"Li Yue, what about the canned food inside?"
"Li Yue, are there any extra cans?"
"Li Yue..."
The crowd surrounded him, several layers deep.
When Li Yue emerged, he was swarmed by the crowd.
"Back off, give me some room," Li Yue shouted, his brow furrowed.
Only then did the surrounding crowd slowly settle down.
Li Yue held up a finger. "First, the canned food rations are fixed. It’s useless to ask me."
"Second, the Alliance Master has announced that the canned food is a special resource. It will be listed in the Alliance store, available for exchange with contribution points. Naturally, there’s a weekly limit per person because production is low. This is to ensure more people have a chance to get some."
"Third, if you can hunt your own prey, you can exchange the carcasses for canned food using fewer contribution points."
"That’s all I have to say. Any questions?"
"Li Yue, is this canned food really as amazing as they say? Can it help someone break through to the Extraordinary realm?"
Li Yue shook his head and said calmly, "I can’t give you a definitive answer. You’ll have to find that out for yourselves. Try one, and you’ll know whether it works."
After his explanation, the crowd dispersed.
Once everyone else had gone, the tension finally left Li Yue’s face.
He rubbed his face. He hadn’t expected the canned food to become such a hot commodity overnight.
Even he was tempted.
He still hadn’t broken through to the Extraordinary realm.
His current physical constitution was at the Five-Star level, just one step away from becoming Extraordinary.
But without a stroke of luck, he had no idea when he’d be able to take that step.
"Too young to be sighing like that." Qin Ziwen’s voice suddenly came from behind him.
Li Yue jumped, startled. He breathed a sigh of relief when he turned and saw it was the Alliance Master.
"Alliance Master, you don’t make a sound when you walk."
"You were the one spacing out. I saw you staring into the distance as soon as I got here. What’s on your mind? Thinking about a girl?" Qin Ziwen asked, raising an eyebrow.
Li Yue looked a little embarrassed. "It’s nothing. Just wondering when I’ll be able to break through to the Extraordinary realm."
"Just keep working hard. Be diligent, and you have a chance," Qin Ziwen said with a soft chuckle. "However, after you become Extraordinary, the mission difficulty for the Breakthrough Card will likely increase. I’m not sure how that might affect you if you’re planning on taking the artisan path."
"I understand. Thank you, Alliance Master," Li Yue said gratefully.
"All right, go on and get back to your work." Qin Ziwen patted him on the shoulder.
After Li Yue left,
Qin Ziwen turned his attention to the two buildings. Within Giant Beast Heavy Industry, the two currently active structures were the Giant Beast Breeding Center and the Giant Beast Feed Processing Plant.
The Giant Beast Breeding Center’s effects included accelerated incubation, accelerated growth, and a heartier appetite. It also increased the rate of beneficial mutations, prioritized loyalty, and enhanced their Beast Spirit, boosting their Spiritual Energy.
The purpose of the Giant Beast Feed Processing Plant was self-evident: it broke down prey carcasses into the canned food that could help one’s physical body break through to the Extraordinary realm.
The Giant Beast Feed Processing Plant was Level 3, while the Giant Beast Breeding Center was Level 2.
After a moment of thought, Qin Ziwen decided to convert his spare Tongwu Martial Arts Arena Card into a Breeding Center card.
He took out the Card and relaxed his grip.
It was as if something invisible had snatched it up in its jaws.
Qin Ziwen looked up, but could only see a swirling, chaotic darkness.
For a dizzying moment, it felt as though the entire Giant Beast Heavy Industry had come alive.
When he blinked, the Card was simply floating in the air. There was no invisible creature holding it. What he’d seen had just been an illusion.
A faint wisp of smoke drifted up from the surface of the azure metal card.
The smoke coalesced into the phantom image of a massive training ground.
The phantom image shuddered violently.
It twisted and warped as if squeezed by an invisible, giant hand.
Finally, it burst apart.
The scattered, multi-colored smoke re-condensed, forming the image of a gray, square castle above the metal card.
The image dissipated, and the Card fell into his hand.
Qin Ziwen clutched the ice-cold Card and glanced around.
The area was empty and silent.
Looking down at the Card in his hand again, his eyes narrowed.
[Advanced Building Card] Level 1 Giant Beast Breeding Center (Locked): This card has been converted and cannot be converted again.
’So a converted Card can’t be converted a second time.’
He then took out an Advanced Building Copy Card.
The Duplication Card was colored like a clump of kneaded modeling clay—a mix of many hues, primitive and simple.
The Advanced Building Duplication Card in his hand slowly began to change, shimmering in resonance with the Giant Beast Breeding Center card beside it, until it became a perfect, identical copy.
The two Level 1 Advanced Building Cards merged with a flash of light.
[Advanced Building Card] Level 2 Giant Beast Breeding Center.
Qin Ziwen mentally commanded, ’Use.’
The Card in his hand transformed into a streak of light that shot into the darkness nearby, melting into it.
A moment later,
the entire Giant Beast Heavy Industry seemed to come alive once more, letting out a heavy, rhythmic breath.
Bricks and stones shifted, stacked, and interlocked.
He pulled a flashlight from his pocket and switched it to its brightest setting.
In the beam of light, the silhouette of the nearby Giant Beast Breeding Center was beginning to change.
What was once a two-story gray castle was now growing taller.
The walls of a third story materialized from the void, bricks stacking one upon another with seamless precision.
At the same time, the building’s color began to shift.
The gray gradually faded, replaced by a deeper, blue-black hue with a metallic sheen.
Faint patterns emerged on the surface of the walls, resembling the scales on a Giant Beast’s hide.
Once the Breeding Center’s upgrade was complete, the heavy breathing from within Giant Beast Heavy Industry slowly subsided.
[Ultimate Building · Level 1 Giant Beast Heavy Industry]
[Subordinate Branch Building · Level 3 Giant Beast Breeding Center]
[Level 3 Giant Beast Breeding Center: Level 4 Incubation Speed, Level 4 Growth Speed, Level 2 Increased Appetite] (Special Effects: ① Animals bred in the Giant Beast Breeding Center will grow larger than others of their kind and have a low chance of beneficial mutation. Giant Beasts hatched in the Breeding Center will have their primary loyalty pledged to the Lord of the Homeland. ② Beast Spirit: Animals raised within this building will receive a small boost to their Spiritual Energy, allowing them to perceive human emotions more easily.)
Qin Ziwen scanned the description. No new traits had been added; the existing ones had just been upgraded by one level.
’Still, Level 3 is more than enough.’
In truth, his decision to upgrade the Giant Beast Breeding Center wasn’t made on a whim.
Ever since subjugating the Giant Aphid-Rhinoceros Beetle and the swarm of Abdomen Aphid Spiders, Qin Ziwen had been contemplating how to best domesticate these insects.
The Insect Taming Hall was only one piece of the puzzle.
Although the Abdomen Aphid Spiders wouldn’t attack the other people in his Home for the time being, they weren’t truly tamed. Only the Giant Aphid-Rhinoceros Beetle was.
The Abdomen Aphid Spiders obeyed the Giant Aphid-Rhinoceros Beetle’s commands.
It was a chain of command, but the links were too weak to restrain such ferocious beasts.
If something were to happen to the Giant Aphid-Rhinoceros Beetle one day, or if it simply wasn’t present, the Abdomen Aphid Spiders would instantly become uncontrollable.
They refrained from attacking people not out of recognition, but because the Giant Aphid-Rhinoceros Beetle forbade it.
That was why the Giant Beast Breeding Center was another chain in his plan.
The offspring born in the Breeding Center would be more loyal. Plus, it would make the insects smarter.
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