Chapter 71 – Greta Enraged as Florida Man Cut 2,000 Trees in Front of Official Agents
Having subordinates was convenient. Leo had time to work with the terrain clearing, removing iron pine trees from his domain. He also mutated the surrounding grasses and bushes, making more weird items.
While Leo was working, he spotted a hundred silhouettes of people at a distance. They had been hiding behind trees and shades, staying 200 meters away from Leo's shop domain.
Leo glanced at these people and pretended that he didn't notice them. He carried the last iron pine tree in his shop domain to the empty lot near the junkyard. Then, he proceeded to remove the barks and branches from the logs.
The crowd of stalkers moved closer to the shop domain. However, they remained out of the premise as they had no place to hide – All trees and bushes had been removed, and the trenches were too shallow for them to hide during the daytime.
While Leo worked on the tree barks, he sneaked glances at the stalkers several times. He started to get annoyed as they neither attacked him nor declared their intention.
After finishing the 10th log, Leo paused his work. He let the mannequins do their jobs, bringing the tree bark, leaves, nuts, and other resources to the warehouse. As for him, he had another task to do.
Leo walked toward the southwest of his shop domain. He stepped on the mystic realm portal platform, but he didn't activate it. He proceeded further and reached the boundary of his shop domain for the first time.
The crowd that had been hiding and inspecting the mystic realm portal in secret dispersed. They slipped away in the dark and stayed 200 meters away from Leo. The latter noticed their movements, but he didn't pursue them.
After crossing the boundary, Leo came across a blue forest. This area got contaminated by the iron pine trees' aura, and they turned into something similar to spirit grasses. However, as Leo got closer and touched them, they blackened and evolved into iron pine trees.
Leo snorted. He quietly uprooted the trees and threw them over the portal platform as if he was a superman quarterback, treating the tree logs as a ball.
"…"
The crowd remained silent. They backed away while they continued to observe Leo.
Leo also noticed their intentions. He kept clearing land, removing every tree he touched. This time, he ignored small bushes as they took too long to remove.
One hour later, Leo successfully removed 200 iron pine trees, clearing one-third of an acre's worth of land. He inwardly laughed as he thought of the ancient tree lovers back in the modern days. They would have cried bloody tears if they had seen Leo's deeds that day.
As the land was partly cleared, the spies from various clans could no longer hide close to the mystic realm portal. Still, they quietly observed Leo's power and took notes of his actions.
Unfortunately for them, Leo had another plan in mind. After he rearranged the 200 logs north of the portal platform, the three warehouse mannequins came to survey the area. They masterfully uprooted bushes and immortal grass, piling them nearby. Leo also returned to remove other trees.
The crowd started to notice the trend. They clicked their tongues and relocated themselves.
Leo entered beast mode that day and almost deforested the Sword Saint Forest. When the Sun went down, Leo finished uprooting the 2,000th tree. The logs piled up everywhere in the shop domain, and the workshop mannequins never stopped working.
When Leo stopped working, he admired the scenery around his shop domain by jumping 500 meters into the sky. He looked around and laughed as no tree existed near the boundary of his domain anymore.
With fewer places to hide, the stalkers were forced to keep a distance from the shop domain and sensitive structures, such as the farmlands and the mystic realm platform. Still, Leo was not satisfied with the result. He aimed to remove every tree, creating a border surrounding the domain.
Leo snorted and returned to the store and called it a day. He yawned and threw himself on the bed.
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At midnight, a wooden mannequin unlocked the front door and entered the store. It looked around for a moment and entered Leo's bedroom. Noticing that Leo was sleeping soundly, it stood next to him and leaned closer to his face.
As the mannequin couldn't talk, it stood there, menacingly staring at Leo's sleeping face with two red lenses.
*SNORE*
"…"
The mannequin tilted its head. It gazed at Leo's mouth and poked it with his finger.
Leo didn't react or move.
"…"
The mannequin straightened his back. It quietly walked out of the store and picked up the bucket of Cat's mutated water. Then, it came back with the bucket.
