When Abu returned, he was completely soaked, looking like a drowned rat from head to toe, as if he had magically slimmed down.
Mo Tiancheng released some ivy as a barrier to block the crazy ducks and entangle their webbed feet. Yue Zheng was ready, slightly crouching, prepared to charge out at any moment.
With a “bang,” an explosion echoed, just when neither Xu Song nor Yue Zheng had moved.
From behind the car, there came cheers from Mo Tiancheng, Mo Tianyou, and Mother Xu.
“Grandma is amazing!”
“It exploded, it exploded!”
“Ah, so this is what it feels like to fight monsters…” Mother Xu blew a sigh of relief at the gun barrel that had just fired. Her expression and action were so impressive that even Xiao Shu couldn’t compete.
Yue Zheng felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. The direction Mother Xu shot at… was the same direction he had been about to charge into just moments ago…
After receiving the rare fearful look from his beloved, Xu Song turned around and made a suggestion, “Mom…”
“Yes?” With one adult and two kids, plus a tree, all looked at Xu Song together. Their gazes and pressure were extraordinary.
“I mean, you have long-range abilities, while Brother Yue specializes in close combat… How about you handle the ducks in this direction? We’ll take care of the others.”
After Xu Song explained, Mother Xu somewhat understood his intention. She knew that she wasn’t as accustomed to coordinating with Xu Song and Yue Zheng, so she nodded and waved her hand, “Alright, let Mo Tiancheng and Mo Tianyou follow me. You guys be careful on your own, and if it’s dangerous, call me.”
Exhausted, Xu Song wiped his face and nodded silently. He shook off a cold sweat and returned to Yue Zheng’s side, saying, “Shall we go?”
Abu, Yue Zheng, and Xu Song were responsible for one direction. Mo Tiancheng controlled the evergreen vines, entangling the ducks’ legs, while Mother Xu shot them one by one, playing joyfully. She knew there was something in the ducks’ heads, so she aimed for their necks to avoid harming whatever was inside.
Since the ducks had water-based abilities, they could perform long-range group attacks. Therefore, Xiao Shu focused on defense this time, restoring its thick trunk to its original state. Its enormous canopy acted like a big umbrella, occasionally lowering to shield everyone and the RV from the water projectiles coming from all directions.
The ducks themselves didn’t have much combat experience. When encountering prey, they usually swarmed in and either sprayed water directly to kill it, or if the water didn’t work, they crowded around and twisted their prey’s necks with their beaks. Their combat tactics were chaotic and inefficient.
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.
Qtlif ojmlcu j asqlmji afjw bo Srqfg jylilalfr, atfs wluta tjnf yffc olcf, yea jujlcra j afjw ilxf We Vbcu’r, ktlmt mbeiv yf vfrmglyfv jr “jycbgwji” lc fnfgs rfcrf, atfs kfgf eaafgis vbbwfv.
Qlat tewjc reqqbga, Cye agjcrobgwfv ogbw j kfa jcv wlrfgjyif vbu lcab j olfgmf yfjra. Lf gbjgfv nlmlberis jcv kbeiv mtjguf lcab atf vemx oibmx ogbw alwf ab alwf, ylalcu klivis lc gfajiljalbc obg atf mbiifmalnf kjafg rqgjs jaajmx fjgilfg. Llr oeg kjr cbk rajlcfv klat ogfrt vemx yibbv, aegclcu tlr fcalgf yfluf mbja lcab j nlygjca rtjvf bo mglwrbc.
After a short while of jumping and pouncing within the duck horde, Abu suddenly stopped in his tracks and howled at the sky.
That howl strangely sounded like a wolf’s.
Following his roar, a pale blue light suddenly radiated from Abu’s body. Then, like a sharp blade, he rushed towards the ducks not too far away. And then… he charged right past them, plunging headfirst into the snow.
“Abu has an ability now! Abu has an ability!” Mo Tianyou clapped his hands with joy. He had the least to do in this battle since Abu had a strong sense of autonomous combat. Mo Tianyou only needed to instruct Abu not to rush into Mother Xu’s firing range, so he just stood on the side and enjoyed the show.
“An ability? Is it wind-based?” Xu Song paused controlling the fire dragon, then burst into laughter. At this moment, Abu had just gotten up from the ground, still dizzy from the speed of his earlier movements.
After stumbling and leaping around a few times, Abu finally mastered his wind-based ability. Wind could increase his speed and even release wind blades. However, the latter skill was too advanced for him to grasp at the moment, so he opted for speed enhancement.
The ducks’ abilities weren’t particularly advanced, just basic water-based powers. They could only maintain combat for about half an hour to an hour. Soon, the vast majority of the ducks became sitting ducks, capable only of using their beaks for attacks. Unfortunately for them, Abu had started to unleash his fury. Once he entered the duck swarm, the saying “a dog chasing ducks” couldn’t have been more fitting.
After sacrificing over half of their comrades one by one, the silly ducks finally realized the situation was dire. One of them led the way, quacking loudly, while they all turned and ran back. The rest followed suit, and in no time, they had all disappeared.
Feathers, duck blood, and duck meat were strewn across the ground.
Mother Xu had her hands on her hips, holding a pistol in each hand, giving off the vibe of a dual-wielding old lady. “Kids! Load all these ducks onto the car!”
