Wilderness is Dangerous

Seeing a patch of farmland in the dangerous wilderness was truly the strangest thing. Although I had seen Plants and Trees that were merely models before, the wheat in this farmland was completely different. Its unique allure made Feng Xue certain that the plants here were not just alive, but all "True Things"!

Why would there be a patch of True Thing wheat in the Infinite City? Feng Xue frowned, finding it incredible. However, looking at the straw and bran piled to the side... he suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

He seemed to know where those Bran Bricks came from.

I originally thought it was just bran, but now it looks like there's quite a bit of straw mixed in...

"No wonder it's as hard as a brick," Feng Xue said, touching his front teeth with lingering fear. He suddenly remembered what Old Li had told him: to avoid places with guards when disposing of bodies, as there were supposedly farmlands outside.

So...

This is farmland?

"Speaking of which, why can True Things be cultivated in this world!" Feng Xue's question had barely formed before he answered it himself. After all, this was a world where settings trumped everything. Perhaps there was some Phantom with agricultural properties?

But then again, the Infinite City only appeared a few decades ago. Even if the various Landfill Areas occasionally found True Thing seeds in the Garbage Dumps, it would probably not be enough time to cultivate them on a large scale.

Yet, the use of Bran Bricks to feed the poor seemed to be a convention in the Infinite City, so the issue was worth pondering.

Either, as he first thought, there was some Phantom that could accelerate plant growth, or the Infinite City had stable channels for acquiring resources from the real world.

Or perhaps... both.

Using the low presence buff provided by the Assassin Set, Feng Xue observed the farmland from afar. He didn't see any agricultural Phantoms, but he did find something interesting--

Name: Phantom · Scarecrow

Elements: [Repel], [Watch], [Startle]

Description: A scarecrow used to drive away uninvited guests. Placing it in a field can startle unintelligent intruders and protect the farmland from Destruction.

Note: Kakashi!

"So it's thanks to this thing?" Feng Xue looked at the scarecrow from afar, his eyes narrowing slightly. Undoubtedly, such farmland was not uncommon in the Infinite City. In that case, the scarecrow should not be a unique Phantom either, otherwise, it would have long ago become a treasure fought over by surrounding factions.

"It seems there are still people in this world who can stably manufacture Phantoms." Feng Xue's initial arrogant thought of "only I can mass-produce Phantoms" diminished considerably at this moment. With a complex feeling, he bypassed the farmland.

Although destroying this place could draw the Manager's attention, he couldn't bring himself to do it when he thought about how it was related to the livelihood of the poor in the entire Landfill Area.

After all, he had only been in this world for a little over half a month since crossing over from his peaceful and stable homeland. Even though he could dissect corpses without any psychological burden, he still couldn't bring himself to be ruthless towards living people, especially those with whom he had no grievances-- even if their chances of survival were not high.

After bypassing the farmland, Feng Xue finally left the high walls and entered the desolate wilderness. The only fortunate thing was that the Work Card's Map function had not crashed even though he was far from his work area; otherwise, he truly worried if his sense of direction would be enough to reach his destination.

Although the wilderness at night was terrifyingly quiet, after advancing cautiously for a while, Feng Xue began to enjoy the Silence. The dark adaptation brought by the Assassin Tag was unparalleled. Although Feng Xue did not find any bug-like skills such as Eagle Vision in the knowledge provided by the tag, he did find the "Breath Concealment" skill, which allowed one to completely blend into the environment.

"It's a pity there's no Circle Territory or Mirror of Water and Sky," Feng Xue thought greedily. However, in the end, the Tags granted by the Infinite City only provided the "knowledge" that the Infinite City possessed. Things that required bloodlines or personal enlightenment probably wouldn't be there, right?

But if he obtained specific Phantoms, perhaps he could comprehend one or two.

"I wonder if I can combine them into skill books, or secret manuals." Feng Xue's eyes suddenly lit up at this thought, and he began to consider the possibility of combining them into "secret manual-type Phantoms." However, he soon realized a problem--

He lacked a medium.

Although the appearance of an item would change considerably after becoming a Phantom, even turning from Thick-soled Boots into Soft Cloth Shoes, it was still a category.

To create a secret manual, the base would have to be a book, right?

But Feng Xue hadn't seen a single book in the Garbage Dump before. Considering Old Li's earlier mention of the "monopoly on libraries," Feng Xue felt this might not be a coincidence. Books, as carriers of knowledge, were likely primary targets for the Managers' faction, just like True Things and Phantoms, when sorting through the Garbage Dumps.

"Forget it, I'll settle down first. As for not having books... if it comes to it, I'll use Bamboo Slips, or if I'm desperate, I'll go straight for Jade Slips!"

At this thought, Feng Xue seemed to transcend, reorganized his thoughts, and accelerated his pace.

The two-kilometer straight-line distance was neither long nor short. At Feng Xue's current speed, even with a detour, it would only take about ten minutes. Following the map's instructions and passing through a forest, Feng Xue finally saw the outer wall of the Giant Egg, which was influenced by a special power and only visible up close. But just then, a deafening roar exploded overhead.

"Shit!" Feng Xue flinched violently at the roar, instinctively crouching down and covering his ears tightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the source of the sound.

It was a dark red monster, about ten meters long, with fangs, claws, huge fleshy wings, and a pair of eyes that were incredibly sharp even in the dead of night.

Feng Xue recognized this thing, he could even say he was familiar with it.

As a Monster Hunter player, Feng Xue had killed this thing in the game at least eight hundred times, if not a thousand. But at this moment, he finally understood the value of the "King of the Skies."

"The Azure Star must be at least three meters tall, right?"

Watching the Rathalos slowly land at the edge of the Giant Egg, Feng Xue tried to lower his breathing rate, carefully concealing his presence, and observing this behemoth, which looked small in the game, out of the corner of his eye.

Fortunately, the Rathalos's target was not him, but several corpses carelessly discarded outside the Giant Egg.

As Feng Xue's gaze focused, on the head of the flying dragon gnawing on the corpses, a chaotic sphere, seemingly made of countless Mosaics, was slowly expanding and contracting. Within it, only five terms could be vaguely discerned--

[Fire]

[Flight]

[Lizard]

[Monster]

[Dragon]