Regarding the appearance of the little kitten in the camp, the people of the Xia Wang Tribe accepted it well. One reason was the kitten’s harmless and even very cute appearance. Another reason was that the big white cat had never harmed anyone in the tribe; they still believed that the big white cat would not attack without reason.
As for Shu Bao, there was nothing to be done but to accept it. Since it was a cat that he had brought back himself, even if it were an enemy, it had to be kept.
“Meow~” Perhaps sensing Shu Bao’s emotional fluctuations, the little kitten padded forward, circling around Shu Bao and rubbing against his leg to show friendliness.
Shu Bao retracted his foot and said, “I am a serious mouse and I do not accept physical bribes!”
“Meow?” The kitten looked puzzled and innocent, tilting its small head while looking at Shu Bao, then continued to nudge its head against Shu Bao’s leg.
Shu Bao maintained a serious expression, “Even a serious mouse can reluctantly pet a cat.”
“Meow~” The meow was not made by the little kitten but by the rain girl sitting on Shu Bao’s shoulder. The crowd’s attention shifted to see a tiny figure in strange yellow clothes, no bigger than a fist, with a chubby face making meowing sounds.
The people of the Xia Wang Tribe were confused. Was this a person or a cat?
Shu Bao picked up the rain girl and said, “This is the Dragon Defense Artifact, the rain girl.”
The confusion in the eyes of the Xia Wang Tribe people deepened. How could such a tiny being defend against dragons? Shu Bao signaled to the high priest, who approached obediently and, as instructed by Shu Bao, gave the rain girl a gentle smile.
In the next moment, tears welled up in the rain girl’s big eyes, and she began to cry loudly.
The high priest was bewildered, thinking he had done nothing wrong. As the girl’s tears fell, dark clouds quickly gathered in the sky, and a torrential downpour ensued. The unprepared people of the Xia Wang Tribe were instantly soaked, rushing into nearby tents to seek shelter from the rain.
The drenched high priest anxiously tried to explain, “I didn’t do anything, really.”
Shu Bao nodded and patted the high priest’s shoulder in reassurance, saying, “I know. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault.”
The high priest relaxed a lot upon hearing this. Shu Bao held up the rain girl and gave it a smile, which immediately made the crying rain girl stop and return the smile. Instantly, the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and sunlight reappeared.
Seeing the clear sky outside once again, the people of the Xia Wang Tribe became even more curious.
Under the eager gaze of everyone, Shu Bao explained, “In the future, if you want it to rain, find someone who looks ugly and have them smile at the rain girl. The rain girl will cry from the ugliness, and when you don’t want it to rain, find someone who looks good and have them smile at the rain girl. The rain girl will stop crying. So, what do you think? Isn’t it a dragon defense artifact?”
Whether it could actually defend against dragons was uncertain, but the first reaction of the people was to look at the high priest. After scrutinizing him for a moment, they nodded in agreement that, yes, he was somewhat ugly.
The high priest: “…”
With such a dragon defense artifact, the people no longer needed to worry about the neighboring dragon causing trouble. They warmly welcomed the new arrivals to the camp, and even the dragon egg was soon adorned with flowers picked by the tribe’s children.
After the deity was welcomed back, the hardworking tribespeople became busy once again. During Shu Bao’s one-month absence, they had already completed the blueprint for the wood processing factory. Originally, Lan Qing, as a teammate, could have built the completed blueprint, but considering the strange situation of the Furry Teammate base, Lan Qing chose not to proceed with the construction.
With no blueprint to build, the people of the Xia Wang Tribe continued their work without pause. They followed the deity’s instructions to plant trees and continued gathering supplies for future use.
Even Lan Qing marveled at this, noting that despite having watched many survival and construction streams, the Xia Wang Tribe’s people were undoubtedly the ideal residents for any player—diligent workers, devout builders, and compliant with orders without any concerns about rebellion or strikes.
After everyone had left, Shu Bao finally had the chance to chat with Lan Qing and discuss what had happened during this period.
Although Shu Bao had mentioned before leaving that he would stay in the Chaotic World longer if the opportunity was right, Lan Qing never expected that this wait would stretch into a month. In the first few days, everyone was merely worried. But as time passed, the tribe grew increasingly anxious, and at one point, there was even a thought of leaving the tribe to search for Shu Bao’s whereabouts.
Unfortunately, apart from Lan Qing, the people of the tribe could not venture too far from the base.
When Shu Bao had been gone for over twenty days, the people of the Xia Wang Tribe nearly fell into despair. They feared that something might have happened to their deity and dreaded the thought of their deity’s favored tribe becoming a forsaken land. After experiencing the deity’s kindness and power, they could not accept returning to their former state.
Fortunately, Lan Qing had been actively encouraging everyone, leading them in defending against the nighttime attacks from the Chaotic World, organizing the tribe’s collection, planting, and even starting animal husbandry.
At this point, Lan Qing took Shu Bao on a tour of the tribe’s newly established livestock area. The fenced-in area, produced by the system, was divided into neat squares, each housing different kinds of livestock: wild chickens, wild rabbits, wild ducks, and even five alpacas?
“These are from a large group of alpacas we managed to round up. They can be used for transporting goods, wool, and meat. It’s a pity that the herd migrated away; otherwise, we could have caught more,” Lan Qing said with some regret.
Next, Shu Bao saw the enclosure for breeding mutated grasshoppers and eagerly placed the grasshoppers he had caught earlier inside, hoping that this male and female would pair up and produce offspring soon.
After touring the livestock area, Shu Bao followed Lan Qing to the supply storage and planting areas. Reflecting on the visit, Shu Bao felt deeply impressed. Lan Qing was truly a diligent and responsible teammate; even if he had stayed at the base, he might not have done better than this.
