Chapter 1031: 'A River of Scraps'

Chapter 1031: "A River of Refuse"

In this world, there is never a shortage of people who think alike.

Especially in Fries Port, where so many stood connected by the same morphogenetic field.

Beside the sacred tree, on a patch of ground roughly cleared by the sweep of a lizard's tail, tons of food were loaded into buckets and carts, like the scene of a massive buffet party.

Things like fruit-flavored nutrient paste, fine pig, duck, cattle, and sheep feed—that was all basic fare.

The more powerful players had formed hunting parties, venturing into maps recommended for level fifty and hauling back a huge load, trucking in the carcasses of iron-backed ants, giant beetles, and titan worms by the truckload.

According to the official website, dragon lizards favored food that was "crispy and crunchy."

Especially those iron-backed ants that liked to nest in ruins—they were an absolute favorite!

Clearly, it wasn't just Squirtle or even the Jungle Corps; nearly every player gathered around wanted to be that dragon rider.

The three old turtles, carrying buckets of nutrient paste, stared dumbfounded at the mountain of food.

"What the hell?!"

"That's too much!"

"This is way too competitive!"

The three old turtles were stunned, but the dragon lizard dozing at the base of the sacred tree was overjoyed.

It had only dozed off, and when it opened its eyes, the food had delivered itself right to its doorstep!

Thank the great Tree of Life for this gift!

It showed no restraint at all, seeing the piled-up delicacies and immediately shuffling over.

Its sloppy manner was just like a pig hearing the dinner bell, wolfing down the iron-backed ants on the ground with reckless abandon!

Its whirlwind action was like a bomber strafing the ground, not only tearing up the turf but even sucking half-buried rotten stumps into its stomach.

Its digestive system was no joke either; a few wood chips were just appetizers.

In less than half an hour, the "mountain of bones and sea of corpses" laid out around the sacred tree was completely cleaned up.

Full and satisfied, the dragon lizard lifted its head and let out an ear-splitting burp, then curled its tail, nestled comfortably beside the sacred tree, and began rumbling like an earthquake with its snoring.

And then—

Nothing?

The players looked at each other, faces blank with confusion.

One veteran player at level forty swallowed hard and turned to his buddy. "Bro... and then what?"

Goods worth tens of thousands of silver coins had been fed to it, and all they got was a few sounds.

He felt like he wasn't catching Palus in the forest, but feeding monkeys on Mount Emei.

No—

Even the monkeys on Mount Emei were more professional than this thing; since when did they eat and go to sleep without a word?!

That buddy was also baffled, not expecting the dragon lizard to break the script, and scratched his head awkwardly.

"...Uh, maybe wait until it wakes up and ask?"

Hostile actions were prohibited in the safe zone.

For now, they could only wait until it woke up to ask.

Just then, cursing and shouting came from not far away.

The head of the Silver Corps, Silver Daddy, was throwing his shovel to the ground in exasperation.

"What a rip-off!"

He had spent a full 100,000 silver coins buying a large batch of iron-backed ant corpses from nearby hunter players, hoping to tame this beast, but the damn thing didn't even let him get close while it was eating.

And worse, the bastard just went to sleep after eating!

He was itching to chop off that dog lizard's tail with a knife.

Seeing their leader's murderous look, Silver Sword and Silver Hand quickly stepped in to stop him.

"Whoa, bro, calm down!"

"Let me go! I saw its health bar!"

"You want your account banned?!"

They weren't really afraid of the bastard deleting his character and starting over; they were more worried about getting blood on themselves.

Just then, a few hunter squads dragged their prey out of the forest and called out to the grimacing Silver Daddy with a laugh.

"Bro, we dragged your prey over here. If you need more next time, just call us."

"Don't forget the final payment."

Silver Daddy: "I %@%#!"

The clearing in front of the sacred tree was filled with noisy chatter, but the dragon lizard dozing on the ground acted as if it heard nothing, snoring away and fattening up.

Seeing that he wasn't the only one who had lost everything, Squirtle, holding an empty bucket, finally felt a sense of balance and muttered viciously, sneering.

"Heh, a bunch of idiots. How many levels do you need to learn? Do you really think you can fleece the dog devs that easily?"

"Stupid!"

Water Sword Turtle and Dull Eight Turtle looked at this guy who had unwittingly insulted himself too, and instinctively stepped aside, pretending not to know him.

Just then, the dragon lizard lying under the Tree of Life let out a short, muffled sound.

"Pfft!"

