358: Chapter 358 The offspring goes out of control, the Insect King complains!

"Why is it like this?" Lin Xiao asked.

"That Desert Temple has affected many things."

The Insect Emperor's tone carried a rare hint of fatigue, "Some sub-units no longer accept my will, but they still share my vitality. It's equivalent to them constantly drawing blood from me while not doing anything for me. Sigh, this insect is very distressed!"

The Insect Emperor paused, then continued, "I have also tried to eliminate those uncontrolled sub-units, but..."

"But, those sub-units possess splitting and regeneration traits, so, they simply can't be killed off?" Lin Xiao took over the conversation.

The Insect Emperor lay prone in the ruins, burying its face in its overlapping forelimbs, its antennae drooping limply on the broken bridge, emitting a low whine that was somewhere between a sigh and a whimper.

It was a sense of relief from being troubled for too long, only to finally have someone speak the answer for it, and also an admission of its own helplessness.

Speaking of this topic, Lin Xiao suddenly remembered the large Insect Swarm he had seen gathered around the Desert Temple earlier.

They were completely different from these uniform sub-units in the Imperial Palace.

They seemed more violent, more chaotic, and seemed to be circling the Desert Temple.

Out of curiosity, he asked the question in his heart.

"Those are the uncontrolled sub-units." The Insect Emperor's answer was the same as his guess.

It raised its compound eyes, its tone carrying the grievance of being wronged, "They were all attracted to the Desert Temple, but I cannot approach the Desert Temple; there is some strange power repelling me, and even my consciousness cannot penetrate it.

And the little insects can't be killed off, so I simply gave up, staying in the sky, eating rocks, and watching the sunset..."

Lin Xiao stood in place, the smile at the corner of his mouth suddenly becoming bright.

Yimu turned her head, and Tian Xiwei and Jiang Wanwan also looked at him at the same time.

"That makes things easier." Lin Xiao mused.

He had originally been considering whether to continue taking the passengers to farm Scarab Beetles tomorrow.

After all, the Insect Emperor had behaved very friendly, and was even acquainted with Yimu.

It was really embarrassing to keep beating up someone's underlings like this.

But now, the problem was completely solved.

Tomorrow, he would take the main force directly to the Desert Temple; he could deeply explore that mysterious building he had been longing for, and incidentally, clean up those uncontrolled sub-units around the Desert Temple.

Two tasks at once, killing two birds with one stone!

He turned around, preparing to call The three women to leave.

Yimu suddenly spoke: "Lord Sovereign, I would like to stay a little longer; I have many things I want to talk to it about."

"Of course." Lin Xiao nodded.

After more than a hundred years of separation, it was time to catch up.

Moreover, the Insect Emperor had a special significance for this survivor of Heze.

Lin Xiao turned around with Jiang Wanwan and Tian Xiwei, walked a few steps, then stopped, and tilted his head to look at the Insect Emperor, which was raising its antennae back up.

"Inside these pavilions and towers, are there any places left to explore? You haven't eaten all the good stuff, have you?"

"This island floating in the sky is larger than you imagine, with numerous pavilions, and many hidden rooms within them."

The Insect Emperor withdrew its head from the edge of the bridge and answered with its head tilted.

"Although countless batches of little Scarab Beetles have been transporting things incessantly over the past hundred years, they could not empty the wealth accumulated by the Heze Royal Family over thousands of years.

If you are lucky, you might really be able to find something tasty."

Lin Xiao nodded.

The bronze ornaments seen earlier confirmed this statement.

It seems this guy is a big colander!

Lin Xiao left with the two women.

On the way, he put [deep sea aria] into his backpack and changed into the spare Level 3 set [treasure hunting lucky star].

Now that the entire Cloud Palace had no threats, there was naturally no need to be fully armed.

The base attributes added by this Level 3 set were not high; it was mainly about the luck bonus.

Especially its second exclusive trait, [Treasure Scent].

When exploring the map, as long as he was within 20 meters of a hidden treasure, secret room, or rare mineral vein, his sixth sense would give a strong warning.

In such an ancient palace with numerous rooms, winding routes, and hidden treasures everywhere, it was very advantageous.

The only drawback was that the luck attribute was not high enough.

Wearing the whole set only added 15 points of luck.

Even if the fourth trait reached full level, it only increased by 20% on this basis, providing an additional 3 points of luck.

If he could find a wonder item or badge that added luck, whether opening chests or digging for treasure in the future, the drop rate could increase several times over.

Lin Xiao adjusted his equipment and turned to disappear into the layered corridors deep within the Imperial Palace with the two women.

More than two hours later, it was getting late.

The dazzling light of the star penetrated the planet's atmosphere, and through the distortion and refraction of the protective membrane, spilled into the entire floating island, dyeing the broken walls and ruins with a thin layer of orange-red.

The core building of the Heze Royal Court was truly too large, and it had a trapezoidal structure that was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom; the further down one went, the larger the area of each floor, and the more branch corridors there were.

Lin Xiao specifically pushed forward layer by layer from top to bottom, but even so, he had only explored about one-twentieth of the area.

