Chapter 142 - 110: Jump Enhancement! Blood-tooth Python Intel Reappears!?
"Sir, the food’s ready. Wipe your hands and come eat."
Wang Biao respectfully handed him a towel.
"Thanks."
Chen Chong sat back down on the sofa, his brow still furrowed with worry.
Aside from the two injured members, Ning Yu and Ning Feng had taken everyone from the Swordsmanship Club out. Ah Yu, who had stayed behind, wasn’t sure what they were doing.
But according to him, they likely weren’t hunting the Blood-tooth Python.
Earlier that day, Ning Yu had wanted to go after the Blood-tooth Python when she returned from the training room, but Ning Feng had stopped her. After he laid out the pros and cons, she dropped the idea.
But as for why they suddenly left later...
’I still don’t know what’s going on, but it can’t be what I’m worried about. Otherwise, Ning Yu would have stubbornly taken everyone out at noon.’
’The fact that Ning Feng was able to stop her proves he took my warning to heart, so he wouldn’t have gone along with it either.’
Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Chen Chong felt he had a good grasp of Ning Yu’s personality.
She would take risks to improve her strength and get Cards, but she cared more about the safety of her younger siblings, and by extension, the other club members.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be trying so desperately to get stronger, to help them all survive in this new world.
Even if she desperately wanted the Card, she wouldn’t take Ning Feng and the others on a dangerous hunt for a creature like the Blood-tooth Python.
’They must have run into something else...’
Chen Chong shook the thoughts from his mind and began to eat.
The main course tonight was wild boar.
There was a pot of organ soup, a pot of stewed bones, and a platter of stir-fried meat.
Thanks to the cooking wine and spices, the gamy taste wasn’t overpowering, and the meal was actually quite good.
Exhausted from the day’s work, they ate with gusto, quickly cleaning off the large spread of meat.
Soon, nothing was left on the table but cleanly-gnawed bones...
Besides its daily portion of Terror Wolf King meat, the Tiger Striped Dog also received a large chunk of wild boar meat and a bone, which it was now gnawing on at their feet.
Even the Lion-headed Goose... was eating meat.
Ever since it had pecked at the Core Bloodthirsty Vine and began evolving into an Extraordinary Creature, its diet had undergone a massive change.
It still ate grass, but it was now clearly more interested in meat.
The Lion-headed Goose used to ignore the Terror Wolf King meat fed to the Tiger Striped Dog, but since its transformation, it had tried to snatch it several times.
It seemed to crave the meat, something that had never happened before.
It was a good thing the Tiger Striped Dog was so tolerant and treated the goose as family. Otherwise, a typical hound protecting its food would have snapped at it long ago.
So now, whenever Chen Chong cut up meat for the Tiger Striped Dog, he would set aside a portion for the Lion-headed Goose as well...
The goose’s transformation had slowed since that first day of dramatic change. It still looked like a raptor, covered in black feathers.
But it was still growing. It now weighed around fifty-five pounds, as much as the Tiger Striped Dog had before its own transformation.
Even now, it was half the size of the current Tiger Striped Dog and looked increasingly fearsome.
If you put it next to the still-growing Rock Armor Eagle, you might mistake the goose for the Extraordinary Creature...
"Zhang Meng, take that boar leg back with you later."
Chen Chong pointed to an uncured, skin-on hind leg in a basin. It looked like it weighed over a hundred pounds.
The two men smiled.
"Thanks, Brother Chen Chong."
"Thanks, Brother Chong!"
Chen Chong waved his hand dismissively. "We’re a team. You pulled your weight, so you get a share."
’I actually saved a portion of the boar for Shen Xinrou, but she always uses keeping things here as an excuse. She probably wouldn’t take it anyway, so I didn’t bother.’
’Besides, she eats her meals here anyway. She gets whatever we’re having, so there’s no need to be so particular about dividing it...’
Chen Chong walked over to the edge of the mud pond.
The area had changed dramatically.
The once bare and desolate mud pond was now planted with about twenty stalks bearing small Vermilion Fruits.
They were the very same Vermilion Fruit plants he had transplanted from the mud pit in the grove!
The crabs, snails, fish, and shrimp in the pond seemed to like them, immediately gathering around the stalks after they were planted.
With the addition of the Vermilion Fruit, not only did they have a new type of fruit at their home, but it also added a bit of scenery, keeping the pond from looking too barren...
...
