Without a doubt, in this empty barony, the [Rat King] stood at the very top of the food chain. Vine Sheep, "Plum Blossom" Deer, and even those carnivores disguised as plants all feared its presence.
But in essence, the [Rat King] could actually be considered a scavenger. It was fundamentally a mass of weak rats joined together rather than a truly powerful creature, so it could not hunt large quantities of prey. It only appeared when large amounts of food became available nearby, using collective strength to compete with other creatures.
For example, Ed's killing spree last night, or the players mowing through everything in their path today, had left plenty of scraps along the way. The first rat to discover these would begin releasing signals and mutate into the core of a [Rat King].
After gathering the strength of over a thousand rats, it inevitably lost the agility rats took such pride in. Moreover, a [Rat King] could only exist for a single night. Daylight would make them return to their burrows of their own accord.
So, after their initial shock, the players decisively chose to run.
There was nothing embarrassing about that. Running when you couldn't win was perfectly reasonable.
Before they had run more than a few steps, they discovered that although the [Rat King] had high attack power, it did not move very fast. Like an old-fashioned tank in a real-world documentary, it was a stat monster, but its advance was incredibly slow.
Although it had locked onto them, the situation was like that classic online "snail chasing you" scenario: there was no particular urgency.
After running over a low rise, players with lower constitution, such as [Good Times Don't Last], were already panting.
Between heavy breaths, he told his companions:
"I still think we can take it. I've got eight strength, after all. We could kite it just like we did the Deadwood Vine."
[Howling Pothos] shook his head and spoke with a professional's seriousness:
"We haven't even figured out how to kite a [Strangler Fig] yet, never mind this monster. Our priority is taking a few pictures. Remember to edit its bestiary entry after logging out. These are all valuable lessons."
The others nodded in agreement, thinking that since the [Rat King] preferred dead things, all they had to do was run far enough to lose its aggro, and the crisis would be safely resolved.
So the players rested briefly, then set off back toward the castle.
At the very top of the castle, Ed took a bite of the oddly shaped fruit in his hand:
"Tastes pretty average."
The branches on his head swayed twice, and a voice spoke in Ed's mind:
"But it really is a rare food without any obvious toxins."
After a moment's thought, Little Green added:
"At least there's no chance of dying shortly after eating it. This variety already comes closest to meeting your needs."
Ed nodded.
"Yes, it's certainly worth cultivating on a large scale. But you've seen it yourself: the territory isn't very secure right now. If we plant the fruit one day, the Rat King might eat it that very night."
"Then what do you want to do?"
Little Green asked in his mind, and Ed answered with a smile:
"It's not about what I want to do. It's... think about it. When a group of players learns that the farmland they've worked so hard to clear might suffer a rat infestation, what will they do?"
"I understand the reasoning, but they haven't cleared any farmland yet, have they?"
"That's exactly when we want to do it."
Ed suddenly laughed. He understood his fellow countrymen's personalities very well, so he shared another portion of his memories with Little Green. As the sapling hungrily expanded its knowledge, he continued explaining:
"My fellow countrymen love four things most."
"What four things?"
"Fighting, farming, fighting to farm, and... farming to fight."
By this point, only the core remained of the fruit in Ed's hand. The hand holding it rapidly mutated into plant tissue and absorbed the core directly. Soon, a new notification appeared in his vision:
[Gene collected: Tasteless Fruit]
"Did you name this?"
Ed raised his left eyebrow. Whenever he made that gesture, he was questioning his symbiote.
"Yes, following your naming conventions. What do you think?"
"Exactly my taste."
Ed rose from the top of the castle. His right eye's true sight caught the six-player party slowly moving along the horizon, while his nonexistent left eye pulled up their first-person perspectives like surveillance feeds.
Ed had long since gained a complete picture of everything that had happened several kilometers away.
Now, for the game's development, for better farming and trade runs, he would lead his players in exterminating rats!
Gently tightening his grip on the Territory Secret Pact, Ed called softly:
"Command: [Weightlessness]!"
The castle grew larger and clearer in their vision, and the players began to feel that relief was close at hand.
To them, this castle was the fountain in a MOBA, the main city and base in a strategy game-the only place in this world that gave them a sense of safety.
Not far ahead lay [Howling Pothos]'s earlier Deadwood Vine test plot, with the framework of stacked wood outside standing out clearly.
Yet a patch of white that should not have been there was lingering at the edge of the tree hollow. The NPC named Ed seemed very interested in their experiment.
They exchanged glances, adjusted their course slightly, and headed toward the Deadwood Vine test plot.
As the players approached the tree hollow, Ed raised his head, his deep, solitary eye regarding them thoughtfully:
"Soul Returners, you've come. Did you make this? Very interesting."
As he spoke, Ed reached a hand into the tree hollow, then quickly withdrew it. The next second, a thin vine shot out of the hollow, but unfortunately caught nothing and could only retreat in frustration.
[Howling Pothos]'s eyes lit up. He jogged over to the edge of the tree hollow and looked down, discovering that the Deadwood Vine he was cultivating really had come back to life. Although fewer than two days had passed, it had already grown new roots, and the flesh thrown in earlier had been completely absorbed.
He hurriedly set down the sack he was carrying, took out a few scraps of prey, chopped them up with his short spear's point, and tossed them inside.
Ed nodded in satisfaction beside him. [Howling Pothos] was indeed the player who knew best how to play the game. His experience in both combat and farming was extensive. If he also knew how to solve web puzzles, he could truly be called an all-rounder.
"Lord, what brings you here?"
[Good Times Don't Last] felt this was not the sort of movement pattern Ed, a bot, ought to have, so he asked quite frankly.
Ed shot him a look that said, "Good question," while thinking to himself that this newbie really did resemble his own planted shill. Without him, he might have had to find another way to open the conversation.
He nodded and looked at the group:
"You seem to have run into some trouble?"
"How did you know?"
[Shit Appraisal Master] was greatly astonished. As one of the second batch to enter the game, he had not yet fully realized how intelligent the NPC before him was.
Ed pointed northeast, in the direction they had come from:
"I saw that thing from inside the castle."