Deep within the crevices of the underground caverns.
Inside a hollow overgrown with weeds, dozens of dog-sized Insect Men of various shapes and forms were crawling all over the ground.
A sound came from the narrow crack at the entrance. Squatting at the back of the hollow was a lean, slightly stooped Insect Man with a streamlined body, a twenty-four-pack on its abdomen, and two pairs of transparent, light-gray wings sprouting from its back.
The most striking feature of this Insect Man was its eyes, which took up half of its face.
It heard the sound from the crack, turned its head, and fixed its eyes on the opening.
Its tense body only relaxed slightly when the figure behind the crack revealed half a head. Its voice held a note of surprise. "Princess, you’re back? I heard you’d been captured."
After squeezing through the crack, the Mantis Person said to the Dragonfly Person clinging to a nearby rock wall, "I’m fine. They only kept me to discuss a collaboration."
The Dragonfly Person was silent for a moment before saying, "The chieftain and the others thought you were dead. They’re gathering our nearby Insect Man kin to take revenge on those humans."
The Mantis Person quickly replied, "Those humans didn’t hurt me! They want to cooperate with us. Hurry and take me back so I can explain to the chieftain."
The Dragonfly Person didn’t ask any more questions. With a flicker, it began to walk on air.
If one looked closely, they would notice the high-frequency vibrations of the wings on its back.
Treading on the air, it came before the Mantis Person, grabbed her body, and then called out into the nearby darkness, "You stay here and watch the young."
"Got it." A rustling sound came from the darkness. A moment later, an Ant-man with two antennae on its head crawled out of an underground rock tunnel. PTUI! PTUI! It spat out some dirt.
The Dragonfly Person was incredibly fast, carrying the Mantis Person deep into the caverns.
Here, the cavern floor was covered in low-growing plants. The area was spacious, and in the deepest part stood several round, fort-like structures made of packed earth.
A crowd of Insect Men of various shapes and sizes had gathered in the open space beside the structures.
Among them, three figures stood out, clearly the leaders whom the other Insect Men deferred to.
On the far left was a Hercules beetle man nearly four meters tall, with a burly build like a gorilla. The giant Insect Man’s most prominent features were the horns on its head and chest, which from a distance resembled a halberd.
On the far right was an entirely fiery-red Ant-man. It was about two meters tall with a well-proportioned, broad-shouldered frame, its chest and back covered in a thick, hard carapace.
In the center stood a Mantis Person leader. This one was ink-green, its body covered in many light-gold spots. Its long legs made up nearly half of its total height.
When the Dragonfly Person approached, the three leaders turned at the sound. Upon seeing the Mantis Person held by the Dragonfly Person, the Hercules beetle man said, "Looks like she’s fine. So, does our previous discussion still stand?"
The Ant-man crossed its arms and said flatly, "Regardless, since humans have appeared again, I think we should try to make contact."
The Hercules beetle man shook its head. "I don’t think contacting the humans is a good idea. They’re no match for the Fishmen at all. They’ll just end up exposing us. What do you think, Mantis?"
The Mantis leader looked at his returned daughter, seemingly a bit surprised. ’Looks like those humans didn’t harm her.’
The Dragonfly Person landed and set the Mantis Person down. She hurried forward. "Father."
"Weren’t you captured by the humans?" the Mantis leader asked, scrutinizing her.
"Those humans didn’t hurt me. After they captured me, they had me learn their language and even gave me food..." The Mantis Person recounted everything she had seen and heard.
The crowd of Insect Men present listened in disbelief.
"They gave you food?"
"Was it good?"
"Humans actually made the Fishmen submit?"
"What if they’re lying to you?"
"Humans are weak. I don’t believe they could conquer the Fishmen."
"It’s possible the humans and the Fishmen are tricking us together."
The Insect Men chattered amongst themselves, each adding their own two cents.
Most of them simply didn’t believe humans could conquer the Fishmen.
They had lived underground for many years. Ever since being crushed by the Fishmen, they had used their terrestrial advantage to hide in the crevices of the underground caverns, surviving on their tenacious Life Energy.
"Since your daughter is back, we’re leaving." The Hercules beetle man stood up, seemingly uninterested in the matter.
It beckoned, and seven or eight beetle-type Insect Men from the crowd followed it as it departed into the distance.
