357: Chapter 357 A Seven-Day Limit, A Parting Promise!

Lin Xiao understood the Insect Emperor's mood at this moment, but the scene was truly rather bizarre.

He looked up, watching the cluster of stardust floating above his head.

The starlight cast a scatter of tiny, shimmering spots upon the dark red insect armor.

Of the ten million stardust, only four million remained now.

However, the Insect Emperor was actually full already?

Lin Xiao frowned slightly, quickly calculating the figures in his mind.

This guy was not a bottomless pit where one could dump infinite resources; it had a satiety limit.

Thinking of this, he immediately turned to Yimu.

"Does that bronze tripod have any restrictions, like, a cooldown time?"

Yimu clasped her hands in front of her and recalled for a moment.

"The Wishing Well... which is the bronze tripod, has a limit on the resources that can be invested. Furthermore, once that limit is reached, it can only be reactivated every seven days; it cannot fulfill wishes at any time. Hence, in ancient times, there was a saying: 'The market opens every seven days.'"

Seven days!

Lin Xiao's expression instantly turned serious.

He almost immediately pulled a dozen or so Level 4 pieces of equipment from his backpack, some of which were set pieces he had specifically saved and couldn't bear to sell to complete a set.

Those pieces of equipment piled up on the tray, the metal and leather reflecting an alluring luster under the starlight.

"How are you full already? Eat a bit more!"

His tone was as earnest as a relative urging you to eat more during the Lunar New Year.

The Insect Emperor's antennae retracted slightly: "I can't... I'm really full."

"Hey, since you and Yimu have such a good relationship, we're family. Why stand on ceremony with family!"

Having said that, Lin Xiao signaled behind him without looking back, indicating for Jiang Wanwan and the others to take out the few top-tier Level 4 equipment pieces they had prepared to list for sale.

"Be good, eat a bit more. Look at how thin you've become."

"Thin... am I thin?"

The Insect Emperor extended a forelimb and gently scratched its head carapace with the tip of its foot.

Its size had scared off countless foreign armies and explorers; how did it become 'malnourished' in this person's mouth?

"Well, then I'll eat a little more..."

It used its telekinesis to lift the pile of equipment from Lin Xiao's hands and sent it all into its mouth.

This time it chewed slower than before, as if savoring the subtle differences between different dishes.

"Mmm, this tastes a bit better than those pieces from before; it has a nice chew, carries the aroma of high-quality leather, and the crispness of the precious metals is also quite good. But, it's still not as good as stardust—that's more satisfying, and the feeling of fullness is much stronger!"

It swallowed another dozen or so Level 4 equipment pieces, then shook its antennae and let out another loud, satisfied belch.

"I can't do it anymore, I really can't!"

Lin Xiao took out quite a bit more equipment, just about to urge it to eat more.

Unexpectedly, its mountain-like body shuddered violently, and a large amount of stardust and resources were expelled from its body.

The air was suddenly filled with glittering fine sand, which, set against the dark red carapace and dark gold elytra, refracted a brilliant, fragmented light—the scene was quite magnificent.

The small Scarab Beetles waiting on the side moved in response, carrying the dropped items back to the tray one by one.

Lin Xiao watched the busy Scarab Beetles, feeling somewhat disappointed in his heart.

With the time and feeding limit restrictions, he couldn't farm resources infinitely at any time or place.

The resources fed to the Insect Emperor—that is, the value of the items put into the bronze tripod—had a total cap.

He mentally tallied up the items the Insect Emperor had consumed one by one.

Seven million stardust, twenty-something Level 3 common equipment pieces, two one-star curios, plus a dozen or so Level 4 equipment pieces.

Roughly converted based on current online trading market rates, the total value was around ten million stardust.

For Lin Xiao, this number didn't seem too high.

But for an ordinary passenger, who knows how many stages it would take to save that much up.

Lin Xiao raised his hand, and the sky full of stardust surged into his body like a waterfall flowing in reverse.

This time was also doubled, a full twelve million stardust.

It wasn't a lot, but it wasn't a little either.

With reserves in the tens of millions of stardust, there would only be more places to use it in the future; this amount was merely a drop in the bucket.

"Since you've had your fill, we'll be heading off now."

Lin Xiao lowered his hand. Although he was very disappointed inside, a smile still lingered on his lips.

"Are you leaving already?" The Insect Emperor's antennae lifted slightly, and the luster that had just rippled through its compound eyes dimmed a little.

"Don't worry, we'll come to see you again tomorrow."

Visiting was one thing, but Lin Xiao knew in his heart that the Insect Emperor had a cooldown time for producing resources, which meant the next time would be after seven days.

According to the Astral Express rules, the maximum stay in a single region cannot exceed seven days.

And today was already the second day of the third stage.

So he and the passengers of AE1001 could absolutely not stay here until the cooldown ended.

The Insect Emperor was too large to board the Astral Express, so this shortcut of gaining resources by feeding it was only available today.

What a pity.

The Insect Emperor didn't know this rule; it tilted its head, "How long will you be staying here?"

The voice echoed in their minds, carrying the satisfying laziness of having just eaten its fill.

Yimu turned to look at Lin Xiao, her expression carrying inquiry as well as a trace of expectation.

Lin Xiao was silent for a few seconds.

He couldn't just say something like "we're leaving in a few days."

Given the personality the Insect Emperor had just displayed. It had been in the desert for over a hundred years, bored to the point of panic, and had finally encountered a human it could chat with and feed, and could even reunite with an old acquaintance.

Once it knew they were leaving, it might just take the entire Insect Swarm and fly to the surface to follow the Astral Express and leave together.

Not to mention how spectacular the scene of the overwhelming number of Scarab Beetles following the Astral Express across the desert would be, just the food consumption alone—even with the nearly forty million stardust he had, plus the entire train—wouldn't be enough for it to chew on.

"We'll be staying for a while... in any case, we'll come again tomorrow."

The smile on his face didn't fade, and his tone was very natural.

Yimu lowered her head slightly. She understood the meaning behind his words.

Of course, the Insect Emperor didn't catch it.

Upon hearing "we'll come again tomorrow," its antennae curled into a circle in satisfaction.

"Will there be more delicious things tomorrow? Although I'm already very full, I still really want to taste things from the outside world."

"Yes, I'll bring you some specialty products from the deep sea and crops we've grown ourselves, as compensation for us clearing out so many of your offspring these past two days."

"Those offspring, don't mind them."

The Insect Emperor rested its massive head carapace on its forelimbs and explained: "Those offspring were all split off, and besides, I'm finding it difficult to control them now. A portion of them have deviated in behavior, escaped the floating island, and are running rampant in the desert below."

Lin Xiao's brow furrowed slightly.

The control of the parent over the offspring is irreversible.

This should be the most fundamental law of survival for the Insect Swarm.

Loss of control means splitting, and splitting means independence.

And once independent offspring form a new reproductive chain, that is another brand-new Insect Swarm!