QQ Farm

Next, wearing a gas mask, Luo Yu set off on foot toward the Ancient Grotto. He carried the uncapped bottle of Fermentation Master rock sheep milk in his hand like a cup of milk tea, letting its stench billow outward with wild abandon. Along the path, every wild mutated beast—whether ferocious and savage or timid and terrified of humans—collapsed and rolled on the ground in total agony the moment the breeze brought that scent to their noses. Terror, rage, disgust, delight... A kaleidoscope of intense emotions fed Bee Empress to her heart's content. Once she finished gorging herself, she even began offering critiques on the flavor of each emotional energy. Ordinary. By comparison, Yuwan's emotional fluctuations tasted far better, while that old man's emotional waves could easily be rated top grade. As for Luo Yu's emotional power, it had a singular, unique texture. "Why is there even 'delight'?" Luo Yu wondered. He scanned the area and discovered a mutated dung beetle swooning in ecstasy amid the grass. Though Shui Wuyue hadn't explicitly mentioned it, Luo Yu could now reasonably deduce that the stronger the source of the emotion, the more nutritious the resulting emotional energy was, and the richer and mellower its flavor. Director Yu Lei, for instance, was a King-rank Beast Master, so his violent emotional upheavals were vastly more delectable than those of these level 1 and 2 wild mutated beasts, comfortably surpassing Yuwan's output as well. As for Luo Yu, even though he was merely an apprentice novice, his role as Bee Empress's contractor made him a rather special entity—he had a taste like "home cooking." "Going by that logic, I should deal with powerful Beast Masters and mutated beasts far more often in the future." If he ever had the chance to trigger massive emotional swings in the Jingyue Giant Croc, Bee Empress would probably burst from overeating. "Level 2 already?" Halfway along the road, sensing that Bee Empress's soul fluctuations had expanded by a noticeable margin, Luo Yu gasped in surprise. Fantastic! Ghost pet beasts were just too convenient. Whoever said raising ghost pet beasts was complicated? It felt far easier than raising July! Their food didn't cost a single cent! Well... They just attracted enmity a bit too easily... Luo Yu tilted his head, dodging a wind blade launched at him by a wild mutated beast. He glanced over and found a Raindrop Butterfly. [Species]: Raindrop Butterfly [Attribute]: Water [Species Rank]: Lower Common Species [Life Level]: Level 1 [Species Ability]: Growth Fluid [Individual Talent]: Wind Element Affinity (Advanced talent; possesses the aptitude to comprehend and master wind-system abilities.) "Cosplaying as a Gale Butterfly over here, are we?" Luo Yu hadn't expected to bump into a wild prodigy! However, unless it involved rare attributes like space, an advanced elemental talent like this no longer caught Luo Yu's eye. On the contrary... the Raindrop Butterfly's species ability was exceptionally good. A Raindrop Butterfly was a Lower Common Species of the Water system, and its species ability, Growth Fluid, could accelerate plant growth. Another creature with the exact same ability was the Green Water Turtle, one of Jingyue Island's three lower-tier starter species. Its ability was also Growth Fluid, speeding up the growth rate of vegetation. The Green Water Turtle could be called the pet beast most commonly contracted by farmers on Jingyue Island, as it allowed their crops to ripen faster and better. As for why they didn't use Raindrop Butterflies, it was because level 1 Raindrop Butterflies had far too short a lifespan compared to long-lived turtles. Although raising their life level would extend their lifespan, farmers obviously lacked the resources to cultivate a Raindrop Butterfly's level. "Accelerating plant growth, huh..." The corners of Luo Yu's mouth curved slightly. Now that he had his QQ Ranch, how could he go without a QQ Farm? A mutated beast like the Raindrop Butterfly was simply tailor-made to be a farm employee. A short lifespan didn't matter—Bee Empress could bolster its vitality! Since both Green Water Turtles and Raindrop Butterflies were mutated beasts, they were bound to have different individual talents. Perhaps he could even track down an advanced talent with miraculous effects for farming. Moreover, Raindrop Butterflies were extraordinarily common, an indispensable part of every island's ecosystem, numbering even more than Honey-Water Bees. Excellent. The Raindrop Butterfly race was hereby granted permission to become the Empress's first auxiliary unit, serving as logistical gardeners to care for the Honey-Water Bees' flowers and plants. "Still, now isn't the time to pull you folks on board." Luo Yu waved