Chapter 143 Beyond The Fog

Alan put down his binoculars, his face full of a triumphant smile. He casually wiped his eyes; when Ming was caught by the King-level zombie earlier, his heart had jumped into his throat. Now, everything was finally settled.

"Ming is still the same powerful guy!"

Alan patted the head of the King-level Crab puppet and said, "You're lucky to have such a strong master." After saying this, he glanced at the two female zombies, and the smile on his face disappeared. It felt like he had just scolded himself.

Damn!

...

[Your little froglings are lying on the rooftop, watching you come back. As you leap up and pick them up to hold and squeeze them in your arms, they feel that something's off with you today...]

[Foodie burrows into your palm, dreaming that you've become a superstar with lots of delicious... where the food?]

[The froglings look at you disdainfully. It's only our privilege to rub our bellies against your face, not for you to hone your face against our heads... understand?]

"..."

Ming threw the two froglings into the pond, as it was already noon and time to cook. He took out the "Complete Guide to Home Cooking" and found a recipe for coconut fish stew.

He added some olive oil to fry the fish and asked the little crab to open a coconut. However, the crab didn't help and snapped at him, so he had to open it himself. He scooped the coconut meat and milk into the pot, adding the fried fish...

15 minutes later.

[Your Da Vinci looks at Foodie's satisfied expression after eating the fish and pats it, scolding it for being picky and not eating bugs... Foodie feels wronged... It's your poor digestion, and you blame me?]

[The frogs look at each other and happily lie on the rooftop, watching the captive little crab below... Da Vinci is pondering, Foodie is drooling, and saliva falls, hitting the little crab...]

[The frogs see the little crab spinning around in the steel enclosure...  They can't eat it now, but having it as a pet would be nice...]

"You two are funning."

Ming stands on the rooftop, watching the little crab. Surprisingly, it hasn't tried to escape or attack the steel plate with its pincers. Instead, it seems content, taking this place as its new home.

He wonders if he should remove the refined gold spikes inside the steel enclosure. But he decides against it, as it would be too much trouble. Let them serve as decorations for the little crab's new home. The metallic glint and sharp edges look pretty luxurious.

At that moment, he notices that the little butterfly is actually in the Shining Flower Field, seemingly sipping nectar and helping to spread pollen simultaneously.

Well, they are all quite diligent indeed.

"Let's check on the earthworms."

Ming goes downstairs to the earthworm farm and finds that a few of the elite earthworms he had previously killed have revived and evolved into one-star Lord-level earthworms.

His idea was right. A comfortable environment allows them to grow strong. The outside sewer wouldn't work, as the nutrients in the stinky mud couldn't keep up. At that time, they looked malnourished, but now that they had been transplanted to the farm, they were plump and healthy.

It's time for harvest.

Da~

Ming snaps his fingers, and a small sparrow flies into the earthworm farm, fluttering among the one-star Lord earthworms, creating a warm and cozy scene.

Suddenly, the sparrow transforms into a giant eagle, weaving through the earthworms. The earthworms spray stinky mud, but Ming skillfully controls the giant eagle with his fingers, successfully dodging the mud attack. The mud-spattered by the earthworms falls back into the farm...

Seeing this scene, Ming is pleased, as it's a perfect example of recycling and reusing.

An hour later, he summons the giant eagle six times, completing the reseeding of the one-star Lord earthworms and hoping they continue to evolve nicely.

To his surprise, he gains 800 experience points and receives six stinky mud soil cards.

This... is simply the best virtuous cycle.

Stinky mud nourishes the earthworms, killing earthworms grants experience and stinking mud; some re-evolve, some feed the little crab, and the stinking mud raises earthworms again...

"This..."

Ming is delighted, thinking he should catch more earthworms; there must be more in the wild...

A minute later, he returns to the rooftop with a plump earthworm.

[Your froglings see you bringing an earthworm up and quickly jump into the pond, sticking their heads out of the water, watching you. They wonder if you will serve this disgusting thing for dinner?]

[The froglings stare at you, seeing you toss the earthworm down the stairs; they finally hop out, lying on the rooftop watching the little crab-eating the earthworm. They are relieved... it's good to feed the little crab...]

"..."

Ming watches the little crab, wondering when it will grow to the next stage. It shouldn't just eat without growing; that would be unacceptable. In this family, everyone should contribute to some extent.

Spiders can catch mosquitoes, koi bring good fortune, butterflies are responsible for pollinating the Shining Flowers, and rabbits will have immeasurable potential.

Ming turns to look at the snail and thinks, well, it's also worth 1 experience point.

"Puppeteer..."

Ming turns around and lies down on the chair, thinking about the day when Alan established a psychic link with the one-star King crab, which means that the Puppeteer profession, in another sense, is similar to a Beast Tamer or Animal Trainer.

That's quite nice.

Although he can summon giant eagles and psychic hounds, they are psychic techniques with time limits and require cooldown periods. Puppeteers are different; the puppets or trained animals they control will always exist if they don't die.

He also concludes that zombies are the most cost-effective since they have lost their "vitality" on some level and will not continue to grow. They don't require resources.

Mutant creatures like the little crab can grow, and their potential is very high. However, it requires a lot of resources. But with more investment comes greater returns.

After thinking about the Puppeteer issue, he turns his attention back to today's Shared Boss killing the problem. Zone 402 finished the kill almost half an hour ahead of Zone 109, so they got the first kill reward, earning more experience and gold. Was the difficulty lower there?

That can't be right...

Thinking about this, he opens the chat channel and starts looking for information about Zone 402.

He finds it.

"Zone 402 killed it very quickly. Was Ming in your zone?"

"No, but our Zone 402 has been unified and coordinated by Commander Simon. With many former special forces members dispersed to command, the kill went smoothly."

"Your Shared Boss was a humanoid zombie, too, right? Wasn't it chaotic at all?"

"Why would it be chaotic? We all wore military uniforms, so the descended zombies were entirely different from us."

"..."

"I see."

Ming recalls that the special forces unit had tried to recruit him before. It is indeed convenient for them to have a unified zone, and with unified coordination, it's no surprise that the Shared Boss kill went so smoothly.

He scrolls down the screen, looking at the latest messages.

"I think the top player in our Zone 109 is not worse than Ming; also a fierce person!"

"I envy you guys for having top players in your zone. Our Zone 70's Shared Boss today was so powerful; it killed over 40 people and injured more than 200 before we killed it!"

"We also had casualties, with similar numbers. Next time, with more experience, we can distinguish each other by unifying our attire before the Shared Boss arrives. It was just too sudden this time."

"Guys, I have to tell you something strange. Today, I was searching for supplies in our zone and happened to be near the edge of the safe zone. I felt like a figure flashed past the edge of the fog. I was only about three or four meters away from the boundary. It scared me to death!"

"I've been studying the fog for the past few days, and it feels like a constant, unchanging curtain."

"You're right because I've also been observing it and never seen any movement outside the fog boundary!"