Chapter 199: Chapter 169: Volcanic Ash Disaster (Part 2)
"Don’t be fooled by their output. They eat far more than they produce. A single washbasin-sized Crude Oil Rubber Insect can consume 30 kilograms of rotten Soul Beast corpses a day just to produce less than 5 kilograms of crude oil."
As they spoke, Dean Wu led Han Ning to the area where the Crude Oil Rubber Insects were being raised.
By now, everyone had completely cleared out the sporadic Soul Beasts that had been wandering the southern part of the academy grounds.
To Han Ning’s pleasant surprise, in the eight or nine days he had been away, the academy’s teachers and students had worked with Da Yan to reinforce the perimeter walls and raise them by another section.
The stone used for the reinforcement and heightening was all created by Da Yan, who solidified it by manipulating the Earth Element.
Clearing out the Soul Beasts and reinforcing the outer barriers had secured the academy’s interior. Now, non-combat support staff could move about safely without fear of being ambushed by a sudden Soul Beast attack.
The first batch of cultivated Silver Thorn Damselfly larvae had already begun their "service," flying patrols around the walls to scout the surrounding area.
The breeding ground for the Crude Oil Rubber Insects was located east of the dormitories, near the machining center.
Here, a 1,000-square-meter plot of land had been completely reworked. The asphalt road was torn up and replaced with dark brown, nutrient-rich soil. The curbs alongside the greenbelts were shattered, allowing the landscaping to merge seamlessly with the prepared ground.
It gave one the sense that they were regressing from technology and returning to a more primitive society.
When the two arrived, a student in a jacket was standing inside the breeding area, which was enclosed by Silver Lotus Wood Vines and wooden planks. He held an instrument that resembled a xun and was gently playing a strange, melodic tune.
Dean Wu didn’t disturb the student, instead explaining to Han Ning:
"We call this melody the ’Insect Control Tune.’ By imbuing the tune with Spiritual Power fluctuations, we can control the actions of insects with relatively simple brains."
"The Yinsaike Race divides the Insect Control Tune into three levels. It’s a bit like the musical instrument proficiency exams we had before... well, before. A Level One Insect Control Tune can only control Entry Level insects and below."
"Level Two is for the Awakened Level, and Level Three is for the Extraordinary Level. As for anything higher, the knowledge hasn’t even been passed down among the Yinsaike Race. After all, most of those who play the Insect Control Tune are Insect Servants. To them, an Extraordinary Level insect is already incredibly powerful, let alone a being beyond that."
When Han Ning had first received the legacy of the Yinsaike Race, he had focused on the Insect Master’s descriptions of Spiritual Power. He really hadn’t looked much into this peculiar Insect Control Tune.
He just thought the idea of controlling an insect swarm with sound was fascinating.
After a pause, Dean Wu continued, "The Insect Control Tune also has requirements for the player’s Spiritual Power. Someone with a certain amount of Spiritual Power who hasn’t yet reached Tier One can only control insects up to the Awakened Level. Only by reaching the Tier One level can one control an Extraordinary Level insect."
"Playing the Insect Control Tune continuously drains Spiritual Power. The larger the swarm you’re controlling, the faster it’s consumed. If the swarm is one you’ve raised and lives with you, it requires very little control; you just need to play a few simple commands for them to understand you. But controlling an unfamiliar swarm takes a great deal more effort."
"Also, the tunes for controlling different insects vary slightly..."
Han Ning listened with keen interest, then pointed at the xun in the student’s hand. "Different Insect Master Families use different instruments. Is there any significant difference between them?"
"The difference probably isn’t significant. It’s just that some insects prefer the sound of a xun, while others prefer the sound of a flute. Perhaps it’s a matter of different sonic frequencies?" Despite Dean Wu’s vast knowledge, it seemed that when it came to music theory, he was just as much of a novice as Han Ning.
The xun has a relatively simple construction. Even though Insect-men and humans were two different civilizations from different times and places, an arc-shaped instrument with a few holes drilled into its surface wasn’t very difficult to produce.
