Chapter 555: Chapter 555
Since arriving at the Tianshan Mountain Range, the black liquid had appeared. It could be found in any mire, although refinement might only yield a small amount. Undeniably, this black liquid was ubiquitous; the only question was its concentration.
The most Jing Shu had ever seen was in Xiao Wei’s underground nest, which contained perhaps dozens of kilograms of pure black liquid. Jing Shu even suspected that the Abdominal Foot Worm monsters might have originated from the Snail Queen consuming this black liquid and transforming. The bond between Xiao Wei and the Snail Queen was also likely due to this black crystal.
If the black liquid had given rise to a new species like the Abdominal Foot Worm, how many more new species might the Tianshan Mountain Range be hiding?
The ultimate question arose: if the entire mountain range was filled with this black liquid, where exactly was its source? It wasn’t until she reached this boundary and allowed the insects to enter the all-devouring black hole that Jing Shu couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and doubt. Could the source of the mountain range’s black liquid be right here?
According to the last message transmitted by the insects, the entire black hole was filled with black liquid! Just how much could there be? Jing Shu couldn’t help but gulp. She wasn’t greedy; she would be perfectly content with just enough liquid to upgrade her space.
I’m about a kilometer from the black hole. I can’t get any closer; there are too many dangerous factors, and it’s life-threatening. Jing Shu cherished her life, especially having died once. No matter how great the temptation, she wouldn’t risk her life unless she was assured of her safety and confident in her actions.
She paced back and forth near the trembling land. Further down, even a stone would be carried away by the conveyor-like terrain, colliding with another section of it. This created a strange spectacle of colliding waves, which then sent everything into the black hole, forming an inescapable cycle. Countless things had already been crushed by these waves and drawn inside.
I should try with the insects again! Why is contact lost the moment they touch the black liquid?
Jing Shu had been cultivating and strengthening these insects ever since their discovery during the West Mountain crisis.
The insects she sent out constituted a large portion of her reserves, and she estimated this batch would likely not return.
Sending any more would compromise her future safety. She had meticulously raised them. They could unexpectedly subdue enemies in perilous times, act as Scouts for her, and devour anything instantaneously. As a new species of the apocalypse, they were a formidable force and had always been a valuable hidden asset, unknown even to her family.
Apart from being revealed once or twice to the companions who went to the United States with her, they likely knew she had many insects. After all, during a large group battle underground in the United States, she had used the insects to instantly devour the opposing combatants, shocking many people.
The insect army also carried a very long, reinforced silk thread. Ever since she used an extra-long silk thread to steal the red liquid in the United States, she had found it increasingly useful. So, upon returning, she had prepared even thicker, higher-quality silk.
Its key characteristics were its toughness and lightness, allowing the insects to carry the silk over long distances to places she couldn’t reach.
Jing Shu’s Magic Cube Space had a peculiar feature: to collect inanimate items into the space, she had to use something she was touching as a medium. As long as the insects carried the silk to the target location, she could use the silk thread to draw the black liquid into her space.
The insect army, lined up one by one and biting the silk thread, stepped onto the conveyor-like terrain. They were then transported away, rising and falling with its undulations.
Jing Shu anxiously watched the silk thread and the insects. As the insects reached the end once more, they were sent into the black hole and quickly submerged by the black liquid within.
Now is the time! Collect!
The moment they touched the liquid, the insects that had just entered it completely lost contact. To her despair, the black liquid wasn’t collected into the Magic Cube Space!
The black liquid shimmered with flecks of light, like an endless cosmos. It flowed ceaselessly within the black hole, seeming... as if it possessed life, as if it were conscious!
It seemed like a single entity, yet also like a composite of countless consciousnesses, instilling a sense of the universe’s vastness and one’s own insignificance.
Jing Shu could clearly sense through the subsequent insects that the first ones to fall had not died. They were still very much alive and were frantically absorbing the black liquid!
This meant that once they entered the liquid, Jing Shu lost control over them! No, the black liquid in the mires, or Xiao Wei’s liquid, didn’t cause her to lose control over the creatures in her space. Why was this different?
As more and more insects lost contact, Jing Shu began to worry. There were many rules for collecting items into her space, and she didn’t know which one was causing the problem now. Was it because the black liquid was a life form? Or because it was a single, whole entity? Or perhaps it was conscious?
Suddenly, Jing Shu realized that she wouldn’t lose contact with the insects at the very instant they began to consume the liquid; it was only after they swallowed it that the connection would be severed. And it was just after she had managed to collect a drop of the black liquid from an insect that she’d completely lost contact with it.
This discovery thrilled Jing Shu. For every insect that descended clinging to the silk, she could seize that brief moment, using the silk as a medium, to collect the drop of black liquid just as it entered the insect’s mouth. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
The insects continued to pour into the black hole. Batch after batch lost contact, exchanged for mere drops of black liquid. Upon entering the Magic Cube Space, these drops were absorbed completely, not a single one lost. Although each insect yielded only one drop, Jing Shu had a vast number of insects. Soon, millions of them had crawled into the black hole.
A joyful sense emanated from the Magic Cube Space, along with a message: It’s about to upgrade!
Jing Shu gritted her teeth. Opportunities were rare and wouldn’t come again. She dispatched her final batch of elite insects into the black hole to collect more black liquid, leaving only a few of the top-tier insects as Seeds for future reproduction. It would be costly to repopulate them to their current numbers, but compared to what she was gaining, it was a cost she could absolutely bear.
This batch of insects brought Jing Shu an even greater surprise. Perhaps because they had absorbed more from the Spiritual Spring and were more elite, they could resist the black liquid for a slightly longer period before the connection severed. This allowed Jing Shu to collect several drops from each one!
This influx immediately replenished the Magic Cube Space.
Jing Shu’s consciousness began to waver. She bit her lip, steeling her resolve. I have to hold on. I must collect more black liquid because, after this, I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to come here and gather it again.