Paya's arrival brought a lot of changes. First of all, the hut was too crowded, so Sanchong planned to dig a basement to use as a storage room and studio, and the hut would be used simply as a bedroom.
This work is in charge of Nati and Simon. Paya plans to return to her home and bring her belongings with her.
During the days when the female insect was away, Nati remained excited. He found a cart outside, which was left by the worker insects who built the crossroads. Nati repaired it and used it to transport the excavated stones.
The structural sketch of the basement was drawn by Paya and Nati, who are very professional and the finished product should be very solid.
Simon took the initiative to undertake the task of excavating stones.
Nati brought him a metal pickaxe, and Simon carefully smashed the floor to reveal the base. The surface was covered with snail-shaped pebbles, which were very easy to clean. Nati carried the dug-out pebbles out and piled them near the cabin for future use, to be used to decorate the basement walls in the future.
Soon, Simon dug into the hard rock layer.
The construction progress suddenly slowed down, but fortunately Simon was tireless and patient, and he continued digging with great concentration.
After digging down to twice his own height, he began to drill holes in the walls of the tunnel to use as a jumping point.
Nati was at the entrance of the cave, hanging a basket down with a rope. Simon filled the basket and pulled the rope, and Nati carried the stones up slowly.
The construction process was long and tedious. Soon, Paya returned with most of the belongings, and with her help in moving the gravel, efficiency was increased.
During his constant labor, Simon felt the infinite potential of the insect's body. During the high-intensity labor, he felt that he was growing rapidly.
He dug a horizontal passage ten feet down, then to the side. His insect instincts gave Simon an accurate sense of direction and horizontality, and the passage he dug was perfectly accurate. The passage went a distance beyond the confines of the round house above, and Simon began to expand it, carving out a larger space.
After a long time, the basement was finally dug. The next step was decoration time. Nati put all his own bits and pieces, as well as some small gadgets brought by Paya, in a corner of the basement.
The underground area is more spacious than the one above. There are two entrances: one inside the round house and one behind it. Open the flap and follow the ladder to get down. As for ventilation holes, there are fourteen in total to ensure the air in the basement is fresh.
Paya and Nati completed the work in the basement.
At this time, Paya's extraordinaryness was revealed. She was a very knowledgeable technical geek who loved to study and had strong hands-on skills. She also knew more insect characters. In comparison, the diligent Nati was very unlearned.
Realizing that her lover was not as good as she had imagined, Paya was depressed for a while. Fortunately, Nati's delicate personality was very much to her liking, and Paya reluctantly accepted this flash love.
Originally, Paya's work scope was in the City of Tears, where there were many resurrected remains of sentinels. They were defending this once great city and would attack outsiders without hesitation. Therefore, Paya's job was difficult and she had to carefully avoid these patrolling sentinels.
Now, having come to the relatively peaceful Crossroads, Paya is also freed from work. She has enough time to develop her own little inventions. In her spare time, she also teaches Simon those uncommon insect characters.
Paya persuaded Nati to build a furnace near the roundhouse to smelt Geo and make objects.
Time passed quickly, and Simon's body grew large enough to begin wielding the smallest of the three bone nails. Although it was still too large for his size, there was no way around it; maintenance bugs were naturally small. Fortunately, this nail remained stable when wielded.
In the dream arena, the number of sub-consciousnesses has reached sixty-three. They are already elite fighters who can defend against attacking balls while fighting fiercely with each other.
For Simon, fighting has become like breathing, ingrained in his bones.
Unfortunately, he had no opponent now, so he could only swing the bone nails at the air.
He was practicing several commonly used sword moves, slashing, blocking, and stabbing, coordinating his steps, with ever-changing effects to adapt to the ever-changing battle situation.
Turning sword moves into instinct, swinging the sword without thinking, this is what makes a good swordsman.
Time slowly passed with the low whistling sound of the bone nails cutting through the air again and again.
At some point, Paya developed a set of grappling hooks that could be fired from a crossbow or worn on the hands, making them perfect for climbing walls.
Simon took the initiative to help her test the practicality of this equipment and began to wander around with the grappling hook.
Now Nati has relaxed his control over him a lot and allows him to travel alone, but he will always remind him to be careful and not to go to areas with dense insects easily.
Nati said that there is a Mother Gruz nearby and it is very dangerous, so don't get close.
Gruz is a fat, flying insect. The Mother of Gruz is even fatter than a ball. It relies on its ramming to stun or even kill its prey. This thick-skinned insect is not to be trifled with.
Simon despised this stupid, clumsy bug, but he still agreed to Nati's request.
He planned to look for the merchant who lived at the crossroads. Although reality and the game were very different, the game map was still of great reference value. The amulet merchant Saluba should be nearby.
After bidding farewell to the two Nati insects, Simon began his first solo trip.
Walk out of the continuous group of round houses and head towards the direction of moisture and humidity. That should be where the Blue Lake is, and the amulet merchant is near the Blue Lake.
Tired of walking, Simon spotted a few small reptiles on the road—a gray, common reptile and a white, tiktik with exceptional grasping abilities. He quickly ran over, nailed them to death with bone nails, and skewered them like barbecued meat. He slaughtered these weak, pathetic scavengers right there, and had a hearty meal.
Killing the insects did not give him any hesitation, as if there was a blood called cruelty flowing in his body.
The law of the jungle is the only real law in this world.
Paya's grappling hook is very useful, allowing Simon to expand his range of movement. He can jump onto many high platforms and get into many hidden places. It can be imagined that it must be very useful for escaping pursuit.
After a long and arduous journey, Simon finally heard faint laughter. This honest and joyful laughter brought back long-lost memories.
Simon's spirits lifted. He knew the amulet merchant was just ahead. He took a few quick steps and walked around a dilapidated ruin. There was a magnificent light shining on the platform in the distance.
The platform was very high and he couldn't jump up to it. Simon used the crossbow on his back to shoot out the grappling hook and grabbed the rope to reach the platform.
There is a large area of beautiful and exquisite houses here.
Many graceful and fat insects walked on the platform, welcoming Simon as a visitor.
It turns out they are the Merchant Bugs, a species of bugs with a very long history that once made Holy Nest prosperous but is now declining with it.
Listening to the eager greetings of the merchant bugs, Simon began to worry about how many of the 300 gigao he had brought with him could be kept.