"..."
Chen Fan's lips twitched. He took a deep breath, massaged his forehead, and fell into a long silence before rasping, "Nobody sleeps tonight. I'll open the gate. You all go bring back the Eerie Eerie Creature corpses. We'll be roasting meat all night!"
"Understood."
A section of the city wall that was away from the crocodile slowly retracted into the ground. Crippled Monkey and the others pulled a cart along, cautiously inching toward the cliff base while keeping a wary eye on the crocodile.
Chen Fan, standing atop the city wall, held the dim green lantern in his hand. If the crocodile suddenly attacked, he would deliver a fatal blow.
However...
The crocodile showed no intention to attack at all. Instead, it lay quietly and obediently under the city wall, patiently waiting with its mouth open the whole time.
"Not even tired, huh."
Chen Fan rubbed his jaw. The creature's mouth had been open for so long that just looking at it made his own jaw feel a bit sore. Then he looked down at the crocodile lying under the wall and said with a serious, encouraging tone.
"If you want to get a nice meal in the future, you have to bring ingredients for it, just like today."
"But meat would shrink when barbecued."
"Even though there are hundreds of Eerie Creature corpses here, they won't amount to much after barbecuing. You know that, right?"
The crocodile slapped its tail on the ground with an increasingly rapid rhythm. Its huge pupils were full of happiness and anticipation.
...
Dawn broke.
Zhou Mo, sporting dark circles under his eyes, wobbled on the city wall, looking ready to topple over at any moment. He watched as the crocodile finally left, though looking back every three steps, and said in a trembling voice, "Station Master..."
"It ate 127 Eerie Creature corpses in one night..."
"And it only seemed barely full."
"..."
Wordless, Chen Fan watched the crocodile's retreating figure. Its belly was distended, looking as if it had eaten a bit too much, and it was crawling much more slowly. After a long pause, he said softly, "Alright, everyone, go get some sleep."
Originally, they had been about to get a good night's sleep after the housewarming banquet.
But they had worked a full night.
To be honest.
There was no culinary skill to speak of.
At first, they had used seasonings, but when the salt ran low later, they just roasted the meat without any seasoning. Even so, the crocodile ate with great relish.
Humans couldn't eat Eerie Creatures; that would kill them.
Only this guy could devour them free from worries.
After Crippled Monkey and the others all returned to the stone houses to sleep.
Chen Fan began to take stock of the camp's resources.
They had obtained over six hundred Eerie Stones last night. Combined with what was left after building the Level 3 city wall, the camp now had 4,755 Eerie Stones. Roasting meat was a time-consuming task. Without sufficient manpower, they had managed to roast 127 corpses after working a full night.
The remaining Eerie Creature corpses were collected to serve as fertilizer and for offering to the "Sacrificial Tower."
"Not bad."
Chen Fan looked at the two Extraordinary Treasures in his hand and suddenly smiled. It would be great if this guy, whenever it came for a meal, could bring its own ingredients like today. He'd be happy to charge a processing fee.
But this also served as a reminder.
The manpower in the camp was already critically short. After the rainy season, they had to recruit some people as soon as possible. Otherwise, many tasks couldn't be handled simultaneously. For example, Zhou Mo hadn't been to those breached stations to scavenge resources for several days.
—
Extraordinary Treasure Name: Sky-awakening Squib.
Extraordinary Treasure Grade: White.
Extraordinary Treasure Effect: A one-time-use Extraordinary Treasure. Once activated, it can dispel darkness in a large area for ten seconds.
—
This was one of the two Extraordinary Treasures.
Equivalent to a flare.
Its value was hard to estimate. If he had to spend Eerie Stones to buy it, he was willing to pay 100 stones for one. Sometimes, clearly knowing what circumstances you're in is quite important—at least you'd die understanding why.
The other Extraordinary Treasure was...
—
Extraordinary Treasure Name: Sunflower Seed.
Extraordinary Treasure Grade: Green.
Extraordinary Treasure Effect: Must be planted in a 'Level 2 Farmland.' Maturation cycle is 7 days. After maturing, consuming it bolsters one's cultivation.
Planting Conditions: An emotion-based plant. The more praise and encouragement it hears during the growth period, the higher the yield and better the quality after maturation.
—
Pills that directly boost cultivation. Good stuff.
The seed was wrapped in a transparent film.
He would give it to Qi Chong after he woke up.
After handling these matters, Chen Fan looked toward the canyon directly opposite the city wall. He planned to build a city wall at the entrance of the pit next. The pit was a natural stronghold, located at the bottom of a cliff.
Rarely could any Eerie Creature raid the pit by jumping down the cliff. As long as they didn't encounter the batch of Eerie Creatures laying waste to Dayu's village, there wouldn't be much trouble. The only entry would be this canyon.
He intended to set up defenses at the entrance of the pit.
But he'd go about the business after waking up. He needed to sleep now; he was too tired...
Just then—
Faint rumblings came from the canyon. The crocodile had actually come back! Its previously distended belly seemed to have flattened somewhat. It ran back to its old spot under the city wall, opened its mouth, and began waiting. A glimmer of expectation flickered in its pupils.
"..."
Chen Fan stood expressionlessly on the city wall, silent for a moment before rasping, "Did you make yourself throw up?"
But soon, he noticed the crocodile holding something in its mouth... It looked like a strangely shaped stone.
Somewhat like a starfish.
But much larger than a starfish, most parts emerald green, rather pretty.
He began to understand vaguely and ventured, "Is this your toy? You want to give it to me?"
It was hard to tell whether the crocodile understood or not.
It just used its tongue to push the starfish-shaped stone out, then backed up a few steps, bobbing its flat head up and down, as if expecting Chen Fan to take the stone.
Seeing Chen Fan make no move for a long time, it came up again, swallowed the stone, then ran to the cliff face on one side. It used its front claws to scratch frantically at the wall, soon digging out a pit. Then it kept signaling toward the canyon with its head.
It turned its back to Chen Fan, constantly swinging its tail.
"..."
Chen Fan watched this scene with a slightly odd expression. Now he had understood that this guy had come specifically to thank him and had brought its favorite toy as a gift.
But perhaps sensing that he didn't like it, it now wanted to take him back to its "lair" to let him pick a toy himself.
This scene touched him somewhat.
In fact, he didn't mind establishing a cooperative relationship with this crocodile. After all, he could gain Extraordinary Treasures and Eerie Stones. But this crocodile clearly wasn't aware of this cooperative relationship. Its only notion was that it had eaten delicious food all last night; it wanted to give its best possession to a friend as a token of friendship.
"This guy..."
He couldn't help but laugh, his gaze falling on the pit the crocodile had dug in the cliff face.
The mountain body was extremely hard.
Even with a Level 5 Cannon Tower, it would take him a long time to blast a pit in it. But this crocodile could quickly scoop out a pit with its claws.