I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

"Live well..."

Then, she turned and flew back into the air.

...

This time, the Mother Worm really left.

The black mass of insects kept returning to the "Hot Air Balloon Spaceship", their numbers not as overwhelming as before, but the quality had definitely risen more than one notch, every insect shedding its old body and taking on a new form.

Lu Yuan suddenly remembered something and cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, yelling, "Hey—could you please return my good buddy to me?"

"Undying Giant Turtle, give me that turtle back!"

He almost forgot about that!

The entire Insect Tide became agitated, it seemed the Mother Worm heard his call, issuing various commands.

Shortly after, a sticky mess was lowered from one of the balloons, looking like a big white cocoon!

Spider silk gently placed it on the ground.

But it wasn't over yet!

The hot air balloons kept lowering white cocoons, dazzling Lu Yuan.

There can't be that many Undying Giant Turtles? Pretty messed up.

In total on the ground, there were... over fifteen hundred!

Several golden Insect Eggs were the most eye-catching.

[Eggs of the Worm King.]

[The Worm King, the pinnacle warrior in the scourge of the Insect Tide.]

[These insects can devour the bloodline power of Extraordinary Life forms, constantly evolving and often possessing not insignificant intelligence.]

[It is said that the chance of a Worm King emerging during an Insect Nest disaster, is below one in a hundred million.]

Lu Yuan was stunned. What am I supposed to do with these eggs?

Then it dawned on him; these Insect Eggs weren't intended for him, but for Conch.

The mother, after all, was concerned for her daughter and actually left her a significant guard detail!

This hurt Lu Yuan quite a bit. If he ever bullied Conch in the future, wouldn't these fifteen hundred insects come at him and tear him to pieces?

"This is just sick..."

"Guess I can't bully her anymore."

Lu Yuan checked them one by one, the most precious "Worm King Eggs" were only three, about a meter in diameter each, throbbing "thump thump" with their breaths, emanating a ferocious and horrifying aura.

The somewhat weaker "Leviathan" guards numbered over thirty, each Insect Egg four meters in diameter.

The even weaker "Mammoth" insects numbered over a hundred.

The rest were various functional insects, such as those that could biologically smelt minerals, those with scouting abilities, those capable of long-distance telepathy, and even those able to fly in the sky like hot air balloons!

These fifteen hundred insects together could be considered a fully functional small-sized army—except they lacked the ability to reproduce.

Lu Yuan was dumbfounded: "Conch, can you even control these freaky things?"

"Wouldn't it be a riot otherwise?"

"I definitely can't... How could I possibly have such an ability."

Conch watched the dark mass of the Insect Tide fly away, feeling a bit sad.

But, would there be a chance to meet again in the future, right?

Conch resolved to heed her mother's advice, to study well and aim high every day.

"Wait, maybe you can actually do it!"

Lu Yuan suddenly recalled the modified "Life Fruit".

Aside from integrating the bloodline of the Green Grass People, it must have been tampered with by the Mother Worm in other ways.

But even if she really did have the ability to control the insects, how much would these fifteen hundred behemoths need to eat every day?

For creatures like "Leviathan", larger than elephants, wouldn't they consume tens of tons of food in a day?

"Respected Conch Princess, how much farmland must I plant to feed your insects?!" Lu Yuan counted on his fingers, doing the math before the eggs had even hatched, calculating the precise bill.

Conch was also worried. She couldn't just throw away the things her mother gave her, could she?

"Can I give them to you? What do you think? I knew you wanted them."

Lu Yuan smacked his forehead, both tempted and scared to take them.

Fortunately, these Insect Eggs would need one to two years to hatch, so there wasn't a rush.

Lu Yuan calmed his mind and watched the vast Insect Tide shrink into a tiny dot in the sky...

He then looked at the desolate city, sighing deeply.

Most of the creatures of Sky City were gone, wiped out by the Insect Tide, with only small insects like ants possibly left behind.

Even the grass had been gnawed clean.

The opium poppy tree in the center of the city was on its last breath, only one left before death, and Lu Yuan could earn a Milestone of Civilization by delivering the final blow...

It was very likely to be the first Milestone of killing a "Demon."

But, how could he bring himself to do it?

This was the last legacy of the Green Grass Civilization and the emotional refuge for Miss Conch... and there was also the "Green Grass Paradise," a supercomputer.

As for the "Desire to Become a God," that was also exhausted in the battle. In this light, the opium poppy tree truly was a significant legacy.

Faced with such a vast empty city, Lu Yuan felt somewhat at a loss.

The world goes round and round, the sea changes into mulberry fields.

The sun in the sky was still the same sun.

But the protagonists of the story had changed several times over.

"Why is it always the turtle that gets hurt?" the Undying Giant Turtle emerged from a giant cocoon, shedding tears of pain.

Its size had shrunk yet again, becoming even weaker.

The Shape Attribute officially fell by 20!

Seeing so many insect cocoons in the square and then looking at the bare opium poppy tree, the Undying Giant Turtle was confused: "What in the world?"

Lu Yuan hurried over to comfort it, stuffing a pomegranate fruit in its mouth: "Mr. Turtle, you worked hard! Everyone survived, even the conch, all thanks to you."

…

At that moment, a manhole cover in the sewer also opened.

Old Cat and a few of the Sha Li People emerged from within, and upon seeing Lu Yuan and the Undying Giant Turtle, they showed expressions of joy.

"Comrade, you're really still alive!" Old Cat exclaimed loudly.

"Mr. Lu! We're alive too, thanks to your guns and cannons!" Sha Mo also shouted aloud.

These natives had also gone through grave dangers.

They made hand gestures, describing everything that had happened: "A few insects landed in the village... they chewed up everything, ruining the crops that hadn't been harvested."

"We put a lot of effort into killing them..."

"It is said, just as the bandits from other villages were about to attack us, the insects ate them... truly what goes around comes around."

Speaking of it elicited deep sighs.

"Live well now, there aren't many risks left." Lu Yuan sighed, "Let's go, I'll follow you back."

But even having made it this far, the Sha Li Clan had lost many lives!

Survival, truly difficult.

A few of the Sha Li People were crying and laughing at the same time.

Then they collapsed to the ground, motionless, like dead fish.

Old Cat, on the other hand, was discussing the matter of the insect eggs with Lu Yuan.

It was a long time before a young man stood up again and shouted loudly: "Mr. Lu, lead us to rebuild a village!"

"The Sha Li Clan... has been destroyed!"

"We need a new leader!"

"Everyone has lost their fighting spirit... if it continues like this, it'll fall back into chaos!"

"We have no other solutions!"

One disaster after another had indeed destroyed everyone's will.

First the uprising of the opium poppy tree, then the calamity of the Insect Tide...

Who knows what could happen next?

Without hope, people will gradually become dispirited, lose the motivation to work, and ultimately turn into rioters.

Lu Yuan felt a bit troubled. Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire

He felt as though he was being pushed into a position, herded like a duck to a perch.

"I... will think about it."

On the way back, Old Cat spoke earnestly: "With a thousand five hundred insect eggs, plus an opium poppy tree, the conditions are more mature, the 18th human civilization won't be as weak as before."

"Old Lu, you need to have the confidence to be a leader."

"Merely ten thousand people to manage, in a flat structure, you could even memorize everyone's name. What's so difficult about that?"

Lu Yuan remained silent.

The journey to Sky City had genuinely changed his fate completely.

Everything had become entirely different.

...