Astral Cockroach

Banbu's carapace was fully loaded with goods, wrapped in animal hides and tied with steel wire.

Shuocao also had two animal hide bags strapped to its back. The goods looked quite heavy, and the slender cat seemed a little overwhelmed.

Trading Square.

The Red Shield Cockroach King landed, its wing sheaths fluttering, and scanned with its mental power, immediately speechless.

The animal hides were all from ordinary beasts, not prairie wolves.

Wrapped in the animal hides were level one and level three electric boxes, as well as bundles of superconducting wires and level two source crystals.

Shuocao was carrying two level one electric boxes on its back.

"Banbu, weren't you chasing prairie wolf warriors?"

"Yes, I chased them all the way to the Tiger Beetle Kingdom, but they realized I was chasing them and fled all the way. I guess I couldn't catch up, so I gave up."

Banbu's thoughts raced, and he used his metal ability to snap the steel wires binding the electric boxes, unloading the goods and letting out a long sigh of relief.

Hongdao and Duzhu, who were guarding the mountain peak, arrived.

Banbu instructed, "Hongdao, use better hook-patterned python skin to pack the electric boxes properly. I'll rest for a day and set off tomorrow morning for Chiwu Mountain."

"Understood." Hongdao quickly went to the mountain warehouse to find python skin pouches.

The Red Shield Cockroach King considered Banbu's words for a moment and asked, "Banbu, the Tiger Beetle Kingdom is a large mountain range. Aren't you very good at mountain forest pursuits?"

Banbu said, "There is still at least one Cloud Piercing Eagle warrior, and it's the one that attacked us outside Changsheng County last time. It's still alive! I can sense it, it's hiding in the shadows, it saw me."

"There really is a Cloud Piercing Eagle…" The Red Shield Cockroach King felt a headache and said, "The two Cloud Piercing Eagle warriors handed over last time only had heads; I'm afraid they used aging Mountain Lord level warriors to make up the numbers."

Banbu said, "Red Shield Cockroach King, please help guard Lizhu Peak. I need to go to the Red Firmament Continent quickly to bring back Youcha. Youcha can patrol and give warnings… I plan to bring back that little Exploding Ant Queen as well."

Banbu continued, "I observed along the way that the insect population of the Tiger Beetle Kingdom is dwindling, and I estimate that the situation in the Ground Beetle Kingdom is similar. These two major kingdoms are completely unable to rule their territories. Native beast warriors are rampant, and as long as the Northern Wilderness beast tribes cross the dividing mountain range, they can go south unhindered."

Banbu finally sighed, "Rise and fall, now is the time of prosperity, and the Northern Wilderness beast tribes are no exception. I have long heard from the merchant caravans that the number of beast warriors born in the prairie tribes is increasing every year."

The Northern Wilderness beast tribes also have cycles of rise and fall, and they are in sync with the insect tribes. Beast warriors do not breed life seeds; they mainly rely on mineral veins for survival, but mineral ores are ultimately limited. When the tribe's population reaches a certain level, they will be unable to bear it.

The common solution is that the Northern Wilderness beast tribes will help the surplus warriors advance to higher levels, and then organize them to attack the dividing mountain range to the south. Those who have the ability to advance to the County Lord level will be qualified to return to the tribe.

When a race's prosperity reaches a certain level, war follows.

In addition to the most serious war, there is also a second type of harassment.

When the number of Northern Wilderness beast warriors increases, some undisciplined warriors appear, or rather, the Northern Wilderness beast tribes deliberately do so. They organize on a small scale, disperse and smuggle south, scout in the spring, and launch attacks in the autumn and winter harvest seasons, specifically ambushing and plundering those rich county lands, risking death to snatch valuable primal force food.

"Yes, war is not far away. Looking at the past, many small tribes that were about to develop declined suddenly during this period due to beast plagues…" The Red Shield Cockroach King was also worried, sighed, and asked:

"Banbu, where do you plan to place that Exploding Ant Queen? Ants protected by the gods need enough territory and food to develop. Exploding ants are fierce and warlike, and we must also worry about them turning against us."

"Cloud Mist Peak," Banbu said, "It is the intersection of the Jinping, Jinping, Iron Saber, and Big Eucalyptus Mountains, and can forage from the four major mountain ranges. It is also a fortress; it can support Bluebell Peak to the east, and dividing nests to the north and south can snipe beast warriors fleeing from the Tiger Beetle Kingdom towards the Jinping and Iron Saber Mountains."

"I suggest that the Red Cockroach Tribe prepare for war as soon as possible, just in case. In the next few decades, we will vigorously support the Red Tangerine Mountains. If the number of Red Tangerine Mountain warriors is large enough and their strength is strong enough, it will be difficult for the Northern Wilderness beasts to cross from the Tiger Beetle Kingdom's direction and cause trouble in the Red Cockroach Tribe."

"Red Tangerine Mountains… What about the Big Eucalyptus Mountains… Abandon them?" The Red Shield Cockroach King lamented, "The Big Eucalyptus Mountains were opened up by our tribe with all our strength after so much difficulty!"