「Time passed in a flash, and morning arrived...」
[Daily settlement has begun. Based on your gains and performance over the past day, a Rating will be assigned and corresponding Card rewards will be automatically issued.]
[Over the past day, you have used traps to harvest a small amount of prey, eliminated a squad with malicious intent toward you, transplanted a small number of Vermilion Fruit plants, successfully collaborated to hunt a massive 770-pound wild boar, and achieved great renown, earning the admiration and praise of many...]
[Score: 99]
[Rating: B+]
[Rewards: Ability Card · Jump Enhancement, Building Card · Spring]
[Notice: Overflow score points have been automatically converted into lower-grade Cards.]
"Hm?"
Chen Chong, now awake, looked at the settlement report in confusion.
’I understand all the gains listed before, but what’s this about achieving great renown and earning admiration and praise?’
’Because I killed those people from the Survival Association?’
’Do the students hate the Survival Association that much?’
’I was so ruthless, killing two people in front of so many others. Gaining renown for that I can understand, but admiration and praise... I really can’t figure that part out.’
’Whatever. As long as it’s a bonus to my score and Rating, I’ll take it.’
"Only 99 points..."
Chen Chong wasn’t surprised by the score. It was a little higher than the one he got for hunting the Moose.
’Unless my actions involve Extraordinary Creatures, it seems it’s almost impossible to break 100 points, even if I hunt one or two large animals.’
However, this settlement gave Chen Chong some insight into the boundaries between scores and Ratings.
’If I’m not mistaken, I’ll need a score over 100 to get an A-Level Rating.’
’Anything below 100 is B-Level...’
’Meanwhile, for people like Xu Jun, a score below 100 is C-Class, and they need to break 100 just to reach B-Level.’
’It’s just as I suspected. My daily settlement is a full grade ahead of theirs.’
’No matter what I do or what I gain, even if it’s identical to theirs, my result will always be one grade higher.’
’That must be why it’s so much easier for me to get higher Ratings and more Rare Cards...’
’As for how much of an advantage I have for higher levels, like A or even S, I’ll have to find that out later.’
After all, he had only achieved those Ratings a few times himself, and an S-Rating had never once appeared.
"A blue one and a green one, huh..."
[Card Type: Ability Card · Jump Enhancement]
[Rating: B-Level]
[Description: Passive. Massively increases the user’s jumping ability. The longer and more powerfully you charge your jump, the higher you will go.]
[Note: The effectiveness of Jump Enhancement scales with the user’s strength. Using this ability consumes a large amount of stamina. It only negates the stress on the user’s legs, not the impact force from colliding with objects. Users should charge their jumps cautiously, according to their own physical constitution.]
"Jump Enhancement..."
Chen Chong held the Card, silent for a few seconds.
’Use it!’
The Card dissolved into a stream of light and vanished.
’I don’t care what the ability is. As long as it’s useful, I’ll take it!’
Hopping off the bed, Chen Chong decided to test it out...
Sure enough, his jumping ability was much stronger. It felt like he had springs on the soles of his feet, making his steps and hops incredibly light and nimble.
’Let’s try a bigger jump...’
THUD!
Chen Chong shot straight up into the ceiling. The sound startled both the Tiger Striped Dog and the Rock Armor Eagle, which was still sleeping in its pen behind the door.
Luckily, his enhanced body was sturdy enough; otherwise, that impact alone would have been enough to split his head open.
Though a dull pain throbbed in the back of his head, he was ecstatic.
The boost from the Jump Enhancement Card was even greater than he’d imagined.
’That jump was almost ten feet high, and I used less than thirty percent of my strength.’
’If I were to jump with all my strength...’
’Couldn’t I leap thirty feet into the air?’
’As for the impact shock not being negated, that’s not a concern.’
’My body is tough enough as it is, and I also have my Body Petrification ability. I can completely ignore that drawback.’
’In an emergency, I can use it however I want without holding back...’
Once his excitement subsided, Chen Chong looked at the second Card, the Spring Card.
He was familiar with this one. He already had one at his base, and it was even the same grade.
There was no need to use another one, but he could save it. Maybe he could trade it for supplies later, or find some other use for it.
Next up was the main event of the day: the daily intelligence report...
As Chen Chong looked at the report, the smile on his face instantly froze.
There was only one reason: today’s intel was full of bombshells!
The very first item was A-Level!
And it was about the Blood-tooth Python again...
...