Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

From the skeleton and the traces in the hollow, Negris could infer what had happened.

This skeleton, alive, had been living in seclusion here with a baby. Unknown events had unfolded, leading to a sudden death. The baby had struggled to survive on its own, living off plants nurtured by the Power of the Dragon in the Soul Moss growing on nearby cliffs. This caused the child to become a dragon spirit.

With no one to instruct him, he didn’t learn to speak; he had no command of language. He didn’t seem to realize that the skeleton was dead. He warmly covered it with a precious blanket, claiming only a tiny spot for himself.

Life was harsh, but the kid survived by sheer struggle.

Upon hearing Negris’s speculation, Naeli’s maternal instincts overflowed: “Oh dear, that’s so pitiful, don’t be scared, don’t be scared, dragon mother will look after you now… come here, let dragon mother hug you.” She reached out to embrace the child.

But the dragon spirit child quickly dodged behind the Little Angel, watching vigilantly.

“Ah, don’t run away, I’m your dragon mother, come to me, you’re my dragon spirit, don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you,” Naeli assured him.

The dragon spirit child made no reply, just stared vigilantly at her. Naeli tried to go around and catch him, but he evaded her by moving around the Little Angel.

“Fine then, it seems my dragon spirit doesn’t acknowledge me,” Naeli sighed.

“That’s what you get for rejecting him when he was dirty. He remembers your rejection,” Negris gleefully laughed, then got a swipe across the face from Naeli.

Ange crooked his head, studying the skeleton for a while, then called it forth with a beckoning finger.

The blanket-covered skeleton rose abruptly.

The dragon spirit child’s eyes flashed with surprise and delight. He gibbered excitedly and rushed towards the skeleton. But he yelled a few times, and when he realized the skeleton didn’t respond, his mouth tightens, tears welled up in his eyes, ready to fall any second.

Negris flew to Ange and asked puzzledly, “Why did you animate it?”

“Residual consciousness,” Ange answered.

Negris flew over to inspect the skeleton, where he discovered existing residual data.

Residual consciousness refers to substantial thoughts of a soul remaining on the body or objects, such as the residual data on Steadfast Locke’s knucklebone, which was later interpreted by the Purple Skeleton Titan to construct the Teleportation Array connecting to the World’s Hub.

If the information from Steadfast Locke hadn’t existed, even if they had made the Teleportation Array, the Purple Skeleton Clan wouldn’t have been able to communicate with the World’s Hub.

In the same vein, this skeleton had similar residual information. If the skeleton had not belonged to Locke, a person with a strong soul, and yet residual information remained, it could only mean that the person held on to a very intense spirit of resistance before death – commonly known as being unable to rest in peace.

Ange, to interpret the residual information, didn’t need to bother as much as the Purple Skeleton Clan. By channeling a little Soul Energy to crystallize around the Residual Consciousness into the Soul Fire, he could then interpret the data through the Soul Fire.

“Child, take care.”

“The Magic Rice is nearly a success, I won’t accept defeat.”

“I am the most powerful Druid.”

“Oh, dragon poops really stink…”

Ange read the interpreted information, sentence by sentence. The last statement almost made Naeli burst.

“So it was a Druid. What’s Magic Rice? A new breed of rice he cultivated? Who’s ‘the child’? This child? Doesn’t he have a name? Is he not his kid?” Negris analyzed the information he interpreted while simultaneously searching. From the skeleton’s previous location, he found a wrapped package.

“A pack of rice seeds, farming guidelines, a Druid’s Secret Technique book, a robe, a few bits and pieces.”

“Show me the robe.” When Brooks saw the emblem on the robe, he urgently said.

As soon as he had a look, Brooks stated, “I know who he is. The Spring Breeze Druid, the most powerful human Druid. He went missing a few years ago, I can’t believe he died out here.”

“Last year, at the Druid competition named after him, the Spring Breeze Cup, a new breed of grain appeared that could produce over a thousand pounds per acre. Rumor has it that his sworn enemy had cultivated it, specifically taking it to the competition named after him to try coaxing him out. They had no idea he was dead,” Brooks added in disbelief.

“The most powerful human Druid? Is he very strong?” Negris asked.

Bruce thought for a bit and replied, “Around the level of Truth, I guess.”

As a Truth Mage, Bruce said he was close to the Truth level. There was no exaggeration in that statement. Negris was taken aback, “Truth Level? That’s very powerful, how did he die here?”

After asking, he quickly checked the skeleton. There was no damage to it. It was clear that it hadn’t died from any external injury.

“Perhaps he was too old? He was nearly five hundred years old. I don’t think there are records of humans living that long. He already held the record for the longest-lived human mage that I knew of.” For some unknown reason, there seemed to be a hint of relief in Brooks’ tone.

“If it truly is him, then this definitely isn’t his kid. He was five hundred years old, it would be very difficult for him to… have children,” Bruce added.