The Mantis leader turned to the Red-armored Ant-man. "You’re not leaving?"
"I’m interested in the humans she mentioned." The Red-armored Ant-man asked, "Did those humans really say we can trade those ores for food?"
The Mantis Person nodded. "That’s what he said."
The Red-armored Ant-man: "You handle the trade for me."
The Mantis leader: "I haven’t agreed yet..."
The Red-armored Ant-man stated bluntly, "You’ll take us to trade with you."
The Mantis leader was in a difficult position. "They could be liars. The information isn’t even confirmed. Besides, how much food could they possibly have to trade?"
The Red-armored Ant-man insisted, "I want to trade with them."
The Mantis leader was mentally exhausted. "The information isn’t confirmed. Let’s wait until we’re sure."
The Red-armored Ant-man stood up and looked at the Mantis leader. "Then let’s go confirm it now."
The Mantis leader grew annoyed. "What if it’s a trap? We’ll lose many of our people, and we don’t have many to begin with."
"We won’t lose many. A few at most." The Red-armored Ant-man calculated with great seriousness. "The ores in the Underworld are worthless. The Ant Queen can’t lay eggs if she eats ore. If we have enough food, the Ant Queen can lay many eggs. It’s a worthy trade."
The Mantis leader was defeated by the Red-armored Ant-man’s impeccable logic.
These Ant-men could be incredibly single-minded at times, only capable of executing commands, with everything revolving around the Ant Queen and propagation as their highest goal.
He only knew that the Ant Queen was hidden somewhere deep underground, though he didn’t know the exact location. The Ant Queen never came out, and the public-facing leader of the Ant-man tribe was this Red-armored Ant-man before him.
The Red-armored Ant-man just stared blankly at the Mantis leader, waiting for a reply.
The Mantis leader was silent for a long while before finally sighing.
"Fine. We’ll give it a try." He looked at his daughter. "Where are these humans?"
"Over there. East of this crevice, there’s a cluster of houses built by the humans. They call it their Home," the Mantis Person said. "That man, Qin Ziwen, said that if we’re willing to cooperate, we can find him at any time."
The Red-armored Ant-man immediately stood up. "Let’s go now."
"Wait." The Mantis leader raised a hand to stop him and looked back over his shoulder.
Not far away, a dozen or so adult Mantis People were squatting or sitting. Their skin was stretched taut over their exoskeletons, their abdomens were sunken, and their complexions were sallow. They stared at him without blinking.
Farther away, some Mantis People were sharpening their weapons.
For a moment, he was lost in a daze. He had heard that a long, long time ago, their Mantis People were actually a large tribe. The tribe had over a thousand members, and they even had Priests and a dedicated altar.
But now, their numbers were less than a tenth of what they were at their peak. They could only survive by hiding in the crevices of the underground caverns. The slightest growth in their population, or any leak of their location, would draw the Fishmen to hunt them.
The Mantis leader was silent for two seconds, then turned and called out to someone nearby, "Qingye, come here."
The Dragonfly Person clinging to the rock wall flapped its wings and flew over.
The Mantis leader said, "Take some ores and go with them. You’re fast. If anything seems wrong, bring her back immediately."
Qingye nodded.
The Red-armored Ant-man was already calling his own kin to go back and prepare the ores.
"No need. I have some ores here. Let’s take these first and see if they want them," the Mantis leader called out to stop the Red-armored Ant-man.
The Insect Men would occasionally excavate some ores during their daily lives. They would usually shatter them, pick out the nicely shaped pieces, and lash them to bones to serve as weapons.
Before long, the trading party, composed of Ant-men and the Mantis Person, was assembled.
Two stocky, broad-shouldered black Ant-men walked at the front, each carrying a basket woven from grass and vines on their back. The baskets were filled with ores of all sizes.
Some had a dark red sheen, others glinted with silver light, and a few were jet black.
The Mantis Person followed behind them, while Qingye floated in the air.
And so, this strange trading party set off on its journey.
After the party departed, the Red-armored Ant-man and the Mantis leader tailed them from a safe distance.
They preferred to trust what they saw with their own eyes.
In their memory, although humans occasionally appeared in the Underworld, they were always hopelessly outmatched by the Fishmen’s attacks.
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