Dawn Spider

The southern continent is afflicted by four calamities: the Thunder Domain, the Fire Domain, the Land of the Undying, and the Ice and Snow Polar Region.

The ferocious beasts formed from the eruption of evil spirits all gather around the calamity energy field, which over time becomes an inescapable problem, turning it into a dangerous place where Zerg warriors cannot survive or even dare to set foot.

The radius of influence of the four calamities varies from 500 to 800 kilometers.

Thunder Domain is located in the middle of the northern coast of the continent, half of which is land and half of which is ocean.

The Fire Domain is located in the northwest of the continent, inland.

The Land of the Undying is the most troublesome. Located in the fertile forest in the center of the continent, the undead beasts that have emerged from it are the most difficult to deal with, affecting an area of ​​800 kilometers and occupying the best living land on the continent.

The icy polar regions have the least impact; the glacial polar regions located in Antarctica have almost no effect on the survival of Zerg warriors.

...

The eastern side of the southern continent was less affected by the calamity, and there was a 'V'-shaped strait between it and the divine barrier that extended into the continent, allowing merchant ships to sail south along the east coast and trade with many coastal tribes.

The northeastern region is characterized by its numerous mountains and rivers, abundant rainfall, mild climate, and lush forests. This has led to the emergence of thousands upon thousands of insect tribes of varying sizes, making it the most prosperous and fertile area in the southern continent.

The Coastal Tiger Beetle tribe is one of the top tribes with a population exceeding a thousand, and they also live in coastal areas.

The earliest shipbuilding was organized by the Flame Spider Kingdom. They sailed south along the divine barrier, crossed the sea to the southern continent, and were the first to establish trade relations with the Coastal Tiger Armor Tribe.

The Coast Tiger Armor Tribe built 'Stinger Harbor' specifically for this purpose, and constructed a trading plaza. The unique divinely bestowed food from Borneo and Ivory Island attracted a large number of insect warriors from nearby tribes to trade, forming a free market.

...

early morning,

The cargo ship slowly entered the deep-water port built between the cliffs, where the power of ice permeated the air and the sea surface froze.

The ship docked smoothly, the metal gangway extended, and it connected to the pier.

The Flame Spider tribe's team, led by the Worry-Free Spider King and consisting of thirty dedicated combat Flame Spider warriors who stayed behind, set off in formation with the Wood Spider King and thirty trading spiders, fully loaded with goods.

The golden carcass, laden with 22 large bags and 220 small bags of granular fertilizer, led the trading procession.

A long line of people walked along the zigzag mountain path carved into the cliff face, climbing up the precipice.

On March 10th, at the end of spring, the insectoids on the southern continent were enjoying a lull after finishing their territorial affairs. The trading plaza, built atop the cliff, was already crowded with hundreds of insectoid warriors of all kinds.

The arrival of the teams from Borneo and Ivory Island immediately stirred up the insect swarm. Many warriors stood on the edge of the cliff to look out, while many others stood at the crossroads to welcome them.

The trade had been going on for hundreds of years. The warriors in charge of the trade in each tribe were almost always the same. Many of the insects knew each other, and various shouts and greetings of spiritual energy rose and fell, intertwining into one.

The bright gold color was so eye-catching that it quickly attracted the attention of insects on the cliff.

"what!"

"That's a blue-purple spider!"

"A mutated Flame Spider Warrior?"

"Simultaneously awakened both lightning and water elemental talents?"

"Famu, what's the deal with the Mountain Lord-level Flame Spider Warrior behind you?"

“My junior has a divinely bestowed seed that mutated from a tin-leaf vine, called ‘golden-leaf vine,’ hence its name ‘gold.’”

"Jin? Who named you that? Why not Jin Ye or Jin Teng?"

"It named itself."

"Is it carrying fertilizer pellets on its back?"

"That's right. Jin is now in charge of the sales of granular fertilizer."

"Oh? Really? Such important items are being sold by a Mountain Lord-level spider? Then I'll take two bags!"

“Jin, this is Lord White Pine of the Six-Spotted Tiger Armor Tribe…”

As they walked and talked, by the time the group reached the cliffside trading square, they had already been recognized by many insects. In addition, through the introduction of Lord Famu, they also got to know quite a few insects.

The black rock, hardened and reinforced by soil, is inlaid with white rock and divided into sections five or six meters wide and ten meters long.

The stalls are simply divided into sections.

Jin occupied a stall by himself, unloaded the goods from his back, and arranged them neatly.

