A gulp echoed, the sound of swallowing saliva breaking the silence of the quiet camp, startling as a stone dropped into a lake. Instantly, the atmosphere among them grew heavy, visibly so.
After the dismal scream, the blue-furred zerg shut his mouth tightly, his face etched with terror. He clamped his mouth shut, muscles trembling involuntarily, eyes fixed ahead as if facing a monstrous flood.
Nanda, observant as ever, noticed the peculiar sight. The expression on Blue Fur’s face wasn’t directed at the Masked Zerg ahead; no, whatever filled him with such fear lay beyond, as if some horrifying entity lurked ahead.
This sudden realization sent a chill down Nanda’s spine. Following Blue Fur’s gaze, he found nothing—absolutely nothing. So, what exactly had caught Blue Fur’s attention?
Not a single zerg uttered a word; even their breaths seemed to fade.
With a subtle movement of his finger, Qi Yu made the spatial blades vanish before Blue Fur, leaving no trace of them. In that moment of their disappearance, the distorted space around Blue Fur slowly returned to normal. At the vanishing of the spatial blades, Blue Fur, sensing it, breathed a heavy sigh of relief, collapsing onto the ground.
None dared to speak among the zerg. If earlier was intimidation, this swift display of dominance instilled pure dread.
Tony exhaled slowly, closing his eyes briefly before reopening them with reverence.
“Sir, we shall heed your commands,” he spoke, displaying his intelligence. Seeing their repeated offenses go unpunished, Tony inferred that there must be some task requiring their assistance. As for whether they would survive after aiding, he couldn’t say, but remaining silent now would likely lead to their demise here.
The other two zergs bowed their heads, too afraid to speak further.
Though fear gripped Nanda’s heart, witnessing these zergs submit brought him some satisfaction—a sense of retribution fulfilled. Amidst these conflicting emotions, he found himself torn between joy and apprehension, perhaps experiencing both at once.
“Why not go find something to eat?” a hoarse voice echoed, not singling anyone out, but Nanda knew it was directed at him. Finally, the joy of retribution overcame his worries; he nodded calmly, “Alright.”
Nanda hurried off, and within moments returned from the tent carrying several chunks of obsidian. Placing them where he had stood moments ago, he then entered the tent in search of nutrient solutions.
Qi Yu observed the obsidian pieces on the ground, exactly as Nanda had described. There were four chunks in total: two the size of fists, one the size of a palm, and one as small as an infant zerg’s head. The obsidian Nanda had just found was instantly reduced to rubble by the smaller one. Seeing this, Qi Yu finally understood the vast difference between the thirty thousand credits and several hundred thousand credits mentioned earlier.
If obsidian could be this large, then what he had excavated earlier seemed insignificant. In that moment, Qi Yu set his sights on a new goal—go big or go home!
The three zergs, including Tony, observed the zerg with the black mask’s gaze fixed on the obsidian, unsure of his thoughts. Worried he might find their excavation inadequate and blame them, Tony spoke up, “Sir, the obsidian nearby has been mostly excavated. This is the largest type we can find here. The largest one fetches around three hundred and fifty thousand credits. To find larger ones, we’d have to delve deeper into the tunnels. The deeper we go, the larger they get. It’s said that when excavating tunnels, there were many obsidian chunks the size of adult zerg heads.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Snfc ijgufg bcfr?” Hl Te tjvc’a jcalmlqjafv atja byrlvljc atf rlhf bo lcojca hfgu tfjvr mbeiv ofamt remt j tlut qglmf. Dea lo tf mbeiv olcv fnfc ijgufg bcfr, atfc…
Pa kbeivc’a ajxf wjcs—pera akfcas bg atlgas. Ktfc, obg atf cfza tecvgfv sfjgr, tf kbeivc’a tjnf ab kbgx. Yc atf mbcagjgs, tf mbeiv ilnf delaf mbwobgajyis.
Zerg prices weren’t high because of advanced technology; many things could be mass-produced, keeping costs absurdly low, whether in technology or agriculture. The only expensive items were those required by male zergs.
Items required by male zergs…
Qi Yu’s previously lifted lips froze.
Male zerg nutrient solution, male zerg pheromone suppressant, male zerg…
Damn it, why was he an S-class?
Qi Yu felt a bit frantic. He had never wished for a lower rank until now.
He remembered studying pheromone suppressants while researching the previous owner’s family. Grade C pheromone suppressants cost 200 credits per vial. Currently, he was using Grade C, unsure of how long it would last. But to maintain pheromone suppression for half a month without leaks, only S-grade would suffice…
Qi Yu wasn’t sure about the price of S-grade pheromone suppressants, but they must be several times, even dozens of times more expensive than Grade C. Additionally, he now needed to rent or buy a house to ensure he wasn’t disturbed. If he wanted to avoid harassment, he would have to live in the male zerg zone, adding to his expenses.
Moreover, if he wanted to take it easy and play games, he needed equipment. He heard that a new zerg game console was released recently, with even the lowest-tier one costing 100,000 credits.
Facing the prospect of massive future expenses without having earned any credits yet, Qi Yu couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.
