"Hey."
Chen Fan looked toward the Crocodile and called out, "I don't need the toys. Keep them to play with yourself. If you can, could you dig a big hole in this Cliff Face beside us? Like the Cave behind me."
He gestured with both hands as he spoke.
He wanted to make his meaning as clear as possible.
Lying on the ground, the Crocodile tilted its head and watched Chen Fan waving his arms on the City Wall, trying hard to figure out what he meant. After a while, it walked over to the cliff on the Left Wing, tentatively scooped out a hole with its claws, then looked back at Chen Fan.
"That's right. Just like that."
Chen Fan nodded emphatically in satisfaction. Worried that it couldn't see clearly from so far away, he spread his arms wide in an exaggerated gesture. "But bigger and deeper. Like the one behind me."
This time, the Crocodile understood and let out an excited growl.
Its foreclaws swept rapidly, digging away at the cliff.
"An engineer crocodile, huh..."
After watching for a while, a flicker of surprise crossed Chen Fan's eyes. The creature swallowed all the Soil it dug out of the Cave. Now he was certain its belly contained a spatial pouch, and a sizable one at that.
He didn't linger. After ordering the Mountain-Skeleton Embryo inside the Eerie Fire to extend its bones into the newly excavated Cave to prevent a collapse, he left the creature to its work. He needed to sleep first.
He couldn't keep going.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Chen Fan stretched and walked out of the Wooden Hut.
Another day of feeling refreshed and energized.
Crippled Monkey and the others could be heard chatting outside the Cave.
He walked beyond the City