The deep, desolate notes of the instrument swirled beneath the gloomy sky, adding a touch of melancholy to the air.
A swarm of flat-bodied insects, ranging from palm-sized to as large as a washbasin, their carapaces a yellowish-brown, bathed in the xun’s melody. As if they’d undergone military training, they lined up in a neat row, aimed their posteriors at a small wooden bucket, and began to excrete in an orderly fashion.
Crude oil is simply unprocessed petroleum. Back on Blue Star, it was a vital strategic resource that nations would fight tooth and nail to acquire.
It looked like paint—pitch-black and viscous—and gave off a pungent odor, somewhat like rotten eggs.
Soon, the wooden bucket was full of crude oil. Another student capped it with a wooden lid and tied it underneath a nearby bee, a creature with pale blue wings and fuzzy, azure down on its head.
This Blue-Ringed Bee had a large, vine-woven basket hanging beneath it, which already held five barrels of crude oil.
"This crude oil is sent to the machining center for preliminary refining. It’s broken down into diesel, gasoline, kerosene, and other residues. Due to our limited industrial capacity, we can only perform simple distillation, using their different boiling points to separate out those three main substances."
"This fuel will be used to generate electricity, power vehicles..."
The insect breeding base had only been established for a little over a week, so the number of truly operational insects was still relatively low. For instance, Han Ning only saw one or two of the Blue-Ringed Bees used for transport.
A pleased expression appeared on Han Ning’s face as he saw the academy developing in the right direction. He pointed to the other side of the Crude Oil Rubber Insect breeding base, at a row of wooden troughs that resembled livestock feeders. "Where are you currently getting the rotten Soul Beast corpses?"
"We have to rely on the teachers and students in the combat teams to go out and hunt Soul Beasts. We let the carcasses ferment for a few days, or we collect rotten leaves and roots. We then mix it all together with a certain amount of Insect Crystals to create the food the Crude Oil Rubber Insects prefer."
"They won’t eat fresh meat. It has to be rotten and smelly."
As the two of them were talking, the Crude Oil Rubber Insects in the breeding area, having finished their business, began to fly and leap around each other under the influence of the xun’s melody, as if they were dancing for recreation.
"Even though they’re utility insects, a little bit of exercise can also increase their crude oil output," Dean Wu said with a smile, watching the scene.
After seeing the Crude Oil Rubber Insect breeding base, Dean Wu and Han Ning walked over to a smaller area outside Building D, where the Electric Fire Cannon Insects were being cultivated.
The Electric Fire Cannon Insect breeding base was located 20 meters underground. The foundations here had been excavated by Egg Pancake and Da Yan. As they descended a simple, rammed-earth staircase, the buzzing drone of vibrating wings and the loud hum of generators filled their ears.
A total of five diesel generators were placed side-by-side three meters below ground level, and the surrounding area had been thoroughly waterproofed.
"These five generators aren’t very powerful—around 100kW. One unit consumes about 20 kilograms of diesel per hour, so that’s 100 kilograms for all five. That amount of fuel can be converted into 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity."
"A single mother Electric Fire Cannon Insect consumes about 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity a day. Combined with Insect Crystals, the first batch of mothers is about to enter its growth period—the Entry Level. I estimate their power consumption will increase again once they reach that stage."
’Fifty kilowatt-hours a day before even reaching Entry Level... that’s still acceptable, I guess.’ Han Ning did a quick calculation. Even if their consumption increased tenfold, the academy could still barely afford to support them with its current resources.
’As long as they increase the number of Crude Oil Rubber Insects, supporting a dozen or so Electric Fire Cannon Insects would be no problem at all.’
Just as the two were about to head down the earthen steps to check on the Electric Fire Cannon Insects, a sudden clamor erupted outside.
They exchanged a look and hurried back up to ground level.
A grayish-black raindrop, thick with volcanic ash, went SPLAT as Han Ning raised a hand to block it.
From the sky, as dark as night, a "black rain" began to fall with a soft patter.
