Chapter 92

Chapter 92

"Do you sense any difference between this impurity and ordinary ones?" Ying Yuanxing asked Xuan Ying.

Xuan Ying pondered for a moment before replying, "No difference, except it's harder to expel."

"To use a human idiom, it's like a cancer that eats at the bone," Xuan Ying added, feeling his explanation wasn't clear enough.

"That persistent?" Ying Yuanxing was surprised. Previously, those impurities could be expelled just by eating some seaweed, but the impurities from this small world were this stubborn?

"Just this little bit, diluted, could feed seaweed in a tenth of the ocean," Xuan Ying explained, taking human form and gathering the expelled impurities.

Ying Yuanxing turned to look at the ocean controlled by the farm and did the math. He felt the black impurities in front of him were incredibly toxic.

Luckily, it was Xuan Ying who came into contact with these impurities. If it were any other Weird being, Ying Yuanxing suspected they would struggle to absorb a bit of energy before the impurities caused their Weird Qi to dissipate entirely.

Not only could these be used as fertilizer for cultivating seaweed, but they could also work as a weapon—as long as there was a way to deliver the impurities into a Weird being's body.

Wait, Xuan Ying seemed particularly skilled at invading other Weirds. So, this small world remnant could serve both as Xuan Ying's food and his weapon. Ying Yuanxing realized that the Weird World's consciousness had truly given an excellent gift.

Moreover, this small world remnant was incredibly long-lasting. Ying Yuanxing felt Xuan Ying could use it for a long time, and by the time Xuan Ying fully consumed it, he wouldn't need weapons.

"It seems it can also absorb impurities?" Xuan Ying held the stone, puzzled.

"Absorb impurities?" Ying Yuanxing was astonished.

Xuan Ying picked up the stone, opened a box, and took out a portion of impurities—from previous stores.

The gray impurities, when brought close to the black stone, were drawn toward it like iron filings to a magnet, swiftly merging into it.

Ying Yuanxing blinked, his expression one of shock. Unless combined with shrimp or crab to make fertilizer, impurities were virtually impossible to remove. They couldn’t be metabolized over time and lingered forever in the world.

If this were something beneficial to the Weird World, it would surely become a treasure hotly contested by Weirds. Unfortunately, these impurities were toxic—only harmful, with no benefits.

Ying Yuanxing found it strange that something purely detrimental could even exist.

Because of this, Ying Yuanxing had no choice but to store the impurities in reinforced containers. These boxes were sturdy—unless exposed to explosives, the impurities were secure inside, ready to be retrieved when needed.

But how to store large quantities of impurities? Ying Yuanxing hadn’t figured that out yet.

Though he didn’t have this concern for now, considering the danger of Weird World impurities, he had to collect them to improve the Weird World. They couldn’t be left to run rampant.

Now, it seemed there was a solution—and a much safer method at that.

"Xuan Ying, can you control the impurities absorbed into the stone?" Ying Yuanxing asked.

Xuan Ying tested it and nodded. The impurities he placed inside were under his control.

"Here, absorb all these." Ying Yuanxing opened the boxes and had Xuan Ying absorb all the impurities to clear space.

The most frustrating thing about impurities was that each portion occupied an individual compartment in the boxes—they couldn’t be stacked. Even though Ying Yuanxing hadn’t stored many, the number of boxes they took up was significant. Now, they could finally be emptied in one go.

Xuan Ying used the black stone to absorb all the impurities from the boxes. Perhaps because it had been replenished, the small pit he had bitten earlier filled in slightly—though the change was barely noticeable.

"If only we could expand its ability to attract impurities!" Ying Yuanxing looked at the now-empty boxes and then at the small world remnant, musing aloud.

If that were possible, perhaps it could automatically gather impurities without him having to go looking for them.

If its power were expanded further, it could even serve as a global purification device, contributing to the cleanliness of the Weird World.

Ying Yuanxing turned to Xuan Ying and asked, "Can we expand its ability to attract impurities?"

Faced with Ying Yuanxing’s eager look, Xuan Ying wanted to nod and say yes—but he couldn’t. At least not now. He shook his head.

Ying Yuanxing sighed, mildly disappointed. After all, this small world remnant had already solved one problem for him.

Besides, if what he envisioned were truly possible, the Weird World's consciousness would have already modified it when the remnant was still under its control. The fact that it hadn’t suggested it was difficult to achieve.

