Dawn Spider

Chapter 190: Let's get started!
Because the Fog Sea is located to the east of Ivory Island, the fog tides break out from the east coast. Therefore, the insect tribes in the north of the island all settled on the west side, while the east side was a wasteland without insects.

Jin Linglu led an army of 100,000 ants, marching close to the east coast, and then turned to Ruins No. 2002.

Three years have passed, and the mounds of underground rocks and soil cleared from the previous excavations are now covered with weeds and shrubs.

"gold!"

A thorny red firefly warrior with a brownish-yellow shell suddenly emerged from the weeds of a mound.

The Polei Grand Canyon is the closest to this place, and upon receiving the news, Huang Yingshan was the first to rush over.

"Lord Huangying Mountain! So fast!"

Jin greeted them warmly.

"I rushed over here overnight after receiving the news."

In response, Master Huang Yingshan looked at the ant army behind him, which stretched out in a long, winding line, and asked:
"Jin, are you planning to use an army of termites to excavate the ruins? Is that really necessary?"

"The termite army is also doing security and defense work!"

Jin gave a brief explanation, then pointed with his paw and introduced, "This is Bai Ye, the Logistics Assistant King of the Red-headed Termite Kingdom."

"Greetings, Lord Huangying Mountain!"

White Night Calls.

Jin raised his claw and pointed, introducing, "Over there, commanding the army of soldier ants is the combat ant commander, Fire Tube."

"A total of 100,000 ants were mobilized this time. Only a small portion will be used for excavating the ruins and moving rocks. The majority will be responsible for guarding and fighting, and protecting the safety of the excavation team. In case we unearth an unknown calamity like the Cyathea Mountain ruins, the ant army can help hold off and delay it, buying us time to escape."

"Um...it's a very safe arrangement!"

Looking at the vast army of ants, Master Huang Ying felt a little apprehensive. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Jin, are you sure you can find the ruins?"

"I'm not sure."

Kim said, "There is a great chance."

Master Huang Ying asked, "What if we don't find anything? I'm fine with it, but the termite kingdom has made such a big fuss, wouldn't it be hard to explain to the ant king and queen?"

Bai Ye hurriedly said, "Excavating ruins is an adventure with an extremely high risk of failure. Since the Secret Order Ant King agreed, he must have been prepared for failure."

"That's fine..."

Master Huangying asked, "Where do we dig? The ruins below? How exactly do we dig? I've never done it before."

Jin said, "Lord Huangying, please be patient. I have also invited other Zerg warriors. Once everyone has arrived, I will make arrangements."

...

Midnight,

Lord Jin Nan of the Great Poison Armor Tribe and Lord Tuan Hua of the Black Dragon Lice Tribe arrived one after the other.

midnight,

The Blood Fruit Lord and the Purple Wind Mountain Lord of the Comb-Horned Longhorn Beetle tribe arrived together.

The following morning, Dafeng and Lord Bai Cang, a two-colored cockroach warrior from the southern tip of the island, arrived together.

...

All six invited Zerg warriors have arrived.

Jin summoned the insects to discuss the matter, and first declared, "Many insect warriors have invited me to excavate the ruins with them, but I have refused them all. The reason is simple: there are too many uncertainties in this matter, and I have no confidence at all."

"I took the initiative to invite everyone this time and personally organized the team to do the excavation, so I must have some confidence. However, I still have to clarify that I cannot guarantee that it will be 100% successful."

"understand!"

Lord Jin Nan, the Great Poison Armor Warrior, was the first to agree, and chuckled sinisterly, "The three Insect Kings have been digging for two years, but I haven't heard of them finding anything."

Lord Bai Cang asked with a hint of sarcasm and concern, "Lord Blood Fruit, Lord Purple Wind Mountain, if we manage to dig this up, and the Sumeru Insect King goes berserk in a fit of rage, won't it kill us?"

Blood Fruit Lord: "...No."

Zi Feng: "..."

No insects publicized that Jin had been kicked out of the excavation team of the three insect kings, but this explosive news had already spread secretly throughout the entire island.

Previously, when Jin was present, the team unearthed ruins for two consecutive years and had a good harvest.

They kicked Jin out of the team and organized a stronger search team, but after two years they found nothing.

It's obvious who's capable and who's not.

The six Zerg warriors invited were all quite rational and wouldn't waste their time and energy digging up the ruins.

But upon hearing that it was a golden invitation, they readily agreed and rushed over immediately.

Everyone thought gold was a good choice.

After a few lighthearted banter, Lord Jin Nan, a somewhat carefree and venomous warrior who bore a striking resemblance to the King of the Curcuma Insects, urged them on in a nonchalant manner:
"Boss Jin, just get to the point: where to dig and how to dig. We'll follow your instructions."

