Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1476: Chapter 54: The Terrifying Mutant Spiders

Hill leaned against the door frame, arms crossed in contemplation.

From the reactions of these silk spiders, it was clear that their demand for the crystal fruit was actually greater.

Although the Golden Cloud Orchid had already mutated them to this extent, the crystal fruit... seemed to further complete their genes.

Could it be smaller than a period? Is that still something visible to the naked eye?

This is terrifying enough, isn’t it?

Hill suddenly shivered... My God! In this world, when eating crystal fruits, are you swallowing spiders along with them?

Then... what exactly is alive, a human or a spider-person?

He couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat... what about Teraxil?

The silk spiders, which were nearly invisible to the naked eye and brought into Teraxil by those Aesces elves, could they have already been reproducing in the Elf Forest?

The crystal fruit trees there are abundant enough to brew thousands of bottles of Crystal Mystery wine every year for the human world!

He abruptly turned to look at those tiny spiders, thoroughly abandoning that bit of cleanliness in his heart, and quickly walked toward the lab table... at the very least, he needed to confirm whether these spiders could survive after being brewed into liquor.

As for how precious and valuable these silk spiders were, it was meaningless compared to the safety of his friends in Teraxil.

Hill quietly took a deep breath... at least before he left Teraxil, there was definitely no sign of any living creatures in the Crystal Mystery.

Hill could not possibly be wrong in this judgment.

In Teraxil, especially after the World Tree had raised the sky again, no aura could escape his detection.

Then, Hill’s direction of investigation completely departed from the alchemists of the World of Aesces.

He needed to research the survival limits of these silk spiders... such as temperature and acidity-alkalinity tolerance limits, and if they could breathe underwater, whether it was like a fish in water, or if they could only survive in water for a limited time.

As well as various pressure limits.

Count Stelter and President Finch discovered the terrifying spider riot the next day in the storage warehouse for Golden Cloud Orchid... although the total number of silk spiders in each warehouse might not be larger than a man’s fist, the deadly power of their silk was no joke, causing the warehouse to shake under the dreadful bombardment... astonished to find that silk spiders could indeed become so minuscule.

Fortunately, these two were cautious individuals, and without knowing what dangers the orchids might pose, they stored them in their most secure warehouses, far away from other materials, with the orchids and earth separated.

The most frightening aspect of the silk spider is its small size; as long as they’re confined to one place, those like Count Stelter and President Finch, with significant strength, can still handle them.

Of course, President Finch had a tougher time; he first helped the Count deal with the troubles in the castle before swiftly rushing to the Alchemist Association’s base.

After the battle was over, looking at the countless pinholes and the black scorch marks surrounding them on the inner walls made from the strongest protective alloy, they unhesitatingly ordered those digging to stop, strip off their clothes, and soak in the Holy Water Pool... this time, despite any ulterior motives, they could only ask for help from the Major Temples that had been watching coldly!

No matter how good the items, if lives are lost... even if they are the lives of subordinates... what’s the use?

A wise leader would not easily abandon his loyal subordinates, especially in a Fantasy World where cultivating such subordinates requires substantial resources.

Count Stelter and President Finch regretted their momentary recklessness, letting their direct subordinates engage in such dangerous work, but given the circumstances, they could only do their best to compensate.

Moreover... if a fist-sized spider was just one silk spider, they would gladly have accepted it.

But in the current situation, they could no longer conceal anything!

If these creatures were only in Count Stelter’s territory, it might be tolerable, but if every nation breeding silk spiders had them... what about the future of humanity, no, does humanity have a future?

Consider the change in Lind! Even if he was affected from the womb, it was only twenty years.

Yet silk spiders appeared in the human world already three hundred years ago!

Especially in Danboro!

Back then, they had respectfully invited the alchemist master back!

While Finch was flying around Basia City seeking external aid, he could hardly hide his terribly pale face... in fact, it was the Finch Family that had advocated strongly among the Danboro nobility to invite the Great Sage Ismael, the inventor of Crystalline Energy, as a counterweight, achieving unanimous support from the noble system.

