Accompanying piercing whistles through the air, dark red tentacles pierced through the Crawler's body like lightning.
Its gaping maw, dripping with black blood, let out an exhausted, frenzied roar as it struggled to break free from the tentacles' restraint. Soon, however, another tentacle shot forth, skewering its forehead.
Black blood splattered.
That forehead, tough enough to jam a 7mm bullet, was punctured clean through by this seemingly soft tentacle.
Luo Yu stared dumbfounded at Yu, who was drenched in black blood, and at the Crawler that had been poked into a showerhead by its tentacles. His gaze gradually shifted from shock and delight to fiery excitement.
This fighting style was a bit grotesque, to say the least.
Not that it mattered!
Being awesome was all that counted!
"Hahaha! My boy! You've finally grown up!" Overjoyed, Luo Yu stepped forward and reached out to pat Yu's head.
Touched on the forehead by someone of close bloodline, Yu let out a cute "ee-woo" sound and rubbed against his hand.
It looked just like an affectionate, spoiled cat.
That slick, slimy texture actually felt a bit like a hairless cat.
Although Luo Yu hadn't quite been able to accept the avant-garde appearance of this "SSSR-rank divine pet" at first, he had gotten used to it over time.
Solo-killing a Crawler with its bare hands!
It was already insanely strong, alright!
Next time, they could try a Tyrant!
Just as Luo Yu was rejoicing over having found the secret to parenting, Yu had already pounced beside the Crawler it had just slain and began feasting ravenously.
And before this, it had already eaten a full three of them!
"This fellow's appetite seems to have grown again."
He remembered that initially, two Crawlers were enough to fill its belly.
Now, it had to eat four or five a day.
Luo Yu stroked his chin with interest, pulled out a notebook, flipped back a few pages, and jotted this clue down.
[Day 11: Appetite has doubled; no noticeable change in body size.]
And right then, he suddenly made an even more astonishing discovery.
On the surface of the skirt-like scarlet mycelial mass of Yu's lower body, patches of grayish-brown hardened cuticle had grown at some unseen moment.
The largest was about half the size of a palm, while the smallest was only thumb-sized, resembling a knight's armor.
Since the area where the cuticle grew wasn't very large, one wouldn't even notice it without looking closely.
Luo Yu curiously reached out and touched it, then tested it with his dagger, lightly slicing against it.
Preoccupied with gorging itself, Yu had no reaction whatsoever, clearly feeling no pain. And no matter how hard he pressed, not a single scratch was left on the surface of that cuticle.
Feeling the strength of this "organic armor," a look of pleasant surprise quickly surfaced in Luo Yu's eyes, and he excitedly recorded this discovery in his notebook.
[Day 11: Grew organic armor! Armor surface area suspected to increase continuously with development!]
Closing the notebook in his hand, Luo Yu looked at Yu with eyes resembling those of a gratified, proud father.
"Yu... grow up fast!"
"My rise to a T0 powerhouse relies entirely on you!"
...
Floor B4 reading room.
A certain someone also had an old father's smile on his face.
However, it wasn't because of Yu's changes, but because of the books organized by the Merchant Guild.
With the help of that little princess from the Honey Badger Kingdom, the Merchant Guild's recent book-sorting work had noticeably sped up.
These books written during the Era of Prosperity and even earlier eras not only provided considerable help to his work, but were also of great assistance to other Alliance administrators.
As the Alliance grew larger and larger, the issues needing consideration multiplied exponentially. Although many things could be brushed off in a single sentence, the specific process of solving a problem was difficult to describe in full detail even with the length of an entire book.
The contents of these books on the shelves were the predecessors' experience regarding "what specifically to do," as well as what situations might arise afterward.
Though the curtain had fallen on the Era of Prosperity,
wealth more precious than gold like this shouldn't be buried forever.
Standing beside the bookshelf and browsing through the books just delivered by the Merchant Guild, Chu Guang suddenly found a sticky note inside one of them.
On it was a line of delicate, elegant handwriting.
It was likely left by Afni.
[The book mentions that people allocate supplies through the market, and the market turns people into slaves of money. Why don't we adopt a more efficient method to centrally plan and distribute the resources everyone needs?]
