Sovereign of the Ashes

When the demigod-level Blazing Sunflower surrendered, Sein was battling in Green Tree City, located in the eastern part of the Verdant Leaf World.

The native insect creatures of Verdant Leaf World had begun to develop a rudimentary civilization and society.

The guardian, being a plant creature itself, must have had compelling reasons for choosing the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan as the dominant race of this plane.

The Green Tree City, constructed by the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan, was impressive not only for its height but also for its extensive and complex underground space.

This major city was home to no fewer than two million insect creatures.

Of course, almost all of them were ordinary insects with constitutions weaker than that of the humans from Magus World.

What threat could a small bug, less than a meter in size, pose?

With sufficient bravery, one could trample several of them to death with a single step.

Even the ordinary Garths of Thunderfall World, towering over a meter tall, could easily overpower several native insect creatures.

In the Green Tree City, the only real threat to the Divine Tower of the Verdant Spring Army was the fifteen thousand Bamboo Leaf Dragonflies capable of combat.

Of these, fewer than a hundred achieved a life level of Rank One or higher.

The inherent weakness of the plane limited Verdant Leaf World’s capacity to produce many ranked life forms.

Likewise, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s strength was also limited. If another divine tower with deeper legacies or more legions were to arrive, the conquest would progress more swiftly.

Grandmaster Feylis’ Divine Tower of Verdant Flame could easily muster an army of over a hundred thousand mages.

Such a force, comprising a hundred thousand full-fledged mages, would hardly need enslaved creatures to help raze this microplane.

Of course, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army came here to plunder resources, not to engage in senseless slaughter.

Besides, Sein and the other experts from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring were really interested in the two million insect creatures in Green Tree City.

What Sein and the others needed to eliminate were the fifteen thousand Bamboo Leaf Dragonflies that posed a significant resistance.

It was crucial that not a single Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly of Rank One or higher be spared.

Verdant Leaf World, as the first foreign plane to be conquered by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, did not require a dominant race to rule on behalf of Lorianne.

Allowing Verdant Leaf World to evolve naturally would prove more advantageous, as its abundant plant resources were ample to replenish Lorianne’s dried-out wallet.

As for the vast number of insect creatures, Lorianne had no intention of employing them as an enslaved army.

Aside from the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan, whose prowess was moderately impressive, the other insect species were so feeble that utilizing them as a combat force would disgrace Lorianne!

Hence, these insects were destined to serve as laborers, harvesting the Verdant Leaf World’s resources for Lorianne.

Over the years, most of the insect species in Verdant Leaf World had formed a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship with the plant creatures, enhancing the ecosystem despite their lower-value contributions.

Although Lorianne was not wealthy, she managed her resources well.

The conflict in Green Tree City unfolded with minimal suspense.

Among the giant plant city’s defenders were only three Rank Two creatures. Sein and his comrades managed to kill two and severely injure one.

It was a Rank Two Mole Cricket, a rare species in Verdant Leaf World. Unfortunately. it escaped capture by burrowing into the ground.

“Master Lorianne always said these insect creatures are of lower value, and I agree,” Sein said as he picked up a thirty-centimeters-long fleshy beetle.

“But rather than the proposals from some in the divine tower to sell them as meat at the price of grain in the Magus Alliance, I prefer raising their value through a scientific approach,” he continued mumbling to himself.

The beetle was simply referred to as a “Black Beetle” by the command center. It was a common species in the Verdant Leaf World.

Despite its nearly non-existent combat capability, the beetle served as a good source of meat, thriving on rotting plant roots and fresh leaves.

In turn, its feces were rich in nutrients beneficial for plant growth.

These Black Beetles were favorites among the minotaurlings in the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army, likely due to their high protein content.

But now, Sein was contemplating a new perspective on their utility.

The life level of the fleshy beetle in Sein’s grasp was below Rank One, so its intelligence was probably on par with the ordinary livestock in the Magus World.

With its back pinched by Sein, it could only flail its legs helplessly.

Amidst its futile struggle, the Black Beetle secreted a sticky, translucent liquid from the crevices of its scale armor.

This secretion, rich in sugar and smelled quite pleasant, was likely produced during moments of distress and seemed to be linked to its reproductive processes.

Sein suspected that the minotaurlings enjoyed eating these Black Beetles, likely because of this fragrant, sugary slime they excreted.

“The production of this sugary slime is quite substantial; perhaps we can harvest it in large quantities through captive breeding. Sugar is scarce on many planes within the Magus Alliance. If leveraged correctly, this byproduct might prove more lucrative than simply selling these beetles as meat.”

Recording his observations and thoughts with a crystal ball, Sein was aware that his proposal might not be embraced by the divine tower immediately; he was merely documenting his insights.

Not far from Sein, Nataya watched with admiration.

The beetle seemed so ordinary to her, yet Sein managed to reveal its hidden potential and value.

His knack for unearthing practical uses for mundane things was extremely attractive to Natalya, who watched him the entire time, utterly captivated.

Nataya arrived at the eastern battlefield shortly after Sein.

Initially assigned to the north, she was transferred here soon after Sein received his combat mission.

Sein thought of his mother-in-law, whom he had encountered at the headquarters. It seemed likely that this was her doing again.

Preferring not to mix personal affairs with warfare, Sein was grateful that Natalya maintained a “professional distance” from him during this period.

After joining Sein on the eastern battlefield and fighting alongside him for an extended period, she managed not to intrude too much on his activities.

Whenever Sein worked on experiments that captivated his interest, Natalya merely observed from a distance.

Initially eager to assist, she had unfortunately broken two sets of his experimental equipment. In a fit of frustration, Sein reprimanded her and demanded she maintain a distance of two hundred meters from his work area.

Taking his words literally, Natalya complied and kept exactly two hundred meters away from Sein’s experiments.

Her clumsiness made her unsuitable for assisting with Sein’s delicate magic experiments. However, Sein thought that she might be able to help in his body tempering experiments.