Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

"Is this entire treehouse really supported by just this one core?" Li Wenxi looked at the Treasure Pearl in her hand, which was emitting a white glow, then glanced at the ruins in front of her and exclaimed.

"Awoo—" A wolf's howl came from somewhere not too far in the jungle, and a few seconds later, Silver King burst out from the forest, charging toward them.

It seemed that the collapse of the treehouse made it think Xu Xin and the others were in danger, so it ignored Xu Xin's commands and rushed over immediately.

"What a huge wolf! A mutant beast?!" Silver King's massive size, coupled with the blood-red patterns over its body and those two hideously large fangs, showed that it was a powerful mutant beast, which made Qi Xuefei's face change drastically as she quickly took out her crossbow, ready to pull the trigger at Silver King.

"No! Don't attack! That's Xu Xin's mount, it's Silver King!" Li Wenxi hurriedly reached out to push down her crossbow and explained.

"M-Mount?" Qi Xuefei was startled, "Xu Xin's mount is actually a mutant beast?"

She knew Xu Xin had a mount, they mentioned it before in the [Explorer] group, but she thought it was just an ordinary beast, unexpectedly, it was such a large mutant wolf.

Silver King had now arrived at the ruins where only a section of the tree trunk remained, and seeing the group unharmed, it let out a puzzled howl, "Awoo?"

"My Aniu is also a mutant beast, didn't I mention that?" Li Wenxi walked to Silver King's side, patting its head.

Keke also jumped onto Silver King's back at this moment, starting to "yelp yelp yelp" while narrating what had just happened to Silver King.

"You never mentioned it." Qi Xuefei put away her crossbow, looking in surprise at the big mutant wolf letting Li Wenxi pat its head and the communication happening between it and the little panda Keke.

These two different species of animals could actually communicate with each other without barriers?

The things she saw today had truly surprised her countless times.

"Alright, let's dig out the seed of this treehouse first." Xu Xin took out his blue-grade shovel.

"I'll help too!" Li Wenxi also pulled out a blue-grade steel shovel from her backpack.

Upon seeing the blue-grade steel shovel, Xu Xin was taken aback.

Right, they could now make steel tools.

Since iron tools were sufficient for use and could already damage the treehouse, he hadn't thought about making steel tools.

Like in some game, an iron pickaxe was enough unless something special needed to be mined, who would bother making a diamond pickaxe? Steel was also scarce for making coordinates, so only this wealthy girl could use the materials so indiscriminately.

Seeing Xu Xin look at her steel shovel, Li Wenxi immediately handed it to him, "Want to take a look? Here you go."

Xu Xin took the steel shovel from her hand.

The description of the steel shovel was almost identical to that of the iron shovel, with a 100% probability of digging up seeds and a 50% probability of transplanting, none of these values had changed, but there was one additional description at the end.

[When excavating special types of trees, increase the digging speed.]

Special types of trees.

Xu Xin glanced at the treehouse beside him, now half its original trunk remaining.

The last time he saw this term was in the description of the blue-grade iron axe. The blue-grade iron axe could chop "purple-grade and below trees, as well as some special types of trees."

Just yesterday, Xu Xin found out that only a blue-grade iron axe could chop the treehouse, which meant the treehouse was a so-called "special type of tree."

Goodness, this steel shovel is a specialized tool for the treehouse?

He recalled that last time it took him half an hour to dig with an iron shovel. Lou Fei'Er told him it took her over an hour with a blue-grade stone shovel.

He's unsure how long this steel shovel will take.

"Let me borrow this for a moment, can you all wait a bit? I want to test the speed of the steel shovel." Xu Xin said, then began digging at the base of the remaining tree trunk of the treehouse with the steel shovel.

"What's the difference between a steel shovel and an iron shovel, the introduction didn't mention." Li Wenxi curiously asked.

Without Xu Xin's discerning abilities, Li Wenxi didn't notice the special function of the steel shovel. When she made it, she thought it was just like the iron shovel, feeling it wasted some materials.

"It can speed up the digging of treehouse seeds, the iron shovel takes about half an hour to dig..." While Xu Xin explained as he dug, he was interrupted by the "crack crack" sound of roots breaking at the bottom of the half tree trunk.

"Hmm?" Xu Xin stopped his actions, thought of something, and gently pushed the tree trunk.

The "crack crack" sounds came again, and the tree trunk immediately tilted and slowly fell to one side.

"Boom!"

Watching the fallen tree trunk on the ground and the seed left in the hole after the tree trunk fell, Xu Xin was stunned for two seconds.

That was fast?

It seemed less than a minute?

Wasn't that a bit exaggerated?

If it happened to coincide with a treehouse with its owner out, holding a steel shovel to dig under it for a few dozen seconds, would the whole treehouse topple over?

Xu Xin's mouth slightly opened as he looked at the steel shovel in his hand as if looking at a divine artifact.

It truly was specialized for the treehouse!

This thing is a big trouble!

Fortunately, besides him, no one else could refine steel yet, otherwise, if someone went around with a steel shovel digging treehouses, it would be problematic!

"The steel shovel takes... half an hour?" Li Wenxi heard what Xu Xin just said, and pointed at the half tree trunk on the ground with wide eyes, "The steel shovel is so fast!"