his hand and moved on. He was fairly busy at the moment; the ranch wasn't even set up yet, so farm matters would have to wait for later. * * * The Ancient Grotto. "Luo Yu's back," Granny Crossbreeding Bai Dong called out upon spotting him. A second later, however, the elderly woman's brow furrowed tightly. She pinched her nose and eyed Luo Yu with deep suspicion. By this point, Luo Yu had already screwed the cap back onto the rock sheep milk bottle, but a certain amount of the stench inevitably clung to his body. "Did you fall into a cesspool?" "No..." Luo Yu chuckled dryly. "It's the smell of rock sheep milk." He pulled out the milk bottle and explained, "While I was sorting it out earlier, some of it accidentally splashed onto me..." "..." Bai Dong fell silent. Rock sheep milk was *this* foul? "Luo Yu's here?" Hearing the commotion, the others came hurrying over. Before they could even ask how his trip to Qianyan Island had gone, their noses wrinkled in unison. Luo Yu offered another sheepish chuckle and repeated his explanation, dreading that everyone might assume he had taken a dive into a latrine. "Is this really what normal sheep milk smells like, though? It must have spoiled and expired..." researcher Chen Zhuo remarked. He had originally wanted to ask for news about his son, Chen Bo, but now all he wanted was to bolt outside the cave for some fresh air. "It has spoiled, but it's still drinkable!" "By the way, seniors, the rock sheep are temporarily being kept at my place for now. They should be on their way to the institute as we speak." "Splendid, splendid..." Seeing how vile the rock sheep milk smelled, and hearing that Luo Yu was willing to tend the rock sheep himself, several researchers voiced their wholehearted support. Luo Yu immediately pressed on, "Right, Senior Bai Dong, has that batch of Hearts of Rock purchased from Qianyan Island arrived yet?" "It just got delivered; we haven't had time to start experiments." Bai Dong glanced in a certain direction. Luo Yu smiled faintly. "Then why don't you let me go first? I'd like to test Ground Penguin + Heart of Rock + Evolution Stone." "Go ahead," Bai Dong chuckled. "We might as well come watch." Shortly after, the group arrived at the cavern where the Ground Penguins were being kept. In just a few days, Jingyue Island had captured nine Ground Penguins! All nine were housed inside specialized steel habitat enclosures to keep them from burrowing away and escaping. "Nine of them, all level 1." Reaching the inner cavern, Luo Yu scanned the data of the Ground Penguins in the enclosure. One could only imagine how starved of food and resources these underground dwellers had been. Eight adults, one juvenile, huh... They all looked remarkably similar to July. Even though eight of them were no longer chicks, they still retained the appearance of Emperor penguin chicks; it seemed this entire species looked like that from birth to adulthood. "And their talents..." Luo Yu scrutinized the Ground Penguins' talents, his eyes narrowing slightly. Nine common talents? Not a single advanced one... They were Dragon Blood, Agile, Thick Hide, Master Builder, Focused, Bold, Cold Resistant, Hydrophilic, and Heavyweight... Among them, Dragon Blood, Master Builder, and Heavyweight were quite rare. Dragon Blood belonged to the sole juvenile Ground Penguin, likely another case of being influenced by the earth veins. Its luck, however, was worlds apart from July's—one had gained a top-tier talent, while the other had only ended up with a common one. Master Builder was fairly interesting, too... As for Heavyweight, it gave the individual a far bulkier body weight than normal. Luo Yu slid open the habitat enclosure and plucked out the one with the Thick Hide talent. "Wuji, wuji!" It flailed in frantic struggle. Yet how could the strength of a mere level 1 Ground Penguin compete against a super Earthling bolstered by the power of a hundred bees? "I'm giving you a stroke of great fortune," Luo Yu said gently. Because of July, he extended his affection to the rest of the species and treated Ground Penguins with immense kindness. With that, he first hung a Heart of Rock around the penguin's neck, then guided it before the Ancient Evolution Stone. Holding its little flipper, he pressed it against the stone... making contact. He wanted to see whether this alone would be enough to trigger evolution. If its Rock-element affinity wasn't high enough, he would go ahead and feed it the fermented sheep milk. Fortunately for this penguin, it was spared from enduring the putrid rock sheep milk for now. The very next instant, an ancient light washed over the little penguin's entire body. "It's evolving, it's evolving! The Hearts of Rock from Qianyan Island actually work!"