and Blue Ants here on Kiwifruit Mountain for now. Then I'll head back to Xianglan Mountain and have Round Cypress come to help you out with the territory."

"If you really want to help, check the mountain for ripe wild fruits, pick them for the Blue Ants to refine and brew Ant Honey. Ink Orchid, you stay here for now too."

Ink Orchid: "Got it!"

"Oh——"

"Okay——"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple drooped their antennae, resignedly agreeing.

Amid excitement, Ink Orchid suddenly remembered something and asked, "Dragon Cypress, no Wild God-Given Seeds?"

Dragon Cypress: "None."

Dragon Cypress: "And no Insect Clan Warriors either."

"Sigh..."

Ink Orchid let out a quiet sigh, then asked, "Dragon Cypress, are you done exploring the southwest region?"

Dragon Cypress: "Pretty much. Only less than a tenth left now."

Ink Orchid fell silent for quite a while.

The southwest sector Dragon Cypress divided included Xianglan Mountain, Molan Mountain, Black Lotus Lake, Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, Ghost Fan Mountain, White Rice Mountain, Jianlan Plain, Scarletlight Mountain, Kiwifruit Mountain, and this new Land of Origin Force.

That's 10 Origin Force Points altogether.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple emigrated from the north to settle on Kiwifruit Mountain. To be precise, half—five of these points—are unclaimed territory.

Preliminary guess: perhaps all of Cloud Trace Continent has only forty or fifty Origin Force Points. The north is harsher with fewer insects; in the end, maybe only twenty points will have Insect Clan Warriors.

The vast continent, and only a scattered few dozen Insect Clan Warriors, spread through the ends of the earth.

...

There's a lot to do this autumn and winter, way too much to handle.

Dragon Cypress returned to Xianglan Mountain, offloading Larvae of Specialized Soldier Ants and Specialized Blue Ants bred inside the Stump Ant Nest.

Picked up Round Cypress and 10 Specialized Worker Ants, plus 50 large and medium Worker Ants.

Took along 20 Specialized Blue Ants and 40 Large Blue Ants.