Ronan and Qiu Wanshan did not dwell on it, continuing to talk about the Jin Buhuan Incident until they reached the inner section of the Volcanic Zone.
With so many people arriving and setting up camp, the original ecology of the area had inevitably been affected. A considerable number of creatures that had previously coexisted with, or competed against, the Fire God Ants had been driven away. However, the region was simply too vast, with a radius of two hundred kilometers, so the area truly affected was still mainly around the headquarters of the Aberrant Nest.
This was also where Spring City had concentrated its garrison and research efforts.
As for the other Fire God Ant branches, they had been left to the thrill-seekers on the outskirts, which could be considered "sharing the joy with the people."
But now that Ronan himself had arrived, Spring City naturally could not call it "research" or "exploration." The word they used was "protection."
Ronan merely smiled at that and continued chatting with Qiu Wanshan.
"I remember that when I was looking up papers on Fire God Ants, quite a few institutions had seriously studied the changes in Fire God Ant colonies after the volcanic eruption four years ago. They arrived early and gathered firsthand data, which was extremely valuable. Unfortunately, I was inexperienced back then. I only knew to cite other people's findings and overlooked that firsthand material. If I have the time, I'd like to collect more things like that from various sources and see if I can work backward to uncover some traces from that year. It would count as learning."
Qiu Wanshan shook his head. "Working backward from those scattered fragments won't be easy."
"That's why it's called learning. Lord Qiu, you were among those closest to the event back