Chapter 61 - 59: Unihorn Catfish’s Weakness, Setting Off to Steal the Eggs
Putting away the Grassland Card, Chen Chong turned to look at the other two Cards.
[Card Types: Resource Card · Refined Longspear]
[Rating: C-Class]
[Description: A very tough and durable refined longspear. The spearhead is forged from Refined Iron and is extremely sharp.]
’Hmm, a good weapon. It seems Wang Biao is also skilled with a spear, not just a bow. A longspear is pretty much the same as a polearm, so this should work for him.’
Chen Chong was very satisfied as he looked at the image of the longspear on the Card, which had a black wooden shaft and an iron tip with a blood groove.
Strengthening Wang Biao’s combat ability would be a great help for future hunts.
[Card Types: Recruitment Card · Handmaid]
[Rating: D-Class]
[Description: A handmaid from the mansion of a wealthy noble of a certain dynasty, skilled in tidying and household chores.]
[Evaluation: Loyalty is average. Possesses no combat ability. Perhaps more suitable for miscellaneous tasks.]
[Note: The recruited individual will not harm their master, but if their Loyalty drops below 20, they may flee.]
The Card depicted a woman in the attire of an ancient servant girl. She looked to be in her early thirties, with plain, unremarkable features—the type you wouldn’t notice in a crowd.
Another Recruitment Card. Counting the unused laborer Card he still had, that made two.
Chen Chong felt no ripple of excitement; he had no intention of summoning her.
For one, Chen Chong knew the exact inventory of all his supplies and didn’t want anyone else touching them. Besides, he didn’t need help with housework.
The fact that she had no special abilities and only average Loyalty was enough to make him hesitant to recruit her.
One more person meant one more mouth to feed.
To be worth recruiting, a person had to at least generate more value each day than they consumed.
But this Card wouldn’t go to waste. Chen Chong had already thought of a use for it...
Just as he was about to get out of bed, Chen Chong remembered he hadn’t checked today’s intelligence report yet.
[B-Level Intelligence: A wild boar will appear in the northern thicket to forage. This will continue for seven days.]
[A-Level Intelligence: This afternoon, the Stone Claw Eagle will conduct its final hunt before it begins a month of incubating its eggs, gathering the necessary energy.]
[A-Level Intelligence: The Unihorn Catfish has no special abilities, but the horn on its head can sense the movements of all living creatures within a 3,000-meter radius of water. Its greedy nature means it will eat anything. Ever since tasting human flesh, it has been constantly prowling the shore, looking for another chance to devour a person. The Vermilion Fruit, which grows only in the mudflats deep within the jungle, contains a substance that can weaken it. The horn on the Unihorn Catfish’s head is its most fragile part. If it loses its horn, the Unihorn Catfish will lose its sense of direction, suffer grievous injury, and may even die on the spot...]
Chen Chong’s pupils contracted sharply.
Today’s intelligence was just as heavy-hitting as ever.
He finally had the information he’d been longing for: the weakness of the Extraordinary Creature.
A way to kill the Unihorn Catfish had appeared!
’The Vermilion Fruit, which grows only in the mudflats?’
’Although I don’t know what the Vermilion Fruit looks like, the fact that it only grows in mudflats is clearly an important clue. I can use that to identify it.’
The squad that got stung by poisonous wasps on their way back yesterday mentioned there was a mudflat in the northern thicket.
’And the wild boar from the B-Level intelligence will be foraging there too. I can look for the fruit while figuring out a way to hunt the boar...’
"As expected of an Extraordinary Creature... sensing movement in a 3,000-meter radius of water. So that’s what the horn is for. And severing it will not only blind it but also cause grievous injury, or even death?"
Chen Chong murmured. He had originally thought the intimidating horn was a weapon, but it turned out to be its greatest weakness.
’It’s that fragile...’
’When the Unihorn Catfish is alert, it might be impossible to get near its horn. But if it’s weakened and powerless, there might be a chance.’
Without realizing it, the idea of taking on the Unihorn Catfish had already taken root in Chen Chong’s mind.
Extraordinary Creatures were terrifying because humans couldn’t fight them.
But once you knew their weakness, knew how to kill them, they weren’t so terrifying anymore...
But there was another piece of information that concerned Chen Chong even more.
"The Stone Claw Eagle... its final trip out?"
...
