A Tangled Path

Joseph said, "My lord, I can try to read these Feather Molts. They should contain memories left behind by the Feathered Ones."

Lu Yao had him begin at once.

So the white-clad Pixelated Villager stood before the cocoon, and an animated signal-wave icon appeared above his head.

About a minute later, a Dialogue Box popped up over Joseph's head.

"This Feathered One was called Harvest Marquis. He was formed from a God's feathering, and excelled at Farming Reclamation and Animal Husbandry. After entering the Time Stop Zone, he imitated his previous management methods and tried to use cocoons shed from his own body to cultivate fresh blood for the two echelons of the Curse Worms and Curse Clan."

"He gained some experience in managing Black Matter and developed the 'Elastic Vertical Rib Dam,' combining Curse Worms into an elastic, dredgeable embankment that could greatly delay the impact and outpouring of Black Matter..."

Joseph explained, "Under normal circumstances, when Feathered Ones wanted to intercept a torrent of Black Matter, they would use Curse Worms to fill it with their lives. They were also the only usable material and labor force."

"So the consumption was one-time. Every Curse Worm used meant one fewer left, and those Curse Worms would be submerged by the Black Matter and sink to the bottom. Digging out a Curse Worm buried deep at the bottom of the Black Matter was extremely difficult, and the number of Curse Worms that had to be sacrificed would far exceed the gains."

"The vertical rib dam adopted a three-layer distribution in an inverted triangle structure, combined with one another. When delaying a Black Matter torrent, the Curse Worms at the very front could also swap positions with the Curse Worms behind them, gradually withdrawing from the front line without affecting the