Chapter 612

Chapter 612: Different Trades, Different Tools; Rodents Reign Supreme in Digging

"Hmm, hmm!"

"This is the spot!"

"You dig! Digging reduces your debt."

"Remember to pack it down and reinforce it too!"

The massive Trilobite squatted outside a cave, directing a group of smaller minions digging diligently without shame.

He’d discovered this prime location after wandering around for some time.

It appeared to be a section washed away by relentless heavy rain.

Honestly, this section was quite decent; its left side seemed to be either a large rock or one of those giant mud blocks compressed so tightly it approached rock-like hardness and density.

At least the left side wouldn’t collapse.

The right side was similar.

Only the middle soil layer was relatively loose. Trilobite had first sent his minions to investigate—the soft soil spanned about fifteen meters deep, eight meters wide, and five meters high.

It could easily fit a T. rex, let alone Trilobite’s mere 6.5-meter-long saber-toothed Xuanhan Dragon.

The real concern was the top.

Though covered by a three-meter soil layer where the bottom 1.5 meters felt reasonably firm, the upper portion remained loose.

Luckily, the ancient bracken ferns Trilobite had planted earlier grew here; their roots gripped the soil firmly, binding it into one solid mass!

To reinforce it further, Trilobite specially ordered his minions to bring mushrooms from the original Valaharl world and tweaked them slightly.

The changes weren’t drastic—just that these mushrooms now spread vastly larger networks of fungal threads underground.

They latched onto the bracken fern roots, expanding steadily while their sticky fibers glued soil particles together, cementing the entire patch.

Though not concrete-solid, it at least wouldn’t leak or collapse under heavy rain.

Now only digging remained.

Trilobite never dirtied his own claws with such work.

He had the perfect excuse to avoid labor:

"Different trades, different tools!"

"My expertise lies in squatting aside, issuing loans, and managing minions."

A real capitalist.

Yet as a specialist, his logic held water.

The saber-toothed Xuanhan Dragon simply wasn’t built for digging—no matter how you looked at it.

Its forelimbs were long but small-palmed; its toe-walking feet offered minimal ground contact.

While this predator could technically dig, its efficiency would be pitifully low.

Better leave it to the experts.

Two tribes were engaged in excavation work.

One tribe consisted of his spawn evolved from Trilobite—the Trilobite Mantis.

These fellows were the bizarre creatures cultivated by Trilobite; they had smashing claws, wing shells, and flat digging feet for excavation.

Once, when Trilobite was not so big, he spent time drilling underground; much of the tunnels he dug were made by the Trilobite Mantis.

Also, these "super-evolved" Trilobite creatures had true sociality like a swarm, letting them build a huge underground kingdom.

But the other tribe digging then was far more impressive than the Trilobite Mantis.

In fact, one could say that, to some extent, the Trilobite Mantis should have been their prey.

Yet, strangely, these two creatures lived together peacefully at that time.

"Uh…"

"Another Chinese Dragon… oh no, I mean Chinese Beast."

"Specialized in digging."

"But since the Shrew Dragon also digs well, you are digging experts on top of that…"

"Let’s call it…"

"Digging Specialist Two?"

"Digging Specialist Two, the Chen’s Sharp-Toothed Beast?"

The Chen’s Sharp-Toothed Beast was found in Yixian, Liaoning Province, China, and was a kind of "Cretaceous land rodent" mainly for digging.

However, it wasn’t closely related to living rodents; it belonged to the true beasts called tritylodontids, and was only a distant cousin to modern placental mammals and marsupials.

Also, from another view, it didn’t look much like a rodent.

With a round body, it resembled prairie dogs or pikas.

Compared to other tree-dwelling and land-based mammalia then, its limb bones were short and thick, especially the front limbs; the humerus was strong and very wide at the end, reaching sixty to seventy percent of its length.

Its wrist was special too, holding many muscles that made strong power for digging holes.

As digging tools, its front paw was wide with long, flexible claws, the first finger being extra long; its neck grew short and strong, and its tail shortened to cut resistance.

All these were specialized for digging.

Maybe the dinosaur-like creatures found the best way for fast movement in the lizard-like group—walking upright on two legs with long legs. This classic build let them rule the land and beat archosaurs badly.

But the cost was giving up some ecological niches, like digging.

Since dinosaurs didn’t want this niche, it went to the mammals!

