Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 54 No wonder we had such a tough time before.

After the inventory and handover of the supplies were completed, the crystal coins and the raw materials needed by Dragon Bone Village were also loaded onto the truck.

The convoy restarted its engines, preparing to embark on its journey home.

The elderly resource coordinator with gray hair stood outside the car window, waving to Qianli in the driver's seat with a simple smile on his face.

"Thank you for your hard work making this trip, Qianli. Everything is correct, and the crystal coins and materials are all there."

Qianli grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "Of course, it's a pleasure to cooperate!"

The old man nodded, his gaze seemingly passing through the car window to look at Hong Kou and Po Xiao in the back seat, before speaking to Qian Li.

"Next time it's my turn to send people to your village No. 2 to collect supplies, I'll personally lead the team there. It'll be a good opportunity to catch up with Old Man Nan and Old Xia, and play some chess. It's been a long time since I played a couple of games with him."

"Sure, Old Xia must be talking about you." Qianli readily agreed.

"Just let me know in advance, and I'll have some good food and drinks ready for you!"

"Haha, alright, it's settled then!" The old man laughed, took two steps back, waved goodbye, and said, "Take care on the road!"

"Let's go!" Qianli stepped on the gas, and the truck slowly drove out of the settlement's heavy gate.

Other vehicles followed closely behind, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The convoy drove back into the desolate wasteland, where the setting sun had already dyed the earth a vibrant orange-red.

Through the car window, Hong Kou looked back at the settlement that nestled against the black mountain, appearing rugged and resilient.

The question that had been nagging at her finally broke the silence in the car.

“Qianli,” she turned around and looked at the back of the driver’s seat.

"It seems these settlements don't have any shield towers?"

Dawn's gaze also fell upon them, clearly bearing the same doubts.

Along the way, they saw the figures of Devouring Beasts appearing on the road.

This settlement was clearly located in an open area, yet there were no Devouring Beasts active in the surrounding area.

While skillfully maneuvering the steering wheel to avoid potholes on the road, Qianli answered without turning his head.

"Oh, this? Didn't you learn about Devouring Beasts in Principal Qiu Shi's class?"

Red Fist and Dawn exchanged a glance and answered almost in unison: "Territoriality?"

“That’s right!” Qianli snapped his fingers.

"The Devouring Beasts, especially the big ones, those that have undergone metamorphosis or higher, all have their own territorial concepts. Where they occupy, the surrounding metamorphic Devouring Beasts, such as the Snake Dog and the Earth Roar, will obey the commands of Devouring Beasts of higher levels. This forms a natural sphere of influence."

"If the high-level Devouring Beasts don't give the order, then these polymorphic ones won't bother them."

"You...you mean to say?" Hong Kou already had a guess in her mind.

He paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, that's right."

"The reason why this settlement was able to take root here and not be disturbed by those Devouring Beasts is because deep within the black mountain beneath their feet... a Devouring Beast is buried."

"Buried? They can capture a mutated Devouring Beast?!" Red Bandit was shocked.

"Of course not. How could something captured possibly obey? The Devouring Beast buried in that mountain is said to be from a very long time ago, at least before the birth of humans."

"A... prehistoric Devouring Beast?" Dawn's voice was filled with disbelief and shock.

“That’s right!” Qianli affirmed.

“The mana ecosystem is not a recent phenomenon; it has existed on Earth for a long time, but it has only recently come back to life.”

"It's too ancient to know exactly what kind it is; even the boss and the others probably don't know for sure. But it's definitely at least a metamorphosis-type. For some reason, it's been in a deep slumber without any signs of waking up."

He pointed to the desolate scenery flashing past the car window: "Look at those scattered Devouring Beasts around here. They just hover around and never go into the settlement's territory."

Hong Kou suddenly realized, muttering, "So that's how it is... Using the sleeping Devouring Beast, he indirectly created a safe zone for himself? This... this is simply..."