"Brother Chong, you’re up?"
In the living room, Xu Jun walked out of the bathroom.
"I’m up."
Chen Chong nodded and came out of the bedroom carrying a bucket.
It was full of dead fish he had scooped out of the fishpond this morning. There weren’t many, only about ten pounds, less than a fifth of the fish he had put in last night.
There were a few more dead fish in the middle of the pond that he couldn’t reach, so Chen Chong decided to just leave them.
Too many dead fish would affect the water quality, but a few didn’t matter. They would either be eaten by the other large fish or sink to the bottom and decompose into fertilizer.
A one-fifth death rate, mostly consisting of small, palm-sized fish, was a very acceptable loss rate.
The rest had basically adapted to the fishpond and would be able to live and reproduce in it.
After pouring the fish from the bucket for the wild ducks, Chen Chong found a suitable spot in the living room and used the Grassland Card.
As the Card vanished, a patch of grassland appeared, enclosed by a circular fence and complete with a small gate.
Inside grew lush green grass, so dense it reached a person’s knees.
Although he couldn’t tell what kind of grass it was, its thick leaves and tender stems would surely appeal to herbivores.
"Is this the Card you got from today’s settlement?"
Xu Jun stared, stunned, at the patch of grassland that had appeared next to the living room door.
The grassland took up a full 20 square meters, turning the space between the front door and the main living area into a narrow path less than a meter wide.
Fortunately, it only took up less than a fifth of the living room, so the rest of the space was still quite open.
"Brother Chong, this grass... what’s it for?"
After puzzling over it for a while, Xu Jun couldn’t contain his curiosity and had to ask.
Chen Chong explained the grassland’s effect while cutting some of the grass with a knife.
When he heard that it gave all herbivores a 30% growth bonus, Xu Jun was completely dumbfounded.
"Holy cow, this is a Divine Artifact for animal husbandry! With the effects of the enclosures, cages, and fishpond, the growth rate of the animals inside will be super-boosted, huh?"
"By the way, can you use it on farmland? If so, I’ll cut some to bury and use as compost to make the crops grow faster."
Chen Chong rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"
’The description says herbivores. Obviously that doesn’t include plant-based things like farmland...’
"Still, your settlement rewards are amazing, Brother Chong. Mine feel cursed. I got a score of 82 and a C+ Rating, but the system gave me two Vacant Land Cards, one D-Class and one C-Class."
"I’m planning to use them in the bathroom later. It’ll be a perfect place to move the wild ducks and wild rabbits."
Chen Chong glanced sideways.
’His score is only a little lower than mine. Some of the rewards and actions must have been credited only to me, not as a joint effort.’
’But the Rating... just like the past few days, there’s a difference of a full letter grade.’
’As I thought, my Rating is different from Xu Jun’s. In fact, it seems to be different from everyone else’s, like I’m automatically given a tier higher.’
"Sounds good."
Chen Chong picked up the bucket, now full of cut grass, and walked over to the enclosure.
First, he tossed a large handful of grass into it. Then he went to the room and tossed another handful to the wild rabbits, before dumping the rest of the grass into the fishpond.
"Ah Jun, from now on, remember to feed the wild ducks and wild rabbits with this grass every day. The grassland refreshes daily, so don’t worry about using it all up."
"Got it, Brother Chong. Speaking of which, we still have too few animals. This little bit won’t even use up one percent of the grassland. We need to work harder and get some more. Do you think we’ll catch any more wild rabbits or ducks in the grasslands today?"
Chen Chong shook his head. "Ah Jun, don’t go to the grasslands today. I have something to do in that direction. Wang Biao can just go with me."
Xu Jun paused, confused. "Something to do? What is it?"
"Because... I’m going to steal the Stone Claw Eagle’s eggs!"
...
"Ahhh~"
On a large bed made from several iron frames pushed together, Sima stretched lazily and opened his eyes with a smile.
"Let’s see what we’ve got!"
Humming a little tune, he recalled yesterday’s settlement information.
He looked, and he froze.
’Only an 80-point score?’
’Only a C+ Rating?’
’Still not B-Level?’
’This Card...’
After picking up the Card, he froze even more completely. His face instantly darkened.
[Building Card · Pigsty]
"Fuck!"
"What the hell is this?"
"A Pigsty Card?"
"Are you kidding me?"
...