Astral Cockroach

On the summit of Reedspeak Mountain, the water reserves in the underground reservoir, carved into the mountain's interior, had dwindled to a third of their capacity. With the dry season threatening to escalate into a full-blown drought, a sudden downpour arrived, accompanied by lightning and fierce winds.

The passage of the wind and rain brought a noticeable drop in the sweltering temperature, signaling the imminent end of summer.

Banbu drifted into slumber.

… …

L7 Intermediate Warrior, body length approximately 200. Due to recent consumption of high-quality Origin Power foods that enhance flame abilities, a large number of brownish-red spots had appeared on its black carapace.

After storing the newly formed Camu Camu life seed, and after hesitating between the Yellow Peach and Emerald Bamboo seeds, it chose Emerald Bamboo as the life seed to nurture.

"Big Head?"

Banbu projected its mental energy and called out.

Deep within the ant nest carved inside the mountain cave, Big Head excitedly shouted, "Banbu, you're awake!"

Immediately afterward, Big Head emerged from the ant nest, curiously examining the brownish-red spots on Banbu's body.

Banbu asked, "Big Head, how many days have I been asleep this time?"

Big Head pondered for a moment, then said, "It'll be exactly two days in half a day."

"Still a bit rushed," Banbu wiggled its antennae.

Without being told, Big Head directed the worker ants to bring out the stored dried meat and deliver it to Banbu.

Banbu ate to replenish its spent energy, while asking, "Big Head, are the life seed plants on the mountain doing well?"

Big Head said, "There were strong winds again last night, and many of the Giant Timber Bamboo on the mountain were broken by the wind."

Banbu asked, "Is my Giant Timber Bamboo life seed alright?"

Big Head said, "Banbu, two of the bamboo stalks of the Giant Timber Bamboo life seed were also broken by the wind."

Banbu was depressed.

Tall trees catch the wind, especially on high mountains where the wind is even stronger. Giant Timber Bamboo, a particularly tall bamboo species, is actually not well-suited for survival.

After recovering some strength, it walked out of the cave to inspect the damage.

The Giant Timber Bamboo life seed was growing somewhat slowly in its early stages. Currently, it only had a total of 4 bamboo stalks, and the two weakest ones had been knocked over by the wind.

Big Head asked, "Banbu, what should we do? Should we cut them down?"

Banbu examined them carefully. The bamboo stalks were only leaning, not completely broken, and hadn't died. After thinking for a moment, it said, "Let's leave them for now. They can still provide nutrients to the underground stems. We'll cut them down next spring."

Like a little steward, Big Head continued to ask, "Banbu, what about the fallen ordinary Giant Timber Bamboo down the mountain? Should we leave them too?"

Banbu said, "It doesn't matter if a few stalks of ordinary Giant Timber Bamboo are broken. Cut them down and throw them into the biogas digester."

"Okay," Big Head immediately waved its antennae, issuing commands to the worker ants.

Banbu asked, "Big Head, how many ants are there in your colony now?"

Big Head replied, "Almost breaking 1000. After I became an Intermediate Warrior, the development speed of the ant eggs has noticeably slowed down."

Currently, Big Head was an L1 Intermediate Warrior, with a body length of about 35. The worker ants under its command had body lengths ranging from 5-20, and a few soldier ants had reached a body length of about 30.

Big Head could lay eggs, and the ant eggs would hatch into new worker ants or soldier ants. However, the growth of the ant colony was not fast enough, because the worker ants and soldier ants born earlier would age and die.

… …

Banbu led Big Head on a tour of the territory, confirming that there were no other problems. It flew down the mountain, informed Windbell, and took Windbell down the mountain together.

After a 10-day dry season test, it was confirmed that the pond's water storage capacity was feasible.

Banbu began planning to build ponds on a large scale.

"Windbell, in the coming season, there will be more rain, which is not suitable for digging soil. I plan to cut down trees and clear a space first, and then transplant the large bamboo species such as Giant Timber Bamboo, Moso Bamboo, and Iron Bamboo from the mountain down here."

Windbell had received 100 Origin Stones from Banbu as payment, but hadn't done much work. Feeling a little guilty, upon hearing this, she agreed, "The autumn temperature is suitable, and there is plenty of rain, which is very suitable for transplanting various large bamboo species. Banbu, when do you plan to start?"

Banbu said, "Start today."

Windbell asked, "Where to start?"

