When Lin Mo was feeling pleased with himself, convinced that his "selling himself"—ah, no, entering into a business partnership—had finally made him financially free and able to pursue more high-end ingredients, reality dealt him a heavy blow.
Full of enthusiasm, he went through Wang Keke to submit his "menu" for the next stage to the family. His demands weren't high: just large portions, enough to fill him up, and fresh quality ingredients. His targets were Advanced Beast Soldiers known for their speed, strength, or special talents. He had even started picturing a wonderful future in which he inherited flashy abilities like [Invisibility], [Venom], or [Elemental Affinity].
A few days later, however, Wang Keke came to see him with an apologetic look, followed by the family head, Wang Qingtian, whose expression was somewhat awkward.
"Mimi," Wang Qingtian said, rubbing his hands together. His usually imposing face was now full of the helplessness of a "logistics director." "This new menu of yours... puts us in a bit of a bind."
What a sly old bastard! When you were trying to fool us after watching the trial footage, you sure had plenty to say. How come you can't even meet this tiny demand for ingredients? What use are you? Lin Mo lay in his luxurious tiger bed, raised an eyelid, and gave him a look full of doubt and disdain.
Wang Qingtian seemed to understand what that look meant. He cleared his throat and decided to speak plainly. Turning to Wang Keke, he said solemnly, "Keke, you know it's not that the family doesn't want to give Mimi the best. The truth is... humanity's current situation isn't as rosy as it seems."
He sighed and began counting things off on his fingers for the girl and the tiger. "Our Wang Family is a respected family in the Northeast Base City, right? But all told, we only have five people with full War General Level strength who can reliably hunt Beast General Rank monsters."
"Five?" Wang Keke was clearly surprised. She knew the family didn't have many experts, but she hadn't realized there were so few.
"That's right, just five. That includes your father, me, and two uncles who are stationed at the front lines year-round." Wang Qingtian smiled bitterly. "And across the entire Northeast Base City, all the factions combined have only a little over fifty War General Level experts in the open."
The number made Wang Keke suck in a sharp breath. Even Lin Mo, who had been lying down, perked up his ears. He knew humanity was at a disadvantage in the early days of Swallowed Star, but he hadn't realized it was this bad. A whole Base City, with barely more than fifty top fighters?
"More than ninety percent of those fifty-plus people have to be stationed at the front lines year-round, holding off the threats posed by truly powerful Lord-level Monsters and the waves of low- and mid-level monsters." Wang Qingtian's voice grew heavy. "They're guarding the security perimeter of the entire Base City. There's no way we can casually send them out just to 'hunt' for someone."
He looked at Lin Mo with an earnest expression. "So those of us back here can only get monster meat when we're lucky. Some comes from spoils the front-line soldiers bring back when they rotate out, and some comes from adventuring squads hunting in relatively safe areas."
"There's Advanced Beast Soldier meat, but not much, and the varieties are random. We can't just get whatever you want, let alone guarantee it'll be 'fresh' and available in 'large quantities.'"
"And Beast General Rank monster meat?" Wang Qingtian shook his head. "That's an even rarer strategic resource. Every portion has to be allocated after careful discussion. It either goes to soldiers who've distinguished themselves or to peak Warrior-level fighters with a chance of breaking through to War General Level. To serve it as a regular menu item for Mimi... well, that's simply impossible."
His words hit like a bucket of cold water.
Lin Mo finally understood. It wasn't that the Wang Family was incompetent, nor was Wang Qingtian, that "sly old bastard," deliberately choking off his supply. The entire Human Faction was in such a tight spot that even defending itself was a struggle.
The supply lines were painfully fragile, and high-end resources were extremely scarce. Even if Lin Mo had a fortune, in this monster-infested apocalypse, there were plenty of things money couldn't buy.
I'm stunned... I'm seriously stunned! So I bust my ass, sell my looks—my tiger looks—and shoot all those embarrassing ads, earning all that "pay for selling myself," only to be told... I have money and nowhere to spend it?! What the hell was the point of all that?!
A nameless fury shot up in Lin Mo's head. It was the anger and frustration of seeing his dreams shattered and his efforts cruelly mocked by reality.
He could almost see monsters with powerful talents trotting past him, wiggling their butts in mockery, while a fence called "shortage of supplies" kept him penned in, leaving him able only to gaze longingly at the beasts.
Overwhelmed by disappointment and fury, Lin Mo leaped to his feet and let out a low, resentful roar. The windows rattled. Then he made a decision that perfectly matched his mood—
He was going on strike!
To hell with putting on a show! To hell with being a professional! What good was earning so much money if he couldn't even get the meat he wanted? Why should he keep filming?!
From that day on, Lin Mo the "working tiger" officially went on strike.
The moment Wang Keke picked up a call from his agent, Lin Mo slapped the phone away with a paw.
When they brought him a new script, he didn't even look at it. He tore it to shreds with his claws.
Even when a brand arrived with a whole filming crew, hoping to win him over with their sincerity, Lin Mo simply turned his majestic back to them and flicked his tail impatiently. No matter how the director and assistant tried to tempt him with a cat teaser—an absolute insult!—or top-quality jerky, he stayed completely still, like a tiger statue full of contempt for the world.
"Mimi, don't be like this. We could use the money to buy other things, couldn't we?" Wang Keke tried to soothe him.
Other things? What use are other things? This tiger wants talents! Evolution! Strength! If I can't get stronger, all that money will do is make me a fatter pet! Lin Mo buried his face in his paws, radiating the gloom of a tiger who'd lost all interest in life and wanted everyone to leave him alone.
Wang Qingtian came to visit a few times, too. Each time, Lin Mo glared him away with a look that said, "You're a useless guardian." Wang Qingtian could only rub his nose sheepishly, say that he understood, and promise that if any suitable high-level Beast Soldier meat became available, he would give it to Lin Mo first.
But Lin Mo knew that promise was little more than a pie in the sky. There was no chance the family could reliably supply the specific high-level ingredients he needed anytime soon.
His path to becoming stronger seemed to have hit a bottleneck that neither "laying low" nor "making money" could solve. Was he really going to be stuck at Advanced Beast Soldier, slowly building up strength on ordinary Beast Soldier meat? Or should he keep chewing on the Lightning Marten, which had already become far less effective?
No. I can't just sit around and wait! I have to find another way... If I can't rely on the family, and money's useless for now, then... I can go out and hunt for food myself, right?
A bold and dangerous idea began to take root in Lin Mo's mind. The golden tiger eyes, dulled by anger and helplessness, rekindled with a spark of wildness.
But how could he shake off the surveillance that came with being a "celebrity tiger"? How could he safely leave the Base City and reach the true wilderness? That was another enormous problem he'd have to think through carefully.
For now, he would have to keep up his strike. After all, a tiger in a foul mood had no desire to work.
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