Chapter 525

Chapter 525: Setting Fire to the Mountain

“Uh… hope my spawn don’t think I’m acting dumb…”

Trilobite trudged slowly through the swamp, his huge feet stirring small ripples.

He felt uneasy.

While walking, he hadn’t thought much of it. But now, remembering how he’d been drooling earlier…

“Pretty embarrassing if my spawn saw that.”

“But…”

“Probably fine.”

“Komodo Dragons look fierce anyway, yet they drool all the time.”

“Just seeing them makes you go ‘eww’.”

“Though…”

“It’s not that gross really.”

People used to claim Komodo Dragons carried deadly bacteria in their mouths—that one bite meant infection and certain death, letting the lizard just track its dying prey.

That wasn’t just wrong; it was wildly off the mark.

Komodo Dragons don’t have many harmful bacteria in their mouths.

Their mouths are actually pretty “clean”—no dirtier than a lion’s or tiger’s.

Besides, not every animal bitten by a Komodo dies. Many survive.

Deaths usually happen in dry season when victims stumble into mud pits. Open wounds get infected by muddy water, not the lizard’s bite.

Survival rates are much higher for dry-season bites anyway.

Komodo Dragons also lack the patience to stalk wounded prey.

When people see them eating infection-killed animals, it’s often a different lizard scavenging—finding a carcass by chance.

“As for venomous mouths…”

“That’s even less…”

True, they have mouth glands, but those are weak—likely just aid digestion like saliva.

If we called those secretions “venom”…

…then humans could count as “venomous creatures” too.

Lost in these thoughts, Trilobite reached the woods he’d flattened earlier.

“Perfect.”

“You’ll do.”

He spotted a branch sticking out of the water and chomped it off.

“Nice!”

"Come!"

"Light it up for me!"

Trilobite glimpsed Miss Spark Jumping Spider pausing briefly before scurrying up the branch using her neck and mouth.

—-

"Cough, cough…"

"Can’t bear it…"

"Full…"

"Overflowing…"

Loseta felt her soul might explode.

That soul-swelling sensation was…

Painful yet joyful.

Along the journey, the Giant God kept rumbling "huh huh," seemingly voicing some "truth" unrelated to her through that fearsome yet revered single-syllable divine language.

"Seemed like…"

"Knowledge about the magnificent Dragon Gods."

Amid the torrent of information, Loseta glimpsed a vision:

Terrifying Dragon Gods dwelling in the desolate universe, surviving by hunting other deities!

Their every step shook the earth with tremors; their flame-like tongues lashed, their star-iron scales gleamed!

They were ancient kin’s final echoes, guarding decaying divine forms and worlds in secluded corners.

Their names echoed through endless universes; even the Giant God marveled at these mighty Dragon Gods.

He fiercely rejected branding them "filthy," instead hailing them as "sacred."

…

"I… couldn’t grasp it."

"Dared not try."

That obscure, profoundly mysterious knowledge barely brushed her soul—merely skimming its surface nearly shattered Loseta’s mind.

Luckily, though the Giant God’s aimless musings held colossal information, it remained fragmented and scattered, targeting no one.

Chaotic, random information flows sank into the Soul Network beyond Loseta’s soul. Each mortal dispersed and cushioned it until nothing remained.

Unconsciously, the Giant God also influenced his spawn through this…

Perhaps after prolonged subtle shifts, the Giant God’s spawn would eventually change.

But soon…

"Mmm…"

The Giant God’s single-syllable divine language—now shrill, now deep—resounded once more. "Clang clang," it hammered against Loseta’s Soul.

Thankfully, after several such "invasions," her soul gradually adjusted to the Giant God’s… dimensions.

This time, it was an order, not "teaching" or "oracle," and the information wasn’t too much.

Otherwise, the girl accompanying the Giant God would be pitiful.

"Time to test."

"My power."

"Understood."

"Thanks for the bestowed glory."

"I will not disappoint."

Loseta lifted her head and walked on the Giant God’s sacred Divine Body, following the edge of his mighty mouth, to the remnants of the Fantasy Tree of Subspace.

"Everything in the universe returns to dust."

"All things can be burned and vaporized! Spaces and realms are no exception!"

"The power of the Fire Domain."

She raised high the sacred limbs given by the Giant God.

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

The avatar body danced gracefully, leaping in a splendid dance.

Soon…

"Hiss…"

"Hiss!"

The light of the Fire Domain shimmered in the void and descended to the ground; it vanished in an instant but was incredibly brilliant!

—-

"Hiss…"

A spark ignited the dry "branch."

"Whoosh…"

"Wow—!"

It caught fire!

"Oh oh oh!"

Trilobite felt quite happy.

After all, he hadn’t seen fire in a long time.

Before he crossed over in his last life, fire was everywhere, and he ate cooked food every day; but after crossing over, he could hardly remember "fire" or "cooked food."

"Maybe…"

"It’s because I was born in the sea."

"Regardless, this is definitely a good thing."

Watching the bright orange flame burst from the branch in his mouth, Trilobite nodded in satisfaction and walked through the forest, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Thank you."

"My dear little ‘lighter’ sister."

"Of course, besides the work of the spawn sister, the material of this branch was also crucial."

"Loose and porous."

"It wasn’t as dense and solid as later woody plants."

"This might be why when I pushed it a bit before, they all fell."

"Naturally, this structure was also better for starting a fire."

"If only there was some grease or something."

"Fortunately, although it was a wet period like the Carnian period, it hadn’t rained recently, so the branches were fairly dry."

Trilobite walked through the woods, holding the "burning branch" and amazed at all the good conditions that helped him light it.

But as he walked, he started to feel something was wrong.

"Hiss…"

"Whoosh…"

The sound of the burning "branch" seemed to be growing louder.

"How odd, the branch I’m holding burns steadily, and it’s not big—just a small torch."

"Where’s that loud noise coming from?"

And…

"Sniff… Sniff…"

Trilobite lifted his nose to smell.

He noticed the strong smell of burning branches spreading fast in the air.

"What’s happening?"

"Why does this branch give off such a heavy smell when it burns?"

"Could it be…?"

He looked back, shaking with fear.

Then he saw something that scared him terribly.

"Oh no!"

He dropped the branch from his mouth and ran off with his "Spark Jumping Spider" sister.

It turned out that while he walked through the woods with the "small torch," he had accidentally set fire to a line of "trees."

Now, the flames were getting bigger and bigger!