Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 631 - 568 Melde is Doomed

The new season of roving merchant trade.

The Snow Velvet Spider King arrived two days early, still traveling light. On its broad carapace, it carried only three large Spider Silk Bags—the look alone showed these were 'little gifts' for Red Peach, Heliotrope, and Column Spotted.

And one small Spider Silk Bag…

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, where is Ink Orchid?"

"Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, taking care of its God-Given Life Seed. Our territory is too scattered; the Life Seeds have taken root in Origin Force Lands all over, it's quite troublesome to juggle them all."

"Oh——"

The Snow Velvet Spider King untied its Spider Silk Rope, took down a medium-sized Spider Silk Bag, handed it over, and said:

"I see you all eat by boiling everything in hot water first. This is a soup base and dipping sauce I've spent much effort collecting and preparing. I think it's pretty good, but I'm not sure if you ants will like it."

"..."

"Snow Velvet Spider King, you're too considerate!"

Dragon Cypress waved its tentacles, giving commands:

Fragrant Cypress, go to the treasury and fetch two jars of Ant King Honey.

Black Persimmon, prepare the feast.

Spiked Cypress, go hunt some fresh food in the jungle and bring it back.

"Snow Velvet Spider King, let's go up the mountain and chat."

Dragon Cypress led the way, together arriving at the mountaintop Shandong Reservoir.

Black Persimmon directed the Specialized Worker Ants to carry up a huge, golden, metallic pot crafted especially by Dragon Cypress.

The soil of Swinging Leaf Island is rich in gold particles. When remodeling the island, Dragon Cypress collected some along the way.

The pot's inner layer was still refined from iron sand, while the exterior was coated with a layer of gold for decoration.

"Eh?"

The Snow Velvet Spider King, curious, pointed at the engravings on the pot and asked in wonder, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, are these characters of your own invention from the Xianglan Mountain Kingdom?"

Dragon Cypress: "...Yes."

The gold layer, painted on just last winter, was already covered with characters carved by overfed ants.

The biggest trouble with teaching Common Ants the characters was that once they learned, they had nothing better to do but scratch and scrawl all over the place—the stone walls of the Ant Nest no longer had a single whole patch left.

"Very complicated~"

The Snow Velvet Spider King examined closely, instantly guessed these were Dragon Cypress' own creation, then corrected itself, "The lines are simple, clear and straightforward. They should be very handy for internal use."

The Snow Velvet Spider King curiously asked again, "What do these carvings say? There look to be lots of repeats—what do they mean?"

Dragon Cypress: "Nothing much, just random doodles by the ants…"

What's carved on there is:

——Long live the Great King

——Long live the Second King

——Long live the Three Kings

——The Great King is wise

——The Second King is wise

...

Dragon Cypress turned to ask Black Persimmon, "Who is the Third King?"

Black Persimmon: "...Spiked Cypress?"

Dragon Cypress silently noted this, and explained to the Snow Velvet Spider King, "I actually adapted these characters with reference to those left on cave walls by Flame Spider Ancestors from the Cloud Trace Continent, cut down and modified. I found that the Specialized Ants under my command could pick them up, and could follow written instructions, so I use them to guide them in repetitive tasks like tilling and fertilizing. Now, I've promoted their use among the specialized ant groups."

Dragon Cypress: "Snow Velvet Spider King, I can't figure this out—Flame Spider Roving Merchants have existed for so many years, yet their script seems to have had no... improvements. If there were a concise and clear system of characters promoted throughout the continent, wouldn't it make communication much easier for everyone?"

Snow Velvet Spider King: "How could it be that easy? None of the continent's tribes are willing to yield to another's authority. Why should they use your invented script? Why can't I invent my own? I could even make two, one for my left claw and one for my right."

Snow Velvet Spider King: "We Flame Spider Roving Merchants travel the continent, interacting with tens of thousands of tribes. Most are independent; some have scripts, some don't. So, we try to use a set of line-heavy, complicated symbols, but ones that are intuitive and pictorial—so that even if someone can't read, they can still guess the basic meaning from the images."

Dragon Cypress: "Oh——"

Dragon Cypress mused, somewhat speechless.

Snow Velvet Spider King: "The core knowledge for Insect Clan Warriors is recorded in Inherited Memory, so there are few places where script is needed. It's mostly used for bookkeeping; the numerical symbols have basically been unified."

Dragon Cypress: "Yes, and it's unified across both hemispheres. I see the Flame Spider Roving Merchants on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent using the same numbering symbols as those on Shanglu; they're almost identical."

Snow Velvet Spider King: "The Flame Spiders on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent branched off from Shanglu, after all. The Spider King Scroll marks denominations with numeric symbols; for the Flame Spider Roving Merchants, this is about tribal credibility, and for Insect Clan Warriors, it's about wealth and status. This absolutely cannot be neglected, so unification is only natural."

Dragon Cypress: "That's right! Insect Clan Warriors might know nothing else, but they absolutely must know the Spider King Scroll."

Dragon Cypress continued, "But, Snow Velvet Spider King, there is still something I cannot understand…"

Dragon Cypress raised a claw and pointed toward the Rednan Mountain Starship Passage, saying: "When I was little, I once explored the Starship and saw lots of Outworld Civilization characters, including numeric symbols, and they were almost identical to those used by the Flame Spider Roving Merchants."

Dragon Cypress then pointed south, saying, "Also saw them at the Undersea Starship Passage."

Snow Velvet Spider King: "The Outworld Civilization has a unified and concise writing system. After our Flame Spider Ancestors deciphered it, they found the numeric symbols convenient and borrowed them. So, if we ever get to the Outworld, and encounter Outworld Civilizations, we'll at least recognize a few of their letters."

Dragon Cypress: "Ha~ Ha~"

Dragon Cypress said casually, "Perhaps the Outworld Civilization lacks fighting power, but their ability to make things is incredible. They can create all sorts of intriguing, imaginative, bug-attracting inventions. I've always suspected—maybe our Insect Clan Civilization specializes in raiding those Outworld Civilizations and looting their stuff…"