Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 207 The Long Journey Finally Reaches the Fortress

After a month at sea, Aburame Shisei lay leisurely in a folding chair, toying with a metal badge he had taken from Dina.

During this month, he not only steadily controlled the ship's course, but also used parasitic insects to carefully examine the bodies of every Imperial person on board.

Without exception, these people had a strong aversion to pure chakra.

Compared to those primitive tribes, the physiques of the Imperials are even less compatible with chakra.

Even if you forcibly infuse them with chakra, transforming them into beings like summoning beasts or ninja beasts is far more difficult than taming wild animals.

But the Stone of Regel is quite different. The purer the bloodline of these Imperials, the more adaptable they are to this artificially created energy crystal.

That's right, the Regel Stone is not naturally formed, but a special crystal extracted and refined from the mineral vein.

This further convinced him that the legendary lost civilization once possessed technological power that was in no way inferior to ninjutsu.

At least in terms of energy utilization, they have forged a path completely different from that of the ninja world.

Days passed by.

During the day, Shiseido Yuujou sunbathes and immerses himself in research, while at night he takes turns steering the ship with Dina and a few other conscious crew members.

The rest of the soldiers were controlled by him with parasites and put into a semi-dormant state, thus conserving the limited food and fresh water on the ship.

He kept his word. Those strangely shaped insects were not only weapons but also food. These specially bred worms were rich in vitamins and minerals, enough to keep the crew from scurvy and malnutrition, though they didn't taste very good.

Two months later, one early morning, as dawn was breaking.

"grown ups."

Dina's voice came from behind.

At this moment, she was no longer as wooden and stiff as she had been at the beginning, and had clearly gradually accepted her current identity.

"There's something ahead..."

Aburame Shisei slowly opened his eyes and sat up from the folding chair.

At the horizon, a massive shadow was slowly moving.

That was definitely not land, at least not in the ordinary sense. Its outline was too regular, and its edges shimmered with a faint metallic sheen.

As the ship drew closer, the details of the shadow gradually became clear: it was an island, a giant island slowly drifting on the sea.

No, it's not an island.

Aburame Shisei narrowed his eyes. Along the coastline of this giant island, he could see neatly arranged metal structures, resembling docks or interfaces of some kind of giant machinery.

The island's surface is covered with soil and vegetation, but the growth patterns of those plants are too deliberate, clearly a disguise planted by humans.

"Finally found it." Aburame Shisei's lips curled into a slight smile.

It must be said that this was his longest voyage ever, and he was certain that the rewards at the end of the voyage would exceed his expectations.

Guided by some means, the giant ship slowly sailed toward this moving giant island.

As he got closer, Aburame Shisei saw it more clearly: the so-called coastline was actually a huge metal platform with neat grooves and buckles engraved on its edges.

Underwater, a massive metal elevator slowly rose, steadily supporting the bottom of the ship, the rumble of the machinery deep and steady.

The ship came to a stop, and several soldiers in uniform armor stood on the dock, their chests inlaid with pale purple crystals—the Regel Stones. Their eyes were wary, and their hands were on their weapons at their waists.

Dina took a deep breath and stepped down the gangway. Aburame Shicheng followed closely behind, wearing a large cloak that covered most of his face.

"Captain Dina?" A man who looked like an officer stepped forward, his brow furrowed. "Why is it only your ship that returned? Where are the others? Did you complete the mission?"

Dina calmly replied to the implanted instructions: "The mission went poorly. We failed to find the giant flower and suffered heavy losses in an attack by an unknown creature."

The officer's expression changed drastically: "Didn't find it? Lord Kai will never be satisfied."

"Lord Kai?" Dina's tone remained calm. "My mission is to report to His Majesty the King, not to Minister Kai."

The officer's eyes instantly turned cold: "Dina, which prince have you pledged allegiance to? Or... do you have no intention of returning at all?"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly drew his longsword from his waist. The Regel Stone embedded in the blade flashed, and a pale purple energy blade slashed horizontally!

Aburame Zhicheng didn't even move his feet, but slowly raised his hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

"Illusion Technique: The Technique of Seeing Naraku".

The officer froze in place.

The world in his eyes was distorted and collapsed, with countless poisonous insects surging out from the ground, covering his body, and crawling into his mouth and nose.

He screamed and struggled, but to outsiders, he just stood there, his eyes empty and lifeless.

Aburame Shisei walked slowly to him and asked in a low voice, "Tell me, what's the situation in the capital right now?"

The officer's lips trembled as he, under the influence of the illusion, revealed everything he knew:

It turns out that the old king declared himself seriously ill a month ago and has not made any public appearances since, with all power falling into the hands of his minister, Kai.

Under the guise of regent, Kai purged loyalists from the royal court, attempting to seize control of the royal guard and the distribution of the Regel Stone.

The five princes—the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh princes—all saw through Kai's ambition, but none of them stepped forward to stop him. Instead, they secretly accumulated strength, waiting for the old king to die so they could raise an army to seize the throne.

The old king had already secretly chosen his successor, the second prince Alphonse, because he was the one with the purest bloodline among all his offspring.

The eldest prince had died of illness many years ago, and although the remaining princes were resentful, they dared not openly rebel.

"So now, the capital city appears calm on the surface, but underneath it's already in complete chaos?" Aburame Shicheng muttered to himself.

The illusion dissipated, and the officer collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Seeing this, the other soldiers on the dock were about to draw their swords when Aburame Zhicheng simply flicked his finger, and they all fell to the ground unconscious.

These people do have merits in energy utilization and physical strength, but ordinary people are almost powerless against mental illusions.

"It seems this mobile fortress is more interesting than I expected."

He glanced at the metal structures disguised as hills and forests in the distance and smiled faintly: "Let's scout them out first. If there's nothing that can threaten me, then we can make our move."

He decided to conceal his whereabouts first, after all, this was once the site of a top civilization, and he was not sure if the island contained high-end, disposable weapons that could threaten him.

Dina led the remaining soldiers back to the camp as usual.

Aburame Shisei then transformed into a black shadow and silently slipped into the shadows of the capital.

At the same time, a large number of mimicry scout insects were released, perfectly blending into the environment and transmitting everything they saw and heard back to his senses.