356: Chapter 356 Getting something for nothing? Humans are beneficial insects!

Curios, like equipment, have set rules.

It is common knowledge that a Level 1 set is far stronger than Level 1 individual pieces, and the same applies to curios.

Therefore, don't be fooled by these oddly shaped building blocks just because they are only one-star.

Their actual strength is much greater than ordinary curios.

It's just that the specific set attributes are currently blank on the information panel; one must collect all the components to unlock them.

Most of the curios Lin Xiao had obtained previously were primarily functional.

Ones like this that provide pure attribute bonuses are extremely rare.

He didn't know if this was a random return gift from the Insect Emperor or done on purpose.

Lin Xiao put the three building blocks into his backpack, feeling very pleased.

He then looked up at the Insect Emperor and asked the question he had to confirm: "Devouring curios and producing curios—is this your special ability?"

"What are curios? I don't know... I only know that after eating the bronze tripod, I gained this strange ability."

The Insect Emperor's voice echoed in his mind.

"But the bronze tripod was delicious, it tasted very good—crunchy with a sweet flavor!"

After hearing the Insect Emperor's words, a bold thought suddenly flashed through Lin Xiao's mind.

Could it be... that this was originally a characteristic of the bronze tripod?

Lin Xiao suppressed the surprise in his eyes and continued to ask, "Then if you eat and then spit it out, doesn't that mean you didn't actually eat anything?"

"Ever since I ate the bronze tripod, no matter what I eat, my body automatically produces similar things."

The Insect Emperor's tone was very flat, as if describing a physiological phenomenon it had long been accustomed to.

"What I spat out just now was only a portion; the rest was all digested, otherwise I would have starved to death long ago!"

Lin Xiao looked around.

The broken walls and ruins of the Imperial Palace were covered in bite marks, but most of the main structure still remained.

This insect lived here, surviving by gnawing on stone every day; no wonder it hadn't eaten the entire floating island in over a century.

It turned out it could produce and consume its own resources!

If his guess was correct, this was the characteristic of the bronze tripod!

Lin Xiao lowered his eyes and quickly rearranged the whole situation in his mind.

The bronze tripod buried deep in the Royal Court's forbidden area was essentially a large curio.

Put in supplies, produce new items.

The Heze Royal Family used it to replicate Scarab Beetles and obtain gold and treasures, yet they hadn't figured out its operating principle for hundreds of years.

Now this insect had accidentally swallowed it whole, and the characteristic had been transferred into its body!

A Scarab Beetle with such a characteristic was practically a living [Mobile Resource Factory].

If this were brought back to the Astral Express, wouldn't there be no need to worry about resources for the entire train?

What the doomsday train lacked most wasn't combat power, but a sustainable supply of high-quality resources.

And an Insect Emperor that could produce extra resources every time it ate would provide a tremendous boost!

But when Lin Xiao looked up at the Insect Emperor, whose body size almost covered half the Imperial Palace, the heat in his eyes instantly extinguished by more than half.

It was just a pity that this guy was too huge to board the train.

He withdrew his gaze and asked straightforwardly, "Since a large amount of similar items appears in your body every time you eat, then, what percentage do you digest, and what percentage do you spit out?"

"I digest seventy percent." The Insect Emperor answered quickly.

"So..." Lin Xiao pointed to the three building blocks in his backpack, "I only got thirty percent? Aren't you being too greedy?"

The Insect Emperor's tone suddenly became aggrieved: "The more food you give, the more I can share with you!"

"Besides, this kind of thing consumes a lot of physical energy. Eating is tiring enough, and having to convert energy into curios and then spit them out—do you think it's easy?"

"I don't have to go to such trouble when I eat stones; the things converted from stones are just waste residue. But the stardust and curios you give are different; converting them requires me to expend a lot of extra energy!"

Lin Xiao was speechless.

Having grasped the rules, he stopped wasting time.

He first dug out five Level 3 white-tier equipment pieces from his backpack.

Without additional attributes or set effects, these low-level pieces purely provided basic stats and wouldn't sell for much on the trading market.

He arranged the equipment neatly on the ground and stepped back.

The Insect Emperor's antennae swept lightly, and the five pieces of equipment were lifted by an invisible force, disappearing into the gaps of its slightly opened elytra.

A moment later, it spat out new equipment.

The Scarab Beetles bustled about, transporting and pushing the tray of newly produced equipment in front of Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao picked up the equipment and checked the information panels one by one.

He discovered that after feeding in five white-tier pieces, three of the returned new equipment pieces had traits or additional attributes!

Although the stat boost wasn't large, this conversion rate was practically a steal.

One had to know that the price of white-tier equipment on the trading market was less than one-tenth of the same-level equipment with attributes.

Seeing this, Jiang Wanwan and Tian Xiwei took out the low-level equipment piled up in their own backpacks.

Jiang Wanwan handed over a dozen Level 3 white-tier equipment pieces.

A moment later, she obtained a few pieces of average-quality individual gear, but she was lucky enough to get a full set of Level 3 equipment.

It was just that this set was meant for warriors and didn't really match her style.

Tian Xiwei tossed in a few idle jewelry-type equipment pieces and got back a bracelet with a cooldown reduction stat.

She immediately put it on her wrist to test it and nodded in satisfaction.

"Delicious!"

At this moment, the Insect Emperor swayed its body slightly, its antennae swinging left and right in the air; the sense of satisfaction practically seeped out of its voice.