Banbu said, "Of course, start from the pond location. First clear the various trees and shrubs around it."

Windbell readily said, "No problem, I'll start right away."

Banbu said, "Windbell, you go ahead and get busy. I'm going out for a trip and may not be back until tomorrow."

Windbell asked, "Where are you going?"

Banbu said, "I just checked, the fruit of the Emerald Bamboo God-given Seed will probably mature in 30 to 40 days. I have to go to the Yabai Mountains to inform Mountain Lord Huabai."

Windbell thought for a moment and reminded, "Banbu, the journey is long, be careful."

… …

Banbu didn't go straight to the Yabai Mountains, but first looked for Big Bear.

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Various fresh fruits ripened in summer, and the seeds were exposed after they fell to the ground and rotted. Big Bear had nothing to do all day, so Banbu let it walk around in the mountains and forests more, to try its luck.

What if it got lucky and picked up a God-given Seed?

In the vast jungle, God-given Seeds were certainly born, but the area was too large, and the probability of finding one was extremely low, approaching zero.

Naturally, Big Bear had no harvest.

Banbu then went to the swamp to absorb the mental energy emanating from the metal core, and finally flew across the Jinjiang River and entered the territory of the Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe.

Passing through the vast swamp and rolling hills, a towering mountain range stretched out. The peaks were steep and rugged, with no shortage of mountains higher and larger than Reedspeak Mountain, soaring into the sky. Even in summer, the peaks were still covered with white snow.

Under the efforts of generations of mountain lords in the Yabai Mountains, the mountain's plants were mainly coniferous trees of the cypress, pine, and fir families, with only a small number of shrubs and herbaceous plants.

The warriors of the Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe living in the Yabai Mountains also chose various cypress, pine, and fir trees as their life seeds.

Insect races had no cultural heritage to speak of, and their vocabulary was poor. They named things arbitrarily. The main peak of the Yabai Mountains was called Yabai Peak.

It was said that Yabai Peak was an inconspicuous small mountain peak, rich in Origin Power.

There was a conspicuous landmark: a large area of Scaly-leaf Araucaria planted at the foot of the mountain. It was said that the Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe spent a huge amount of Origin Stones to import this high-quality tree species from the southern Long Centipede Kingdom, distributing it to various mountain ranges for large-scale planting and cultivation.

The biggest characteristic of this fir tree was its height. It took 50 years to be considered a mature tree, and its height generally exceeded 20000, and could even reach about 40000. If it was nurtured into a life seed and its genes were strengthened, it could grow even taller. It was hard to say what height it could eventually reach.

Banbu flew swiftly in the air, looking down. The vast green sea of forests made it difficult to distinguish anything clearly.

The simplest method was to fly along the mountain range, find the territory of a high-level Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe warrior, explain his purpose, and ask for the detailed location.

"Banbu!"

From afar, Mountain Lord Huabai sensed Banbu's arrival and seemed a little excited, taking flight into the sky.

"Mountain Lord Huabai!" Banbu greeted politely, but its gaze was attracted by the mountain in front.

Yabai Peak was indeed very short.

To be precise, Banbu was attracted by a fir tree growing on the ridge of the mountain. It was the first time it had seen such a tall tree with its own eyes. It should be Mountain Lord Huabai's life seed, a Scaly-leaf Araucaria!

It was almost reaching the waist of Yabai Peak, with a height far exceeding 40000. It was difficult to estimate the exact height. The branches and leaves were lush, and from a distance, it was easy to mistake it for a small mountain peak.

Mountain Lord Huabai noticed Banbu's shock and said proudly, "Banbu, are you interested in Scaly-leaf Araucaria? When you are promoted to a formal Mountain Lord in the future, I will give you a seed as a congratulatory gift."

Banbu came back to its senses and joked, "Mountain Lord Huabai, you can give me a seed now."

Mountain Lord Huabai said, "Banbu, it's not that I'm stingy, it's just that I'm afraid your current size can't swallow the seed of the Scaly-leaf Araucaria."

The flowering period of the Scaly-leaf Araucaria was nearly half a year, and the fruit took two years to mature. The pine cone was oval-shaped, with a long diameter of about 120, which could be called a behemoth. Each pine cone contained about 15 to 20 pine nuts, and the pine nuts were about 40 in length. Banbu's current body length was only about 200, so it definitely couldn't swallow it. Not to mention Intermediate Warriors, even Advanced Warriors couldn't do it, it had to be promoted to the Mountain Lord level.