Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

"Alright, you just stay here for now." Xu Xin said to Lou Fei'Er, who was still flipping through the district channel with great interest, "Don't think about running away, I can track your location at any time. If you run and I catch you, you'll stay in the wristband forever."

Even he felt the words sounded off.

Why did it sound like something a villain would say?

Lou Fei'Er shivered at the mention of the wristband and hurriedly nodded, "I understand, I won't run."

She didn't have any intention of running in the first place, and hearing she might be locked into a wristband quelled any such thoughts further.

"I'll hold onto your watch for now, I'll give it back depending on your performance."

"Watch? Oh right! That watch of mine, can it still connect to Area 187?" Lou Fei'Er asked curiously.

"Yes, it can."

"So, my previous treehouse can still connect!" Lou Fei'Er's eyes lit up and she suggested to Xu Xin, "Hey, have you thought about using my treehouse to trade resources from Area 187? If we exchange their resources, wouldn't it weaken Area 187 and strengthen our Area 188!"

Xu Xin indeed had this thought. He planned to visit the salt mine cave in the Hilly Resource Zone. He wanted to see whether the place had returned to normal after the recent treehouse upgrades and enhanced protection.

If the salt mine could continue to be mined, he could certainly rely on salt to scoop up a wave of resources from Area 187.

However, he didn't expect to hear such a strategy from Lou Fei'Er.

"Oh, now it's 'our Area 188,' switching sides so smoothly? Your boss, Zhang Daoguang, saved your life." Xu Xin wanted to laugh, this betrayal was seamless, as if she was always part of Area 188.

"Betrayal or not, he saved my life, and I also helped him kill someone from Area 188, a life for a life, I owe him nothing," Lou Fei'Er said indifferently.

"Besides, because of that, I've gotten myself into this too." With that, she glanced at Xu Xin with a hint of sadness in her eyes, "Besides, aren't I already part of Area 188 now? For my own survival, I need to help Area 188."

She pointed at the screen displaying the channel of Area 188 and then furrowed her brows.

"Wait, the watch can still be used? Then am I... part of Area 187 too? What area am I really from?"

Lou Fei'Er was confused herself.

"You're part of Area 188 now because I'm from Area 188." Xu Xin pointed to himself, "If I die, you die. Got it?"

"Got it." Lou Fei'Er nodded, though her eyes flickered as if she were pondering something.

"By the way, take that out." Xu Xin pointed at the treehouse core on the ground.

"This? I've been wanting to take it down and look at it for a long time... Hey, what's going on?"

Lou Fei'Er was intrigued by the glowing core on the ground, reaching out to grab it, but after struggling from various angles, she couldn't move it at all.

Xu Xin reached out to take it as well. The treehouse core was installed loosely, and with just a slight touch, it rotated smoothly in the groove, making a sound like a pulley, and he effortlessly took it down.

"... I can't take this thing down at all, can I?" Lou Fei'Er was speechless.

Xu Xin didn't believe her. He feared it might be another act. He placed the core back and pulled Lou Fei'Er's arm, controlling her hand to touch the glowing core.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Sure enough, using Lou Fei'Er's hand to touch it, no matter how much force was applied, the core wouldn't even budge.

"... Can you let go now? You're holding me too tightly and it's hurting," Lou Fei'Er's eyes turned watery, seeming on the verge of tears again.

"Don't act." Xu Xin released her, pondering while stroking his chin.

Even though he had made Lou Fei'Er the treehouse holder, the core could still only be placed and removed by him.

Come to think of it, if anyone else could freely take out such a precious item, wouldn't the treehouse core be easily misused by those using parasitic treehouses?

He initially planned that if Lou Fei'Er could take out the core, he would take it back first. After all, he had steel now and could manufacture steel bars, eventually building her a small house on the ground, and using the parasitic treehouse for "egg incubation."

But now, it seemed like there was no need.

"Alright then, I'm heading back. If there's anything, we can discuss it tomorrow." Xu Xin said to Lou Fei'Er.

She's struggling to even walk now and won't recover until tomorrow night, so he wasn't worried about her trying anything.

As Xu Xin prepared to leave, Lou Fei'Er immediately appeared anxious, trying to get up from her seat but fell to the ground weakly, uttering a cry of pain.

She clung to Xu Xin's pant leg, pleading pitifully, "I absolutely have no strength right now. Are you really leaving me here? This small treehouse is only three meters high, I can't handle anyone who might come. Plus, it's small and dark here, I..."

Still putting up an act. But she had a point. However unlikely, if danger did occur, it wouldn't be easy to manage.

Xu Xin thought for a moment, came to the window, and called towards the main treehouse, "Afu, come here."

Afu let out a high-pitched cry and flapped its wings, flying over from the main treehouse, entering through the window, and landed on his shoulder.

