Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The safe house’s lock was not complicated. By lifting and pulling the bolt, the camouflage print metal door could be opened easily.
Monsters usually would not possess intelligence high enough to open the lock.
They went inside to find that there was another bolt behind the door. They would be able to lock the door from the inside.
The interior of the safe house was simple and crude, with only a few steel-framed beds lying around with a few layers of blankets placed on top. Other than the beds, there were some simple retractable partitions that could be pulled out to create a small cubicle within the room. This was probably there to accommodate males and females sharing the same safe house.
There were not that many beds in the safe house, which was an indication that the instructors did not want the students to flock together in large groups. That would defeat the purpose of this training.
Within the valley, less than five percent of the monsters were of elite tier, and there were no commander tier monsters either. As long as they were careful, with the cooperation of Da Zi and Lotus Seed, there should have been no monster that can pose a threat to them.
There was also a fixed amount of food placed on top of each bed. Each bed had five boxes of compressed biscuits and ten bottles of mineral water. With careful rationing, the food and water given could last a person for a week.
On Mu Tieying’s side of the room, the partition was brought down to reveal a fully armored figure. Even the head was covered with a protective helmet that included a metal and glass alloy to protect the eyes.
Mu Tieying looked like she was covered in a thick layer of tortoise shell.
She was surprised when she got out to see that Gao Peng had not changed into battle attire. “Are you not going to change? There are all sorts of mutant mosquitoes in the jungle. Although most mosquito species have now become huge in size, there are still some small mosquito species that are quite poisonous. Being bitten by them would feel terrible.”
“No need,” Gao Peng shook his head. He thought for a bit, and took out some dark green grass from his bag. This was Mosquito-Cleansing Ink Grass, which served as a strong mosquito repellent.
Gao Peng squeezed out a dull green liquid after breaking the grass to pieces and spread it all over his exposed skin as well as on his torso.
The leftover mashed bits of grass were not wasted. Gao Peng placed them in a small pouch which he could carry about on his body.
‘This will do. As long as we do not directly attack any mosquitoes, they shouldn’t come attack me first.”
Mu Tieying froze. She looked at the lightly dressed Gao Peng, and then at herself wearing all the thick armor.
Other than the Mosquito-Cleansing Ink Grass, Gao Peng’s most important defense was actually his contract with Da Zi.
Any mosquito biting his body would be akin to biting Da Zi’s body. With the level of poison of these mosquitoes, bites on Da Zi’s body would not even itch or hurt.
“Let’s take a look around the area first. If we can hunt down something, that would be the best. I don’t want to be eating compressed biscuits for a week,” said Gao Peng.
Mu Tieying nodded; she had no objections. She too did not wish to eat only biscuits for a whole week. Simply hiding in the safe house for the entire duration would be a waste of time anyway.
Leaving the safe house, Lotus Seed, being the largest of them, led the way.
After the recent period of training, Mu Tieying’s Lotus Seed had already reached level 14. Coupled with her perfect grade, she was practically a tyrant in this jungle.
In the valley, trees took up a lot of the vegetation cover, making it difficult for Lotus Seed to move about, so they moved at a slow pace.
After entering the jungle, the air became cooler. The leaves of the canopy seem to shred up the sun’s rays, leaving only specks of light that could be seen scattered on the jungle floor.
With every step they took, the layer of leaf litter on the ground let out a crisp rustling sound. The sound felt exceptionally loud in the quiet jungle.
The air was filled with the thick fragrance of flowers and vegetation, and carried a hint of the smell of decaying leaves.
Unlike what they expected, monsters were not running about everywhere. Probably because it was still daytime, or because all the monsters were in hiding and quietly observing them.
“Water, water,” Da Zi’s voice called out in Gao Peng’s head as its antennae started flailing about.
Gao Peng stopped walking and looked around him. All he could see around him was brown tree bark. After some communication with Da Zi, he finally understood what Da Zi meant. There was a strong scent of water coming from somewhere not far ahead of them. There should be something like a pond or a stream ahead.
If there is water, there would also be monsters going there to drink, which meant that it could be a possible “hunting ground.”
“Let’s go over and take a look first then,” said Gao Peng warily. The monsters here were either very intelligent or had plenty of survival experience, such that they were used to hiding themselves. Unless they were powerful enough to not fear anything else in the jungle, most monsters would not be walking out in the open.
