Messenger of the Divine Oracle

Despite the upheaval that had occurred, the people still knelt devoutly outside the forest, worshipping the Rot Spirit Flower.

After some time passed, the rotting small animals all collapsed one after another.

In their place, a swarm of rotting insects began to stir back to life.

It seemed as if the Rot Spirit Flower had abandoned its parasitism of those creatures, turning instead to manipulate these insects.

But what was especially peculiar

was that these insects did not behave like the previous rotting animals—those mindless, sluggish, stiff walking corpses.

Their movements were extraordinarily sharp and agile, no different from when they were alive.

As the people watched closely, they soon discovered the mystery with astonishment.

These tiny insects, while still alive, could already be parasitized by the mycelium of the Rot Spirit Flower.

Once parasitized, the Rot Spirit Insects would enter a symbiotic relationship with the mycelium.

From life to a period after death, the insects could maintain their rotting state.

They could remain under the Rot Spirit Flower's control for several months, their movements still keen and nimble.

The larger the insect, the slower its movements became, and the shorter the duration it could sustain its rotting state.

Take, for example, the terrifying giant spider.

Once parasitized, it would usually fall into true death after about a month, unable to move again.

From this, the people deduced

that the Rot Spirit Flower found it easier to control large numbers of smaller creatures.

That was why the insects had been chosen as its new servants.

Now, the number of parasitized insects was growing.

From Giant Cockroaches to Flying Winged Insects, dragonflies and ants—

more and more insects were joining the ranks of this rotting army.

They initially displayed behavior similar to the rotting animals before them, but soon showed a difference.

A swarm of ants broke away from the rotting horde and began acting strangely before the people's eyes:

Sometimes they gathered at the feet of those on the sandy shore, crawling about aimlessly and inexplicably over the sand.

Faced with these servants of the divine envoy, the tribesmen naturally dared not step on them.

They could only watch cautiously and in confusion as the ants crawled back and forth across the ground.

But after observing for a long while, they still couldn't figure out what these ants were doing, stopping in front of them to scurry about.

However, after some days of observation, a few clever tribesmen soon noticed something.

"These ants are drawing pictures!"

"They're trying to convey some meaning to us."

The patterns formed by these dense, swarming ants on the ground were always fixed, with clear directional intent.

For example, when the people hunted with arrows, the ants would always gather into a triangle.

During sacrificial ceremonies, when the people held stone-tool duels, the ants would also assemble into the same shape.

They were pictures.

They were symbols.

In this era before the birth of writing, human communication, aside from spoken language, could only rely on primitive symbols.

Thus, the people of the tribe had an innate, sharp intuition for the meaning conveyed by crude drawings.

They quickly figured out what the triangular symbols the ants often built signified.

It seemed to represent the meaning of "weapon."

At that moment, the swarm of ants also began crawling into the cave.

They kept pausing on the mural depicting the sea monster, as if drawing people's attention to the painting.

People finally understood something.

Only then did they realize the true intention behind the god bestowing this flower.

It was a messenger conveying divine oracles.

The god was revealing to the people the crisis that might come in the future.

Richie gathered a group of elders to discuss this.

One elder, his face flushed with emotion, said:

"The god is revealing to us that, just like in the mural, the terrifying crab monster in the ocean might one day land on this island and bring disaster to the people."

The other elders also chimed in excitedly.

"That's right, Chief Richie. These ants are delivering a divine oracle. The tribe must take this seriously."

"Chief, the idea of having the craftsmen build boats to go out to sea should probably be put on hold. We have to use wood to make more weapons. Otherwise, if the sea monster invades, the consequences would be unthinkable."

"The tribe can't always rely on the merciful god's great protection. We must use our own hands and wisdom to resist them and protect our home."

Ever since they had truly witnessed that kind of terrifying monster last time, the elders' worries about the sea monster were by no means trivial.

And now, the divine oracle conveyed by the god's messenger further confirmed their fears.

The elders unanimously agreed.

Under the god's revelation, the first thing the tribe needed to do was to stop the idea of building ships and going to sea, set up corresponding defenses along the coast, and create weapons capable of resisting the sea monster.

Mona had been observing the Abigail Flower as it conveyed the divine oracle to the people.

After seeing this scene, he also withdrew his gaze.

He had to admit.

The speed at which the Abigail Flower learned and understood the things of this world truly exceeded his imagination.

At first, the Abigail Flower seemed unable to find its suitable "hands" and "eyes."

Thus, its learning was very slow.

But after parasitizing those insects, everything changed.

Those numerous insects had flown to almost every corner of the island.

It quickly used those humble creatures to learn about various things in the tribe and nature.

Now, although the intelligence of the Abigail Flower still lagged somewhat behind that of humans, its understanding of certain matters was no longer inferior to humans, and it would eventually grow into a sapient being no less than humans.

Mona checked the knowledge section of the Abigail Flower.

In just a few months, a new piece of knowledge had been added there.

However, this knowledge was clearly different from what humans possessed.

Such knowledge was obviously only available under the premise of the Rot Spirit Manipulation skill.

[Knowledge]: "Insect Manipulation lv1"

"Insect Manipulation lv1": The Abigail Flower understands the life structure and information of insects, thus excelling at controlling smaller insects. It can parasitize a large number of living insects, transforming them into rot spirits, and manipulate them within a certain range to do beneficial things for the tribe. However, when controlling some giant insects, there is still a slight instability in the control distance and flexibility.

Now, the Abigail Flower seemed to have specialized in insect manipulation.

Among all the rot spirits, it was particularly adept at controlling insects.

Of course, with its current weak power, it could only parasitize small-bodied creatures.