Yao Fang went back to discuss matters with the camp leader.
Guo Kao, who had come with him, stayed behind.
Li Ban had originally planned to pack his things and leave as soon as the Black Beast Camp's leader agreed. Seeing Guo Kao linger, he walked over.
"Is there something else?"
Guo Kao looked utterly dejected, lacking the energy to maintain his usual gentle smile.
"The red fruit forest actually died a long time ago. No one would believe it without seeing it with their own eyes," Guo Kao said, looking up at Li Ban. "Even now, some people from Bell Tower Camp are digging three feet deep into the soil, convinced they must still have some hidden red fruit trees."
"Actually, I think they're telling the truth."
Guo Kao could still recall the sheer despair in Felice's eyes.
She still felt pain and fear, but her deepest emotion was despair.
This was likely why they had delayed announcing the complete death of the red fruit forest to the public.
In the past, using the red fruits as leverage, they could keep the other three camps in check.
But now that the fruits were gone, those three camps would only discuss how to carve up Red Fruit Camp.
Therefore, whether they resisted or not, the outcome would be the same.
"Priest Li Ban, why do you think the people of Red Fruit Camp still chose to resist the joint attack from the three camps?"
Even if people in the Recycling Station refused to die, this decisive battle had left two hundred with destroyed brains, turning them into actual corpse fragments.
"I don't know," Li Ban answered honestly, a response somewhat unfitting for a Priest.
"Probably because when everyone gives up hope of ever leaving, this place becomes their home," Zhu Yao said, walking over from behind.
They had been packing their bags and training Dila, drawing on Black Beast Camp's beast-taming experience to help correct the dragon's somewhat misaligned hind legs.
After two days of rest, the black dragon Dila had fully recovered.
The gloomy Guo Kao looked at the few people bustling behind Li Ban. Though small in number, they were brimming with vitality; everyone still held out hope for the future.
"Priest Li Ban, Priest Zhu Yao, can I leave with you?"
"What, feeling disappointed in Black Beast Camp?" Tail, with her sharp ears, trotted over specifically to mock him.
"No!" Guo Kao's first reaction was to deny it, but he quickly softened his tone. "Not disappointed, just a bit lost. I want to visit the Continental Center. I want to see what the camps that risk staying near the Sea of Monsters look like, and see how the people there live. If I can understand it, I'll come back and work to make Black Beast Camp better."
Zhu Yao gave him an odd look, sizing him up. "What is your relationship with the leader of Black Beast Camp?"
Guo Kao blanked for a moment. "He's my grandfather."
Zhu Yao nodded in understanding. "Then we have no problem with it."
Guo Kao instantly understood what Zhu Yao was implying and hurriedly waved his hands with a smile. "No, no, no, we don't run a hereditary system here. Whether my grandfather is the camp leader or not, everyone needs to take a position that suits them and do what they excel at."
"I can testify to that," another voice chimed in.
Everyone looked up to see a red-haired young man, with Yao Fang following right behind him.
The young man looked to be in his early twenties, but his eyes were filled with age and weariness.
In the Recycling Station, appearance had nothing to do with age.
"Hello, my name is Werther. I am the deputy leader of Black Beast Camp, mainly in charge of internal affairs. Yao Fang just mentioned Priest Li's requests to me. It's no problem; we can agree to all of them. However, I also have a new proposal. I wonder if you would be willing to hear it?"
"Go ahead," Li Ban said. Seeing that Yao Fang had brought his superior, he knew Black Beast Camp had other plans in mind.
"To save the red fruit trees that still cling to life, our three camps have pooled five Priests. Along with Red Fruit Camp's own two Priests, we're gathering to research a solution. If Priest Li Ban and Priest Zhu Yao are willing to participate in this research, we will double the supplies you requested. If we ultimately save even a single red fruit tree, we will pay triple."
Such terms tempted both Li Ban and Zhu Yao.
In the Recycling Station, reserves of rye and clean water were a countdown on one's life. Merely obtaining double the supplies equated to three extra months of life.
Having spiritual rhinoceros, Zhu Yao naturally didn't worry about procuring rye, but she suspected that as they pressed forward, Li Ban would likely take in more and more subordinates.
An entire team's rye consumption was not something a mere handful of people could compare to.
"How many days of research will this take? We won't stay here long." Li Ban thought for a moment and set a time limit. "I'll still give it three days. If there are no results in three days, I'll take the doubled supplies and leave, and you can keep trying."
