Chapter 137 - 128: Day 27 Settlement
"You..." Mrs. Yuan looked at her son, finally letting out a long sigh.
He was a grown man. If he really didn’t want to, could she just tie him up and drag him there?
But Mrs. Yuan felt that the Alliance Association was the largest organization in the Gated Community right now. Zhang Liang was an old friend they’d known for years and the captain of a Hunting Team. He had told their family in private that he only had one daughter and no son. The two families knew each other inside and out, and Zhang Liang had watched Yuan Ming grow up. He had no issue with Yuan Ming’s character and was willing to play matchmaker for their children.
"Let me ask you, what do you think of Zhang Zihan?"
"Mom, please stop trying to play matchmaker. I just don’t feel that way about her." Yuan Ming was exasperated. They were the same age; who didn’t know what the other was like? Zhang Zihan was a completely different person in front of adults compared to how she was in front of him.
Mrs. Yuan was about to say more, but Father Yuan, who had been sitting silently on the sofa, suddenly spoke up. "Enough. Since he has his own ideas, let him be. I can still work, and this family can manage. Yuan Ming, I only hope you stay safe out there. Put your life first. Your mother waits for you to come home for dinner every day."
A smile appeared on Yuan Ming’s face. "I know, Dad."
Hu Huilan was so exasperated by the father and son that she laughed. "So I get to be the bad guy, is that it! Yuan Dajun, you let me say all the harsh words, then you swoop in to be the good guy!"
Yuan Dajun coughed, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood up. "I’m going to make dinner. You go and comfort your mom."
Feeling the warmth of his family, Yuan Ming couldn’t help but smile.
Pulling his mother down to sit, Yuan Ming said, "Mom, the team I’m with now is really great. I can’t tell you the specifics, but I promise I’ll make sure you and Dad live a good life."
Hu Huilan was silent for a moment, then she grabbed Yuan Ming’s hand. "I’m not hoping for some great life, Mom just wants you to be safe. It breaks my heart to see you get hurt."
...
"Bro! Bro! Come quick, she’s pregnant!"
Having just finished a shower, Qin Ziwen was dragged in front of the animal cage by his excited younger brother.
"Who’s pregnant?"
"Both of these rabbits must be pregnant. Look, their bellies are all swollen." Qin Ziwu pointed to the cage, where five plump rabbits were squatting quietly. Compared to before, their bodies had more than doubled in size.
Two of them, with their abdomens visibly swollen, were huddled in a corner, keeping their distance from the others.
"That was fast," Qin Ziwen remarked. He had been busy these past few days, only stopping by to quickly add food and water before rushing off.
Looking at them now, he saw that two of the rabbits were indeed starting to show.
’Looks like it’ll be soon.’ Qin Ziwen was getting excited. Once this litter was born and grew up, their population would soon enter a period of rapid expansion.
Seeing a person approach, the voles in the cage next door scurried over, their little black noses poking through the bars, sniffing incessantly.
Thanks to being fed recently, these voles were no longer afraid of people. They had even grown somewhat friendly, coming over whenever anyone got close to their cage.
But there was still something they feared: the Beaked Eagle that wandered aimlessly around the room at the end of the day.
Every time they saw the Beaked Eagle, the small animals would cower in the very center of their cages.
The Beaked Eagle didn’t eat them; it just seemed to enjoy making its rounds and inspecting them occasionally.
Qin Ziwu asked in confusion, "Bro, how come the voles aren’t pregnant?"
"Because all three of them are female."
"Ah!"
"What are you ’ah’-ing about? Before we leave, we need to catch at least one live male vole."
"Yes, big brother! Bro, let me tell you, I’ve been practicing my archery lately, and I feel like my Archery Skill is getting more and more accurate. At forty-five paces, I can hit the head six or seven times out of ten," Qin Ziwu said smugly.
"Not bad." Qin Ziwen gave his approval. This rate of progress was much faster than his own had been back then.
Of course, this was all thanks to the Divine Power of the Celestial Star Arrow Gallery. He himself had been practicing the Continuous Arrow technique recently and was already getting good results with two-shot volleys. According to Du Yu, there was no secret to Continuous Arrow; its core was just two things: speed and accuracy.
Fast hands, accurate shots.
Using a special arrow-holding technique, after firing one arrow, you nock and fire a second. Once you master the skill, you can quickly fire a third and a fourth.
The main purpose of this technique was to allow an archer to fire as many arrows as possible before an enemy got close. If one pursued speed while ignoring accuracy, it would be missing the point entirely.
From the Blacksmith Shop next door came the CLANG CLANG of a hammer striking iron.
Ever since returning home, Li Tieshan hadn’t shown his face.
Qin Ziwen entered the Blacksmith Shop. Li Tieshan was bare-chested, his bronze skin glistening under the glow of the fire.
Bringing the hammer down with a heavy blow, Li Tieshan let out a long, hot breath. "My lord."
"Dr. Qian told me you’ve been busy all day."
Li Tieshan looked up and said excitedly, "My lord, the Iron Ingots forged in the Furnace Fortress are indeed much better than our previous materials. I’ve forged a new set of spearheads today based on the ones you’re currently using. You just need to swap them out."
"Alright, go ahead and replace them. Make sure you get some rest." After offering some encouragement, Qin Ziwen returned to the master bedroom.
The night passed without incident.
「The next day.」
[You have successfully survived in the wilderness for 27 days, obtained five Cards, and successfully hunted the mutated Ancient Cave Giant Toad... Comprehensive Score: 387]
[Rewards obtained: [Function Card] Level 1 Deployment x1, [Expansion Card] Height Expansion Card (Small) x1, [Building Card] Level 1 Tailor Shop x1, [Building Card] Level 1 Blacksmith Shop x1, [Building Enhancement Card] Bountiful x1, [Building Card] Fish Pond x1]
After reading the rewards, Qin Ziwen fell silent.
First was the Deployment Function Card.
Qin Ziwen chose to use it immediately.
[Function Activated: Level 2 Deployment]
[Authority has been upgraded. Current Authority: Level 2 Authority (1/4)]
[Level 2 Deployment: Can be used on any building, resource node, or expanded area within the Home. Expanded areas can be re-planned. After re-planning, the area and its corresponding building (or resource node) cannot be moved again for 7 days.]
After reading about the new function, Qin Ziwen had only one thought: he could finally organize his chaotically arranged expanded area.
Moreover, this time he could move the underlying expanded area along with it, so the restriction of having to move existing buildings to an empty space was gone.
Next was the Height Expansion Card (Small).
The previous Height Expansion Card (Micro) had only increased the height by 0.2 meters, but the Small version increased it by a full 2 meters.
He chose to use it.
He went outside the expanded area and looked back at the house. From the outside, the original house now looked like a small, one-story "bungalow" enclosed within a larger space, with a full 2.2 meters of empty space above its roof.
The entire Home’s height was raised to 5 meters.
Looking around, it no longer felt as oppressive as before.
"Huh?" Qin Ziwen noticed that one of the buildings in his Home had changed. The Celestial Star Arrow Gallery had originally been three meters tall, its roof touching the ceiling. But as the Home’s height increased, it now stood five meters tall, its roof still touching the new, higher ceiling.
But looking at it now, the fifty-meter-long building seemed much more harmonious than before.
Aside from that, the other buildings hadn’t changed.
Perhaps this was a special trait of Advanced Buildings.
𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
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