He hadn't expected that little girl holding a sketchbook would actually be interested in such a dry academic question.
Beyond his surprise, Chu Guang couldn't help but smile faintly. Picking up a pen, he wrote down his thoughts in the blank space on the sticky note.
[People can become slaves to anything because of desire—not just money, but also beauty, health, faith, honor, or power... But that does not make it inherently wrong. If humans were satisfied merely with filling their bellies and reproducing, no one would have crossed mountains and ridges in search of embers, let alone discovered how to strike flint and rub sticks to make fire, and our civilization would never have emerged.]
[Allocating resources through religious authority or royal power is no nobler than allocating them through currency, and naturally, the reverse is also true. In essence, they are all tools for allocating resources. Along the path of exploring the future, people will always discover better tools, and forsake what is no longer useful in favor of the new.]
[However, your wariness is well-founded. I am surprised that someone of your age can produce such thoughts. Even if desire is not necessarily a bad thing, one must remain vigilant against indulging in it so deeply that one forgets their original intent, burning down an entire forest just to keep a hard-won spark alive.]
[Especially when you hold that spark—or when you hold power.]
Had Samer asked him this, Chu Guang figured he probably wouldn't have shared his thoughts so unreservedly.
It wasn't that he worried about Samer learning from him.
If Samer could truly revolutionize himself and carry out some kind of reform in the Honey Badger Kingdom, that would actually be a good thing for the survivors there.
The fear was that the fellow, like a chameleon, would figure out the Alliance's way of doing things while sticking to his old tricks, feigning compliance while secretly undermining him—which would be truly impossible to guard against.
As for Afni, it was different.
She had just turned eighteen and was a girl; while she might be appointed to positions in the Alliance, once back in the Honey Badger Kingdom, she would most likely be relegated to the fate of a decorative vase.
Even if she learned a few things, Chu Guang wasn't worried about any negative fallout. Instead, she might exert an influence on the next generation of the royal family.
Transforming Sunset Province through economics and education was itself part of the Alliance's post-war reconstruction plan.
The kingdoms in the desert had not decayed to a hopeless state; they might even usher in a period of prosperity due to post-war reconstruction. Therefore, rather than radical transformation, moderate reform was better suited for them.
Tucking the sticky note back into the book,
Chu Guang was about to slide the volume back onto the shelf when he suddenly remembered that this wasn't a place where books could just be borrowed casually. Patting his forehead, he tapped his VM.
Soon, footsteps came from outside the reading room door, followed by a crisp chime.
"Come in."
As Chu Guang spoke, the alloy door opened.
His personal guard captain, Lü Bei, walked in from outside, pressed his right fist against his left chest, and executed a crisp military salute.
"Administrator, sir, what are your orders?"
Chu Guang walked over and handed the book to him.
"Deliver this for me to the Honey Badger Kingdom's office on Embassy Street, and pass it to Miss Afni Honey Badger there."
Hearing this, Lü Bei's eyes immediately lit up. Straightening his posture as stiff as a board, he received the book with both hands as if holding a sacred treasure.
"Mission guaranteed to be completed!"
Chu Guang was certain his intuition wasn't wrong—this guy's imagination had definitely run wildly off the rails. He cleared his throat and instructed,
"I don't want to hear any strange rumors."
Lü Bei stood at strict attention with a solemn face.
"I swear on my life! If there are any rumors about you and Miss Afni, you can shoot me!"
"That won't be necessary."
Chu Guang looked at the bright-eyed Lü Bei, caught between laughter and tears.
The lad was barely out of his shell, yet he was so invested in other people's gossip.
Perhaps he should replace him with a more mature and steady guard captain.
Lately, both survivors and players in the Alliance had increased substantially. He was considering establishing the Alliance's Third Corps to accommodate solo players who didn't want to join player corps and preferred mingling with NPCs.
Chu Guang intended to transfer Lü Bei to the Third Corps.
Though a bit young, his loyalty was plain for everyone in the Alliance to see.
Watching his guard captain leave through the door, Chu Guang was about to return to the bookshelf when Xiao Qi's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
"Master, the mother that you had the player Luo Yu nurture seems to have undergone a new change!"
"Yu?"
"Mhm!"
