My Community Transmigrated Again

The expression on Lan He's face visibly stiffened. Not daring to hide anything further, he quickly bowed and explained, "I cannot hide anything from Your Excellency."

"Actually, the questions you've asked can all be explained by a single answer. Before the Gray Race was annihilated, they left behind a curse. Any race that participated in that war, along with their descendants, will encounter something terrible if they so much as set foot in the city's ruins."

"What kind of terrible thing?"

"I don't know. But basically, none who have entered have ever returned. One of our Fishman Race ancestors was lucky enough to escape the ruins, but he was insane when he came back. Not long after, he drowned."

Qin Ziwen was a little surprised. "A Fishman drowned?"

Fishmen were a race that could live underwater. This was as absurd as a fish drowning in water.

Lan He sighed. "That's right. After the Gray Race's city was buried underground, many subterranean races did try to enter. But in the end, almost all of them met with an accident."

Hearing this, Qin Ziwu, who was standing to the side, sneered, "You're telling us this secret because you want us to go get ourselves killed?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Lan He explained hurriedly. "Please calm your anger, Your Excellency. It is precisely because this curse only targets the 'invaders' that I dare to offer this secret to you. The Human Race was not among the races that participated in the war, so the curse may be ineffective against humans. Your safety in entering the Gray Race's ruins should be much higher."

Qin Ziwen fell into thought. After hearing Lan He's story, he had a bold guess about the golden fruit he mentioned.

It was very likely the Golden Apple required for the Miracle Building, the Garden of Eden.

'Of course, it's just a possibility.'

'Until I see it for myself, it's all just speculation.'

"Do you know how to get down there?" Qin Ziwen stared into his eyes.

Lan He looked awkward. "Our ancestor couldn't communicate after he returned to the tribe. We only have a general area."

He quickly added, "But I know who knows the way. The Ant-men definitely know. There are many races in this Underworld skilled at digging tunnels. If anyone knows the way, the Ant-men absolutely do."

"Ant-men..." Qin Ziwen subconsciously thought of the Red-armored Ant-men.

They had traded with them several times recently. Based on their interactions, these Ant-men seemed simple and straightforward.

'I wonder if it would be feasible to start with them to find the path.'

At this thought, Qin Ziwen's expression grew grim.

Noticing Qin Ziwen's expression, Lan He sat to the side without a word.

He spoke up, "Respected Excellency, I can help you find the Ant-men. In fact, we know their general area of activity."

"I recall that you Fishmen don't have a good relationship with the Insect Men. Since you know their general area of activity, why not just wipe them out?"

Lan He said sincerely, "Because it isn't worth it. The Ant-men are just one branch of the Insect Men. With their reproductive rate, even if we wiped out most of them, they would repopulate within a few years. They're like pests in a puddle—as long as the puddle exists, you can never get rid of them all. But they aren't strong and pose no threat to us."

Qin Ziwu sneered, "I'm afraid it's not that you don't want to wipe them out, but that you don't have the ability. They live underground, you live in the water. You're fundamentally creatures of two different environments."

Lan He wasn't embarrassed at being called out. He simply offered a placating smile. "Your Excellency has a point."

Just then, a commotion was heard outside the door. A moment later, a Fishman was brought in by Du Yu.

The scales on this Dark Tide Fishman were peeled back, and it was seeping pale blue blood. "Chieftain, it's bad! Something's happened!"

Lan He turned his head and stared at the newcomer, a sharp glint flashing in his pale yellow pupils. "Speak slowly."

Panting, the Fishman pointed behind him. "At the fork in Dark River Seventy-Three, a team of our people in charge of mining ore was ambushed! Eight of our tribesmen are dead, and their bodies were dragged away! Those Insect Men had very sharp weapons. Several of our people had their heads pierced straight through."

Lan He fell silent. According to Fishman rules, each team consisted of twelve members. This time, more than half had been killed in one go.

"Who did it?"

"According to the tribesmen who escaped, it was probably Insect Men. Those Insect Men were very fast."

Hearing that it wasn't humans, Lan He's tense face relaxed, but then he ground his teeth. "Those damned... bugs!"

Just a minute ago, he had been casually dismissing the Insect Men as mere pests in a puddle.

A minute later, reality dealt him a resounding slap in the face.

Qin Ziwen was rendered a bit speechless. Just as they were trying to position themselves as allies, the Fishmen were getting stomped by the very 'bugs' they'd just belittled.

After his initial anger, Lan He suppressed the turmoil inside him. "Your Excellency, I need to send my people back to handle some trouble."

"Go ahead." Qin Ziwen didn't refuse.

After leaving Home, Lan He immediately gathered the elite Fishmen of his tribe and surrounded the areas upstream and downstream of the fork in Dark River Seventy-Three.

He was going to make these bugs pay. Before, he hadn't bothered with a large-scale extermination because it wasn't worth the effort, and the bugs had dutifully hidden in their dark corners.

Now that the bugs were starting to bite, they weren't just ordinary bugs anymore. He had to bring down the hammer!

'It's one thing if I can't beat the humans, but I can't even beat you worthless bugs?'

Not long after Lan He left, a crimson figure arrived.

A Red-armored Ant-man had come to buy weapons. "Pickaxes, good weapons! Want to trade more!"

Qin Ziwen's expression was strange. 'Are these Insect Men really using pickaxes as weapons?'

'Of course, it's not that pickaxes can't be used as weapons. They were made for quarrying ore and digging into the earth, and they were even mixed with a trace amount of Ghost Gold.'

'In a sense, these pickaxes were on the same level as the "Divine Weapons" he had sold to Xue Wang.'

'Could the attack on Lan He's tribe be related to this group of Ant-men? If so, they're pretty efficient.'

...

"You're saying that a batch of Divine Weapons suddenly appeared in the hands of those bugs?"

"Chieftain, they used those Divine Weapons to ambush us! The weapons are incredibly sharp—they pierced right through our Leather Armor. We've never seen anything like them before."

Lan He's expression was grim and uncertain. A name surfaced in his mind, but he quickly pushed it back down.

Few races in the Underworld were skilled at crafting. The most famous was the Gray Race.

But the Gray Race was already extinct.

'I've heard that humans are rather skilled at making weapons. But if it really is the humans, what is their motive?'

'Are they trying to warn my tribe?'

'They're sending me a message! Just as my people's Tuiyuan once helped them destroy the Insect Man alliance, their Tuiyuan can now help the Insect Men destroy my tribe!'

'Such deep scheming!'

At this thought, Lan He's expression hardened.

'I've long heard that humans are insidious and cunning, and it's true. I must be more careful.'

"There's something strange about the weapons those Insect Men are using. They might have secretly found allies. I suspect it's those humans! Chieftain, please say something!"

Lan He seemed dazed for a moment, but then his gaze became firm. He said in a solemn voice, "No. I've observed the humans' weapons. They're different from what you've described. This has nothing to do with those humans."

...

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