Chapter 119 - 99: Turtle Defense! The School’s Protection Ends? Pheasants and Wild Ducks Successfully Paired
"Brother Chong, you really don’t want it?"
"I really don’t."
"Then I’ll use it?"
"Go ahead."
After Xu Jun used the Ability Card, he was so excited that he wanted to test out the defensive power of "Turtle Defense" right then and there.
Chen Chong was happy to oblige and casually picked up the Fire Axe...
...
A long while later.
The two of them were sitting on the sofa again.
"This ability is awesome, Brother Chong! If we run into danger in the future, I’ll just flop on the ground, you can hide under me, and even if it’s raining knives, we’ll have nothing to fear!"
Chen Chong was both pleasantly surprised and exasperated.
He was surprised because the defensive strength of "Turtle Defense" far exceeded his expectations, and its duration wasn’t short either—a full thirty seconds.
If it grew stronger later, its duration and defensive strength could increase even further.
He was exasperated because the posture—lying prone on the ground—was just... so undignified.
But fortunately, its practicality outweighed this drawback.
Just now, after Xu Jun lay on the ground, a thin layer of transparent green light had quickly covered the area above his back, seemingly spanning about one square meter.
Despite its small area of effect, Chen Chong had put all his strength into swinging the Fire Axe at it, but there was no reaction at all.
You have to understand, the current Chen Chong had been comprehensively strengthened by a Comprehensive Enhancement Card. His strength, if not beyond the limits of a human, was certainly close to it.
Even so, he couldn’t break through the green light shield, which just showed how strong it was!
Chen Chong estimated that the defensive power of the B-Level "Turtle Defense" ability was even more ridiculous than his own A-Level "Body Petrification."
To actually hurt Xu Jun while he was under "Turtle Defense," it would take at least the power of an Extraordinary Creature...
Of course, the two abilities had different focuses.
"Turtle Defense" was all about turtling up. Although its hardness was high, it had limitations: you had to be lying on the ground, and you couldn’t move.
It couldn’t be used in an environment where lying prone was impossible.
Or, if used when facing danger, you’d be immobile, forced to just take the attacks on the spot. Once the shield disappeared, you’d be a sitting duck. The limitations were too great.
This kind of ability was only suitable for tanking damage at critical moments.
"Body Petrification" was different. It allowed him to possess a defensive power several times greater than his own for a short period while still being able to move freely, with no restrictions whatsoever.
’Perhaps that’s why the two abilities are similar, yet one is A-Level and the other is B-Level...’
But regardless, Chen Chong was happy that Xu Jun had obtained such a practical ability.
Xu Jun was the person he trusted most since he’d crossed over. Although there were others in the team, and there might be more in the future, Xu Jun was always the one closest to him.
He could unconditionally entrust his back to him.
This new world was very dangerous. In the future, crossing over to other ecosystems would only be even more so.
The stronger Xu Jun became, the more he could help him, and the more confident the entire team could be about surviving...
Watching the endlessly excited Xu Jun, Chen Chong smiled, but his mood gradually grew heavy.
It was because he remembered this morning’s intelligence.
’It’s the eleventh day...’
Only after seeing the three latest pieces of intelligence this morning did he realize that the initial peace of the Primitive Jungle was about to disappear completely. The real danger was beginning to surface.
[B-Level Intelligence: The school, as a residential point, has a ten-day protection period. During this time, no creature can actively enter the school. But after ten days, the protection will disappear.]
[B-Level Intelligence: The Stone Claw Eagle is currently in bigger trouble, but its life is not in immediate danger. However, the longer time passes, the weaker it will become.]
Including the previous A-Level intelligence about Cards, all three pieces of intelligence today were information-based.
Compared to prey and Cards, Chen Chong preferred to see this kind of intelligence.
’Often, intelligence is far more important...’
Thanks to this morning’s intelligence, Chen Chong finally understood why he had never seen any creatures from the jungle inside the school after all these days.
It turned out the school had a ten-day protection period.
No wonder the man-eating Blood-tooth Python and the Stone Claw Eagle had never once set foot on school grounds.
But...
Today was the 11th day.
This meant that the school’s protection period as a residence had ended.
’Will those special, dangerous creatures from the jungle, including the Extraordinary Creatures, come inside?’
’Will the school still be as safe as before?’
As for the intelligence on the Stone Claw Eagle...
Chen Chong already knew what the "bigger trouble" was. It was most likely because of the Bloodthirsty Vine.
Before, when he saw the Unihorn Catfish that had been parasitized by it, he thought the Stone Claw Eagle had suffered the same fate.