Inside the vehicle, on the roof, and even hanging outside on a string, ducks were packed everywhere. They even used a crane to hang several ducks outside the shipping container.
Xu Song and his companions gathered the severed duck heads and placed them together inside the RV. Abu, following Mo Tianyou’s instructions, had gone to explore the direction the ducks had fled. It didn’t take long for him to return.
“Dad, Abu says there’s a big… lake over there, and many more of those ducks. Besides the ducks, there are some other animals that look quite similar.”
Presumably, they were all kinds of poultry, or maybe just various bird species.
In the middle of winter, the lake’s surface should be frozen, right? So what did they usually eat?
Thinking of the terrifying fish in the water, Xu Song shivered and looked at Yue Zheng. “Shall we go back?”
“Sure, I’ll drive, and you guys can collect the duck sacs.” Today was probably another day they would charge the crystals with energy. Almost every duck they had caught had an ability, so they had grabbed more than a hundred. It should be enough for quite some time.
Plus, with all this duck meat, they could avoid leaving the base for an extended period.
The car turned around, and the group joyfully headed back towards the base. Since they had already cleared the road on their way here, the return journey was much smoother.
However, the snowy terrain made it impossible for them to reach the base before nightfall.
They all sat around the dining table, and this time, Mother Xu dared not touch the sacs with the obvious shades of watery blue. She was afraid that another round of bad luck might befall her.
After recharging the crystals for all five of them and consuming 12.5 sacs, Xu Song and his group finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“These sacs should last us until next month. By then, we can pick a good day to come back for more,” Xu Song said.
Yue Zheng nodded and added, “There are still plenty of ducks here. We can return another time. As for that lake…”
“Let’s forget about the lake…” Xu Song was still sensitive to aquatic creatures, and his fire and Yue Zheng’s abilities didn’t work well against aquatic life. Of course, when it came to creatures that only sprayed water, it was a different story. His fire was powerful enough to evaporate the water halfway.
Yue Zheng smiled and said, “Okay, let’s skip the lake and focus on finding more abilities in the surrounding area.”
Mother Xu stood up, supporting herself with her legs. “If that lake is big enough, as long as no one else discovers it, we might not be able to clear out those animals in one go. Let me check how the duck heads turned out.” Since Tiancheng and Tianyou were too young to eat spicy food, Mother Xu had prepared the duck heads with a five-spice flavor.
Of course, she had only made a small portion of them. There were still many ducks with their heads attached inside the shipping container. They could prepare a big pot of spicy duck heads when they got back!
The tantalizing aroma wafted from the pot, eliciting cheers from everyone inside the car. They hadn’t tasted the roasted duck yet, but these duck heads could still satisfy their cravings.
When they returned to the base later, after picking some to exchange for points at the base, they realized that the backyard of their home was so spacious that they could easily set up a full roast duck meal!
Mother Xu served a few duck heads on the table and selected a few separately to let Abu air-dry them on the side.
Xu Song munched on a duck head while saying, “After animals acquire abilities, they seem harder to deal with. Tiancheng’s ivy can only act as a barrier now.”
“Currently, the plants are all buried under the snow. There’s no immediate solution; we’ll have to wait and see,” Yue Zheng expressed his concern. If the plant-based abilities couldn’t evolve along with the animals, the plant-based abilities might become somewhat redundant.
Suddenly, Xu Song’s eyes lit up, and he stopped eating. “What if we water the ivy with the liquid from these sacs while planting them? Or find a way to let the seeds soak in the sacs…”
Yue Zheng raised an eyebrow, “I remember that the sacs evaporate immediately when they rupture…”
“Tiancheng, bring over some ivy seeds!” Xu Song took out a bag containing the sacs and received the ivy seeds from Tiancheng. He stuffed some sacs into the bag.
“We’ve been acting foolishly! There’s no need to break these sacs. Maybe just placing the seeds and the sacs together can promote their evolution…”
“That’s true. Tiancheng, every few days, plant these seeds and then collect new ones. Keep them in this bag. Let’s see if we can cultivate mutant plants ourselves!”
Xu Song didn’t put too many sacs in the bag, leaving the main responsibility for combat plants to Mo Tiancheng. He only placed two seeds of each type in the bag. After all, they were just putting seeds and sacs together; maybe it would have some effect?
“In that case, should we also let Mom and Abu carry some sacs? Over time, it might also promote the evolution of their abilities,” Yue Zheng suddenly thought of this question.
They relied on the crystals they wore to absorb the energy from the sacs. Ordinary ability users evolved by absorbing the energy dissipated from the bodies of mutant beasts when they killed them. So, what if they found a middle ground and let Mother Xu and Abu the sac directly? It might be beneficial to them.
“Sure, I won’t break them. We can carry them with us. Shouldn’t be a problem.” Mother Xu nodded and, seeing Xu Song hesitate to speak further, rolled her eyes at him. “Silly child, last time was an accident. Do you really think your mom is clumsy? We can make a sturdy bag from leather and have Abu and I each carry one or two sacs.”
Now that she mentioned it, that might actually work.
Xu Song finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, reminding his mother, “Please, don’t break them…”
But unfortunately, his words were met with Mother Xu’s swift retribution, a playful smack on the head.
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🌳🦮🦔🦗🐝
…they literally need the plant abilities to feed, clothe, house, and create energy, how short sighted to declare it “redundant”.