Self-Taught

Meng Chao evened out his breathing.

Knowing he'd arrived abruptly, he could only respectfully pour tea and water for the old man, hesitating for a moment before asking, "This old senior, you're not planning to make a move?"

Upon hearing this, Ning Xueshi's pretty face flushed red with anger, "You're being picky while stealing knowledge? Just a mere Level 1 Super Beast, and you expect my grandfather to personally take action?"

"Level 1 Super Beast?" Meng Chao was stunned, his expression strange.

Ning Xueshi frowned, "You wouldn't even know about the Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider, would you? There's no need to add to our troubles; if you can't understand it, don't waste your time."

Meng Chao watched helplessly as the Super Beast was dying, and could only bite the bullet and say, "I know it was originally a Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider, but it isn't anymore. Right now, it's a 'Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula' that's in the process of evolving, stuck between Level 1 and Level 2."

"Although its appearance still maintains the form of a Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider, many of its internal organs have begun to mutate. The newly formed organs are very fragile, making it more difficult to handle than a mature 'Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula'."

"What?"

Ning Xueshi was dumbfounded. A Super Beast in the process of evolving?

The girl turned her head, mouthing a question to her grandfather for help.

The old man fell into deep thought, his expression also becoming serious.

"Young man, how do you know?"

He looked at Meng Chao with piercing eyes, "This old man carefully examined it just now, and its appearance showed no signs of change. You ran all the way here, without even taking a look, how can you be sure that it's evolving?"

"I heard it."

Meng Chao explained, "This Super Beast isn't completely dead yet, isn't it still emitting a shriek? Although the 'Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider' and the 'Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula' are from the same clan, there's still a difference in their level. The shrieks they make before death have subtle differences, which aren't difficult to distinguish."

"Not difficult..."

Ning Xueshi and her grandfather were both choked by his words.

"Who are you trying to fool? Even my grandfather didn't hear it, how could you, an intern, hear it?" Ning Xueshi put her hands on her hips, her gaze wary, as if Meng Chao was some kind of swindler.

The old man didn't dare to underestimate him, cautiously saying, "May I ask..."

"My name is Meng Chao, and my family is preparing to open a Resource Recycling company."

Meng Chao didn't miss any opportunity to expand his network, bowing to the two of them.

His Harvester etiquette was impeccable and very standard.

The old man had a little more confidence in him, nodding slightly, and said with reserve, "This old man is Ning Shewo."

"..."

The two stared at each other, and after three seconds, Meng Chao suddenly understood, slapping his forehead, "So it's Senior Ning, I've heard so much about you, I've admired you for a long time."

"Spare me that, you've never even heard of my grandfather's name, have you? You don't even know 'White-Haired Ghost Hand Ning Shewo', what kind of Harvester are you? You can even hear the difference between the screams of the Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider and the Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula? What a joke!" Ning Xueshi was furious.

"Xueshi, be quiet."

Ning Shewo's self-restraint was quite good, "Young friend Meng has excellent hearing, which has opened this old man's eyes. May I ask who your teacher is..."

"I'm self-taught, a veteran Harvester of several decades." Meng Chao said frankly.

The old man took a deep breath.

"What's your company leader's phone number?" he asked amiably.

Meng Chao obediently shut his mouth.

He took two steps back, squatted down on the spot, and gestured: I won't say anything, please begin your performance.

Ning Xueshi's lungs were about to explode, and she vowed to make this kid pay later.

But now, the last trace of the Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider's life was rapidly fading away, and she had to race against time to harvest the freshest materials.

The girl cleared her mind and acted as if Meng Chao didn't exist.

Just as she was about to start, Ning Shewo suddenly stepped forward.

"Let me do it."

"Grandpa?"

"I'll open the shell first, suck out the mucus and take a look. If the organs haven't mutated, then you can take over."

Ning Xueshi stomped her foot fiercely, so angry that she felt dizzy.

Ning Shewo wielded the scalpel in both hands, handling it with practiced ease.

However, as his fingers trembled slightly, the tip of the knife also showed a subtle tremor.

"So, Old Man Ning is injured," Meng Chao muttered to himself. "No wonder."

This sentence ignited a firecracker. Ning Xueshi rushed in front of him like a whirlwind, her willow eyebrows raised in anger: "Do you know the rules? Can you just talk nonsense at a time like this?"

Meng Chao's face turned red. The most feared thing when a Harvester was performing delicate operations was being disturbed. He had violated the rules of the trade and shouldn't have spoken.

He thought about it and felt that although the little girl had a bit of a temper, the old man was a good person and deserved a helping hand.

"Miss Ning, can you show me your tools? I need nine of the finest ox-hair probes and three flexible coiling needles," Meng Chao lowered his voice. "By the way, do you have 300,000 in cash on your account?"

Ning Xueshi was completely bewildered.

"It's like this, the 'Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula larva' in the process of evolution has a very fragile structure, especially the newly formed venom sac. The sac membrane is as thin as a cicada's wing, and it will break with the slightest touch, causing the venom to flow all over its belly, and all the materials will be ruined."