Upon getting back to the room, the mannequin didn't splash the water on Leo. Instead, it gently poured the mutated water into Leo's mouth, one drop at a time.
It continued adding water for the entire night.
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YAWN
Leo returned from his dream world, and he could feel his real body. He stretched, readying his mind for a new day.
MLEM-MLEM
For an unknown reason, his mouth was strangely moist. His throat wasn't as dry as usual. Moreover, the bitter mint taste got stuck in his mouth.
Leo squinted his eyebrows as he recognized this scent. It smelled like Cat's saliva. Because of the unusual experience, he opened his eyes.
*Insert Jojo ambient sound here*
The creepy face of the third alchemy workshop's mannequin was two centimeters away from Leo's face. It tilted its head 45 degrees while its red eyes shone.
"…"
Leo didn't utter a sound as he wasn't afraid of ghosts or monsters. He was simply speechless by the first sight in the morning. After allowing his brain to process information, Leo gently pushed the wooden doll's face away and sat up.
"Are you out of containers?"
The mannequin repeatedly nodded.
"Fine. I'll get more for you-"
CLANK-CLANK
As Leo got out of bed while he spoke, his foot accidentally kicked a certain empty bucket. Leo looked down and found the wooden bucket, which was reserved for Cat's drinking water.
Leo licked the ceiling of his gum. He thought of the nasty smell of Cat's saliva and connected the dots.
"…"
Leo was not angry at the mannequin. Instead, he thought that Cat pranked him. He facepalmed.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM
"MEOW!!"
Meanwhile, someone had been searching for her water bucket. Cat smacked the front door and the display windows while screaming, calling Leo to come out.
PFFT
Leo snickered and picked up the bucket, toothbrush, and toothpaste. He then led the mannequin out of the store.
Another slow and peaceful morning continued.
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At noon, Han Hao traveled from Magpie City to Leo's store on foot. He brought along 20 outer disciples from the sect to help Leo.
When they arrived, they were stunned by the cleared land. The Sword Saint Boulder became a part of Leo's domain as the surrounding trees were gone. It became a landmark, informing them that they were in Leo's territory.
Han Hao bitterly smiled as he couldn't complain about what Leo had done to the sacred place. He quietly led the young cultivators to the store.
Along the way, Han Hao ran into Wu Buyi, who had been concocting pills in front of his house. When their eyes met, Wu Buyi gestured to him with his eyes that he was busy.I think you should take a look at
Han Hao was an understanding man. He turned around and informed the group, "Don't disturb the elder. Follow me."
The disciples gulped and quietly saluted Wu Buyi. Then, they proceeded to the front of the store.
Among the crowd, Gao Yan also tagged along. He wanted to greet his mentor, but Wu Buyi didn't bother looking at him. In addition, upon seeing so many buildings and farms, Gao Yan was astonished that he forgot what he should speak to his master.
The mannequins still ran around like nothing had happened. The farmer bots struggled to collect potatoes in the farms while three logistic mannequins carried huge logs and potatoes to their perspective storehouses.
While the disciples gawked at the strange buildings and scenery, a mannequin with a yellow jacket and a protection helmet came out from a five-meter-wide road between the store and Wu Buyi's house. It walked past the group and picked up a piece of wooden branch and black iron pine leaves on the ground. Then, it carried them to the back of the store building.
The disciples observed them with interest. One of them peeped into the alley road and found alchemy workshop buildings behind the store.
"Wow. There's an alchemy section! Gao Yan, you're lucky!"
Gao Yan followed his friend's gaze and found the first and the second workshop. He widely grinned, "I guess I have a place to train."
"Lucky you!"
Han Hao coughed, "Be quiet."
"…Whoops."
After shutting the disciples' mouths, Han Hao deeply sighed and looked around as he couldn't find the monster plant. Instead, he detected several life signatures in the forest in the distance, and they had been observing them.
'Why are there so many lurkers around here? How many clans dispatched their agents here?'
Han Hao thought of the previous incident when Leo slaughtered the raiders. He wondered if they were related to the Fatui Cult, Ouyang Clan, or the Situ Clan. Han Hao was also afraid of the potential imperial court's agents.