Hearing that, the noisy crowd fell silent and looked at the big creature sleeping so soundly.

"Did you hear that?"

"What just happened?"

"I think I smell stinky tofu noodles..."

"Uh...?"

Watching the lizard roll over, Silver Daddy suddenly felt a bad premonition.

But before he could react, that short muffled sound stretched out like a machine gun, long and drawn.

"Pfft—!"

A black torrent erupted like a fountain from beneath its raised tail and swept forward with irresistible force!

"What the hell?!"

Seeing the torrent rushing toward him, Silver Daddy only had time to let out a cry before he and his good buddies were instantly submerged in that black energy.

The creature had probably eaten too many different things and gotten an upset stomach.

That avalanche of solid-liquid mixture dealt a wave of AOE damage, sweeping a fan-shaped area across the ground and engulfing at least a third of the players.

Including the three old turtles who stood at a distance, watching the chaos with glee, and the others who yearned to tame that great lizard, not a single one escaped.

The oblivious dragon-lizard let out a low rumble from its belly and continued sleeping in contentment.

Gazing at that indescribable scene, the canopy of the World Tree rustled softly, murmuring in a tongue no one could understand.

What a pity.

If only it had sprayed a little closer...

...

Since the launch of "Wasteland OL," no one had ever drowned in excrement.

Fortunately, that remained true this time as well.

That evening.

The weary little players, having toiled all day, dragged their exhausted bodies back to Fries Harbor.

The overwhelming stench knocked out half the street.

Local residents, thinking some chemical had leaked, hurriedly donned gas masks, only to later realize it was a false alarm.

That night, the beach at Fries Harbor was packed with people bathing, and the laundry orders were booked solid for three days. The laundry workers, paid by the order, seemed to have become the biggest winners.

After all, without bathing, you couldn't save your progress—no one could endure that.

The so-called "dragon knights" were on the verge of tears.

It was truly a case of losing both the bait and the catch.

The only consolation was that dragon-lizard dung could repel wild beasts, and it was even said to have medicinal uses.

Though no one dared to test the latter, the former had proven experience to draw upon—

Some players, too ashamed to return, tried to get themselves killed in high-level maps to respawn at Dawn City, but from afternoon until dark, they didn't spot a single mutant.

If they could turn this stuff into an amulet and wear it while exploring ruins, it would be utterly invincible!

Additionally, the Alliance's Institute of Biology had purchased some samples, albeit in very small quantities.

All in all, these gains helped offset a tiny fraction of the investors' losses.

Though compared to the costs they had sunk in, this harvest could only be described as "better than nothing."

Late at night.

In the garden of the Seaside Hotel.

The World Tree, deep in the forest, once again contacted Ye Shi through Dora, speaking with a hint of reproach.

"...I don't object to you feeding my child, but you've stuffed it too full. If it stops bothering other mutants, don't blame me—you'll have to fend for yourselves then."

As the apex predator in this forest's food chain, the dragon-lizard had its own purpose.

Ye Shi's expression turned awkward.

"Uh, I'll pass that on to the others—tell them not to feed that thing anymore."

He figured that after this lesson, no one would be foolish enough to try again even without a warning.

Still, it was strange—he still couldn't figure out what those guys were thinking, believing a few chunks of meat could tame that creature into a pet.

After all, none of them had awakened psychic powers, did they?

If he had done it himself, there might have been a chance, or perhaps an experienced beast tamer could manage it, but letting complete amateurs try was hopeless.

The World Tree acknowledged his response and continued.

"The main issue is that you gave too much. A little bit would have been fine... This child just sleeps once it's full. Over time, it might even forget how to hunt and just beg you for food."

"That's bad for both it and you."

...

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, at checkout time, Ye Shi settled the bill at the hotel.

Though the lobby manager repeatedly insisted that the unique "Alpha Centauri View" garden had already covered their entire year's rent, and the hotel owner had waived their fees, Ye Shi insisted on paying.

Why? Naturally, because Brother Guang had already allocated the funds.

There was no need to save money for Brother Guang—he was basically a walking printing press.

But for Dora, those pieces of paper with pretty patterns were a novel curiosity.

Blinking with curiosity, she held up the hundred-yuan note she'd gotten from Ye Shi, examining it for a long time before turning to him and asking.

"What is this?"

Ye Shi replied casually.

"Cash, money, silver coins—call it whatever you like. You can use it to trade for things from others."

Not just trade for things from others—this stuff could even be exchanged for real-world currency with mysterious buyers outside the game.

