Chapter 563 - 358: Recruited into the Academy, Entering the Continent

Chapter 563: Chapter 358: Recruited into the Academy, Entering the Continent

Staring at the faces before him, each cocooned in silk, Han Ning felt a complex mix of emotions.

Before leaving the Insect Continent, they had anticipated that other humans might cross over into it in the future.

He never expected that now, with the Insect Continent almost completely shattered, these fellow humans would appear before him in such a state.

His gaze shifted, landing on the astonished face of a young man from Xia Country.

With a beckoning gesture, a clone of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm flew over to Han Ning, carrying the young man from Xia Country.

The silk unraveled on its own, and the young man landed on Egg Pancake’s back, straightening himself up.

Sweat matted his hair to his forehead. His face was a little pale, and a faint fuzz covered his upper lip.

"What’s your name?" Han Ning asked with a smile, speaking the language of Xia Country as he looked at the young man, who was even younger than him.

"It really is the language of Xia Country! You... you’re from Xia Country?! Have we been transported to an Otherworld??"

The young man’s eyes widened as he stared intently at Han Ning, a rapid-fire series of questions spilling from his lips.

He quickly realized the other man was waiting for an answer and hurried to reply, "My name is Zheng Ran, from Rongzhou in Xia Country. Right before this happened, I had just graduated from high school and was on a trip to Shan State with two classmates. The entire bus was transported as we were crossing the border."

"The people on the bus were mostly from Xia Country. Oh, right... sir, please save my friend! He was hit in the head by some kind of centipede monster, and I don’t know if he’s dead or alive."

"Just call me Han Ning." He pointed to the people wrapped in silk behind them and explained, "Don’t worry. This silk has the ability to heal your injuries. As long as I’m here, they won’t die."

"Han... Brother Han, thank you!"

"You don’t have to thank me. Once... we were in the same boat, living in constant danger, never sure if we’d see the next day."

"Besides, don’t think the crisis is completely over. Even we, who got here before you, aren’t entirely out of danger yet."

Han Ning shook his head, his mind involuntarily flashing back to the scene of their own arrival on the Insect Continent, a time fraught with peril.

’This group has it better than we did, at least... They don’t have to deal with the threat of that omnipresent Gray Mist.’

"How long ago were you transported here? Have you run into any other humans?"

"Not long. About two or three days, I think. We arrived in a pitch-black Illusion Realm, and all these strange, aggressive creatures started swarming us. Everyone from the bus got separated for one reason or another, so I don’t know what happened to the others."

’Two to three days... and no information about contracting a Soul Beast appeared?’

"No."

Han Ning nodded and turned his gaze forward again.

By now, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm had rescued over a thousand people of various skin colors and ethnic features.

There were too many people to question individually. Instead, he decided to bring them all back to the Yunlan Space and have his staff conduct detailed interviews.

He waited patiently for a little while longer. The scattered clones of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm could no longer find any new humans. On the 3D structural map of the continental fragment floating before him, all the light dots representing humans were now gathered in one place. With that, Han Ning’s thoughts turned to leaving.

As for the Insect-men, Soul Beasts, and treasures on this fragment, they were no longer his concern.

To him, these living, breathing people were the greatest treasure of all.

With a bit of nurturing, in time they would become a new vital force, professionals from every field who could help all of humankind advance.

Finally, Han Ning projected a Subordinate Insect from the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm onto the still-hypnotized Insect Master. This would allow him to continue monitoring developments on this shattered continental fragment.

If more humans were to be transported here, he would know immediately.

"His Highness Prince Bobo Man, my business here is done. Is there anything else you need to do?"

"Uh... not really. I’ll just grab a few members of a Race I’ve never seen before to use as test subjects in my lab."

Bobo Man chuckled slyly. Countless tentacles shot out from beneath him and, as if plucking chicks, casually snatched up an Insect Master from the Abyssal Rock Ant Clan, along with several other distinct-looking Insect Masters from different clans.

Compared to the grotesque Insect-men, Bobo Man’s actions made him look even more like a Demon from Hell.

In particular, the sight of those hundreds, even thousands, of tentacles drifting lightly through the air caused the look of terror to return to Zheng Ran’s face.

"Tsk... it seems I’ve made your little friend uncomfortable. Rest assured... His Highness Prince Bobo Man is actually quite kind and amiable."

Bobo Man grinned, and from an octopus-like mouth lined with rows of fine teeth, he spoke a stream of Xia Country language that was even more fluent than Han Ning’s.

With that, he stopped teasing Zheng Ran and slapped Bobo Ka beneath him.

"AWOOO!!"

Bobo Ka swelled in size again. With a wave of its arms, the curtain of water suspended around them vanished. Simultaneously, a spherical shield of water formed, enveloping Han Ning and the thousand-plus humans, and carried them all back toward the Yunlan Space.

...

When the many humans already living in that beautiful environment saw the newcomers Han Ning had brought back, expressions of astonishment appeared on every one of their faces.

Everyone spontaneously stopped what they were doing and gathered around to help these fellow humans, who had been stranded in an Otherworld, get settled.

「Two days later.」

「Inside a spacious conference room.」

"In this operation, Han Ning rescued a total of 1,392 humans from the shattered Insect Continent. Of those, 845 are male and 547 are female. Sixty percent are between the ages of 20 and 50, with the remaining 40% falling into the 0-20 and 50-90+ age brackets. They come from 20 different countries and regions, with professions spanning 55 fields. Citizens of Xia Country account for 20%, or 280 people."