Chapter 83: Chapter 083: North Mountain Reservoir
The winter season when the Worker Ants are all reluctant to move.
Dragon Cypress, accompanied by Molan, Round Cypress, and Spiked Cypress, rode the Dominating Throne to survey the North Mountain terrain.
Near Molan’s territory, there were two streams, converging at the foot of the mountain into a river trench, which wound around the valley and meandered eastward.
"We can use stones and clay to build a dam about fifty meters long and block the valley entrance over there."
"There’s a gap there; we’ll need to dig some earth and fill it in."
"If we’re going to build this reservoir, let’s make it large. In the future, this reservoir can also handle irrigation for the North Mountain Orchard during drought seasons. So, we’ll need to dig a water channel westward for irrigation, too. The clay we dig from the channel can also be used to construct the dam."
"Not only do we need to increase the number of Specialized Worker Ants responsible for excavation, but we also need at least five hundred medium and large Worker Ants solely for transport. Right now, at most, the Ant Nest can spare two hundred—so we need to supplement with about three hundred more..."
Lying at the edge of the Throne, Dragon Cypress pointed with his tentacle, explaining his plans, and finally maneuvered the Dominating Throne to land on the gentle slope at the valley’s northern base.
"Molan, when spring comes, I’ll first command the Worker Ants to dig a pond here for you—about twelve meters on each side, and about one and a half meters deep. Once you finish your Evolution, you’ll plant the Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed in the pond."
"It’s expected that the dam will be complete the year after next, with the reservoir starting to collect water."
Molan worried, "Isn’t a twelve-meter side too small? What if there’s a drought..."
Dragon Cypress pointed up the slope. "Then let’s dig another storage pool further up, six meters per side and two meters deep, just to have more stored."
"Alright." Molan was somewhat at ease.
Dragon Cypress switched communication modes, waggled his tentacle, and repeated his plans to Round Cypress beside him.
"Understood~" Round Cypress didn’t quite understand, saying:
"Dragon Cypress Ant King, adding another hundred Specialized Worker Ants and three hundred medium and large Worker Ants will make the food problem very severe! Correspondingly, the Specialized Blue Ants need to be increased to two hundred, so that you and Molan can travel afar as Roving Merchants with peace of mind."
Dragon Cypress: "Then we’ll cultivate another Gigantification Soldier Ant, specializing in distant foraging, heading west, following along the Divine Force Barrier, to the south and north—there’ll be endless food to hunt. Molan and I have even named it already. It’s called Giant Cypress."
Spiked Cypress, listening in, vibrated his tentacle in excitement and said, "Great King! I have a suggestion! Let Giant Cypress guard the territory, and I’ll lead the Soldier Ants to fight and hunt!"
"Spiked Cypress!"
Dragon Cypress rebuked him, flicking his tentacle across Spiked Cypress’s forehead, thought for a moment, then didn’t outright refuse, saying: "Wait until Giant Cypress is born, and then we’ll see."
Dragon Cypress turned to Round Cypress and said, "This winter, Molan and I will stay put. You command the Worker Ants and quickly finish digging the tunnel running north-south through the mountain, and establish the North Mountain sub-nest."
"Molan, you and I aren’t too afraid of the cold. We can start slowly digging the pond here this winter, take our time. If time permits, we can make it a bit bigger."
"Alright!" Molan agreed.
...
If Dragon Cypress took the Dominating Throne out during winter to search for the Land of Origin Force, he wouldn’t be able to produce Ant Eggs, as the nighttime cold would freeze the eggs and larvae to death.
So, he stayed to manage the Ant Kingdom at Xianglan Mountain with peace of mind.
The Origin Force Food was ample, and the cultivation of the Gigantification Soldier Ant ’Giant Cypress’ commenced.
At five age periods, the Ant King could use the Dominating Throne to produce five Ant Eggs every four days.
First, twenty Specialized Blue Ants were made to boost logistics capacity.
Next were Specialized Worker Ants, with one hundred to be added.
These would take an entire winter to complete.
And then the medium and large Worker Ants... The demand was considerable, with the plan to gradually fulfill it during the coming spring, summer, and autumn.
Soldier Ants venturing out to hunt would inevitably suffer losses, so replacements would be needed along the way.
...
It was a tranquil winter.
Molan and Dragon Cypress left early and returned late, digging the pond in North Mountain.
Clearing vegetation, excavating loose soil, filling it into bags made from sheepskin, and hauling it away with the Dominating Throne.
