So Crude and Straightforward?

After waking up, Chen Fan performed a simple wash-up before standing at the Wooden Hut's entrance and looking out at the endless gloomy rain.

The rain was not particularly heavy today.

In his understanding, the Rainy Season merely meant greater precipitation. But in this world, the Rainy Season meant rain falling without pause twenty-four hours a day—sometimes a fine drizzle like this, sometimes a torrential downpour.

"..."

He looked at the cracked earth outside.

It had rained for several days straight, yet let alone flooding, the ground remained fissured. Those narrow cracks, like the soles of a farmer's feet, resembled bottomless monsters that swallowed every drop of rainwater.

There was not even any excess standing water.

In his memories,

the weather in this world was fairly normal outside the Rainy Season. But the unceasing rainfall of the wilderness Rainy Season was clearly not normal weather. Especially since... the Rainy Season had arrived early, and Strange Entities often became exceptionally violent.

Without thinking further,

he looked at the two remaining Exotic Treasures in his hand. They had been left behind by the Meatworm Wraith Tide two days ago. There had been three in total; the other Exotic Treasure had been the building module blueprint, "Copper Pipe."

The one in his hand was a miniature knife.

It was like a keychain.

-

"Exotic Treasure Name": Great Knife.

"Exotic Treasure Grade": White.

"Exotic Treasure Effect": Deals considerable damage to low-tier Strange Entities.

-

"..."

Chen Fan looked at the Exotic Treasure in his hand, his brows knitting slightly. This was not the first weapon-type Exotic Treasure he had obtained. The spear Crippled Monkey always carried was also a weapon-type Exotic Treasure.

But Crippled Monkey's Exotic Treasure had an extremely domineering name.

It was called the "Godslaying Spear."

Why was this Exotic Treasure's name...

Great Knife.

So crude and straightforward?

And it did not have any special effects either. The Godslaying Spear even had the trait of changing its size at will.

Forget it.

He set the Exotic Treasure aside, intending to give it to Zhou Mo once he returned. At the very least, it was a weapon-type Exotic Treasure, and it was still stronger against Strange Entities than ordinary weapons.

As for the other Exotic Treasure,

it was rather special.

A cluster of tiny black dots was wrapped in a membrane. It was a seed-type Exotic Treasure.

-

"Exotic Treasure Name": Flesh Wraith Parent-Child Seed.

"Exotic Treasure Grade": Green.

"Exotic Treasure Effect": Must be planted in Level-2 Farmland. Maturation period: seven days. Once mature, it splits into Parent-Child Fruit. Two people may each consume one, allowing mental communication within a hundred li. Effect lasts one month.

"Planting Conditions": Water with Strange Entity blood every two hours, and use Strange Entity corpses as fertilizer.

-

"Good stuff."

Chen Fan silently tucked the cluster of seeds into his chest. This Exotic Treasure solved one of his greatest current difficulties: the lack of communication methods. For instance, he currently had no way whatsoever to contact Zhou Mo while he was out on field duty.

The planting conditions were just a little troublesome.

Someone had to be assigned to watch over it at regular intervals.

Fortunately,

he had the two professional farmers, his Heng and Ha Generals. There was no need to worry about that. The two of them could take turns guarding it and handle it perfectly.

This was the first green-grade Exotic Treasure he had obtained.

Its effect was even better than he had imagined.

Once the Flesh Wraith Parent-Child Fruit matured, it would probably be quite sought-after merchandise even in North River Market.

Walking out of the Wooden Hut,

he immediately noticed the changes on the City Wall. An crude little shelter made of wooden planks had been added there, with several discarded garments spread over its roof. It was not large, but it could provide some protection from the rain.

Before going to sleep, he had told the Heng and Ha Generals to build it.

It looked pretty good.

Otherwise, every night watch would mean being drenched in rain all night. No one could endure that; their bodies were not forged from iron.

"Station Chief."

Chen Fan walked out through the City Wall and arrived at the camp's outskirts. Qi Chong, who was busy with something in the Farmland, immediately jogged over. "Everything's been harvested."

"The ten Monkey Head Mushroom seedlings produced ten Monkey Head Mushrooms in total."

"The eight Eerie Stone vein plants produced eighty Eerie Stones." "They're all in the warehouse."

"Mm."

Chen Fan nodded lightly and walked toward the warehouse outside the camp. Pushing the door open, he saw a neat row of Monkey Head Mushrooms and a layer of Eerie Stones on the shelves. The yield was not particularly high. He picked up a Monkey Head Mushroom and brought it to his nose for a sniff.

Then he took a bite.

An earthy, muddy flavor mixed with sweetness struck his mouth.

"Huh?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Chen Fan's eyes. Before long, he had finished the entire Monkey Head Mushroom. It tasted unexpectedly good. More importantly, it actually felt warm in his mouth, like a scalding current of heat—nothing like eating raw food.

And after it went down,

he could vaguely sense that his physical constitution had indeed improved a little.

It was genuinely not bad.

There were nine left.

There happened to be ten people in the camp.

"Take the remaining nine down and give everyone one each. This rain will continue for a while, and improving their physical constitution can also reduce the chance of getting sick."

That slight improvement in physical constitution would hardly affect combat strength, but it could reduce the likelihood of illness.

Chen Fan glanced at the eighty Eerie Stones on the shelf, then took the Flesh Wraith Parent-Child Seed from his chest and handed it to Qi Chong. "I'll upgrade the Farmland to Level 2 shortly. For the coming period, you and A Le will take turns looking after these seeds."

"They're rather delicate."

"They need to be watered with Wraith Blood every two hours."

"Crippled Monkey buried plenty of Strange Entity corpses in the ground. Dig some out when the time comes."

"Understood!"

Qi Chong answered with high spirits, then carefully received the cluster of membrane with both hands and cradled it in his palm.

"..."

Chen Fan gave Qi Chong a slightly strange look. Why had his sense of identification with farming suddenly become so strong?

Yesterday, Chen Fan could still clearly sense that Qi Chong wanted to go out on field duty like Zhou Mo and was somewhat resistant to farming. He had even planned to chat with Qi Chong later and ease his aversion to farming. Why had that resistance suddenly vanished today?

It was hard to figure something like that out on his own in such a short time.

Had someone spoken with Qi Chong?

He glanced at A Le, the rough man with a face full of stubble standing behind Qi Chong, and nodded thoughtfully before patting Qi Chong's shoulder with a smile.

"Work hard."

"We'll have more Farmland in the future. When that time comes, you'll miss how easy things are now."

"Hehe."

Qi Chong grinned. "Don't worry, Station Chief. I'll take crystal-clear care of this patch of land!"

"Go on."

Braving the gloomy rain, Chen Fan walked to the Farmland and spent ten Eerie Stones to upgrade the patch of Farmland outside the camp to Level 2.

A panel appeared before him.

-

"Farmland upgraded to Level 2."

"This building has no upgrade paths."

-

"Looks like not every building has upgrade paths to choose from."

Chen Fan said nothing more. He merely looked at the Farmland before him. After the upgrade, the soil had changed from yellow earth to black soil, visibly becoming much more fertile.

Though the Farmland was small,

he did not have many seeds anyway. With only a dozen or so seeds to plant, this patch of Farmland was more than enough.

After finishing all this, he walked to an open area outside the camp.

With the "1.0 Heating System," he had slept rather comfortably during the day. The room was much warmer.

But,

the hot water inside the Copper Pipe would not flow on its own. He had been awakened by the cold twice and gotten up twice to replace the hot water in the Copper Pipe.

It was rather troublesome.

(End of Chapter)