Still, looking at the stone, Ying Yuanxing felt that—whether for the sake of the Weird World's consciousness or Xuan Ying—he needed to collect more impurities.

But where were impurities most abundant?

Ying Yuanxing first thought of the ocean but quickly dismissed the idea. While the ocean had many impurities, they were too diluted. Relying on natural absorption would take far too long.

However, he could still have Xuan Ying take the stone for occasional swims. Though the impurities were scattered, staying longer could still collect a fair bit.

As for other sources rich in impurities, Ying Yuanxing discovered that some Weird Food sold in supermarkets had surprisingly high impurity levels, while ordinary Weird World food had very little.

Ying Yuanxing discarded this idea as well—the cost was too high, and it would mean financing the opposition. He wouldn’t consider it.

That left only one solution: inviting more patients to the treatment room.

Over the next few days, while still figuring out how to get more patients, Ying Yuanxing learned that a new batch of patients had arrived at the treatment room.

These patients weren’t particularly strong, but examinations revealed their bodies contained abnormally high levels of impurities. Oddly, they had one request: not to remove all the impurities, but to leave some behind.

"Are you sure they said to leave some impurities?" Ying Yuanxing listened to Elder Brother Yu’s report, wondering if he heard right.

Previous patients had always been afraid of not having their impurities fully removed. This reversal felt suspicious.

Could it be an attempt by Weird beings to smear the clinic's name? Ying Yuanxing thought it wasn’t impossible.

"No, they were referred by some former patients," Elder Brother Yu said, shaking his head.

"Do you know something?" Ying Yuanxing asked.

"Chief, I know one of them—they’re an employee of Rainbow Supermarket," Elder Brother Yu explained. Seeing Ying Yuanxing still confused, he added, "This Rainbow Supermarket is nowhere near as big as Hongxing Supermarket. They specialize in selling Weird Food with high impurity levels, but because their prices are lower than other supermarkets, they still draw quite a few customers."

In short, their selling point was lower prices—but at the cost of terrible quality.

However, since they didn’t require package deals and allowed direct buying, some Weird beings were still willing to shop there.

Ying Yuanxing understood but was even more puzzled about why these employees wanted to keep impurities.

"Boss, have you heard? Recently, independent farming households have been attacking supermarkets at a much higher frequency—some even targeting warehouse storage," Elder Brother Yu said.

Ying Yuanxing hadn’t known about this. He’d been too focused on gathering impurities to check online.

Hearing this, Ying Yuanxing immediately logged into an anonymous forum and found the entire platform discussing the issue. Even though it had been happening for days, it remained a hot topic.

After reading a few posts, Ying Yuanxing was baffled. The Weird beings bound to the farming game—weren’t they supposed to be non-aggressive and lacking in vengefulness?

Other Weird beings might not know how many were bound to the farming game, but he did. Calculating the number of bound creatures against the frequency of supermarket attacks made his lips twitch.

At this rate, each creature would have to launch two attacks per day.

Could someone be using their name to act and pin the blame on them? Ying Yuanxing frowned, considering conspiracy theories.

However, when he opened the farming game's backend and checked the sales of bombs, he was shocked to find that their sales had skyrocketed over the past few days, becoming the second most popular item after seeds.

Judging by the bomb sales, the attacks were indeed their doing.

Ying Yuanxing fell silent for a moment. Did the bombs he provided ignite these Weirdos' combat instincts?

"I heard that there have been so many attacks recently that some Weirdos suspect some supermarket employees might be exploiting the chaos. Now it seems that possibility is quite high."

Otherwise, how else would these employees suddenly accumulate so many impurities in their bodies? Impurities were a chronic toxin, and unless a Weirdo deliberately consumed them, they usually only ingested impurities incidentally while eating Weird Food. The situation was quite clear now.

"Boss, should we treat them?" Elder Brother Yu asked.

If they treated them and nothing came to light, the supermarkets wouldn’t trace it back to them. But if they were discovered, they’d be making enemies. Yet, refusing treatment would damage their clinic’s reputation.

"Treat them, of course. Put them on the fast track," Ying Yuanxing snapped to attention and said.

Elder Brother Yu had worried that Ying Yuanxing, as the boss, might see these employees as traitors. To his surprise, Ying Yuanxing was willing to help them. After a brief pause, he immediately notified Mother Xue to rush their treatment for this batch of patients.

……

Du Yunhua was an employee at Rainbow Supermarket. He had worked his ass off for many years but remained stuck as the lowest-level salesclerk.

