Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gao Peng skipped those titles and clicked the third link.
This news was published by Chang’an City news press, and was written officially. But this kind of news wouldn’t carry too much subjectivity.
Gao Peng scanned the content seriously. The general idea of it was that a threatening species suddenly appeared in the Dark Ember Forest, that it had awesome destructive power, and liked to store food.
Unlike pythons which didn’t move around after eating, the new coming Brutal Gray Devil Spider spent a large amount of time hunting for food, then tied prey up by cocooning it, and took it home. Therefore, its threat was way higher than the other monsters. Luckily, the government evacuated forest neighborhoods on time, so this species didn’t cause many human injuries...
The news also briefly mentioned that the massive emergence of Brutal Gray Devil Spider caused much property loss. Now the Chang’an government had been actively detecting Brutal Gray Devil Spiders’ active regions and habits, and figuring out methods to handle the situation. Meanwhile the government suggested that citizens stay away from the Dark Ember Forest and wait for further instructions.
At last was the evaluation of the threat level: three stars.
This was not a low level. Last year when a Commander monster approached Chang’an downtown, its threat was ranked four stars.
It seemed like he could not buy Yin Cedar needles in downtown recently. This also reminded Gao Peng, if he needed to buy materials in the future, he’d better make only one purchase, otherwise, once an accident happened, he would be in trouble.
Previously, Gao Peng thought that if he bought too much at a time, it would be hard to keep materials fresh. His refrigerator was a small one, so it would be fine to store dozens of pounds, but definitely not enough for hundreds of pounds.
Gao Peng left his bedroom. In the living room, Dumby was still working hard on its pine needles. If he could make a photo-comparison, it would obvious to see that Dumby was one size bigger than two weeks ago. Its gray bones now had a silver gray shine, and it looked tougher.
Da Zi was still cuddling up in a heap at the corner. Gao Peng looked at it for a while, making sure that it was fine. Then he went into the kitchen.
“Let’s have kelp rib soup tonight.” Gao Peng planned to show himself up. He was really good at this.
Soon the kitchen was filled with tantalizing aroma. The smell spread out into the living room.
Lying on the ground, Da Zi’s limp antennae suddenly trembled. Its eyes were still closed, but the body crawled to the kitchen automatically.
Bang...
When Da Zi walked in with its eyes closed, it hit on a table leg. It opened its sleepy eyes, detoured around the table, then kept heading to the kitchen.
Dense legs held its long, shaking body all the way to the kitchen. It raised its head, looking at its owner, who was busy cooking.
Hiss! “I’m hungry!”
Two different sounds rang in Gao Peng’s brain.
“Soon, just give me a second,” Gao Peng replied habitually. Suddenly he realized, Is this guy finished evolving?
He turned around. Da Zi’s data frame finally showed its grade had changed from Excellent to Perfect.
Nevertheless, Da Zi’s appearance didn’t change much. Gao Peng looked closer; nothing else changed except extra golden patterns on its antennas.
After dinner, Gao Peng received a phone call from Blue Shield Protection Company’s manager Liu Senlin. “Sorry to bother you so late at night, Mr. Gao,” Liu Senlin kept apologizing in the phone.
“It’s OK, I’m not in bed. No worries.” Gao Peng muted the TV and asked, “Manager Liu, is there an emergency?”
“Yes. I wonder whether Mr. Gao has time tonight.” Liu Senlin tried to control his emotions, but Gao Peng still felt his anxiety.
Gao Peng raised head and glanced at the clock on the wall; it was only eight o’clock. “Yes I do.” He took money from them, then helped them solve problems. It was fair.
“That would be great. Thank you so much.” Liu Senlin sounded relieved.
Gao Peng didn’t wait long before a black commercial vehicle came to pick him up. Liu Senlin was in the car.
“Eh? Why did Manager Liu come so quick?” Gao Peng asked confusingly.
“Mr. Gao, have you heard about the newly found Brutal Gray Devil Spiders in the Dark Ember Forest?”
“Yes, I have heard something about them,” Gao Peng nodded.
“Then I’m not going to re-explain the story. The government has called many protection companies together, as well as private organizations, to discover the Brutal Gray Devil Spiders’ habits and weaknesses. Our company received a new task this morning, and is about to leave in three days. Therefore, we want to ask you to take care of our Devil Mantises beforehand. It would be great to upgrade some Devil Mantises before we started our mission, for stronger Devil Mantises can increase our probability of winning. Of course, it is fine if they are not able to evolve. No matter what the result, please help us,” Liu Senlin said earnestly.
“If I’m right, I remember that the government didn’t allow private organizations or protection companies to touch these missions in the past.” Gao Peng was surprised. The government used to keep missions secret and didn’t allow organizations or protection companies to participate for social security reasons. These missions used to be done by armies and government-owned laboratories.
“The coalition government held a meeting days ago. They have made some reformations, as well as abolishments,” Liu Senlin sighed. “From now on, the coalition will go on a different path. It used to suppress organizations, companies and all the unofficial forces’ growth. But in recent years, rapid monster evolution has been bothering the government so much that they finally realized they were not able to fight alone. Therefore, this time, they opened up many of the policies.”
As the manager of a protection company, Liu Senlin was willing to see this happen.
Soon the car stopped in front of a building. They got of the car and walked into the building. On both sides of the gate, two security guards in blue uniforms were guarding vigilantly. Next to them stood two Devil Mantises, like two sculptures.
The big square behind the building was also under protection. Three tall walls surrounded the square, which were covered by electrified wire netting.
Gao Peng glanced over; there gathered hundreds of Devil Mantises in the square. The atmosphere was tense.
“These are all the Devil Mantises we have,” Liu Senlin nodded.
Gao Peng stepped forward. He looked at the mantises, and only saw dense data frames. He finally selected 10 Devil Mantises.
“Let’s try these ten mantises.”
“Nice choice, Mr. Gao!” Liu Senlin thumbed up. These ten were exactly the best Devil Mantises in the company.
“I will write down the materials on a piece of paper; you go find them as soon as possible. If everything goes well, three days will be enough,” Gao Peng said emotionlessly.
“Roger that.”
After a short while, Gao Peng handed Liu Snelin a note with materials on it. Liu Senlin glanced at the note, and, daring not to waste time, immediately sent people out for purchasing. He ordered them to got everything prepared with an hour, no matter how much it cost.
Being in Chang’an City for such a long time, Liu Senlin had built his own networks. Everyone was sent out. It didn’t take long to collect all the materials.
“Mr. Gao, materials are ready.” Liu Senlin was dripping with sweat. He was anxious and worried.
Gao Peng didn’t look back. He carefully put on his gloves and mask.
In front of him, a big pot was boiling, and heat blew ino his face.