The six-spotted tiger-armored tribe warrior named Bai Song has come looking for us.

"How much does Spider Gold granular fertilizer cost?"

"Large bag or small bag? They come in different sizes, and different sizes have different effects on enhancing the Divine Seed. Lord White Pine, which one do you specifically need, or what type do you generally need?"

"Big bags! I'll take one big bag each of the 304 and 309 models."

"Type 304: 2 RMB/bag; Type 309: 1.2 RMB/bag. We only accept transactions for food products that have been granted divine power; no bargaining."

"Huh? Little Spider is honest! It's much cheaper!"

Lord White Pine was briefly surprised, then shook his tentacles vigorously and said, "I want four large bags! Two bags each of the 304 and 309 types."

"..."

Jin glanced at the group of Lord Famu next door and understood immediately without asking.

The granular fertilizer delivered to the Flame Spider Caravan had a fixed price. These unscrupulous fellows then resold it at a higher price.

They not only consume the 5% price difference of the divinely bestowed food they trade back, but also the price difference of the granular fertilizer.

No wonder everyone was so concerned about their safety before coming, saying it was dangerous here and constantly advising themselves not to come...

Jin proactively explained, "There's a commission on the sale of granular fertilizer. This is my first time trading in the Southern Continent, mainly to broaden my horizons, learn about trading, and get to know the Zerg warriors of the Southern Continent. I didn't calculate the commission, so the price is much cheaper than other spiders."

"Oh~"

Lord White Pine had an expression that said, "I knew it."

Jin glanced at the other party's empty back armor and said, "Total price: 6.4. Any type of divinely bestowed food is acceptable."

Lord White Pine asked, "Like the old spider, you don't discriminate based on type or quality, right?"

Kim replied, "Yes."

"That's no problem!"

Lord White Pine waved its tentacles in acknowledgment, and pointed with its claws, saying, "The Six-Spotted Tiger Armor team is over there. Come with me to get it."

...

The first transaction was completed very easily.

Sold four large bags of granular fertilizer.
They received a large bag of divinely bestowed food.

Jin ran quickly back to the cargo ship and brought up another batch of granular fertilizer.

...

Many of the insects that come here to trade are there for the specialties of the Twin Islands of Sal and Ivory Island.

The already bustling trading square became even more lively.

As soon as the stall was set up, a large number of soldiers gathered around it.

Granular fertilizer has been sold for many years; at the coastal trading points, any Zerg warriors who needed it had already bought it. The White Pine Lord just now happened to have recently harvested a Wood-type Divine Seed on the mountain, hence his need.

At Jin's stall, many insects chatted and asked all sorts of questions, but none of them actually bought fertilizer.

Some even came over to ask Jin for free spider silk bags. Jin's spider silk was precious and couldn't be given away casually, so he refused them all without hesitation.

until late at night,

A moss stick insect warrior, resembling a withered tree covered in moss, trotted into the trading square, carrying large and small bags of spider silk on its back.

With a sweep of mental energy, it crawled towards Jin with a clear objective.

"Are you the Flame Spider Warrior?"

"Yes. Mutant Flame Spider Warrior, Jin. I have a mutated Tin Leaf Vine, a divinely bestowed seed, the Golden Leaf Vine."

"You've mutated to have both lightning and water elemental talents?"

"more or less."

"Oh...you're already out trading at sea as a mere mountain lord?"

"Yes. I haven't asked your name yet."

"Mukui."

"Lord Mukui! You live nearby?"

"No. It's very far. I live deep inland and traveled more than two thousand kilometers to come here for this transaction."

Did you drive over 2,000 kilometers alone?
Jin was greatly shocked.

Sensing through the spider silk sacs on its carapace, it only contained some scattered God-given Force food, not a rich insect.

Lord Mukui raised his paw and pointed to the granular fertilizer on the stall, asking, "If I buy it directly from your Flame Spider Warriors, can you give me a discount?"

"Of course!"

Jin asked, "What do you need?"

Lord Mukui: "How much are the small bags for the 302 and 311 models respectively?"

"..."

Would a lone insect risk traveling over 2,000 kilometers just to buy two small bags of granular fertilizer?

Jin replied, "Type 302 is priced at 1500 raw stones per bag, and Type 311 is priced at 1200 raw stones per bag."

"It's much cheaper indeed!" Lord Mukui was secretly pleased and asked, "Can you make it any cheaper?"