But now, it seemed the Stone Claw Eagle lived up to its name as an A+ Class Extraordinary Creature. Even injured, it wasn’t so easily parasitized.
But trapped in the cave and still injured, it would sooner or later follow in the Unihorn Catfish’s footsteps.
Chen Chong made a decision. ’Instead of waiting for the Stone Claw Eagle to be parasitized and have its power devoured by the Bloodthirsty Vine, I might as well kill it myself.’
’Not only can I get another Card, a Secret Card, and a high daily settlement score, but I can also bring back new materials from an Extraordinary Creature to forge an Extraordinary Artifact and increase my own strength.’
’More importantly, I can stop the Bloodthirsty Vine from accumulating enough power to evolve to S-Class.’
’Otherwise, if I ignore it and it really reaches that stage, facing an S-Class Extraordinary Creature will be even more troublesome.’
’But now isn’t the time to hunt the Stone Claw Eagle. I should wait at least two more days for it to get weaker.’
’At the same time, I should see if I can learn more about the Bloodthirsty Vine from intelligence or other sources.’
’After all, if I really go to that cave, I might not be facing one Extraordinary Creature, but two!’
’Going there without enough confidence would be suicide...’
...
The sun hung high in the sky, its heat radiating across the entire Primitive Jungle.
Chen Chong led the Tiger Striped Dog, Xu Jun, Wang Biao, Jia Wen, and even Zhang Meng and Huang Mao to the edge of the overgrown field.
"This is my first time here. Brother Chen Chong, I never expected you guys to find such a perfect hunting spot."
Zhang Meng was somewhat shocked as he gazed at the wide, open field before him.
He was especially amazed when he saw the rabbit traps, bird nets, and fish cages—all of them full—and couldn’t help but exclaim what a great place it was.
Huang Mao was also very excited. "Wow, there are so many resources here! If we could catch this much prey every day, we wouldn’t even need to hunt anywhere else!"
They hadn’t been to the overgrown field in two days, and all three types of traps had yielded a rich haul.
At the same time, the wear and tear was significant.
Nearly all six of the traps Wang Biao had set were sprung, but prey had escaped from three of them, even damaging the traps in the process.
Of the remaining three, one had caught a mountain rat, and two had caught wild rabbits.
The mountain rat was already stiff, clearly dead for over a day. It had lost all value as food and was thrown away.
As for the two wild rabbits, one was dead and one was alive.
The dead one looked like it hadn’t been dead for more than half a day, so it was still edible.
The living one was on its last breath, but it should recover after being cared for back home for a couple of days. The rabbit hutch would have a new member.
The bird net had caught even more prey.
At least thirty birds of various sizes were hanging densely on it.
The small ones were about the size of a palm, the same kind they had caught most often before.
The large ones were as big as quails. Although he couldn’t identify the species, their plump appearance suggested they had a lot of meat and were highly valuable as food.
In addition, the net had caught one each of the wild pheasants and wild ducks that Xu Jun was always clamoring about.
Although half of the thirty-plus birds were dead—a very high attrition rate—both the wild duck and the wild pheasant were still alive.
It was a male pheasant and a female duck!
They were a perfect match for the two female pheasants and one male duck back home.
"We’re so lucky! We solved the pairing problem for two types of fowl in one go. Brother Chong, it looks like not coming for two days was the right call. We might not have caught them otherwise!"
Xu Jun was grinning from ear to ear.
Looking at the pheasant and duck, which were still in good spirits, a smile also spread across Chen Chong’s face.
As long as they brought them back and raised them properly, with the accelerated effects of the Card buildings and the rapid hatching feature of the incubator, it wouldn’t be long before the empty pens were full.
’The breeding and raising of poultry can finally get on the right track...’
SPLASH—
The fish cage was pulled out of the water.
A full two-thirds of its space was filled with fish.
Compared to the birds and beasts, the survival rate of the fish and shrimp in the water was much higher.
He just didn’t know if being trapped inside for two days had caused them any unseen injuries, which might lead to a much higher attrition rate than before once they were brought back.
But judging by their current state, they looked fine, all of them flopping around inside the cage.
After pouring all the fish into the fish box, stuffing the pre-prepared stinking entrails into the fish cage, and placing it back in the water, Chen Chong led the group toward their next destination.
And that place... was none other than where the carcass of the Unihorn Catfish lay.
Although the Unihorn Catfish was long dead and had been burned to a crisp, there were still some things on its body that Chen Chong needed to retrieve...
...