“Wait,” said Gao Peng, stopping them in their tracks.
Mu Tieying turned to Gao Peng with a look of confusion.
Around five meters diagonally right to the front of Mu Tieying, there was a green and brown tree branch. Probably due to long years of being washed by the rain, the surface of the branch was covered in moss.
The branch swayed along with the wind as it blew.
“Have Lotus Seed ram into that tree branch, with as much power as possible,” said Gao Peng quickly in a low voice.
“Alright,” said Mu Tieying. She trusted Gao Peng and did not ask why. She immediately gave Lotus Seed the order.
Lotus Seed snorted in suspicion and made a tough noise questioning the order.
Nnnnn~
Then she slowly took a dozen steps back, and leaned forward with her head bent down. The sharp horn on her head was like long spear pointing straight ahead.
Suddenly, the rhinoceros made a noise as though there were a large engine inside her as she broke into a mad charge!
The flexing of her muscles was visible, stretching her thick layer of rhinoceros hide. A puff of white smoke came out of her nostrils.
Roar!
The Iron Rhinoceros charged wildly.
The speed kept increasing, making it like a tank bashing through the jungle. The branches in the way were smashed to pieces, and the grass on the ground was trampled into mulch.
The targeted branch trembled for a bit, then held itself back!
It can’t see me, can’t see me…
Then…
Bang!
The branch was blown right off the tree trunk. Like a piece of loose rope, it wrapped around the rhinoceros horn, and then got smashed against the subsequent few tree trunks in the way, bam, bam, bam –
Crash!
The sharp rhinoceros horn had wrapped the tree branch into a bundle, and then pierced its way into a tree trunk so thick that it would take two adults to hug it with their arms.
Lotus Seed took two steps back. A twisted tree branch that was distorted beyond recognition fell to the ground.
It twitched intermittently. There was a large hole near its center that leaked a constant flow of green blood.
“It’s not dead, but it’s going to draw its last breath soon,” said Gao Peng as it looked at the Green Tree Snake on the ground. Its status showed: Lethal injuries.
It was a pity, but the flesh of Green Tree Snakes could not be eaten. Gao Peng was a little disappointed. The flesh of this type of snake contained trace amounts of poison. Monsters could eat them, but humans could not.
It will serve well as an additional meal for Da Zi then.
As he got Da Zi to finish off the Green Tree Snake, Gao Peng suddenly thought of something. He had established a blood contract with Da Zi, so theoretically any harm that came to him could be transferred to Da Zi. Did that also mean that if he ate something poisonous, the poison would be transferred to Da Zi as well?
This ability was indeed a little OP. Gao Peng still could not understand how it actually worked. But one did not have to understand how cars are made in order to know how to drive a car.
Gao Peng looked at the Green Tree Snake carcass, and his eyes began to glow. Killing off the Green Tree Snake was only a small episode in their journey. The two humans and two monsters carried on ahead with their exploration.
They seemed to have caused a large disturbance, and did not encounter any other monsters along the way. Ahead of them was a spread of clear color, with the sunlight reflecting off the surface.
“Looks like a pond.”
They got a clearer look of the whole thing as they got closer. It was a large pond with a surface area that was easilly more than ten thousand square meters large. The pond was filled with running water, as there was no foul smell coming from the pond.
At the center of the pond was a large patch of lotus leaves.
Pooh! A loud clear sound came from next to Gao Pengs feet. A head the size of a watermelon popped out of the edge of the pond and spat a mouthful of saliva at Gao Peng.
Although it was saliva, it felt more like phlegm. It gave of a sickening foul smell as it landed on the legs of Gao Peng’s pants, drenching them.
Gao Peng looked over to find that it was actually a monster. Not all life forms counted as monsters. Some animals were simply too weak to meet the minimal requirements of being a monster, and were naturally not classified as such.
[Monster Name]: Green-Skinned Frog
[Monster Level]: 2
[Monster Grade]: Normal
[Monster’s Likes]: Spitting saliva at other animals
[Monster Weakness]: 1. Electric-type 2. Earth-type 3. Hates it when other animals spit saliva at it.
Gao Peng was speechless. This melon-skinned frog must have been crazy. It only liked spitting on other animals but hated it when other animals spit at it. Most importantly, what other animal would do something as pointless as spitting back in retaliation?!
