Chapter 312: Premonition |
After hearing the translated answer from Pula, Qin Ziwen was about to ask why they didn't just form a cooperation agreement with a certain Shedding Abyss, having them come regularly to clean up the Dry-eyed Snakes.
But then he thought again: when a map currently contains a "residential complex," meaning a Shedding Abyss is present, other Shedding Abysses cannot enter that map.
And the Dry-eyed Snakes would only appear precisely when a Shedding Abyss descended.
This formed a deadlock.
Even if a cooperation agreement was reached, it would be useless.
Thinking of this, Qin Ziwen sighed inwardly. No wonder they entrusted the little fish-man to me.
If it stayed with the tribe, perhaps one day in the future, it too would become one of those "slimes."
The Fish-man Chieftain looked at Mogu, who was standing silently to the side.
Seeming to have guessed his identity, the chieftain stepped forward and extended his arm. This was a gesture of goodwill between male fish-men.
The Fish-man Chieftain asked something.
Mogu's eyes suddenly darkened, and he forcefully pushed the chieftain's arm away.
"Bang!"
The Fish-man Chieftain was sent flying backward, landing heavily in the silt.
The surrounding fish-men immediately rose to their feet, gathering around.
"Roar!" The Fish-man Chieftain let out a long roar, stopping the other fish-men.
He gave Mogu a somewhat regretful look, then turned and left.
Qin Ziwen looked at Pula. "What did they just say?"
Pula stole a glance at Mogu. Mogu remained expressionless, staring straight ahead.
Then Pula whispered, "Master, just now the Fish-man Chieftain wanted Mogu to... sprinkle some seeds within the fish-man tribe."
"Sprinkle...?"
A certain image surfaced in Qin Ziwen's mind.
It could have been other words, like 'leave,' 'sow,' or even 'pass on.'
But it had to be 'sprinkle.'
He thought of the scene of fish mating.
Mogu, who had been expressionless the whole time, gave a sudden shiver and took a few steps forward. "Master, I noticed his swimming posture in the water was incorrect. I'll go instruct him properly."
With that, he grabbed Cao Biansheng, who was standing nearby, and amidst Cao Biansheng's cries of surprise, hauled him off into the distance.
......
Not long after the Dry-eyed Snake died.
The sea surface, the island reef.
From the residential complex perched upon the island reef came waves of cheers.
"I just saw that level-three mission was completed!"
"Incredible!"
"This basically seals the deal. Our points are pretty much guaranteed victory now, right? Even if the other residential complex completes the other level-three mission, they won't surpass us in points."
"Absolutely. Besides this mission, almost all the other tasks during this period were completed by the Qin Alliance's Hunting Teams. Our point lead is massive."
Within the Qin Alliance, some residents who had come from the urban village to "work" lowered their heads, their expressions bleak.
Many among them had already silently accepted the reality that they, and others like them, might remain on this island forever.
One year, two years, ten years... a lifetime.
Not far away, Jia Liangcai gently stroked his long beard, observing the expressions on these people's faces. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Things obtained too easily are not easily cherished.
Only after they have experienced despair, and then the Master steps forward, can their loyalty be truly won.
Although the method is old-fashioned, if it works, it works.
Human nature has always been like this.
Furthermore, this opportunity allows us to see the true faces of some people and filter out some impurities.
"Teacher Luo, this is coconut tea they made with coconut meat. The coconut fragrance is really strong, it tastes like milk tea. Please try it." Zhou Xiaqing knocked on the slightly ajar wooden door on the third floor of the Teaching Building outside the residential complex, pushed it open, and gently placed the ceramic jar in her hands on the table.
Luo Gang picked up the ceramic jar, examining it carefully. The jar's shape was simple and rustic, the body slightly lopsided, yet the texture was exceptionally fine, the glaze color was good, and the surface had even been pinched to form a little pig's snout, giving it a rather playful, childlike charm.
"This jar looks quite new. Where did it come from?"
A smile blossomed on Zhou Xiaqing's face. "One of our classmates sold it. After he joined the Qin Alliance, he obtained a clay mine card. Then he had his girlfriend quit her job at the armor workshop and, together with some others, started a pottery workshop. I saw the price wasn't high, so I wanted to support a classmate."
"Not bad at all," Luo Gang said with feeling. "It's good to have something to do. A hundred flowers blooming together makes for spring."
He paused, then asked curiously, "Has Guild Leader Qin not gotten into pottery?"
"No. That guild leader mainly focuses only on things related to Advanced Buildings. Other things are basically contracted out or distributed to others," Zhou Xiaqing shook her head.
In reality, the largest "workshops" in the residential complex at present were the Yanwu Military Arsenal.
Followed by the Ghost Shipyard.
These two buildings basically provided jobs for over a thousand people. If you counted the upstream and downstream related industries, you could say every household was working for Guild Leader Qin.
If you added in the Martial Training Ground, the Celestial Star Arrow Gallery, and the recently very popular Hundred Schools Book Tower, the Qin Alliance was already inseparable from that guild leader.
Getting the answer from Zhou Xiaqing, Luo Gang thought for a moment. He was surprised to find he wasn't really shocked.
Back when he handed over the Student Council to Qin Ziwen, to avoid any suspicion of meddling, Luo Gang basically stayed in his room every day, sunbathing, reading books, never stepping foot outside.
He didn't lack for food either. After all, he was once the largest Home Master within the Student Council.
Just by relying on the buildings within his Home, collecting some handling fees or commission fees was enough for his daily food and drink.
"Ah, it's just that the island sun is a bit too harsh. It's even tanned my arms. I wonder what the next map will be."
[Esteemed Level-4 Authority Resident, you have obtained partial information regarding the next stage map.]
[Next Stage Map: Underground Cave]
[Next Stage Stay Duration: 90 days]
[Next Stage Supplemental Population: 702 people]
[Next Stage Type: Survival/Cooperation]
Qin Ziwen, currently at the fish-man tribe, received the prompt from his Home.
First, the next stage's map was an Underground Cave.
It sounded like a map where sunlight probably couldn't reach.
It might be perpetual darkness, with no distinction between day and night.
But gathering more trees to use as combustible material for lighting should be absolutely fine.
Second, the next map would continue to supplement the residential complex with new people.
This was troublesome. To be honest, Qin Ziwen would rather it be something like the urban village, which could be conquered and then absorbed, than have people directly integrated into the residential complex.
If they encountered a relatively simple group like the school students, that would be okay.
But if they ran into disgusting, perverted teammates like the kind from the Red Cauldron Tower...
They'd have to go through the effort of a major purge again.
A waste of energy.
Third, the next stage type, besides Survival, actually included Cooperation.
Given that the new people would most likely be directly fused into the residential complex as supplements, the 'Cooperation' probably didn't refer to them.
Qin Ziwen suspected that besides the supplemental newcomers, the next map would contain other residential complexes.
Judging by the mode, both sides would need to cooperate to survive.
So, the difficulty might not be small. He just didn't know the specific map background.
Hopefully, it would be a bit simpler.
Just as Qin Ziwen was pondering this, the fish-men not far away began to move. They worked together to lift the corpse of the Dry-eyed Snake and then, bit by bit, stuffed it into the Snake Puppet's mouth.
......