This time, Werther looked a bit troubled. "Can't you stay a little longer?"
Li Ban chuckled and sighed. "To be honest, I'm no researcher. Besides, given the technical methods available in the Recycling Station, if we can't figure it out in three days, I won't be able to think of anything after three days either."
Werther understood what Li Ban meant. After a moment of thought, he nodded. "Acceptable."
Li Ban turned back to Tail and called out, "We're heading over now. You don't need to pack the luggage for now."
Tail's shoulders slumped, and her ears drooped, clearly displeased about not leaving Black Beast Camp as soon as possible.
However, she didn't voice any objections, knowing full well the importance of supplies.
"I'll go tell them. Hmph, all that work for nothing."
Werther looked at Tail in the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly. "This is Miss Cat Girl."
"Her name is Tail now."
Werther nodded, smoothly adapting. "Miss Tail and our camp have had some misunderstandings in the past."
He turned his head to Yao Fang, who stood attentively behind him, and said, "For these three days, there's no need for our friends to stay cooped up in this zone. Find someone to show them around—especially Miss Tail. I imagine she'll be quite interested in the Black Beast modifications."
"Yes, Deputy!" Yao Fang immediately nodded.
The red-haired Werther stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation. "This way."
Li Ban stepped forward, asking with equal curiosity, "What is a Black Beast modification?"
Werther spoke as they walked. "It seems Priest Li Ban has only been in the Recycling Station for a very short time. Our camp's Black Beast modifications are quite famous. Once we finish researching the red fruit forest, I can take you on a tour."
He continued to explain, "Humans, especially those who have lost their tools, are not considered strong in the natural world. Our bodies have many weaknesses, and we aren't exactly powerful in combat or mobility. But nature has many powerful wild beasts and even spirit beasts. Without spiritual rhinoceros, their strength far exceeds ours."
"Thus, our Black Beast modifications involve altering humans into forms more suitable for surviving here. This includes micro-modifications, minor modifications, and the major modifications we are currently researching."
Werther smiled. "These names are quite descriptive, aren't they? Micro-modifications generally involve altering only a single organ, such as replacing a nose for extremely sensitive smell, or eyes to see thousands of meters away. Minor modifications involve arms, legs, or partial internal organ changes."
Listening to Werther's explanation, Li Ban and Zhu Yao walked outside the zone.
Here, they saw four men with pairs of wings on their backs.
These men had unusually massive chest muscles, while their lower limbs were reduced to little more than feet. Their faces were calm; they had completely accepted their current forms.
"This is the birdman modification we conduct. It is practically the limit of minor modifications."
One of the winged men looked over and coldly corrected him, "It's not a birdman modification. It's a winged human modification."
Werther couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, winged human modification. Actually, calling it an angel modification would work too. However, our Dr. Zhou Qi believes an angel modification's form should be far more perfect, so he's saving that name for later use."
Li Ban noticed a massive woven rattan basket behind the four winged men. It could easily hold at least ten people.
The inside and outside of the basket were reinforced with rubber and other materials.
Iron cables were woven along the edges of the rattan basket—eight in total—connecting to harnesses at the top.
Li Ban looked back at the four winged men, this time noticing the thick calluses around their shoulders, armpits, and chests.
"So this is a winged human airship?"
"Yes. It's much faster than a Tricycle, at any rate."
Werther invited the two of them into the rattan basket, while the four winged men leisurely walked over and strapped into their respective harnesses.
After Li Ban and Zhu Yao climbed in, they saw Werther bring two guards aboard as well.
Once everyone had fastened their safety ropes (Li Ban didn't bother), the four winged men flapped their wings and powerfully took to the air.
A fierce wind swept past them, whipping their hair into a mess.
"Flight relies on Black Beast modifications. Are there similar modifications for tools on the ground?" Li Ban asked against the wind.
Werther had already put on a specialized flight mask. He offered one to Li Ban, who refused it.
"Dr. Zhou Qi has attempted a centaur modification, but it requires replacing too many organs, and it hasn't succeeded yet. As for ordinary human labor, it still can't match bicycles or Tricycles."
Zhu Yao pressed down her hair and turned her head to ask, "Does a modification like the winged human count as a major modification?"
"No," Werther replied. "The centaur modification is close to a major modification. However, the major modifications we truly acknowledge—are those that only retain a human head, or just a brain."