"Yes!"

Huang Yingshan echoed, declaring, "I've never dug before, I don't know how to dig. Jin, you take charge."

"Don't worry. I'll definitely take care of this..."

Jin Yu quickly said, "With good luck, we might get results in two or three months. With bad luck, it could take one or two years. It's a long and arduous project. So, let's clarify the issue of income distribution first."

"Two options: Option 1, I will pay everyone to help with the excavation, and I will keep all the profits and bear all the risks; Option 2, all the excavation profits will be divided among everyone proportionally, and correspondingly, we will share the risk of failure."

Lord Jin Nan said, "Then it has to be the second option! We're here to make money, not to do hard labor and collect wages."

"Yes."

"The second option."

"I'll choose the second one too."

"Jin, let's split it." "..."

As expected, all the insects chose the second option.

Jin said, "Alright, let's go with the profit-sharing model. All profits will be split: 10% for Lord-level warriors, 5% for Mountain Lord-level warriors, and the profits for Termite King will be calculated based on the Lord-level warriors' profits."

Jin emphasized, "The wind counts too. It is responsible for finding food for everyone, aerial reconnaissance, airlifting supplies, and logistical work such as gathering intelligence and transmitting messages."

"Row!"

"no problem!"

"Hurry up and dig."

"I've never dug before, how can I dig?"

"I've never dug one either..."

"..."

The insects all chimed in, waving their antennae and rubbing their claws, eager to get started.

"Not here."

Jin waved his claws and said, "Bai Ye, Huo Tong, command the ant army, let's go!"

...

Heading north,
Turn left at the intersection and head west along the highway.

After driving for more than 30 kilometers, turn right and head north along the side road.

Late at night, we finally arrived at the fork in the road where we found the broken metal signpost.

Jin led the insects into the underground ruins.

“This is the road! Let’s start digging from here and keep digging along the road.”

"Blood Fruit Lord, please dispel the soil-stabilizing ability of the surrounding stone walls first..."

"it is good!"

Without a word, the Blood Fruit Lord shook its tentacles, unleashing a barrage of orange-yellow earth-elemental energy.

The earth-based reinforcement on the surrounding stone walls was set up by a Lord-level Combhorned Longhorn Beetle Warrior, which Blood Fruit Lord, being a Lord-level Combhorned Longhorn Beetle Warrior himself, easily broke through.

At a depth of 1,000 meters underground, water began to seep from the rock walls.

Jin arranged the work.

"Everyone, let's expand this cave to a size of 50 meters in diameter and 6 meters in height."

"Let's dig another spiraling upward channel."

"Baiye is directing the worker ants to dig through the rocks. Be careful not to cause them to collapse."

"The fire tube commands the soldier ants, who are responsible for transporting the rocks."

"Lord Huangying Mountain, Lord Zifeng Mountain, your job is to solidify the excavated rocks into oval ant egg shapes one meter long, so that the soldier ants can carry them."

"Ok!"

"no problem."

Lord Huangying and Lord Zifeng agreed.

"Lord Jin Nan, you also need to lead the way. Scan the area periodically. Keep an eye out for any large pieces of metal residue in the soil ahead. If you find any, warn others immediately. The team should carefully dig closer and meticulously clean and restore the area. The characters on the metal fragments are key clues for finding the ruins."

"I know!"

Lord Jin Nan agreed.

Jin continued, "Blood Fruit Lord, White Cang Lord, you need to work closely together. White Cang Lord, use your water control and freezing abilities to control the water seepage in the cave. Blood Fruit Lord, use your earth-based abilities to reinforce the stone walls and stop the seepage."

"Row!"

"no problem!"

Blood Fruit Lord and White Cang Lord agreed.

Finally, Jin looked at the Dragonfly Warrior, Lord Tuanhua, who hadn't said a word yet, and said, "During the excavation process, there will inevitably be a lot of seepage. Lord Tuanhua, you are responsible for cleaning up this seepage."

"Simple!"

Lord Tuanhua readily agreed.

Tasks have been assigned.

Jin waved his claws and said, "Let's start working and test it out first. Bai Ye, direct the worker ants to dig."

"Roger that!"

Bai Ye agreed, shaking her antennae.

The swarm began to move.

...

Under Jin's personal command, it took five days to complete the expansion of the underground cave, creating a spiral passage more than 4 meters wide that spirals upwards.

Preparations are complete.

The next step is to excavate a circular tunnel with a diameter of 3 meters along the highway.

The biggest challenge in digging deep underground is transporting the soil, a task perfectly accomplished by thousands upon thousands of termite soldiers.

The gold remained underground and continued to be observed. The rate was acceptable, advancing seven or eight hundred meters a day.

(End of this chapter)