"... Mutant bat? Is it called Afu? Why did you call it over?" Lou Fei'Er saw the large bat resembling a rat and instinctively wanted to avoid it, but the contract made her feel a slight affection toward Afu.

"Afu, stay here tonight. If anything happens, alert us." Xu Xin stroked Afu's small head, and Afu let out a high-pitched cry, settling on the windowsill.

"Alright, now you don't have to be afraid anymore." Xu Xin turned to Lou Fei'Er on the ground and said.

"I… you…" Lou Fei'Er felt a rush of energy rising up. She took a deep breath and showed a pitiful expression, even crawling a bit towards him, "But I want to be with the master all the time…"

"Is that so," Xu Xin said expressionlessly as he stepped forward, extending his left hand towards her, "then get into the bracelet. I've been keeping this bracelet close to me, going inside would mean being with me all the time."

Lou Fei'Er's face immediately changed, and she quickly moved back a few steps: "No, don't…"

"Didn't you say you wanted to be with me all the time?"

"I was pretending, I was talking nonsense, I was wrong!!" As Xu Xin's left hand was about to touch her body, Lou Fei'Er screamed, on the verge of tears, and this time she wasn't faking it; she was truly scared.

Xu Xin withdrew his hand and looked at the curled-up Lou Fei'Er, who had retreated all the way to the wall and could retreat no further, "In the future, drop the act in front of me, or stay in the bracelet."

"I… I understand, I won't do it again…" Lou Fei'Er said softly, with her head shrunken down.

The deterrent effect of this bracelet is quite strong.

Now Xu Xin was increasingly curious about the space inside the bracelet. Just based on Lou Fei'Er's description of darkness and nothingness, he couldn't quite imagine its true form. If he had the chance, he really wanted to go in and see for himself.

Of course, he couldn't let Lou Fei'Er stay in the main treehouse, with so many valuable items and special worktables there.

Especially when he was engaged in artistic creation, his whole spirit would be completely immersed; if it weren't for significant movements, he wouldn't be able to perceive changes around him at all. Letting this woman stay in the main treehouse would be like inviting a wolf into the house.

Even though she was already under contract, Xu Xin still felt she might do something else.

When Lou Fei'Er looked up, there was no one in front of her, only the large bat still perched on the windowsill.

She breathed a sigh of relief; she was scared out of her wits.

Yet, without seeing Xu Xin, she surprisingly felt a lack of security, becoming somewhat agitated, much like a lost child unable to find their parents.

"The power of this contract is really strong…" she couldn't help but whisper.

Luckily, she still managed to keep a secret.

That guy only asked where the pills came from and how many were left; he didn't dig deeper.

If he had asked questions like "Can you make these pills?" or "Do you know how to get these pills?" with her inexplicably obedient state now, she would have certainly blurted out the answers.

"I can make them, as long as you give me materials, I can make them for you." She would definitely say that.

Grabbing her collar and looking at the blood patterns on her body, Lou Fei'Er sighed.

She had truly mutated now, and it was highly likely she couldn't revert back. These blood patterns would probably stay with her until death.

He did say he had the power to contract mutated creatures. If the two of them worked together, it seemed like he could directly become a slave owner!

She knew better than anyone about the effect of this contract. In her current state, even if the enemy pointed a gun at her and demanded her to defect, she wouldn't.

Thinking this way, it didn't seem so bad.

After all, she was already one of them; strengthening him would just increase her own survival rate, right?

No, no! How did I just accept being his person?! She still needed to find a chance to break the contract and escape! If he got stronger, wouldn't she be trapped?!

Lou Fei'Er, do you really want to be someone's slave for your whole life!

Damn contract really affects her mind! It's practically brainwashing!

Shaking her head vigorously, Lou Fei'Er looked at the bat on the windowsill. She found that the little eyes of the big bat seemed to look at her with sympathy.

"…Have you also been inside that bracelet?" She propped herself up and easily stood up, asking Afu.

Her body was no longer as weak as when she first came out of the bracelet. Although running might be challenging, she could walk normally. She was only pretending earlier when she couldn't even stand steadily.

Because of this, she had always wanted to move into the main treehouse. In her current state, it would naturally make that man less wary, allowing her to at least observe him a bit.

However, he was more cautious than she thought. Even after contracting her, making her unable to disobey him, he was still unwilling to let her stay in the main treehouse.

He didn't seem to fully understand the actual effect of this contract? This aspect could be exploited.

Afu blinked his eyes, let out a sharp squeak, and nodded his head.

Indeed, as fellow mutated creatures, it made no sense that only she had gone inside.

"We're really pitiful, having such a brutal master." Lou Fei'Er immediately felt a connection, tearing up as if she had found a confidant, walking up to hold Afu's small paw.

…

Meanwhile, Xu Xin returned to his treehouse.

Now that he had figured out the situation between zones and the purpose of the parasite treehouse, it was time for their [Explorers] to start taking action.