Meng Chao explained with a sincere face, "Old Man Ning has a problem with his nerves, right? He may not be able to complete the entire operation independently, so I want to familiarize myself with your tools and sharpen my skills before the battle."

This explanation was like adding fuel to the fire, and Ning Xueshi gritted her teeth in anger: "Even if Grandpa is injured, he's still the 'White-Haired Ghost Hand'. How could a mere Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider stump him? Besides, I'm here. Why should I let you do it? Wait, 300,000 in cash, what's that for?"

"Naturally, it's the fee for me to take action."

Meng Chao counted on his fingers for her, "In Old Man's current state, the quality of the harvest will definitely not be very good. Added together, it's worth at most three to five hundred thousand. But with my help, with my experience plus Old Man's skills, the combination of two swords, we should be able to perfectly peel off the most valuable venom sac. The venom sac alone can sell for more than five hundred thousand, and all the materials added together will be nearly two million.

"There's a price difference of more than one million here. Because I'm still an intern and an assistant, and we've met, it's fate. After discounts, I'll only charge 300,000, which I'll consider my contribution to society."

Ning Xueshi stared at Meng Chao in stunned silence.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and was about to explode.

Suddenly, she heard her grandfather's voice, trembling very rarely: "Xueshi, come here."

The girl hurriedly returned to her grandfather's side.

Within minutes, Grandpa seemed five years older, his full head of white hair losing its vitality, drooping down in strands, sticking to his forehead slick with cold sweat.

Following the old man's somewhat scattered gaze, Ning Xueshi saw inside the carapace opened by the Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider, clusters of hideous organs, like deformed and mutated tumors, emitting a pungent odor.

Just one glance, and the remaining anger froze on her face, the girl exclaiming, "These organs are wrong, this isn't a Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider!"

"Indeed, it's not a Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider, but an extremely rare, evolving Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula," Ning Shewo said with a wry smile, his face full of dismay.

Ning Shewo didn't care about the corpse of a low-level Super Beast that hadn't even reached Level 2 being worth millions.

If his nerves were intact, he could activate his extraordinary ability and see through its organ distribution and structure with his naked eye.

But now, a tiger fallen in the plains is bullied by dogs; he never expected that the dignified White-Haired Ghost Hand Ning Shewo would stumble on this thing.

Ning Xueshi opened her mouth, suddenly remembering Meng Chao's words, her expression horrified.

At this moment, Meng Chao also walked behind the two, grandfather and granddaughter, and tiptoed to take a look inside the Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula's abdominal cavity.

He remembered the Harvester's rules.

Even if Ning Xueshi looked back at him, he remained silent, instead tightening his lips.

"...Young man, please speak," Ning Xueshi said after feeling frustrated for a long time, gritting her teeth.

"Not bad," Meng Chao said.

"What's not bad?" Ning Xueshi widened her eyes.

"It's just that this Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula is evolving pretty well, it's very common, there aren't any strange super mutations," Meng Chao said, relieved.

Very common...

The two, grandfather and granddaughter, were dumbfounded.

"You, you can really help Grandpa complete the Resource Recycling, and only charge three hundred thousand?" Ning Xueshi asked, hundreds of thoughts swirling in her mind, unable to believe it.

"Five hundred thousand!"

Ning Shewo stared intently at Meng Chao, "Young man, if you can really help this old man, it doesn't have to be a perfect job, just a standard one, keeping 70% of the venom in the venom sac, this old man will immediately transfer five hundred thousand to you!"

Meng Chao whistled, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turning up slightly.

"I'm not extraordinary yet, my strength and perception are just average, I can't directly harvest Super Beasts, I can only—"

Meng Chao wanted to say "can only guide you to complete the homework," but the words reached his mouth, he swallowed them back, and changed it to, "can only be your assistant."

"Then you'll be the first assistant, delivering instruments, spraying disinfectant, exposing the cutting surface, marking the incision, monitoring the degree of organ decay... my granddaughter will be the second assistant, is that okay?"

"Okay."

Meng Chao nodded, squeezed some disinfecting gel from his waist pouch, carefully smeared it on his hands, then adjusted it to spray mode, sprayed himself from head to toe, and stood in the assistant position to Ning Shewo's right.

Ning Shewo concentrated and said, "Number three..."

Before he could finish speaking, a number four handle with a number seven rhomboid blade was delivered to his hand.

Ning Shewo frowned slightly.

The young man has a whole set of theoretical knowledge, but he handed the wrong instrument for the first one, could he just be a windbag?

"I know you want to use the No. 3 handle with the No. 12 pincer blade to peel off the book lungs first. Whether it's on a 'Seven-Eyed Wolf Spider' or a mature 'Seven-Eyed Dragon Tarantula,' this is absolutely the correct and classic operation. However, in a mutant undergoing evolution, its saccular book lungs have many more lobed folds. If you look closely, the structure is very fragile and closely connected to the surroundings. Acting rashly will probably damage its appearance."

Meng Chao pointed with a probe, "I suggest starting from the ducts behind the book lungs, peeling them off against the veins, clearing the surroundings first, and then dealing with the book lungs. Don't worry, these ducts are much tougher than before and won't break easily. Old Ning, what do you think?"