After all, Crystalline Weapons only made Danboro stronger, but the discovery of silk made the pockets of Danboro nobility swell.

The only consolation is that not everyone can afford to raise these spiders, nor does everyone have the privilege... Count Stelter, wanting to raise them himself, had to personally oversee the task upon returning home.

The churches led by the God of Runes had long been aware of what was happening in Stelter Castle... after all, even Finch, considered an enemy, had been squatting at Stelter Castle long enough for almost anyone with significant influence to know a little of the truth, not to mention the considerably powerful Major Temples.

Due to the invention of Crystalline Weapons, Danboro primarily worshipped the God of Runes, followed by the Goddess of the Earth who provided abundant minerals, and then the Sun and Moon; other deities were acknowledged, but hardly had any churches in Danboro.

The Will of the World of Aesces strongly disliked being regarded as a deity; humans could invoke Aesces but could not establish temples or altars nor represent it with any specific imagery... doing so would not earn the world’s admiration but lead to a variety of strange deaths.

The Basia temples, of course, had long wanted a part in this matter... regardless of the original cause, many priests enjoyed wearing silk!

Although as news from Stelter Castle grew increasingly dire, everyone had already changed out of their silk clothing.

In Basia City’s upper echelons now, everyone was wearing fine cotton clothing... the wealthier citizenry were almost scared into believing Danboro was going to war again by the sharp rise in the price of top-quality cotton.

And then, with concerted efforts from several factions, the chaotic situation finally calmed.

After detailed inspection by all parties, the truth of the mutated silk spiders’ uprising quickly surfaced... aside from a small portion of Golden Cloud Orchid being vacuum-sealed, the rest was simply piled in the warehouse.

While this orchid possessed a resilient life force, without the nourishment of water and soil, it naturally began to wither.

These silk spiders were likely in a slumber, but with their food source on the brink of extinction, they had no choice but to awaken.

And at this time, the crystal fruit Ellie brought back was taken out, intended to feed the few newly acquired silk spiders... the Alchemist Association nearly began this experiment simultaneously.

The silk spiders are extremely sensitive to the scent of the crystal fruit, so sensitive in fact that those tiny spiders in Hill’s laboratory could almost perceive it through thick fiberglass and the isolation crystal opposite.

Not to mention the warehouses in Stelter Castle and the Alchemist Association, which were merely built with alloy walls... to these tiny spiders, it was essentially bait placed right under their noses.

Despite the startling process and the need to forgo some profit, Count Stelter felt a bit of relief... at least the walls were still good enough to keep these terrifying spiders at bay.

To think, when he entered the warehouse fully armed, in protective gear, wielding his great sword, looking at the transparent silk threads flying everywhere and the nearly invisible spiders, almost overwhelmed, he experienced a moment of hesitation.

Even the bravest knight, faced with such an impenetrable, unmanageable situation, would find it unbearable... although Finch later found a way to dye those tiny transparent spiders red, the result made it even harder to bear.

It’s not like he didn’t notice, Finch didn’t dare step into the warehouse, instead casting spells from outside! Spells that even encased him!

Clearly losing a bit of his wits... though Finch may have wanted to hit him for a long time, he did maintain considerable restraint.

But at this juncture, Count Stelter couldn’t quibble with him.

All the Major Temples couldn’t resist joining the discussion... how did the Stelter Family manage to raise so many mutated silk spiders... this clearly wasn’t normal.

Or rather, if the silk spiders could mutate to this extent within twenty years, how come nobody noticed before?

After all, though crystal fruits are rare, ever since the Elves left Aesces, they haven’t been exclusive delicacies for kings... half-elves are too few in number, their diets lean more towards the human variety; rather than eating crystal fruits every day, they would prefer exchanging them for resources enough to enjoy life.

At this moment, Ted, responsible for interrogating the gardeners breeding silk spiders, suddenly realized something and directly led people into a gardener’s small hut.