Hearing the affirmative reply, Chu Guang's heart stirred slightly. He returned to the computer and sat down.
Almost the moment he sat on the sofa, a pale blue holographic screen expanded above the computer pen.
The footage captured by the Hummingbird drone was simultaneously presented before him.
Watching the ferociously combative mother on screen, Chu Guang showed an expression of surprise. After pondering for two seconds, he spoke up:
"Notify Heya's side to arrange a medical exam immediately! Prepare to inspect Yu's evolutionary stage!"
Resolving the slime mold on Floor B6 required Yu to devour the broodmother there, and the prerequisite was for Yu to comprehend the concept of hunting and master hunting capabilities.
Presently, it clearly met this condition.
However, whether it satisfied the other requirements still required further study.
Sitting on the coffee table, Xiao Qi swung her little legs and playfully gave an Alliance military salute, imitating the guard captain who had just come in.
"Understood!"
...
The Honey Badger Kingdom's office was situated at a corner of Embassy Street. Due to its distance from the prime real estate, its area was actually a bit larger than that of Boulder City's office.
Its main building was a three-story Western-style villa, and two palm trees common to oases were planted in the courtyard—gifts donated to the royal family by merchants from the Honey Badger Kingdom.
Although Oasis 3 had fallen into an occupied zone and the Honey Badger royal family had been forced into exile, to the people who once lived there, it was still their homeland.
Consequently, survivors who had fled into exile to the southern part of River Valley Province frequently donated money or supplies to the Honey Badger royal family.
Although most of it was worthless trinkets, Acting King Samer still ordered the staff here to accept them.
After all, those were everyone's heartfelt sentiments.
Not to mention they were living under someone else's roof now; anyone who still remembered them at a time like this was a loyal, good fellow.
Hearing a rapid tapping on the window, the old gatekeeper inside the guard booth yawned and lifted his drowsy, bleary face from his elbow.
Glancing at the book in the visitor's arms, he assumed it was another donation, and no matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem valuable.
However, recalling Lord Samer's orders, as a servant loyal to the royal family, he still mumbled in response:
"Name?"
"Lü Bei, Commander of the Alliance Guards Corps!"
Although his voice was hushed, the words "Guards Corps" and "Commander" were heard clearly by the old gatekeeper nonetheless.
Sleepiness was instantly swept from his face. As if having grown ten years younger, the old man shot up from his chair with a swish, his eyes widening round as saucers:
"Y-You're from the Guards Corps—"
Seeing him suddenly speak so loudly, Lü Bei hurriedly hushed him.
"Shh! Why are you yelling so loud? Keep it down!"
Abruptly realizing his own blunder, the old servant quickly offered an apologetic smile and said,
"Yes, yes, yes, my old muddle-headed self caused offense. May I ask... is there something you've come here for?"
The Guards Corps was the Administrator's personal retinue and even his shadow; this was known to everyone in the Alliance.
With the commander of the Guards Corps appearing here, regardless of what it was about, he was certain it could not be a minor matter.
"It's not a matter of offense; the Administrator instructed me that my coming here must be kept strictly confidential! Otherwise, why would I have changed clothes to come here?"
Tugging the brim of his hood tight, Lü Bei corrected him with a serious expression, then revealed the book in his arms.
"...Furthermore, the Administrator entrusted me to deliver this book into the hands of Miss Afni Honey Badger."
The old servant seemed to understand something. An expression of immense excitement instantly broke across his face, and he hurriedly reached out to take it, but Lü Bei took a step back.
"Where is Miss Afni?" he asked sternly. "The Administrator told me I must deliver it directly into her hands. It would be best if she comes down to collect it."
The old servant quickly said,
"The young lady hasn't returned from the Merchant Guild yet; it's a task given to her by the Administrator. Rest assured, the moment she returns, I will deliver the Administrator's item to her at once!"
Lü Bei hesitated for a moment. But considering that standing here waiting indefinitely wasn't appropriate, and going straight to the Merchant Guild risked missing her on the way, he nodded.
"Remember this well, then: you must personally hand it to her!"
Right after instructing him, Lü Bei suddenly thought of something and quickly added,
"Also, you are not allowed to tell anyone that I was here today!"