Faced with Shu Bao’s praise, Lan Qing felt a bit embarrassed and kept insisting that these were just routine tasks.
Shu Bao reached out and patted the snake teammate’s bald head reassuringly, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll go make some medicine soon to help you transform into a dragon as quickly as possible.”
Lan Qing’s bright eyes were immediately filled with anticipation.
Shu Bao then recounted his experiences in the Chaotic World. Lan Qing learned that the flow of time in the Chaotic World was different from that in the real world. Time there flowed more slowly, though it wasn’t always the case; the time in the chaotic world was unstable, so this time it was slow, but it might be fast next time.
When Lan Qing heard that Shu Bao had collected all the dragon eggs, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Awesome!” Upon learning that Shu Bao had become teammates with Fu Qing in human form, Lan Qing’s eyes were filled with respect, and he remarked, “You are truly brave! I remember the last person who dared to deceive Fu Qing ended up sliced into many pieces by a wind blade.”
Shu Bao: “…” The mouse hadn’t known this before.
“I didn’t deceive him. I said my name is Shu Bao. If he doesn’t remember my name or my voice, that’s his problem.” Shu Bao wasn’t sure if he was convincing Lan Qing or himself, but he had already quietly resolved to keep his identity concealed.
“No need to explain, I understand!” Lan Qing, still full of admiration, had a look that said he wasn’t buying the modesty.
Shu Bao: “…” Well, it wasn’t the first time.
After some discussion, the two finally coordinated successfully and began to plan their next steps. Since Shu Bao had acquired the dragon eggs, he didn’t get to buy the materials for the magical plant garden from the tavern as he had originally intended, so he would need to go back to the Chaotic World.
Lan Qing immediately wagged his tail tip, strongly insisting on going and promising to buy all the required quest materials. Shu Bao also felt it wasn’t very fair to leave the snake teammate guarding the base all the time, so he agreed. Moreover, he could also develop some population in the real world since he still needed to meet the requirements of 50 tents and 100 people for the current tech mission.
After finalizing their plans, Shu Bao went to the quest hall to submit the quest. He threw 10 omniscient fruits and 10 black marsh crocodiles into the quest printer.
The printer quickly started working. Based on the progress, it would take at least three to four hours to complete the printing.
Shu Bao and Lan Qing went for lunch. After lunch, Shu Bao had habitually transformed back into his mouse form, dozing off while leaning against a smooth little rock. He was eventually nudged awake by the snake teammate, who requested that Shu Bao bring out the other dragon egg from the bedroom.
After placing the two dragon eggs side by side to sunbathe outside the quest hall, Shu Bao stretched lazily and went off to find a stone pot for making soup.
That evening, Lan Qing finished preparing his things and was excitedly ready to set out. However, as soon as he opened the bedroom door, he was hit by a strange smell—sharp and spicy, with a bitter undertone. The snake almost fainted from the scent.
Following the source of the smell, Lan Qing saw the furry teammate, who had transformed into his mouse form, climbing up from the first floor with a wooden bowl. Despite being in his mouse form, Shu Bao’s speed was unaffected as he jogged up to Lan Qing and said, “Drink this before you go; it’s for transformation into a dragon.”
The last three words made Lan Qing swallow the refusal he was about to voice. After nearly turning himself into a pretzel from the odor, he finally steeled himself and drank the strange black liquid from the bowl in one go.
After drinking, Lan Qing eagerly climbed back to the bedroom and immediately began gulping down water from a bucket to wash away the taste.
Shu Bao checked the wooden bowl and was satisfied to find that not a drop of the transformation soup had been wasted.
When Lan Qing finally felt the taste in his mouth had faded a bit, he walked out, rubbing his stomach and burping.
In the hallway, the furry teammate praised him, “Excellent job! You’re the first to drink all of the medicine I made without leaving a drop.”
Lan Qing: “… *burp*… everything… *burp* is for… *burp* the dragon!”
Shu Bao nodded, “Exactly. Everything is for the dragon!”
With his stomach full, Lan Qing prepared to set out with the magical materials Shu Bao had collected from the Chaotic World. His goal was to sell those magical materials and then purchase the necessary supplies.
“Wait, there’s this too,” Shu Bao called out to the burping snake teammate.
Lan Qing, startled, stiffened his neck and turned around, “What else… *burp*… do you want me to drink… *burp*…?”
“It’s not something to drink; it’s this talent book,” Shu Bao said, handing Lan Qing the apothecary talent book he had received from a quest. “The Chaotic World is very dangerous. With this, you’ll have extra protection. Stay safe.”
“But if I use it, the talent book will disappear,” Lan Qing thought Shu Bao was unaware of how talent books worked.
“I know. Just do your best! I believe in you. You’ll definitely become a better apothecary than Duan Zhuo!” Shu Bao patted the tip of the snake teammate’s tail with his paw.
Lan Qing’s big eyes became slightly misty. He solemnly accepted the talent book, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll work hard!”
Without wasting any time, Lan Qing used the tip of his tail to open the apothecary talent book. The book transformed into a streak of light and entered his body. Moments later, Lan Qing reported that he had completed the integration. His mind was now filled with extensive knowledge about apothecary, including the appearance, properties, and functions of many unfamiliar potions.
After successfully integrating the talent book, Lan Qing took his supplies and, under the worried gazes of the Xia Wang Tribe people, stepped into the dark world outside.
Watching the snake teammate’s figure gradually disappear into the distance, Shu Bao breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the task of making potions was now assigned to someone else, he still looked forward to the talent book for breeding grasshoppers.