Along the way, he cleared a few Scarab Beetles that were not controlled by the Insect Emperor and were biting everything in the corridors.

He also found quite a few standard Level 4 equipment of the Heze Royal Court, mainly light armor and robes, as well as some jewelry that added spirit or physique attributes, with a few pieces even having decent traits.

The remaining gains were mostly furniture recipes, as well as stone and wood building blueprints.

For architectural enthusiasts, these might be priceless treasures.

But for Lin Xiao.

They were useless to consume but a pity to discard.

When they returned to the southern floating island, most of the passengers had already gathered at the ruins of the previous stronghold.

It was unknown who was the first to spread the things just picked up from the ruins on the ground for public sale.

Right now, the ruins had turned into an open-air exchange market.

Someone exchanged a few ill-fitting pieces of equipment for a weapon.

Someone was squatting on the ground, studying a ring with unknown attributes with their companions.

Lin Xiao scanned the area roughly.

He hadn't found many hard goods even while wearing [treasure hunting lucky star], so these passengers naturally had even shabbier items in their hands.

Most of the stalls displayed ordinary weapons, equipment, and furniture recipes, and in the corner, some people even directly brought bronze candlesticks and stone ornaments picked up from the Imperial Palace to the stall, shouting nonsense about "authentic pieces" or similar.

Of course, there were those who were lucky.

A short-haired young man from Carriage 11, along with a few teammates, found a half-collapsed armory.

The things on the main weapon rack had long been eaten clean by the Insect Emperor, and what remained were rotten, useless things.

But in a cabinet in the deepest part of the storeroom, they discovered a yellowed blueprint.

[Large Equipment Forging Table]

Ordinary equipment tables, like the one Lin Xiao placed in his workshop, could only produce one item at a time.

But a large forging table could have multiple production lines working simultaneously.

If there were enough blueprints and materials, it could produce continuously, equivalent to a small military factory.

For the logistics system of the entire Astral Express, the value of this blueprint was quite high.

It just so happened that Jiang Wanwan had previously exchanged for a Level 3 warrior set from the Insect Emperor, which she didn't need.

Lin Xiao then bargained, and with a price of two million stardust plus that Level 3 set, he decisively acquired it.

The young man held the stardust bag and equipment with both hands, his eyes turning red.

This was the first time he had received so much money since boarding the Astral Express three stages ago.

In the days to come, he wouldn't need to be strapped for cash!

While Lin Xiao was trading.

Wanwan and Xiao Tian were nearby using some bronze ornament recipes to trade for some highly distinctive decorations.

It was said to be to add some exotic flair to their territory.

Not long after, the remaining people also returned to the stronghold one after another, and Yimu, who had put her veil back on, was among them.

Seeing her walking over behind the Merfolk team, Lin Xiao switched to the chat channel and briefly posted an announcement:

[Car 07-01: The Insect Emperor is a friendly unit, but if you encounter Scarab Beetles actively attacking, you can kill them directly, no need to worry. Regarding the Insect Emperor...]

He omitted the trait of feeding to return supplies and the truth about the Ancient Well, only briefly explaining that the Insect Emperor fed on supplies and stone materials and was currently in a controllable state.

[13-21 Yuan Bo: Brother Lin, can we still stay in the Cloud Palace today?]

[Car 07-01: Of course you can, but there isn't anything good in the Cloud Palace; it has basically been eaten clean by the Insect Emperor, no need to explore much.]

[Car 07-01: Therefore, tomorrow I will take everyone to explore the Desert Temple on the ground. It is somewhat special there, and it is highly likely that good treasures are hidden there.]

[02-17 Tao Lecheng: Then... is combat required?]

[Car 07-01: Not only is it required, but you may also face a fierce battle!]

Upon hearing that combat was required, many people began to fill in their names on the stay list.

Staying in the Cloud Palace, continuing to explore the remaining areas, and also receiving a batch of subsidies—why not?

Lin Xiao did not force anyone; after all, everyone has their own strengths.

Some people like farming and developing silently, some like exploring various areas, some feel combat is fun and always rush to the front line at the first opportunity...

Lin Xiao did not want to force the passengers to become a certain type of person, nor did he want to militarize the management of the Astral Express.

Diversified development was actually the most beneficial, and it could also reduce personnel and material losses.

Letting a group of people who are not good at combat rush to the front line is not the problem of these people, but the stupidity of the decision-maker.

[Car 07-01: Tonight, Carriage 16 will hold a farewell ceremony. Those who have time can come and participate; arrange your remaining time as you wish.]

This was something previously agreed upon with Liu Bi and Sergei.

After sending the message, Lin Xiao turned to look at Jiang Wanwan and the others.

The two women were talking with Captain Xie Yun and Princess Xiyao, seemingly exchanging some supplies.

Yimu stood far away to the side, holding a bag of things in her hand.

It was bulging and it was unknown what it was.

"Found something good?" Lin Xiao asked casually.

Yimu held the cloth bag in her arms with both hands, her veil swaying slightly.

Her voice carried a rare hint of mystery: "This is a surprise."