So, many mammals went underground.

This sneaky plan let them join the "brown biosphere," survive the Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous’s end, and quickly evolve to replace dinosaurs.

"Digging Specialist Two can’t dig like me, a land predation expert dinosaur."

"So it’s fine if I skip out."

"Dig! Keep digging for me!"

Of course, Trilobite had work to do then.

"Hmm…"

"This cave will be used for roasting meat later!"

"Need to add some interior touches."

"For example…"

"Buzz—!"

He activated the system and channeled energy into the bracken ferns above the cave.

Not to make them grow upward, but downward.

"Sizzle…"

"Thud!"

The bracken ferns’ roots kept spreading.

Some thick roots had already pierced the "ceiling," dangling downward.

Trilobite wasn’t doing this to reinforce the cave.

To strengthen the cave, roots only needed to spread through the mud and grip the soil—no need to breach the ceiling.

These roots were useless and just got in the way.

But Trilobite hadn’t expected them to fortify the cave’s structure either.

Instead…

"Huh, I can gnaw these off for firewood!"

"After all, during heavy rain like this, dry wood’s hard to find—everything’s drenched."

"But roots buried deep in soil grow where rainwater seeps slower."

"A bit damp, sure, but not soaked through like branches outside that seem dredged from water."

"Good, proceeding as planned…"

Just as Trilobite settled back to watch the Trilobite Mantis and Chen’s Sharp-Toothed Beast dig his cave—watching it expand, nearing completion—

"Huh!?"

He sensed something!

"Huff…"

"Sniff… sniff…"

The saber-toothed Xuanhan Dragon turned its head, lifting its massive skull to scent the air.

"Humid air should carry scents poorly…"

"But what were those little creatures doing?!"

"Why just circling endlessly?!"

"Loop after loop, leaving their stench everywhere."

"Marking territory, were they?"

In fact, other species marking territory wasn’t a major issue for Trilobite.

Lions didn’t care about scents from jackals or wildcats, nor about them carving out territory within their domain—they simply weren’t on the same level.

Only hyena activity could rouse a lion pride’s vigilance.

Trilobite hadn’t planned to bother with those creatures either.

But then he noticed their size…

They seemed rather large!

Though smaller than his saber-toothed Xuanhan Dragon form, they appeared to surpass a third of his bulk!

Perhaps even half!

That demanded caution!

The size ratio between lions and hyenas typically fell within this range.

Tigers outweighed jackals or wolves by roughly five-to-one, yet tigers would exterminate any jackal or wolf found in their domain.

While jackals and wolves posed no direct threat to tigers, they stole kills—something tigers wouldn’t tolerate.

Unlike hyenas, jackals and wolves were too small to challenge tigers, explaining their absence in tiger territories.

"Seems I’ll need to confront these interlopers."

"Where prey is limited, how can creatures sharing my ecological niche thrive?!"

"Let’s go meet these trespassers!"

"I’ll discover what dares claim territory here!"

"Roooar—!"

Trilobite roared to boost his courage, then vanished deeper into the thickening curtain of rain.

—-

The "Outer Predator · Fang Tribe" guiding the "Giant Spirit Gods" never expected their stalling tactics for the Giant God…

Proved utterly pointless!

Because the deities themselves were lost!

And couldn’t locate the Giant God!

This wasn’t entirely their fault.

The etheric storm birthed countless ether streams and temporary Ether Rivers, violently eroding the Primal Mud landscape—carving valleys through plateaus.

Worse, these Ether Rivers constantly shifted course, often dammed by collapsing Primal Mud to form new Ether Lakes or Ether Ponds.

Compounding the chaos, the Fantasy Trees of Subspace proved unreliable.

Their explosive growth frequently toppled Vast Dragon Gods · Long-necked Species, allowing the Giant God’s World Tree to reshape the Fantasy Forest.

The very terrain…

Shifted endlessly!

Bewildering the Fang Tribe scouts…

They’d wander off course without realizing it, losing all direction.

The "Pan-Spirit Deities" grew increasingly impatient.

"Hey!"

"Do you know where you’re going?!"

"Keep this up, and I’ll report you to the First Demon God—"

"Hm!?"

The Pan-Spirit Deities halted.

"Rumble…"

"Rumble…"

The Ether Pond at their feet shuddered with violent tremors!