Chapter 200: Chapter 170: Falling Passenger Plane
"It’s raining."
Han Ning rubbed a black raindrop between his fingers. The watery smudge, mixed with volcanic ash, instantly stained his fingertip a grayish-black.
’It must have been nearly a month since the last time it rained...’
Without any weather forecasting equipment, the rain on the Insect Continent was completely unpredictable. Sometimes it would rain after a week, other times it would be over half a month.
"I wonder if any new humans will arrive with this rain," Dean Wu said, shielding his head with his hand as he hurried toward the conference room.
Having experienced two rainfalls, the students were no longer as nervous as before.
According to the historical records of the Yinsaike Race, rain was a very normal occurrence on the Insect Continent. It would even cause Concentration Insects, which usually hid underground or in rock crevices, to come to the surface and absorb some kind of mysterious substance from the mist.
But as for why a group of humans would descend here every time it rained—that was a mystery to everyone, from the Insect Masters of the Insect Continent to Han Ning and his group.
After a moment of thought, Han Ning followed in Dean Wu’s footsteps, turning and walking into the temporary conference room in Building A.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~
In just a few minutes, the curtain of rain intensified. Within the gloomy sky, several flashes of lightning faintly flickered, illuminating the dim earth in a deathly white.
The mist thickened. The rain enveloped the volcanic ash drifting in the atmosphere, turning into a mud-like substance that splattered onto the ground. SPLAT. SPLAT.
"Egg Pancake, you and Da Yan can keep playing. No need to rush back."
"Chirp chirp!"
Sitting on a bench in the conference room, Han Ning used his Spiritual Power to send a message to Egg Pancake, who was still lying outside, before closing his eyes.
Yin Yi, like a personal bodyguard, sat down right next to him, happily engrossed in a game on her phone.
At that moment, eight Gale Butterfly puppets, simulated by the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, were circling the skies above the academy, covering the four cardinal directions and the central grounds.
With these eight Gale Butterfly puppets, it was like having eight mobile security cameras; he could monitor the academy’s surroundings in real-time without ever leaving the building.
His perspective shifted between the Gale Butterflies.
At the same time, Dean Wu’s voice broadcasted from speakers fixed in the corners of the buildings: "Attention all teachers and students, please temporarily put aside your work and return to the dormitories. Wait there and observe the changes in the rain."
The various insect-breeding areas were all built with rainproof roofs, so even on rainy days, the insects inside wouldn’t get wet.
Besides, the insects of the Insect Continent weren’t fragile. They were even stronger than the humans who had just crossed over, so there was no need to worry about their safety for the time being.
Ten or so minutes later, the teachers and students who had been working outside returned to the dormitory building one after another.
Everyone found a place to sit, gathering in small groups of two and three.
The temporary conference room, in particular, was packed with people.
Compared to the last two times it rained, everyone seemed much more experienced this time around.
"If things go as expected... this rain means more humans are going to arrive here, right?" Lin Tianhe said as he entered the conference room. He sat down on Han Ning’s other side and gazed out at the pitch-black curtain of rain.
Han Ning opened his eyes and saw a small, brownish-tan rock turtle perched on his roommate’s right shoulder. Xiaoyu stood obediently behind him.
"Da Yan’s son? Did he just hatch in the last couple of days?"
He remembered that when he first met Lin Tianhe in the rubble of the Trembling Forest, he didn’t have this little turtle with him.
"Yep, it hatched yesterday after you left," Lin Tianhe said with a smile, prodding the little turtle’s head with his finger.
"Ooh~" The charmingly naive little turtle rubbed against Lin Tianhe’s finger, then opened its mouth and chomped down on it.
"Hiss... This isn’t food."
Da Yan was an E Talent Soul Beast called a Mud Rock Turtle. Its Talent was comparable to the Purple Star Snake eggs everyone had collected earlier.
Besides the young Mud Rock Turtle on Lin Tianhe’s shoulder, most of the others also had a Soul Beast with them that wasn’t a Tree Spirit or a Tree Demon.
A small purple snake, several dozen centimeters long, was coiled around one person’s arm.
A falcon, its body shimmering with a brassy light, stood on another person’s shoulder.
As part of the Soul Beast resources the academy members had gathered on their expeditions, the first batch of Purple Star Snakes and Copper-Feathered Falcons had already hatched and formed Soul Beast Contracts with their masters.
"If this rain can clear most of the volcanic ash from the sky, it would actually be a good thing for us."
Teacher Zheng leaned back in his chair, picked up his cup, took a sip of water, and suddenly spoke up.
"A good thing?" a student asked, confused.
Teacher Zheng explained, "Volcanic ash is rich in minerals and nutrients, including essential elements for plant growth like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. When it mixes with the rainwater and washes into the soil, it will increase the land’s fertility, helping us grow crops more effectively."
"We’ve already gone through most of the food we’ve gathered in the academy. Once this current batch is finished, we’ll have to consider eating Three-eyed Worms, newly grown crops, or some of the Insect-man specialty foods."
A strange smile appeared on Teacher Zheng’s face.
"For example, grinding Three-eyed Worms into a paste, roasting it over a fire, and eating it sandwiched between the leaves of a plant called Houye Grass."
"We have to eat bugs...?" Some of the students thought of the plump, segmented bodies of the Three-eyed Worms, and their faces turned a little green.
"Beasts are rare on the Insect Continent, let alone poultry. The daily diet of the Insect-men consists mostly of insects and plants. If we want to find livestock like chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle, or sheep, we’ll have to rely on everyone’s hard work."