"Yes! Rest assured! If I dare utter a single extra word, even if you don't blame me, His Majesty the King won't let me off!"
Looking at the dead-serious Lü Bei, the old servant became even more convinced of his internal suspicions. He nodded repeatedly, the corners of his mouth stretched so wide with glee that he couldn't close them.
If this were official business, would there be any need to be so secretive?
It was definitely because it wasn't official business!
That was why he was embarrassed to let others find out!
Not daring to tamper with the book, the old servant didn't even dare glance at the cover more than once. He cautiously placed it in a drawer to keep it safe, intending to hand it over the moment the young lady returned.
Watching Lü Bei depart, he clenched his fists in excitement, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
The Kingdom!
There was hope!
...
Shelter 404, Floor B3 infirmary.
Anesthetized, Yu was carried onto the scanning bed. Luo Yu stood beside it with a worried expression, then nervously looked toward Chu Guang.
"It won't be harmed, will it?"
Those bastards on the forum clamored every day for it to be nerfed with the banhammer, making his heart leap into his throat; he hadn't dared show his face online for quite a while.
Though he complained out loud about being stuck with this little guy and unable to go anywhere, if the dev dogs really listened to those guys' suggestions and rebalanced it out of relevance, he would certainly be heartbroken.
"Don't worry. The inhibitor only has an anesthetic effect; it won't affect its health," Chu Guang consoled him and patted his shoulder. "The experiment will take some time to conclude. You head back first."
Luo Yu asked in a low voice,
"Can I wait outside?"
Chu Guang thought for a moment and nodded.
"You may."
The alloy door opened.
As Luo Yu departed, it slowly slid shut again.
Lying on the scanning bed, Yu let out an involuntary "ee-woo," like the purr of a cat deep in sleep.
The sound seemed spoiled and affectionate.
However, Chu Guang could sense that the emotion flowing through the soundwaves clearly carried a hint of anxiety.
It didn't like this sensation.
Chu Guang looked toward Heya, who was busy at the console, and asked,
"Can the scan be conducted in an unanesthetized state?"
Without shifting her eyes from the screen, Heya answered offhandedly,
"Of course it can... but can you guarantee it won't suddenly go berserk and attack the two of us?"
"I can protect you."
Heya curved the corners of her lips and said teasingly,
"Oh, while that sounds reassuring, why gamble on those odds?"
Chu Guang shrugged.
"...Fine. What are the analysis results?"
"Your timing is impeccable. The scan data just came out..."
Tapping her index finger on the holographic screen a few times, Heya crossed her arms and stared at the charts before her in contemplation for a long while before speaking in a definitive tone:
"Current progress has reached 51%. Following this trend, it shouldn't take long to enter the next stage."
Chu Guang suddenly asked with curiosity,
"What if it entered the next stage directly?"
Heya replied without hesitation:
"It would be devoured by the broodmother on Floor B6 instead. After all, it's like a child right now; even if we gave it plenty of resources, it can't possibly be a match for an old monster that slaughtered an entire floor of the shelter... It's like locking a child holding a shotgun in a room with a ruthless murderer. What do you think would happen?"
Chu Guang furrowed his brow.
"What if we incapacitate that murderer? For instance—"
"Inject a massive dose of inhibitor?" Seeing through his thoughts, Heya said in a teasing tone, "If it were feasible, I'd want to do that too. But devouring is a long and continuous process; it's very hard to ensure it remains effective only against a specific slime mold... By the way, it seems to be waking up. You can call that lad back."
Chu Guang nodded, abandoning that sudden brainstorm. He nodded toward the camera in the corner, signaling Xiao Qi to open the infirmary door.
At this moment outside the infirmary door, Luo Yu was pacing back and forth anxiously.
Just then, the door slid open.
Hearing the sound, he immediately looked toward the infirmary door, but before he could get a clear look, a scarlet figure slammed full into his chest, knocking him sprawling right into the hallway corner.
Nearly knocked breathless, Luo Yu glared hard at the culprit sprawled on top of him.
"What are you doing, trying to kill me—"
"Ee-woo!"
On that face increasingly resembling a human's, a pitiful expression surfaced.
