Chapter 239: Saving the Oasis 11

A single giant Cactus bore hundreds of fruits.

After Moira Lynch finished collecting the Cactus juice, she saw that Hugh Finch still needed more time and decided to look around.

"Patience, pull up all the resources in the deserts of Planet Kharis."

Patience had been with Moira Lynch for a while now and naturally knew what she was looking for.

Soon, data on all the resources in the deserts of Planet Kharis appeared before Moira Lynch.

The giant Cactus was, surprisingly, on the list.

’So it’s a strategic resource.’

The Kessari tribes also fought amongst themselves, competing for oases and their resources.

Whenever this happened, they would use the spines from the giant Cacti as weapons against each other.

Moira Lynch glanced back at the spines on the giant Cactus behind her. They were incredibly sharp and very long—some were even longer than her arm. Held in hand, they could easily serve as weapons.

Figuring she had nothing better to do, Moira Lynch started gathering the spines.

Just as Moira Lynch finished storing the longest spines from the bottom row in her space, she suddenly sensed a vibration from underground.

Moira Lynch glanced down. Judging by the sounds, there seemed to be a lot of them.

She pushed off with her feet, using the Cactus spines to hoist herself off the ground.

The commotion underground grew more distinct. Moira Lynch frowned slightly as an unbearable stench began to permeate the air, growing stronger by the second.

Hugh Finch, who was busy collecting Cactus Fruit, noticed Moira Lynch’s movements. He immediately stopped what he was doing and saw her hanging in midair, gripping one of the Cactus spines.

"What’s going on?"

Hugh Finch asked, piloting his Flying Device closer.

’It’s not like Moira Lynch would suddenly get a whim to test her vertical leap.’

Moira Lynch looked down and said, "There’s something below us."

The instant she finished speaking, a RUSTLING sound came from below. The sand on the ground immediately began to collapse.

Soon, a massive funnel formed in the sand.

The scene was remarkably similar to the Gilded Emperor Scorpion’s appearance, yet there were differences.

A foul stench washed over them. Moira Lynch’s eyes rolled back in her head as she fought the urge to gag. A glance at Hugh Finch showed he wasn’t doing any better.

First, a few black insects crawled out from the sand.

They were entirely black and scurried quickly across the surface. Immediately after, countless more black insects swarmed out from underground.

Once they emerged, the insects scrambled over one another, rushing toward the giant Cactus.

[Petalwing Beetle: A notoriously foul-smelling insect on Planet Kharis. They prefer to travel in swarms. If you see one Petalwing Beetle, you are already surrounded. They are omnivorous and extremely resilient, eating anything and everything they can—they can even digest sand.]

[The Petalwing Beetle has a gallbladder that stores digestive fluid, which is the source of its stench. When extracted whole, diluted with water, and mixed into the soil, it can prevent pests and plant diseases. The Kessari tribesmen often use it to repel harmful insects.]

[PS: When a Petalwing Beetle senses mortal danger, it will cause its gallbladder to self-destruct.]

[PPS: Once contaminated by the digestive fluid, the stench will last for half a year. The fluid is also extremely pervasive.]

Moira Lynch: "..."

The Petalwing Beetle’s appearance reminded her of an insect from Caelus called a stink bug. If you got its secretion on you, the smell was unbearable.

’But it can also be used to prevent pests and diseases... it really is a valuable resource.’

’The insecticide water works, but its effects don’t last long. Plus, it only seems to kill insects that have already hatched.’

’Unhatched eggs have a protective membrane that shields them from the insecticide water.’

’So even after using Water Wood Stones to make the soil arable, any newly sown seeds would be devoured by freshly hatched bugs.’

’We could solve this by constantly applying insecticide water, but it seems to affect plant growth as well.’

’The scientists discovered that vegetables grown with large quantities of insecticide water have an indescribably foul taste. Eating too much of it even causes nausea.’

’Growing vegetables that no one can eat completely defeats the purpose.’

’But if we had the gallbladders from these Petalwing Beetles, it would solve everything.’

’The question is, how do we extract the gallbladders from their bodies?’

’They self-destruct their gallbladders when threatened, which means we have to be fast.’

’Wait, since it needs to be diluted with water anyway, why can’t we just mix the entire Petalwing Beetle corpse in?’

[Negative. The fluids in other parts of the Petalwing Beetle’s body are highly corrosive. While they would also repel insects, the land would become barren and unable to grow any crops.]

[According to research, this effect can last for up to a century.]

Suddenly, Moira Lynch heard Hugh Finch’s worried voice.

"Moira, these insects are eating the Cactus! We need to leave, now!"

’Besides, the air here stinks so bad! It feels like every breath is a mouthful of disgusting garbage.’

Moira Lynch just shook her head in refusal.

Seeing this, Hugh Finch immediately realized she had another plan.

He shifted to the side of the Flying Device, making room for Moira Lynch to climb aboard.

Moira Lynch didn’t hesitate. Swinging like she was on a trapeze, she leaped onto the device.

The moment she left the Cactus, the massive plant slowly began to topple over.

It turned out that the Petalwing Beetles below had chewed through its roots.

As the Cactus fell, even more Petalwing Beetles swarmed out from beneath the sand.

Seeing the swarm, Moira Lynch asked, "How many cold rocks do you have left?"

"About half," Hugh Finch replied honestly.

"Good. On my command, I want you to drop all the remaining cold rock you have. Whether or not we can get agriculture back on track depends entirely on this one move."

Hugh Finch wanted to ask why. After all, the insects seemed useless, not to mention their horrible stench. The best course of action was clearly to leave.

But after hearing Moira Lynch’s last sentence, Hugh Finch’s expression turned serious.

"No problem!"

Moira Lynch kept her spiritual power focused on the beetles below.

When most of the insects had emerged from the sand, Moira Lynch suddenly shouted, "Now! Drop them!"

At her word, both Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch sprang into action.

Over a dozen cold rocks plummeted from the sky. The moment they hit the ground, they burst open like ice blossoms. From a distance, it looked like a strange and beautiful fireworks display.