Read Novel Full Chapter 1539: The Treasure That Awakened Ambition
Chapter 1539: The Treasure That Awakened Ambition
"Merely for self-preservation?"
"Indeed."
"I don’t buy it." The dragon-robed elder was openly skeptical. In their echelon, "fattening pigs for the slaughter" wasn’t exactly a shameful practice.
"In a region so starved of territory and resources, a fledgling massive octopus unexpectedly ascends to the Invincible Arch Lord tier within a mere century. If such an anomaly occurred in your domain, would you not be suspicious? Would you not be on edge?"
The black-robed man remained unfazed, simply stating his findings. "A century? To be precise, it has only been ninety years since I first took notice of him."
It was only then that the dragon-robed elder realized just how thorny the situation truly was. Without a doubt, a colossal organization stood behind that octopus. The moment the creature faced a genuine crisis, the faction backing him casually dispatched two demigod powerhouses to hold the line.
"Hmph... So, you didn’t come here to play chess with this old man. You came seeking asylum?"
The black-robed man nodded, then shook his head, placing another piece on the board. "Regardless of whether their counter-invasion of the mainland succeeds or fails, they will come looking for me. In their eyes, I am the lingering threat to that leviathan."
The elder fell silent. They had been friends and collaborators for years, shouldering risks for one another throughout their long, bloody climb to the top.
"What is your play?" the elder asked, his eyes narrowing. He now fully grasped the severity of the situation. He asked because his friend’s stance dictated everything; their response would depend entirely on his attitude.
"I told you, I merely seek self-preservation." The black-robed man sighed. "We have traveled the realms together. We know how vast the world truly is. First-stage demigods are not as invincible or untouchable as mortals believe. There are two of them, and there are two of us. Furthermore, I was not the one who attacked. We should be able to negotiate a settlement without resorting to bloodshed."
He sounded perfectly calm, but the elder could see the profound helplessness hidden in his friend’s eyes. No demigod wanted to watch an Arch Lord rise within their own territory—especially one who neither worshipped them nor paid tribute. But now, with this happening right on his doorstep, his friend couldn’t fight them and couldn’t reprimand them. He had to swallow the bitter pill in silence.
"Judging by the sheer scale of that brief clash, one of them is absolutely not a mere first-stage demigod," the elder analyzed, now fully apprised of his friend’s stance. "To dare launch an assault on the mainland, they must possess absolute confidence in their backing. They will negotiate from a position of extreme strength."
"That is inevitable, and it is precisely why I came to you," the black-robed man admitted. "I will formally cede that stretch of the sea and wash my hands of the leviathan. We have no conflict of interest. From beginning to end, the only ones suffering a catastrophe are the members of that Divine Sigil House on the mainland. And for us marine races, watching mainlanders bleed is a good thing, is it not?"
The dragon-robed elder blinked, then slowly broke into a smile. "You sly bastard. Playing two birds with one stone again."
"Incorrect," the black-robed man corrected smoothly. "It is one bait for two fish."
The Titanion Realm, somewhere deep within the northern snowcaps.
The broodmother Laito had burrowed a tunnel deep beneath the icy mountains, leading the Elven King Rommath directly to a spatial anchor point mapping the world’s coordinates.
This anchor point was sustained by a massive Wormholes Realm. Within this specific Wormholes Realm, there were no insectoids; instead, it served as an immense repository for hoarded resources. It was one of the critical foundational pillars forcibly drawing the two worlds together.
If someone were to harvest the Wormholes Realm and sever this anchor’s energy supply, the fragile balance maintaining the dimensional convergence would instantly shatter. The two worlds, yet to fully merge, would violently collide head-on.
When that happened, apocalyptic war would be inevitable.
This was the broodmother Laito’s true endgame—a horrific scheme the Elven King Rommath remained blissfully ignorant of.
"Master, this Wormholes Realm is a supreme treasure! It is a wondrous thing that can be used to rapidly breed the Swarm!"
Rommath possessed a basic understanding of Wormholes Realms, but he genuinely had no idea they could be extracted and claimed. If the broodmother Laito hadn’t told him, he never would have believed it.
This was intelligence of the highest caliber. If he reported this discovery to the Stoneheart Horde, the military merits he’d receive would be astronomical. Rommath had no way of knowing that the Giant King Orion—having previously possessed an Insect King—already knew all the secrets regarding Wormholes Realms. Had Rommath chosen to report it, the Horde would have handsomely rewarded him, ensuring his loyalty was well-compensated.
"Hope, let us enter the Wormholes Realm and see for ourselves!"
The broodmother Laito nodded and eagerly led the way. Laito understood perfectly that some traps required patience; the prey had to be lured in step by step.
A moment later, within the Wormholes Realm.
"This... this is... all resources?"
Stepping into the dimensional pocket, Rommath was struck speechless. The entire expanse was packed to the brim with specialized energy crystals. Reflected in the Elven King’s wide eyes was an endless sea of deep, ethereal blue light. He was shaken to his very core.
"It’s a treasure trove! The hoarded wealth of the otherworldly Swarm!"
It didn’t take long for Rommath to realize the sheer magnitude of the prize his broodmother had unearthed.
Surrender it? Hand it over to... the Horde?
No... No... No! This is all mine. This belongs solely to me. This is the Hope that will fuel the resurgence of the Blood Elf Race!
A tempest of complex emotions—ecstasy, internal struggle, and naked greed—churned within Rommath’s eyes. In the end, he made his choice. He would conceal this discovery and swallow the treasure trove all by himself.
The Blood Elf Race had only recently been absorbed into the Stoneheart Horde, and Rommath harbored little true loyalty or sense of belonging toward them. Driven by the burning embers of his own buried ambitions, he convinced himself that this was the right path.
"Hope, listen to me," Rommath said, crouching down and looking intently at the broodmother, who was already busily gorging itself on the energy crystals. "You must remember, we cannot speak a word of what we have found here to anyone."
Burp! "Don’t worry, Master! Everything here belongs to Master, and to Hope!" The broodmother flashed a sickeningly sweet, innocent expression before eagerly plunging its face back into the crystal pile.
As a broodmother, the most critical requirement for growth was this exact type of pure, unadulterated energy. It was the absolute necessity for the Swarm’s evolution.
"Good Hope. Eat slowly. There is an endless supply of food here; you couldn’t possibly finish it all!" Rommath stroked the broodmother’s plump, fleshy body, his face split by a wide, euphoric smile.
Hope was right. Everything here was his. And as for Hope? In Rommath’s eyes, how much could one little bug really eat?
Having placated his pet, Rommath stood up and cast his gaze across the cavernous space, entirely choked with glowing energy crystals. Obsession and madness danced in his eyes.
In that defining moment, the allure of racial revival, continental hegemony, nation-building, and ascending to supreme godhood—countless buried desires—were infinitely magnified in the glow of the abyssal blue light.