"This is the cheapest price we can offer."

"Okay. One bag of type 302, and two bags of type 311."

Lord Mukui agreed, and the wooden vines binding her with spider silk bags automatically untied themselves, moving as nimbly as an arm. She took off five spider silk bags, opened them, and placed them in front of Jin.

"The divinely bestowed food I brought is more than enough to cover the cost. Flame Spider Warrior, you can choose."

"OK……"

Five different kinds of divinely bestowed foods, each containing a little bit.

Jin couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Lord Mukui, are these your wages for working for the other insects?"

"Yes."

"What kind of work requires payment in the form of food powered by the Force?"

"Two abilities. One is our moss stick insect's innate ability 'epiphany,' which is to attach modified moss to the trunk and branches of the host plant, forming a symbiotic relationship with the host plant to help absorb and transform the original energy."

"The second ability is my own realization, called 'symbiotic fungus'. This ability modifies mycelium and parasitizes the root system of the plant. The mycelium extends outward from the roots, which is equivalent to increasing the coverage of the roots and the number of capillary roots, helping the plant to absorb water, nutrients and the Force more fully."

"It also has a scavenging function. For example, after hunting a ferocious beast, you can dig a hole and bury it near the life-giving plant. The symbiotic bacteria will quickly spread over, cover the beast's corpse, decompose it, and extract the useful high-level primal energy substances to provide to the primal force plant."

"The combination of the two abilities can make the Force Plant grow faster and stronger, reduce the burden of flowering and fruiting, and increase the yield of the Force Plant."

Is there such an ability?

That sounds a bit eerie.

Jin asked tactfully, "There shouldn't be any side effects, right?"

"of course not!"

Lord Mukui assured, "Epiphytic moss is an innate ability I awakened when I was a 1-year-old mountain lord. Symbiotic fungi are an auxiliary ability I comprehended when I was a 4-year-old mountain lord. In the past hundred years, I have used these two abilities on no less than a million life plants and have not found any side effects."

Are you sure there are no side effects?

The pantheon of nature gods has all sorts of strange insects and all sorts of strange abilities.

Jin's heart skipped a beat as he listened, and he asked, "Lord Mukui, how much do you charge for using your abilities?"

"I usually charge by the day, based on God-given Force food, 300 Primogems/day."

Mu Kui replied, explaining in detail: "Different plants, different evolutionary levels, and different life levels require different amounts of time to unleash their abilities. The lower the evolutionary level, the shorter the time required. Conversely, the higher the evolutionary level, the longer the time required."

"In addition, ordinary seedlings take less time, usually only a few days. But divinely bestowed seeds take much longer, ranging from ten days to half a month, or even one or two months."

"It's not expensive..."

"Very cheap."

"Yes……"

Jin said, "Here you have a total of 5000 Primogems worth of divinely bestowed Primogem food. Lord Mukui, how about this, I'll give you two bags each of type 302 and type 311 granular fertilizer, and give you a discount, so it'll be 5000 Primogems for you."

"Okay!"

Lord Mukui exclaimed happily, "Thank you!"

Jin asked in confusion, "Lord Mukui, according to your fee schedule, 300 a day would earn you 10 a year. But I see you..."

Jin waved his paw and pointed, his body language subtly conveying: How can you be so poor and stingy?

"Hey~ that's not how you do it. There's not work to do every day."

Lord Mukui said, "These two abilities, once inoculated with moss and mycelium, have lifelong effects. Within a radius of one or two thousand kilometers, there are insectoid warriors who have received divine-given primal force food, can afford the payment, and find my abilities truly useful, and have already been inoculated with the Life Seed. Nearly a hundred years have passed, and the work is long done. Now I can only get a few odd jobs here and there."

"Oh!"

"Correct!"

Jin said, "Then you must be very familiar with the various ethnic groups, large and small, in the northeastern region of the mainland, right?"

"I am very sure of that."

Lord Mukui said, "Not to brag, but I know a whole bunch of Insect Kings."

"What a rare talent!" Jin said. "Lord Mukui, I have some lucrative jobs I'd like to invite you to join me. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

"A way to make money?"

Lord Mukui looked suspicious, took two steps back, and asked, "What kind of job?"

"Lord Mukui, don't be nervous, it's bound to be a good job."

With a flick of its golden claw, the large and small bags of spider silk on the ground floated up and landed on its carapace, beckoning:

"Let's discuss this in detail on the cargo ship." (End of Chapter)