Why couldn’t he just be an E-class male zerg? E-class didn’t come with such hefty expenses. But now… there was nothing he could do.
Troublesome!
The masked zerg in front remained motionless after speaking, his aura even lower, unsettling Tony and the others. They couldn’t grasp the personality of the zerg before them and could only remain silent, afraid to speak up.
Just then, Nanda returned after finishing his nutrient solution.
At first glance, he noticed Qi Yu holding a torch. Although there were some lighting tools in the area, many were damaged during the recent altercation, leaving few sources of light. The brightest among them was the torch held by his benefactor.
Nanda walked toward his benefactor, but as he took the first step, he saw Blue Fur still kneeling motionless in front of him.
Nanda’s arrival also caught Tony and the others’ attention. Compared to the masked zerg with an unknown personality, Tony preferred to interact with Nanda, the zerg who had betrayed him. But the current atmosphere made it difficult for him to speak up; he could only watch as Nanda approached the masked zerg.
“Benevolent zerg, his injuries need treatment,” Nanda said, glancing at Blue Fur with no hint of emotion in his voice.
Seeing Blue Fur still bleeding despite the illumination from the fire-based ability, Qi Yu fell silent for a moment. Why was this zerg still here?
“Do we have medicine?” he asked casually.
Nanda nodded. “I checked around earlier, and the equipment here is quite comprehensive. Benevolent zerg, do you still have that fire?”
Constantly guarding against him clearly wasn’t wise. Just now, Nanda had thought a lot, and the most important thing was his benefactor. Since his benefactor had already agreed to help, he would leave everything to him for the next five days. His benefactor wasn’t familiar with the situation here, and his methods of handling things weren’t very mature, indicating he wasn’t very old. So, Nanda also needed to help pay attention to some things.
Moreover, these zergs still bore a grudge against him. It was said that a good zerg wouldn’t take advantage of others’ misfortune. Finding a way to keep these zergs from escaping was the best option for Nanda. He didn’t want to reminisce with these guys who had betrayed him. Not killing these zergs was just because his benefactor needed zerg hands.
“Yes,” Qi Yu replied, realizing what Nanda intended to do upon arriving on Black Obsidian Star in less than a day and losing his rank. Hearing this, he knew what Nanda wanted to do. “It’s enough for these few days.”
“Good.”
A smile appeared on Nanda’s face. “I’ll go get what we need.”
With that, he glanced at Blue Fur. “Dong An, come with me.”
Blue Fur, lying on the ground, feeling his blood draining away and too afraid to move, hastily got up upon hearing this.
Nanda acted swiftly, leading Dong An out of the tent and bringing out everything they needed. Then, he took out sets of warm clothing and heating tools, lighting them up. In no time, apart from the fire held by Qi Yu, a dazzling spark ignited within the camp once again.
Tony and the others watched this scene in silence, gritting their teeth but too afraid to make a move. They could feel a gaze upon them—not cold, but rather indifferent, as if just casually glancing over. Yet, these casual glances instilled deep fear within them.
It was a genuine fear, as if they were being targeted by some powerful creature. They could even imagine that if they dared to move in such a situation, maybe… no, certainly, Dong An’s fate just now would be their own, or perhaps even worse.
Even though their hearts bled, they could only watch as the items meant for warmth were burned to ashes.
Qi Yu bent down, picked up two tent poles, and gently touched one end of each with his torch. Then, with a single thought, flames erupted from both poles almost instantly.
After lighting the torch, Qi Yu handed it to Nanda, who walked up to Tony and handed him one.
As their bodies, now devoid of warmth, came into contact with the heat, the zergs trembled slightly, momentarily surprised.
Qi Yu spoke in his hoarse voice, “The torches have trackers inside them. I’ll know wherever you go.”
“I need obsidian. If you do well, you can leave early. If not, there will be consequences. If you have any questions, ask Nanda, and he will relay them to me.”
“What about you?” Nanda detected the meaning behind Qi Yu’s words and couldn’t help but be astonished. “Are you leaving?”
Qi Yu nodded. Although his mental power was not as strong as an esper’s, it was enough to scan the surroundings. They were currently on the edge of the inner circle, closer to the central area than where they had just left. This indicated that they still had another, maybe even several hours of travel ahead of them.
Moreover… Qi Yu looked at the tools on the ground. Most of them were not lightweight, which would also delay their journey. It wasn’t that he trusted these zergs; he just needed to return once. Although Roly-Poly didn’t have much intelligence, according to the program’s settings, it would still worry about his safety.
Also, he needed to make a trip to the trading point. Male zerg pheromone suppressants had to be prioritized. Otherwise, if he fell off his horse, he would be at great risk. In this world, there were no S-class male zergs. If an S-class emerged, it was easy to imagine how many zergs would be eyeing that cake.
Especially after being paired with Mo Yan, it would be hard for anyone with a bit of intelligence not to suspect him if an S-class appeared.
“I’ll catch up with you in an hour or two.”
With that, he cast a warning glance at Tony and the others, then looked at Nanda. “Nanda, come with me.”
———
Next Update: 16th April (Tuesday) ♥
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