Short-handed, their efficiency wasn’t great.
Dragon Cypress still had to frequently return to the Ant Nest to release pheromones and stimulate the ’Giant Cypress’ larva’s differentiation.
The larvae of the Specialized Blue Ants and Soldier Ants ate a lot—every few days, Dragon Cypress and Molan had to head into the forest to hunt large animals and replenish the nest’s food stores.
By the time the Molan Life Seed on the mountain produced flower spikes, the twelve-meter pond was still just a shallow outline, less than half a meter deep.
Round Cypress commanded Worker Ants to complete the tunnel through the mountain, straight to Molan’s residential cave, where another Ant Nest was established.
Along the tunnel, every hundred meters there was a small sub-nest, permanently inhabited by Soldier Ants or Worker Ants, so if emergencies arose in South or North Mountain, news could be quickly relayed across and Soldier Ants sent as reinforcements.
...
The wheel of time spun swiftly.
The Molan Flowers bloomed.
Spring returned to the land—a season of busyness.
This year was busier than ever before.
Loosening the earth and fertilizing the Life Seed plants in the territory.
Planting new Life Seeds.
Cypress blossoms appeared, and as usual, some flowers were thinned out as needed.
Clearing reclaimed wasteland and transplanting well-cultivated Green Torreya, Large Fruit Hemlock, and Dominant Chestnut saplings.
Sowing Silver Cypress and Large Fruit Round Cypress seeds to cultivate new seedlings.
The two hills in South and North Mountain that were designated for cypress planting, lands cleared last year, needed another plowing, weeding, and soil preparation.
The South Mountain pond where the Deep Blue God-Given Seed took root also needed to be planted with rice, as well as sown with Black Lotus Seeds and Gorgon Fruit Seeds.
The busiest work was in the north, where the pond for Molan’s Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed continued to be dug deeper, and the upper water storage pool had to be excavated simultaneously.
This slope was located above the river trench, so water couldn’t be diverted in; it needed to be dug early and filled during the rainy spring.
The number of medium and large Worker Ants responsible for transportation was still insufficient, so Dragon Cypress continued to use the Dominating Throne for hoisting duties.
Molan was clearing out the poorly growing weak plants from previous years and transplanting the newly cultivated Orchid Grass seedlings. She cleaned the nursery and sowed last year’s hybrid Orchid Seed experiments.
The Specialized Soldier Ants cultivated in winter were hatching one after another.
Molan was also in charge of hunting for the ant colony—a busy blur knowing neither the north nor south.
...
At noon, under spring sunshine.
The excavation work at North Mountain was in full swing.
Digging the lower pond and upper water pool at the same time, Dragon Cypress and Round Cypress each commanded Worker Ants at their own sites.
Suddenly, from the distant hillside, a familiar and intense burst of pheromones came through.
Two Gigantification Soldier Ants arrived, surrounded by over a hundred Specialized Soldier Ants.
"Great King, Giant Cypress has emerged from feather transformation!"
Spiked Cypress rushed before Dragon Cypress and hurriedly explained, "I didn’t cause any trouble! It broke the insect cocoon by itself, then wandered around, and ran up to North Mountain. It’s looking for the Great King..."
You just confessed without a fight!
Dragon Cypress waved his tentacle and lashed Spiked Cypress twice, then turned and waggled his tentacle, beckoning Giant Cypress to come over.
Inspecting him closely.
Spiked Cypress was currently at the second age period, having Evolved once.
Giant Cypress was slightly smaller than Spiked Cypress, with powerful mandibles and robust, long limbs—a normal feather transformation.
Just born, his carapace wasn’t dark enough.
"Great King..."
Under Spiked Cypress’s prodding, Giant Cypress waggled his tentacle in greeting to Dragon Cypress.
"Giant Cypress!" Round Cypress stepped forward to greet him.
"Round Cypress..." Giant Cypress timidly retreated behind Spiked Cypress, waving his tentacle to direct the Specialized Soldier Ants to protect him.
Dragon Cypress was dumbfounded: what’s up with this Gigantification Soldier Ant?
Introverted and shy?
Or just born timid and cowardly?
Gigantification Soldier Ants are supposed to lead Soldier Ants into battle—if he’s timid, that’ll be trouble.
Dragon Cypress pondered, waggled his tentacle, and instructed: "Spiked Cypress, you show Giant Cypress around the territory and teach him the primary-level essentials."