"But it's too little, not even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth. You have even more fragrant things on you... like that dark blue armor."

"I can smell the scent on it; it radiates a rich Water element aura and looks delicious."

It was talking about the deep sea aria.

Lin Xiao took a step back almost instinctively.

The deep sea aria was a Level 4 set and also the only Level 4 armor he could currently wear, and it possessed excellent traits.

Throw it to the bug to eat?

"Absolutely not!"

His tone left no room for negotiation.

The Insect Emperor's antennae drooped visibly to the naked eye.

Although those huge compound eyes couldn't change pupil size like a mammal's, for some reason, one could clearly see a sense of obvious disappointment at this moment.

It retracted its forelimbs, lay on the ground, and let out a long sigh that perhaps only it could perceive, sounding extremely resentful.

Lin Xiao sighed and dug out a Level 4 white-tier chest piece from his backpack.

It had no additional attributes, only basic defense stats, and had been picked up casually during previous monster-grinding loops.

He held up the chest piece, but the Insect Emperor's antennae only lifted slightly before dropping again.

"Don't want to eat, don't want to eat; this has no taste."

Was it throwing a tantrum?

Lin Xiao turned to look at Yimu, signaling with his eyes to seek outside help.

Yimu shook her head helplessly, took a deep breath, and walked toward the Insect Emperor's figure.

She didn't rush to speak, but simply stood beside the Insect Emperor's lowered head shell, gently pressing her hand on the dark golden elytra with cloud and water patterns, as if soothing a child throwing a tantrum, her fingers gently stroking between the patterns.

Then, she lowered her voice and said something to it.

Soon, the Insect Emperor raised its head again, its tentacle touching Yimu's forehead.

"It says it wants to eat more and better things."

Yimu translated on its behalf.

Lin Xiao nodded: "Alright, alright, let me see."

He thought for a moment and took a handful of stardust from his backpack.

The black yet shimmering particles slowly churned in his palm, like a stirred galaxy.

"Here, have you eaten this?"

The Insect Emperor looked over, its antennae suddenly straightening.

Its entire upper body rose up from the semi-collapsed ruins of the Imperial Palace, its dark golden elytra slightly opened and then closed, and its six forelimbs simultaneously took a half-step back.

"I have never seen this kind of thing before; it looks... very delicious!"

Lin Xiao looked up and smiled slightly at those huge compound eyes.

According to the description on the event card, stardust had a natural attraction for the Insect Emperor, and feeding it stardust would result in double or even tenfold returns!

"Then want to have a taste?"

Based on the principle of caution, he first took out one million stardust.

Seeing these shimmering particles that looked like sand, the Insect Emperor carefully guided them out with its intent and sent them into its mouthparts...

The moment the stardust entered its mouth, it froze.

Its entire body, which was massive enough to rival a mountain, became completely still.

The next second, its six insect limbs stomped violently on the ground, shaking all the gravel on the nearby ruins into the air.

The Scarab Beetles lining up on guard nearby were shaken off balance, falling over with their legs in the air, and it took them a long time to be helped up by their companions using antennae.

In just a few breaths, the one million stardust was all swallowed into its belly.

The Insect Emperor licked up the last bit of residue, and every facet of its compound eyes shone as brightly as a freshly charged light bulb.

"Delicious, delicious, delicious!!! More, more, more, more!!!"

Its voice exploded directly in the four people's minds, making their ears buzz and their temples throb uncontrollably.

"Stop jumping! Don't you know how big you are? Don't collapse this building!"

Lin Xiao couldn't help but retort.

The Insect Emperor had no time to pay attention at this moment.

It raised its head, let out a soft whistle, and then spat out a large amount of stardust.

Lin Xiao didn't waste words and directly raised his hand.

The stardust that fell into the pit flowed into his body on its own.

Although the process wasn't very elegant, the result... as written in the event card rules, he obtained a double return, a full two million stardust!

Isn't this... getting something for nothing?

Lin Xiao looked at Jiang Wanwan.

Jiang Wanwan gave him an affirmative look.

If Wen Yiran were here, she would definitely tell him to go all-in and give all the stardust.

Of course, Lin Xiao wouldn't be dazzled by this little bit of gain.

He raised his hand.

He took out ten million stardust.

A quite spectacular circle of black particles floated in mid-air, emitting beautiful, iridescent colors.

This was one-third of his net worth, from the Calamity Creatures of the Black Tide, from the contributions of the Astral Express passengers, from the Scarab Beetles of the desert...

Although this move was a bit bold, if he could obtain a tenfold return, that would be one hundred million—a full one hundred million!

The stardust was guided by an invisible force, turning into a black waterfall in the air, continuously pouring into the Insect Emperor's mouthparts.

It swallowed frantically, and the cloud and water patterns on its elytra lit up layer by layer during the feeding process, turning from dark gold to bright gold.

The entire insect emitted a faint golden-white halo from the inside out.

The Scarab Beetles guarding the edge of the corridor raised their heads in unison, their elytra slightly opened, as if watching some kind of sacred ceremony.

But soon, the Insect Emperor stopped.

It looked at the stardust with lingering desire, then looked at Lin Xiao, its antennae swaying slightly.

"I'm full."

It burped, its tone so satisfied that it sounded a bit airy, "I've never been this full, never been this happy..."

After speaking, it added quite earnestly, "Humans are beneficial insects!"

Around the corridor, all the Scarab Beetles raised their forelimbs in unison and waved them in the air, as if holding some strange ceremony of gratitude.