"That's just a major modification?" Zhu Yao said in surprise. "That's a complete reconstruction, isn't it?"
Werther slowly shook his head. "The most powerful weapon humans possess is our mind. As long as it remains, our fundamental essence won't change, so it is at most a major modification. We believe that only monsters—even monsters possessing forms incredibly close to normal humans—are completely reconstructed."
"Of course, we also admit that the greater the extent of the modification, the greater the psychological devastation it brings to people. Therefore, we try our best to preserve their human reproductive organs."
"After all, humans are one of the few species that can derive pleasure from the act of reproduction. This helps strengthen the self-identity of the modified individuals."
Zhu Yao was momentarily speechless.
Instinctively, Li Ban disliked this kind of modification as well.
But he suddenly thought of the element fusion in the Wizard World.
He thought of the element he had originally fused into his right eye.
Wasn't that also a form of modification, just in a more acceptable manner?
And Priests who fused with more and more elements were actually transforming toward a non-human state as well.
By the time they underwent "severing the mortal corpse" to become a Great Wizard, they had basically shed their human form entirely.
However, compared to Black Beast Camp's Black Beast modifications, the physical changes brought by spiritual rhinoceros were much milder and far more powerful.
It wasn't a simple cut-and-replace; it was an addition and an enhancement.
Yet the world rules of the Recycling Station sealed away those latter two functions.
Li Ban had already noticed that even if he cultivated spiritual rhinoceros here, it was impossible to alter his physical strength.
Only a Wizard Embryo Fragment could normally absorb the spiritual rhinoceros contained within waste elements, seeds, and Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruits.
But because of the dangers in the Recycling Station, average Priests had to fight grueling battles just to survive, or expend their spiritual rhinoceros to ensure the survival of others in their camps. They hardly had any opportunity to hoard spiritual rhinoceros, and thus naturally had no avenue to continue growing stronger.
Therefore, after discovering they couldn't leave the Recycling Station, those powerful Priests rarely used their spiritual rhinoceros in combat. Even when they did, they used it sparingly, bit by bit, heavily emphasizing efficiency.
Their flight speed was incredibly fast, and Li Ban could already see the location of Red Fruit Camp.
They slowly descended, landing right at the gates of Red Fruit Camp.
Li Ban and Zhu Yao followed Werther all the way into the deepest part of Red Fruit Camp, where they laid eyes on the withered red fruit forest.
At this time, there were already over a dozen people bustling about within the forest.
The five people positioned right in the center, closest to the red fruit trees, all looked over upon Li Ban's arrival.
Werther led Li Ban and Zhu Yao closer and introduced both sides.
Li Ban's deepest impression was of a Priest named Wang Min, because when the man looked at Li Ban and Zhu Yao, it was as if he were looking at two experimental specimens.
Werther also added an extra comment when introducing Priest Wang Min.
"Priest Wang Min prefers that we call him Dr. Wang Min."
Priest Wang Min pushed up the tinted glasses on the bridge of his nose. "There's no such thing as a Priest in the Recycling Station. We are all just energy storage tanks for something called spiritual rhinoceros."
He gave off a bit of a mad scientist vibe.
"Could you explain the situation with the red fruit trees to us? Neither Zhu Yao nor I have studied planting before, so we aren't exactly sure what methods you plan on using to revive the trees. It wouldn't just be pouring massive amounts of spiritual rhinoceros into them, would it?"
If so, Li Ban felt it would be a complete waste.
"We've already tried infusing them with small amounts of spiritual rhinoceros, but the withered roots showed absolutely no change in vitality. We will not attempt a massive spiritual rhinoceros infusion until we confirm that it would actually be effective."
Dr. Wang Min gave a simple answer, then pushed up his glasses again upon hearing that neither Li Ban nor Zhu Yao knew much about planting.
"If you don't mind me asking, before entering the Recycling Station, what faction did you belong to, and what were your usual responsibilities as a Priest?"
Li Ban stroked his chin and let out a soft sigh. "Ah. Before coming to the Recycling Station, I hadn't even been a Priest for half a year."
The moment Li Ban said this, every Priest present turned to look at him.
Among them, Zhu Yao was the most astonished. "You... you became a Star Glow Priest in less than half a year?"
"No, I only have one foot in the Star Glow realm."
Dr. Wang Min stared at Li Ban, the curiosity in his eyes growing even stronger. "If we weren't in the Recycling Station, I would truly love to see what your Wizard Embryo Fragment looks like."