Feeding

The "Wraith Blood Pattern" on the City Wall look like doodles done by a mischievous child.

Some patterns can be vaguely discerned, but at a glance, it appears extremely chaotic.

Dark Red.

It looks as if a craftsman carved it with a slanted knife dipped in red clay.

The Cave was gradually taking shape, and they could finally get a good night's sleep.

"Here I am!"

Zhou Mo, carrying a plate and beaming with a smile, strode towards the City Wall. The Crippled Monkey and his companions also carried their respective plates as they climbed the City Wall.

The food was not particularly plentiful.

Qi Chong cooked a few hot dishes and then reheated the dry flatbread.

But compared to the dry rations we ate a few days ago, this is already quite good.

As Eternal Night descended, a dense darkness enveloped the entire Wasteland. The light emanating from the Level-5 Eerie Fire within the Cave covered the entire Canyon Hollow, providing a haven of peace amidst the chaos.

"..."

Chen Fan sat on the City Wall, gazing at the light outside. He picked up a piece of hot food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, then took a bite of the warm, soft pancake in his hand. He listened to Zhou Mo and the others behind him chatting and drinking, chuckling softly without saying a word.

Even the most capable person.

Life is mostly made up of the mundane Peace, but a few highlight moments make up a person's resume.

And now.

It was a highlight moment for him.

The "Earth Dragon Migration" has almost been successfully completed. They ate their first hot meal in their New Camp and held a Housewarming Feast without any guests.

Zhou Mo and the others were drinking. He didn't like drinking, but he enjoyed watching others drink.

He was enjoying the moment.

He felt...

This Housewarming Feast can be seen as a reward for his hard work these past few days.

He painstakingly built a Camp to shelter everyone in the desolate, Rainy Season Wasteland where no one survived. That's impressive, isn't it?

At least that's what he thinks.

It got dark.

But tonight, the Canyon Hollow are all covered by Eerie Fire, making the view much clearer, less frightening and more reassuring.

Just then--

"Bang!"

A dark figure plummeted from the cliff into the Canyon Hollow.

The sound instantly shattered the previously harmonious and happy atmosphere of clinking glasses, and everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look at the source of the sound.

The sound was like a switch.

More shadowy figures crashed down the cliff into the Canyon Hollow like Dumplings falling from a pile. Tonight, Eerie Fire covered the entire Canyon Hollow, allowing them to see more clearly what was happening. One after another, the corpses of Strange Entities slammed onto the ground from the darkness.

There were at least twenty or thirty bodies.

Motionless.

Dead beyond dead.

"That Crocodile is back again?"

Zhou Mo muttered, "It's only just gotten dark, and they're already so eager to start eating?"

They learned from the Station Master that Big Croc had been coming to the Canyon Hollow to hunt for food every night for the past few nights.

"..."

Chen Fan watched this scene calmly, his expression unwavering. He had grown accustomed to his interactions with the Crocodile over the past few days. Besides, he now possessed Level-3 City Wall City Wall, and he truly didn't believe the Crocodile could breach it.

He looked at the stacks of Copper Pipe placed in the Natural Eerie Fire Zone.

They've been clearing Cave here for the past two days.

No fieldwork was conducted.

These Copper Pipe were not laid as planned, but the daily quota could not be wasted, so they were all made and piled up in the Natural Eerie Fire Zone outside the Cave, to be laid after the Cave was opened up.

In the past, the Crocodile would appear in about the time it takes for Incense Stick to burn.

As expected.

After Incense Stick.

There was movement at the boundary between the Camp and the darkness.

A huge Crocodile's forepaw cautiously emerged from the darkness, patting back and forth on the ground within the Camp area illuminated by Eerie Fire, as if wondering why it was so bright tonight when it was dark here last night.

After testing the waters for a while...

He had just crawled into the Camp area.

The lantern-sized eyes stared intently at Chen Fan was standing on the City Wall.

The man and the crocodile were locked in a standoff once again.

Several dozen breaths later.

The Crocodile began to move, cautiously crawling on all fours, slowly making its way towards the corpse of the Strange Entities that had fallen off the cliff.

"..."

Chen Fan's tightly pursed lips trembled slightly as he tried his best to suppress a laugh, lest the other person think he was making fun of him. Having lived two lives, this was the first time he had seen Crocodile crawling sideways like Crab; the scene was truly comical.

Perhaps they sensed Chen Fan's smile.

The Crocodile suddenly stopped what it was doing, staring intently at Chen Fan, and they were locked in a standoff again. After several dozen breaths, it began to move again, finally getting close to the corpse of the Strange Entities.

One eye was fixed on Chen Fan.

Its other eye darted around, locking onto the location of the Strange Entities's corpse, and it quickly swallowed the Strange Entities whole, without chewing, like Python.

The Crocodile had almost finished swallowing the General Strange's corpse.

Chen Fan took out an Eerie Stone from his pocket and threw it forcefully towards the outside of the city. It rolled on the ground more than 20 meters away. He felt that this Crocodile was quite intelligent, unlike Strange Entities, and it didn't seem to have any malicious intent. Perhaps they could live in Peace.

But this sudden movement clearly startled the Crocodile.

Without even swallowing the remaining two corpses, he turned and sprinted towards the Canyon Passage.

The earth shook violently.

"So fast..."

Standing to the side, Zhou Mo stood up and stared at the Crocodile's disappearing figure, dazed, "I didn't expect such a big thing to run so fast. Um, Station Master, why did you throw the Eerie Stone at it...?"

"Feeding."

"Um, does this Crocodile feed on Eerie Stone?"

"Ninety percent chance."

Chen Fan shook his head, not bothered by the Crocodile's escape. This guy was too timid; perhaps he'd get used to it after a few more feedings. He then explained to Zhou Mo, "One of the Four Chiefs of the Wraith King, Thousand Throats, is carrying five boxes."

"Inside are numerous Ghost Material and two large chests of Eerie Stone."

"This shows that the Eerie Stone is also important to the Strange Entities. The reason why Strange Entities flee frantically Rainy Season may also be because those Sentience Strange Entities hunt extensively during the Rainy Season."

"It eats the corpses of Strange Entities, not for Strange Entities flesh, but for the Strange Entities Eerie Stone inside."

That makes sense.

Zhou Mo nodded in sudden realization.

Just then--

The Crocodile, which had already fled into the night, cautiously crawled back to the Camp area after realizing there was no other movement. It lay down at the edge of the Camp and stared intently at Chen Fan with its large, lantern-like eyes.

A hint of doubt flickered in his pupils.

Then he turned his head to look at the few lonely, Strange Entities corpses below the cliff.

After hesitating for a moment.

He quickly climbed down the cliff and swallowed the remaining two Strange Entities corpses. Then, he carefully crawled towards the city City Wall, keeping a watchful eye on Chen Fan as he crawled, his eyes filled with anticipation.

A short while later.

It then crawled to the Eerie Stone that Chen Fan had thrown out.

The enormous nose brought its sniff to the small, Eerie Stone, then looked up at Chen Fan again, this time with a stronger sense of doubt in its eyes, even mixed with a hint of anger.

At this moment, the Crocodile was only about twenty seconds away from the City Wall.

This was the first time everyone had observed the Crocodile up close.