But seeing Dora's bewildered expression, he realized she clearly didn't understand.

"Trade? Why?" Dora's confusion deepened.

In the Doma tribe, trade was an unfamiliar concept.

Because everything in the tribe was collectively owned, and if you wanted something from outside the tribe, you just took it.

As for trade between tribes, that simply didn't exist.

Everyone worshipped the same deity, followed the same way of life and code of conduct—what you had, I basically had too. There was no case of one having what another lacked.

Plus, these people lived like "dragon-lizards"—hunting for food, and when food was scarce, they'd just whine to the Sacred Tree and get whatever they needed. If no major upheaval occurred, they might well coast along in their tribal era forever.

"What's there to 'why' about..."

Ye Shi scratched the back of his head, unsure how to explain.

"Your society hasn't reached that stage yet. When you... find the sea, you'll understand."

Dora tilted her head.

"Why 'find the sea'?"

Ye Shi said succinctly.

"Because you'll discover seashells that don't exist in the forest, and then someone will take prey found in the forest but not by the sea to trade with tribes living on the coast for those shells... You know shells, right? Those little things you saw on the beach when you got off the boat."

That was probably the most ancient form of currency.

Seeing that Dora still had questions, Ye Shi quickly grabbed Ms. Han Mingyue, who had just stepped out of the elevator, and shoved this "whysaurus" at her.

"This is a social science expert from the Alliance! Ask her whatever you want—she knows more than I do."

"Wait, what are you—"

"I suddenly remembered I left something in my room! She's all yours!"

"Hey!"

Leaving a bewildered Han Mingyue behind, Ye Shi hurried out of the hotel lobby and slipped into the elevator.

Although she wasn't sure what had happened, seeing Dora's face wearing an expression of "I'm curious," Han Mingyue roughly guessed something.

She patted her forehead with her palm to wake herself up from her half-asleep state, then looked at Dora and asked softly.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Dora hesitated, looking at her, then tentatively held out the banknote in her hand.

Han Mingyue, amused and exasperated, pushed it back and said in a patient tone.

"There's no need to pay for such a small matter... Ahem, I don't know what that guy told you, but he probably didn't explain it clearly. This thing is only meant for transactions, understand? Between friends helping each other out with small favors, it's not needed."

Dora blushed and put the banknote away.

Han Mingyue looked at her patiently and said softly.

"So, is there anything I can help you with?"

Dora nodded gently and whispered.

"There's one thing... I can't figure out."

Han Mingyue: "What is it?"

Dora looked outside the hotel lobby at the bustling street and said quietly.

"There are so many things here I've never seen before. I've been very happy living here, and I even wanted to stay forever. But you told me this is just a corner of the Alliance, that this land isn't only the Alliance, and that prosperous places go far beyond here."

Han Mingyue smiled.

"Pretty much. The most prosperous place should be the Ideal City, where prosperity stretches from the ground to the sky... You'll probably have a chance to see it someday."

Dora turned to her and gave a shy smile.

"This place is already amazing enough for me... Sometimes I can't help but think, how wonderful it would be if my people on Gaia could live like this too."

Han Mingyue said.

"They will someday."

"Why not now?" Dora looked at her seriously, blinking. "You said we share at least half your blood, that we're originally one family. If you're willing to come to our place, we'd welcome you too... Just like before, when Yoshi came to our tribe."

Though there had been some minor unpleasantness, they had sincerely reflected on their mistakes.

Including the late chief Tun Nan.

And his apology had been forgiven by the Ancestor.

Han Mingyue's face showed a thoughtful expression, and after a moment she said.

"Actually... the plan you proposed is indeed an option, but I don't think our arrival would necessarily be good for you."

"Why?"

"You think too highly of us."

"Isn't that true?"

Looking at the confused Dora, Han Mingyue shook her head gently.

"It's not about whether it's true or not; it's just a perspective, like the two sides of that banknote in your hand. Our methods aren't perfect, and we believe a more perfect social form will someday replace us... And your society isn't without merit to us; we're just at different stages."

Sometimes she felt that this girl from Alpha Centauri was like her child.

Pure as a blank sheet of paper.

Of course, that wasn't accurate.

To be precise, she should be the child of everyone on this planet...

Looking at Dora, still with a bewildered expression, Han Mingyue smiled and reached out to gently ruffle her hair.

"This journey isn't over yet. What you've seen is just a corner of the 'Ancestor' world."

"Soon you'll understand why I said that."