Fast indeed, it can even be used as a weapon against the treehouse, but...

Xu Xin pondered for a moment.

For them, the [Explorers], the value of the steel shovel is not as high as it might seem.

They need to obtain the treehouse core, and if they directly dig the treehouse from the outside and collapse it, the treehouse would die, making the core unobtainable, which would be a huge loss.

Moreover, even though collapsing the treehouse takes only a few seconds, as an attack method, it's still a bit too long.

Unless the treehouse has no people inside and no automatic attack mechanisms, it would be difficult to collapse a treehouse even with a steel shovel.

Therefore, the steel shovel's role, for them, is more about saving time.

It's still good; in this world, time is the most precious thing.

Xu Xin returned the steel shovel to Li Wenxi and took out the seed from this parasitic type treehouse from the pit, handing it to Qi Xuefei, who was watching his operation somewhat curiously at the side: "Sister Xuefei, this treehouse is yours."

"Ah," Li Wenxi also hurriedly handed the treehouse core she was holding to Qi Xuefei, "Sister Xuefei, this core is for you too!"

Qi Xuefei did not refuse and accepted them all: "So this is what you mean by the seed and core of a parasitic type treehouse, right?"

She looked over the treehouse core, muttering to herself, "It can enhance the grade of basic supplies... Hemostatic grass counts as basic supplies, right? Maybe I can start making purple-grade pills."

Purple-grade pills... They sound so powerful, seeming capable of resurrecting the dead and regenerating flesh.

Ji Chaoyang has another treehouse seed plus a core over there, which should also go to Qi Xuefei.

It seems their lives are about to get even tougher.

"Alright, the matters here are resolved, let's head to Sister Xuefei's treehouse!" Li Wenxi could hardly wait to leave, especially since not far away lay a headless corpse and a lone head.

Although she no longer felt nauseous, just looking at it still felt a bit creepy.

"Uh... should we bury him?" Qi Xuefei seemed reluctant to let this person's corpse be exposed to the wilderness.

Burying it also helps avoid unnecessary troubles.

Burying is much simpler. Xu Xin used the iron shovel to dig out two patches of soil, threw the body and head in, and then filled the soil back, returning the ground to its original state, completely concealing the corpse of a survivor.

"Wow... I just realized, this shovel is really a great tool for burying corpses... It's so convenient..." Li Wenxi stared at the smooth, unmarked ground, somewhat dazed.

Indeed, with one shovel, a cubic meter of soil is excavated, Xu Xin dug out two pieces of white-grade soil, tossed the corpse in, filled it back, leaving no trace of a buried survivor's corpse.

Simply flawless.

"All done," Xu Xin clapped his hands, finishing up, "Let's go, Silver King!"

"Wait!" Li Wenxi suddenly realized a serious issue, she glanced at Silver King, then at Xu Xin and Qi Xuefei, her expression a bit odd, "... You don't expect us two to sandwich you, right, hugging front and back?"

"Uh? This..." Xu Xin was about to leap onto the wolf when he heard Li Wenxi's words, momentarily stunned, having not considered this aspect.

Truth be told, front and back hugging is indeed the most stable way to sit; after all, only those who have made a contract with Silver King can sit stably on Silver King's back, others are easily thrown off by Silver King's speed and swift movements.

Moreover, all three of them are wearing steel armor suits, so it doesn't really matter.

Running all the way with Li Wenxi in his arms, it seemed close, but in reality, he hadn't taken advantage at all, as the steel armor truly wraps a person tightly.

Qi Xuefei's expression was also a bit awkward.

Truthfully, she wasn't eager to stick close with a man she just met either; never having had a romantic experience, the men she's encountered were either patients during internships or deceased corpses.

This is quite normal; studying medicine is different from other majors, and very exhausting, with medical studies requiring continuous schooling from undergraduate to doctorate, keeping her courses jam-packed and activities non-existent, leaving no room for romance.

"Aroo?" Silver King was still oblivious to the impending fate of carrying three people in steel armor suits, but given its current size and abilities, it shouldn't be a problem, likely just expending stamina a bit faster.

"Then what do you suggest?" Witnessing Li Wenxi pout, her eyes darting between them and Silver King, Xu Xin couldn't help but smile slightly, as there are always relaxing interludes with Li Wenxi around.

"Hmm... Sister Xuefei certainly doesn't want to be close to you, watch me!"

Eventually, under Li Wenxi's direction, Xu Xin climbed onto Silver King's back.

Keke lay in his arms, curiously peeking back.

Behind him, Li Wenxi sat hugging him, while Qi Xuefei held Li Wenxi's waist behind her.

"Wenxi this method is nice." Qi Xuefei praised.

"Right!" Li Wenxi expressed a bit of pride before darting a sideways glance at Xu Xin, seemingly saying, "Want to take advantage of Sister Xuefei? No way!"

Xu Xin couldn't help laughing, shaking his head, and said, "Then you'd better hold on tight, especially you, Wenxi, if you don't hold on tight, both of you will be thrown off."

"Don't worry, I'll hold onto you tight!" Li Wenxi's hand instantly strengthened her grip, burying her head murmuring.

Qi Xuefei chuckled quietly behind.

"Then let's go, Silver King, onward to the treehouse ahead!" Xu Xin pointed toward the lush greenery to the east.

"Awoo——"