The Red Shield Cockroach King was still single-mindedly thinking about expanding territory.

Banbu said patiently, "Let the warriors of the Big Eucalyptus Mountains live in one mountain peak. Imitate the Tiger Beetle Tribe, gather together to form a circular defense circle, and we will provide appropriate assistance in terms of raw stones, but we will do what we can, depending on the situation."

"That's fine too…" The Red Shield Cockroach King was silent for a while, looked at Hongdao, who had found the python skin bags and was busy packing and sorting the electric boxes, and changed the subject, asking, "Banbu, where did you disassemble so many electric boxes from? From the Orchid Mountains?"

The 12 million raw stones of primal force stored in Banbu's first heart's supernatural power patterns were all exhausted, and at this time, his carapace was still frantically absorbing natural primal force.

The Red Shield Cockroach King was already used to it and didn't care much about it.

Banbu replied, "The Knife Mantis Tribe's warriors are very shrewd, how could they allow me to disassemble so many electric boxes at once? I entered their kingdom from the Tiger Beetle Kingdom, along the edge of the Iridescent Mirage, and then entered the mirage and disassembled them from the large metal wreckage last time, without alarming the Knife Mantis Tribe."

"Still not enough, only 19 level one electric boxes. When you have time, secretly go over there again and disassemble them all. I don't plan to let the Knife Mantis Tribe know about this."

The Red Shield Cockroach King asked, "Didn't you say that the electric boxes need to be sent to the Orchid Mountains to replenish power…"

Banbu said, "Chiwu Mountain will handle it. They will distribute them to the merchant caravans and send them over in batches over several years to charge. In the future, when the steel rails are laid, the trains will only run once every few years or even more than a decade."

The Red Shield Cockroach King moved its antennae.

Banbu continued, "Since County Lords Daye and Chuirong have already set off to seek help, then I will wait a few days and travel with Cockroach King Qiufeng."

… …

Cockroach King Qiufeng needed to lead 50 warriors to Chiwu Mountain to be responsible for some material handling work.

The Red Cockroach Tribe also had to send 20 Mountain Lord warriors, plus County Lords Daye and Chuirong, to be responsible for firing the iron smelting furnace.

The two sides had originally agreed on a time to set off together, and the agreed time was not far away.

Banbu waited for a few days, and everyone set off together. Just right, these warriors could help transport the electric boxes and various supplies to be sent to the Red Firmament Continent.

Upon arriving at Chiwu Mountain, Ghost King Leizhu informed them that Chiwu Mountain had already sent Ghost King Lianwu and Butterfly King Furong to Lizhu Peak to help. They were crossing the continent and should have arrived.

With a Ghost King with extremely strong ground combat power and a Butterfly King with extremely strong air combat power stationed there, the safety of Lizhu Peak was generally worry-free.

Banbu was completely relieved.

He went up the mountain to discuss briefly with Ghost King Chiwu, prepared urgently, and set off with Baizhu and Xiaobaizhu.

… …

Near the Wedge Cherry Divine Seed, 10 saplings were distributed.

Under the cherry tree, a large number of black worker ants with a body length of 5 to 15 centimeters were busy.

Mature exploding ant colonies are roughly divided into five categories: combat soldier ants, exploding soldier ants, flying combat soldier ants, flying exploding soldier ants, and ordinary worker ants. They can be highly differentiated into 14 different sizes of ant species, responsible for different labor and combat.

Ordinary worker ants are jet black, with small heads, underdeveloped mandibles, slender antennae, developed mesothoraxes, and plump abdomens. Their bodies lack coordination and beauty.

Their appearance is extremely poor, and they are a truly ugly ant species. They are neither as cute as big-headed ants, nor as cold and handsome as thatch ants, which make insects shudder.

At this time, it was the late autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere, and the rustling wind brought a different atmosphere.

It was a warning pheromone sent back by the soldier ants responsible for reconnaissance: enemy attack! Fight!

The orderly and busy worker ant colony immediately exploded, panicking and fleeing to the cliff ant nest not far away.

Inside the cliff ant nest, soldier ants about 12 centimeters long, with abdomens shaped like grenades and thick carapaces full of cracked gaps, hurriedly emerged from the nest.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions sounded densely in the distant jungle.

"Wedge Thorn! Youcha! Stop bombing, it's me…" Banbu's mental power surged, coming from low altitude, somewhat annoyed.

Wedge Thorn, who was shrinking in the ant nest entrance, vigilantly watching, hurriedly shook its antennae, restraining the ant colony that had entered combat state.

The exploding ants scattered around the jungle were all gathered back to the nest.

Banbu emerged from the cherry blossom forest somewhat embarrassedly, with Baizhu behind him, his fur bristling with vigilance.

Banbu's carapace was loaded with a lot of goods, all packed in spider silk bags. Two bags were torn by carapace fragments blown away by the explosions, and were severely damaged.

One bag contained raw stones, and the other bag contained primal force food, leaking all the way.

Xiaobaizhu was carrying a backpack, hanging far behind, also carrying a spider silk bag, picking up the scattered items while walking and recovering them.