Chapter 142: Chapter 138: Insect-man Technology

Although the turtles of this world might be different from the ones on Blue Star, they still had some things in common.

Egg Pancake was especially excited about building a new home for Da Yan, constantly running circles around Han Ning.

Han Ning walked over to a patch of dirt and used the tip of his foot to mark out an area of over 300 square meters. Half of this space lay outside the dormitory area, separated by the perimeter wall.

They could just tear down the wall and replace it with Da Yan’s house. Having it stand guard here would be far more reliable than a two-meter-high wall.

He pointed to the area inside the circle and said to Egg Pancake, "All right, Egg Pancake, it’s up to you now. Build a round stone house at least three meters high in this area."

Egg Pancake had the ability to form rock. Building a house for Da Yan would not only provide a home but also increase its Soul Technique’s Skill Level and its Elemental Affinity. It was a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.

"CHIRP..." Egg Pancake stared at the large, empty plot of land, its eyes going a little vacant.

But soon, its gaze hardened with determination!

Egg Pancake plunged its claws into the ground. As an earthy-yellow halo flashed, a square, grayish-white rock materialized before it.

"Just focus on making as many of these stones as you can for now. I’m going to find someone to help design the structure of the house."

He could have just let Da Yan live in an unoccupied dormitory building, but considering the creature probably preferred being close to the earth, and the dorms might be needed for people later, building a new house made entirely of the Earth Element was a better fit for it.

’Of course, I was only half-joking with Egg Pancake. I can’t expect it to build a structurally sound house all by itself, can I?’

"CHIRP!" Egg Pancake replied without turning its head.

"Hmm... Yin Yi, you stay here and keep it company."

"LING~" Yin Yi nodded, extending its small, vine-like hands.

"What am I going to do with you..." Han Ning shook his head, ran back to his room to grab a phone, then came back downstairs and handed it to Yin Yi.

Yin Yi immediately flew happily to the top of the wall, sat down, and started playing on the phone while watching Egg Pancake tirelessly create stone blocks.

Han Ning, for his part, patted Da Yan’s head and pointed toward Egg Pancake, gesturing for the big turtle to stay with it.

With Egg Pancake for company, Da Yan finally stopped trying to follow him. Instead, it curled up beside its friend, occasionally helping to move a stone block.

After passing between two dormitory buildings, he arrived at the conference room in Building A, hoping to consult a few teachers with some knowledge of architectural design.

The conference room usually doubled as a lounge, and there were often teachers on duty inside, responsible for receiving various messages.

At the moment, the conference room was packed. Lü Xiuning was in the middle of recounting to Dean Wu what his party had encountered the previous day.

They gave Han Ning a slight nod when he entered but didn’t stop their conversation.

After listening patiently to Lü Xiuning’s account, Dean Wu remarked with a sigh:

"Danger is truly everywhere. The important thing is that you all returned safely. As for these Soul Beast Eggs you’ve collected, I’ll post a notice later. Only students who perform exceptionally and make contributions to the academy will be able to adopt one."

"As for the Nitre Mine..." Dean Wu turned his head to Rajkica, who was sitting to the side. "Mr. Rajkica, are your communication devices ready?"

Rajkica first nodded, then frowned.

"The three communication devices should all be installed by tomorrow. However... Mr. Wu, to communicate over a distance of 300 kilometers, we’ll need to build several signal relay stations between the two points. Otherwise, the signal will degrade significantly during transmission and won’t be received on the other end."

Dean Wu continued, "What materials are needed to build the relay stations? Are there any geographical requirements?"

"As for materials... we can salvage them from some of the discarded electronic components here at the academy. That won’t be difficult."

"The relay stations just need to be safe from Soul Beast attacks and sheltered from long-term exposure to the elements."

"Good. I’ll have someone select suitable locations later. When the time comes to install the relay equipment, we will need you to make the trip in person, Mr. Rajkica," Dean Wu said with a smile.

"Of course. I would be happy to," Rajkica said with a slight bow.

"With communication equipment, we’ll be able to communicate between both locations with almost no delay. The next issue is mining the Nitre Mine..."

Dean Wu was mid-sentence when Lü Xiuning raised his hand, indicating he had something to say.

"Xiuning, go ahead."

"What’s the status of the Insect-men? Has Nia woken up? I think if we want to exploit the Nitre Mine or any other mineral veins, we’ll have to use a large number of insects. Relying on our academy’s few hundred Soul Beasts to travel hundreds of kilometers to mine is completely out of the question."

"It would be a different story if we had smooth roads and large trucks or freight trains... but we have none of that. We have to rely on Soul Beasts."

"Most of the Soul Beasts controlled by the Insect-men can fly. If we can master the techniques for cultivating and commanding them, we could establish an air route for round trips between the two locations. Each insect can carry at least a hundred kilograms of cargo, which would skyrocket our efficiency."

"And we wouldn’t have to worry about security, either."

An "I knew you were going to say that" expression appeared on Dean Wu’s face.

"Nia woke up yesterday afternoon and is currently communicating well with Lena. According to Lena, communicating with Nia is much more efficient than with the other three Insect-men. Furthermore, the knowledge Nia possesses seems to be more advanced."

"Oh? Where are they now? Can we have them come over so we can ask about their progress?" Lü Xiuning asked, his interest piqued.

"Mr. Rajkica, would you be so kind as to go get them? After all, Nia is staying right next to your dorm," Dean Wu said politely.

"Not a problem, Mr. Wu." Rajkica stood, nodded to the others, and walked out of the room.

About five minutes later, Rajkica returned. He walked into the conference room holding a small baby, accompanied by Teacher Zheng, Lena, and the petite Nia.

It seemed to be Nia’s first time being the focus of so many people’s attention at such close range, practically face-to-face. An uncomfortable expression crossed her face, and she lowered her head.

Lena and Teacher Zheng sat on either side of her. The two older women reached out and took Nia’s hands, soothing her nerves.

The small, Cyan Jade-colored dragonfly perched on Nia’s shoulder, its bright compound eyes surveying the humans before it.

"Nia, how have you been these past couple of days?"

Han Ning’s relationship with Nia was a bit closer than the others’, so he asked with a friendly smile.

Nia raised her head and glanced timidly at Han Ning, a soft, delicate sound escaping her lips. "Sssu..."

"She’s greeting you," Lena translated from the side. "It’s something like, ’Good morning, Han Ning.’"

After that, she addressed the rest of the group.

"Over the last two days, I’ve managed to get some information from Nia about methods for cultivating insect swarms. I’ll need about three more days to continue translating and verifying everything. In three days, the first segment of knowledge on insect cultivation should be fully translated."