Seeing that "pathetic, pitiful" look, Luo Yu, who had been about to scold it, suddenly remembered that for the sake of the quest he had sent it into the laboratory to be studied for so long.
A trace of guilt welled up inexplicably within him. He sighed softly and patted its head.
"Alright, alright, I didn't want to either, but a quest is a quest... there was no way around it. Besides, it's for your own good. Being in there all alone for so long must've been rough!"
"Come on, I'll take you to get some candy!"
"Ee-wooo!!!"
Perhaps understanding his consolation, or perhaps hearing "candy," Yu's face instantly beamed with a blissful expression, and the tentacles at the back of its head swayed like seaweed.
However, it didn't get off of him; instead, it pressed in even closer, its skirt-like mycelial mass rolling over him like tank treads.
Pinned down, Luo Yu's face turned green and his eyes rolled back, his widened pupils nearly popping out of their sockets as he came close to dying on the spot.
Good grief!
You couldn't tell at all just by looking from the outside!
This weight was at least two hundred kilograms!
Looking at Yu and Luo Yu "glued together" outside the doorway, Heya crossed her arms and frowned slightly, a remark suddenly popping out of her mouth:
"He wouldn't have... developed feelings for it, would he?"
Chu Guang's expression was subtle.
"Hard to say."
Under normal circumstances, after spending enough time together, one could develop feelings even for a fishing rod, let alone a living creature.
Heya sighed and scratched her full head of silvery-white hair.
"It's best if he doesn't. Mutant slime mold... at least according to my observations, the minds of these organisms are just as unstable as their DNA. They don't have parents, relatives, friends, or any of the complex concepts unique to human society; that so-called closeness is very likely an illusion. You must have noticed—it doesn't even shy away from preying on its own kind."
"Mm," Chu Guang nodded. "But the affinity in bloodline is also a fact, and so far, it hasn't displayed strong aggression toward humans."
Heya glanced at him.
"But what about after devouring the broodmother on Floor B6? It will inevitably absorb a portion of what originally belonged to that broodmother... You know what I'm talking about."
What was absorbed would not merely be fragments of genetic material.
It also included parts of the devoured entity's memories, knowledge, experience, instincts... or something abstractly referred to by organisms as a "soul."
In truth, the reason Yu was able to learn hunting was not, as Luo Yu believed, because he had taught it by continuously slaying Crawlers.
Rather, it was through a far more primal and direct method—
namely, by utilizing its digestive system to break down the flesh and blood of those prey.
In fact, Yu's attack method was precisely using its tentacles to mimic rifle bullets, inflicting piercing damage on the Crawler.
Even the aim points were virtually identical to Luo Yu's shooting habits.
And this portion of knowledge came from the fragments of memories regarding death held by the "devoured." The evolved "armor" likewise originated from those memories—
'Those prey died because they could not defend against piercing damage.'
'Therefore, it needs armor capable of resisting bullets.'
This was also the most terrifying aspect of that slime mold.
They learned lessons from the corpses of their prey, absorbing the experiences of both survival and death simultaneously.
As long as they needed to, they could survive in a vacuum, or even withstand metal fragments colliding at multiple times the speed of sound!
And as long as a portion of tissue survived, no matter how catastrophic the injury or what form it took, they would always find a way to come back to life.
It was no exaggeration to say they had already taken mastery over evolution, ascending into a realm that human civilization temporarily could not comprehend.
Chu Guang pondered for a moment and said,
"Your recommendation is?"
Heya shook her head.
"I don't know... The plan to clear Floor B6 naturally must continue; I need the research equipment down there. Whatever method is used, the slime mold there must be wiped out. However, I advise that it's best to abandon any thought of domesticating them."
Chu Guang immediately asked,
"Is there a scientific basis for that?"
Heya shook her head once more.
"There's no proof that it's definitely impossible, but the probability of success is extremely low."
This time, Chu Guang pondered for a little longer.
Looking at the two figures out in the hallway, he thought for a long while before finally speaking in a slow, steady voice:
"I trust my residents."
"Just as they trust me."
Heya couldn't help but ask,
"And what if something goes wrong?"
As if suddenly seeing through it, Chu Guang smiled faintly.
"Then we solve the problem."
"Wiping their asses is part of the Administrator's job too."
Chapter 462