Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It turned out to be a flock of ostriches that were surprisingly loyal. Besides that, their low level meant they were only useful as food if sacrificed. Touched by their loyalty, Gao Peng decided to spare them.
“Gao Peng, Gao Peng, since you’re going to be the godfather of these Dragon Ants after their mother died, do they have a villain for a father now?” Silly remarked scornfully.
Gao Peng’s face darkened. “What rubbish! I’m not the one who killed their parents. They should find that Six-Armed Giant if they want revenge. We’re just transporters.”
“Oh, I see.” Silly slowly drifted away while trying to act like an adult. Unfortunately, a small pink jellyfish drifting in the air with its tentacles trailing behind looked too cartoonish. It was as if a three-year-old was trying to act mature, only to come off as goofy instead.
The Dragon Ants gathered together and looked at Gao Peng warily.
“Where are your parents?” Gao Peng asked in concern.
“Dunno,” one said
“They went out,” another added.
“You’re lying. They’re not out!” said one of the Dragon Ants as it smacked the one next to it. “Don’t tell the bad guy that our mom went out.”
“All right,” answered the remaining Dragon Ants in unison.
Gao Peng was speechless. “Kids, how old are you?”
The seven Dragon Ants just gave him blank stares, as if asking what he meant by such a question. They were quickly driven into a panic over this unknown term and began running around in circles.
“I mean, when were you born?” Gao Peng asked with a smile, as if he was a friendly old man. What a cute bunch of innocent little things.
The antennae on the little Dragon Ants swung back and forth as they began their little discussion.
“Ah, he’s asking for our age! Mom said that we should never tell that to any monsters, especially humans.”
“Should we tell him that we were born six months ago?”
“Don’t tell him. He’s a bad guy.”
“Yeah, he’s an absolute pervert.”
“I fell on my butt because of him. Let’s not tell him anything.”
It seemed like they were finally done with their discussion when they turned around and yelled in unison, “Not telling!”
Gao Peng kept quiet. It would be easy dealing with these kids. “Silly, come here.”
Silly flew over and said, “What?”
“Just looking for something.” Gao Peng shoved his hand into Silly’s internal space, looking for something.
He pulled out an aromatic, red, marble-sized meatball. It was made of nutritious essences of flesh and blood. Especially for a monster, it was a very nourishing food source.
The Dragon Ants were stunned when they saw the flesh and blood essence and kept their eyes fixed on Gao Peng’s fingertips. An audible gulp could be heard from one of them as they all tried not to drool.
“Anyone want some?” Gao Peng asked temptingly.
The Dragon Ants kept their eyes locked on the essence, but none of them said anything. After a while, one of the ants decided to step forward. “Let’s not be fooled. This human is definitely trying to trick us so that he can cook us up and eat us,” the ant declared with indignation.
“Big Brother is right.”
“Listen to Big Brother.”
“He’s the smartest, so he definitely won’t lie to us.”
The ant that had spoken walked up and gave Gao Peng a proud look. “I don’t want it.”
“That won’t do. I insist that you eat it,” Gao Peng urged.
The little Dragon Ant answered slyly, “If you insist.”
After eating the essence, the Dragon Ants began to lower their guard and open up to Gao Peng.
Gao Peng decided to give it a name. “You have big eyes and thick brows. I’ll call you Elder Baby, then.”
The little Dragon Ant paused for a moment before retorting in frustration, “I already have a name… My mom named me Yi Jin…”
“Your name is Elder Baby now!” said Goldie in a commanding tone. Not taking “no” for an answer, Goldie walked up to the ant.
The little Dragon Ant was stunned. It had never seen a duck bully an ant. It suddenly missed its mother. If its mom were still here, she would never have allowed a weirdo to bully them.
“But my name was…”
“No ‘buts!’” Goldie lifted the little Dragon Ant up like a little toy. “Kid, don’t tell me you don’t like this name?” Goldie said in a slow, suggestive tone.
The little Dragon Ant heard the thinly veiled threat from the duck and decided not to talk back anymore. “Whatever you say, then,” replied the little ant unwillingly.
“Yes, good boy,” said Goldie, satisfied. How can I be the only one with a mundane name like Goldie while you guys get cool names?
“Gao Peng, can I name our future comrades?” asked Goldie excitedly. It seemed to think this was a fun thing to do.
As expected, Gao Peng rejected its proposal. Looking at the dumb little duckling, Gao Peng suddenly felt a sense of guilt. He reminisced on how cute and innocent this yellow duckling had once been. What could have moved an innocent duck to this horrible state?
This suddenly reminded Gao Peng of that tall creature lost in movies and TV shows… This memory stirred a tinge of sadness into Gao Peng’s heart, “You can’t name any new comrades we find later. But you can name the remaining six Dragon Ants, appropriately.”
Goldie’s face lit up. “Thanks, boss.”
Moneymaker ran over and hugged Gao Peng’s legs. “Master, there’s still treasure inside,” Moneymaker said as it pointed at the Dragon Ant’s nest.
Gao Peng asked it to describe the grade of the treasure inside. Moneymaker scratched its head before saying, “About three that are super heart-throbbing.”
Moneymaker described the grade of treasure using a scale of “heart-throbbing,” which started from “heart-throbbing,” then “super heart-throbbing,” and finally, “super super heart-throbbing…” Its grading system was marked by the number of times it said “super.”
Usually, a “heart-throbbing” grade treasure was equal to Normal or Elite-tier monsters. And by that assumption, it didn’t seem like its taste had improved, but Moneymaker could hold more surprises now that it had leveled up. The three “super heart-throbbing” items were likely treasure or materials that could be used by King-tier monsters. Since the monsters under his possession could probably use it, Gao Peng brought a few monsters to collect the materials in the nest.
Gao Peng decided to leave the little Dragon Ants behind. It wasn’t exactly ethical to pick their home clean in front of them.
“Gao Peng, I’m done naming them,” said Goldie happily, the seven Dragon Ants following right behind it. The one trailing behind walked listlessly, its face filled with despair.
“This is Elder Baby, Second Baby, Third Baby… this is Sixth Baby, and Baldie.” Goldie felt happy. This little Dragon Ant will be called Baldie instead of me. I’m a genius! Sigh. I guess this is the pain of growing up. I never expected to become a cruel and unfeeling duck one day.