After shaking his head and getting rid of unnecessary thoughts, Han Hao knocked at the door.
"Senior Florida Man, I have brought you helpers."
As soon as Han Hao made some noise, a certain monster plant came out from the granary, which was located directly behind Wu Buyi's house.
Cat peeked at the crowd while she was in the building. When she spotted someone she knew, Cat came out and immediately extorted them for nom-nom tax.
"Nom-Nom Meow?"
"… It's you again." Han Hao laughed and ejected a dead horse from his spatial ring. He tossed the carcass to her.
Cat caught the corpse with her chomper mouth and grinned. She receded back to the granary and disappeared.
The disciples trembled in fear as some of them had never seen such a monster before. Only Gao Yan seemed indifferent to Cat.
"G-Grand Elder Han, what in the spirit's mercy is that?!"
Han Hao rolled his eyes, "Senior Florida Man's pet."
"P-P-PET!? He's keeping a monster as a pet?!"
"Get used to it. Y'all signed up to work here for spirit stones, and you'll soon live here. If you don't wanna get eaten, you'd better learn and follow Senior Florida Man's instructions."
Again, the disciples gulped. Only Gao Yan inwardly laughed at his colleagues.
A few minutes later, Leo came out from the store building. Toothbrush foam stained his mouth and beard as he brushed his teeth 8th time today.
"Oh, it's you."
Leo looked at the crowd behind Han Hao. Noticing a familiar face, Leo grinned.
"Good to see you again, Gao Yan. Have you gotten better?"
Gao Yan dryly laughed, "I haven't learned much from my master. He keeps disappearing."
"Oh, my bad. He has been working here."
"…"
Everybody glanced at Wu Buyi, who was still busy with his cauldron. But while everybody paid attention to him, Wu Buyi finished his batch of pills.
BOOM
15 high-grade yang flame dans came out. However, Wu Buyi was not satisfied with his work. He mumbled to himself while he looked at the open scroll on the ground, which he had taken notes from what he had learned from observing the mannequin alchemists.
"My essence is lacking. I don't have all the necessary essence like those golems. Also, something isn't right during the merging process. I don't have enough Qi to sustain the other half of the pot. Damn, alchemy is hard!"
Wu Buyi grumbled and looked up. Then, his eyes met with Gao Yan.
"Disciple! You've come at the right time. Come with me! We'll go and learn the new concoction method from a grandmaster golem! Bring your goddamn notes!"
"Eh?"
Gao Yan couldn't even react. Wu Buyi dragged him to the first alchemy workshop to learn the techniques by observing.
Leo and Han Hao stared at them and shook their heads in unison. Then, they proceeded with their talk.
"So, are they the workers? I don't have to pay them, right?" Leo seized up the people behind Han Hao. The crowd was embarrassed, and they lowered their heads.
"Yes, senior. The sect will provide the salary. But if you can, please provide them basic needs, such as a place to rest or cultivate. If better, please give them some bonuses, such as some of your pills."
"Eh, I'm not a cheapskate. I have plenty of element grain pills and rejuvenate tea to feed them for a thousand years."
"…"
Han Hao was inwardly envious of the disciples. He gulped and whispered, "T-Then, can I have a few bottles of rejuvenate tea for the trouble?"
Leo sneered and walked back to the store. He then came out with four bottles of cold tea.
Han Hao received them in glee. But when he noticed the quality and the color, he was surprised.
"Wait a second, senior. Isn't your tea…THE PINNACLE GRADE?!"
Leo puffed his chest, "Damn straight. My tea is the pinnacle of all tea! Hahahaha!"
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"…"
Standing in front of the third workshop cauldron was the alchemy mannequin. He overheard the conversation and turned his head 180 degrees. Then, his eyes gleamed as if he wanted to protest Leo that he made them.
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Pinnacle Grade Rejuvenate Tea
- Evolve bone marrow and blood cells.
- Decrease physical age by 20 years per liter.
- Increase metabolism by 100% for 480 hours.
- Remove cancer cells.