She couldn't find the right words to describe this extremely audacious survival strategy. "Trying to get something out of something like a tiger? Taking chestnuts out of the fire?" Qianli said it for her, but her tone carried a hint of admiration.

"That's pretty much the idea. Of course, there are risks. If one of our ancestors rolls over or wakes up and yawns, the entire settlement could be wiped out in an instant."

"But they had no choice. The range of our shielding towers is also limited. It's impossible to directly transfer them from the village. Besides, they've been monitoring that Devouring Beast. As soon as there's any sign of it waking up, they immediately call the boss and the others over."

Dawn remained silent, digesting this astonishing information.

Humans on the ground not only rebuilt order and vitality in places like Dragonbone Village, but even in seemingly hopeless places, they evolved such incredible yet effective ways of survival.

Using a dormant prehistoric Devourer as a sanctuary?
This is a line of thinking that the people at the lighthouse probably couldn't even come up with, let alone dare to do.

Silence fell again inside the carriage, broken only by the roar of the engine and the sound of tires rolling over gravel.

"By the way, how did your lighthouse come to our continent?" Qianli asked, puzzled.

According to the villagers' previous conversation, Boss Bai had previously gone to another continent to find a lighthouse, and then went up there to take some things.

After all these years, the lighthouse finally drifted to this continent. Could it be that it's trying to get revenge?

“It’s very difficult to find supplies where we were before. There are many more Devouring Beasts there than here,” Hong Kou sighed.

Qianli suddenly understood, and exclaimed in realization, "Oh~~~"

"That's probably the bosses' fault."

"What do you mean?" Hong Kou asked, puzzled.

How did they get involved with Yang Chen and Bai Yuekui when they were separated by a continent?

"The Devouring Beasts are constantly evolving, and so is ours here." Qianli turned to look at Hongkou and the other person: "But do you know why there are so few Devouring Beasts here, while there were many where you were before?"

Er Tong then gave Qian Li a push: "Watch where you're going."

"Why else?" Qianli gripped the steering wheel again, looking straight ahead, but his tone carried a sense of self-righteous pride. "Of course, it's because our two bosses have been cleaning regularly!"

He freed one hand and exaggeratedly made a sweeping motion.

"Cleaning?" Hong Kou and Po Xiao were both stunned, completely failing to understand the metaphor.

"That's right!" Qianli slapped the steering wheel.

"Why do you think there are so few Devouring Beasts around our Dragonbone Village? Why is the area around the village so clean? It's because the boss and the others go out for a stroll every now and then."

He paused deliberately, keeping everyone in suspense.

"As soon as they detect a large number of Devouring Beasts being born or paying rent in any place, the boss and his team will go straight there and wipe them out! No matter what level they are, they'll all be scattered! Even their ashes will be scattered!"

He imitated the sound of an explosion: "Boom! The world is quiet now."

"What...what does this have to do with the number of Devouring Beasts we had there before?" Dawn asked instinctively.

“Related?” Qianli shrugged.

"The connection is that Mana Ecology isn't stupid. It found that the feng shui of this place was bad, and just when it wanted to settle down, it was wiped out. After this happened a few times, it naturally moved away."

"In other words, it cannot be completely eradicated, otherwise the mana ecosystem would have ended long ago."

The Mana Flower will continuously regenerate, and the Devouring Beasts will be repaired within the magnetic field of the Mana Flower. The Mana Flower King will then continuously produce new Devouring Beasts.

Regular cleaning only provides temporary relief; at least it reduces the danger for the village's awakened warriors when they go on missions.

"So you mean that the reason we had such a large number of Devouring Beasts on the continent we were on before was because the Mana ecosystem found that it couldn't increase their numbers here, so..."

"That's roughly the idea." Qianli nodded.

He then added, "I wonder if all the Devouring Beasts from other continents will one day come to our side."

"That scene must be spectacular."

(End of this chapter)