As a bottom-rung salesclerk, Du Yunhua earned a paltry wage of 1,000 Weird coins and got stuck with expired Weird Food as "benefits"—food that had to be stored for a long time before being handed out to the lowest-ranking employees.

Items just past expiry got their dates fudged, while those too far gone were sold as discounted, nearly expired or freshly expired Weird Food. Only when even discounts couldn’t sell them would they be given to salesclerks as "benefits."

Of course, these supposed "benefits" were essentially purchased with their wages—just at a price no non-employee Weirdo could access.

For low-level salesclerk like him, failure to move up or toughen up meant eventual dismissal.

With the axe about to fall and what little Weird Qi he had in his body dissipating faster, Du Yunhua chose to cut a deal with the raiders when he saw them—snatching Weird Food while they caused mayhem.

His colleagues, in similar situations, followed his lead.

Rather than calling the manager and facing punishment for lost goods, they chose to grab their share first.

That was the first time Du Yunhua tasted non-expired Weird Food from the supermarket. It didn't taste as good as he'd hoped, but the Weird Qi was abundant—enough to fill him up for the first time.

In the following days, Du Yunhua spotted more attackers and, through cooperation, scored several decent meals. Once, he even convinced an attacker who hadn’t originally targeted their supermarket to raid their warehouse instead.

This time, Du Yunhua not only ate his fill but even had enough Weird Qi to spare for his family.

But absorbing more Weird Qi also meant more impurities. When he supplied Weird Qi to his family, his own stores ran dangerously low. It was then that his collaborator gave him a contact, leading him to the clinic.

Before this, Du Yunhua would've laughed at the idea of trusting some back-alley clinic. Having spent years in the supermarket, he believed supermarkets had all the power. If they couldn’t solve impurity problems, how could an ordinary clinic?

But the attackers, though not strong, were hitting supermarkets hard and had some unusual tricks up their sleeves. It was worth a try.

After all, without trying, his fate was one of three: withering away as his Weird Qi ran out, trying to scrape together enough for passage to Earth (but lacking enough Weird coins for the trip), or being killed by the manager for excessive impurities.

Might as well give the clinic a shot his collaborator recommended.

Upon arrival, Du Yunhua realized those forum rumors were actually legit—this clinic was different from ordinary hospitals. The staff weren't winning any customer service awards, but they didn’t scam money.

Before treatment, Du Yunhua worried that getting totally cleansed might raise red flags, so he made a request—only to find other patients doing the same.

It was then he realized half the patients here turned out to be supermarket workers—including faces he knew from competing chains.

So it wasn’t just one supermarket’s employees colluding—many were doing the same.

Noticing Du Yunhua’s gaze, a few creatures did double-takes.

Du Yunhua was a veteran at Rainbow Supermarket, the poster boy for company loyalty—yet even he had done this.

"You…?" Du Yunhua, not one to act rashly - the impulsive types never lasted, couldn’t help but ask.

"Same damn reason as you," one Weirdo shrugged.

Outside, he’d never admit it—would've been angling for blackmail material. But here, with so many in the same boat, there was no sense playing dumb now.

"If you’re doing this, you should target other supermarkets. Rainbow’s stock is garbage quality—gorging yourself barely makes a dent. Other stores might offer less, but one decent haul there beats ten runs at your place," a rival supermarket employee added.

"You want me to join your store?" Du Yunhua was stunned.

"Hey, if you come, it’d be our store," the competitor's clerk smirked.

Another Weirdo whispered a supermarket’s name: "I heard they got some premium-grade new stock, priced steeply. One good score there could set you up for months."

"But the heat would be intense. That outfit's bosses ride their staff too hard—better stick to safer targets," another chimed in.

By the time Elder Brother Yu returned, the supermarket employees were deep into their treasonous brainstorming, eagerly debating which store was best to infiltrate.

Elder Brother Yu’s eye started twitching. Since when did supermarket staff turn into such turncoats?

"Wish we could join them," one sighed.

They didn’t know how other Weirdos lived, but they were green with envy over the raiders—growing top-shelf Weird Food, flourishing right under the supermarkets' noses, clearly backed by powerful forces.

If they could live like that, who’d stay in supermarkets?

Outsiders saw supermarkets as havens, but long-time employees knew the truth—barely better than outside, yet leaving was even harder. So they endured, keeping up the loyal employee act.

After listening in the illusion, Elder Brother Yu reported their discussions to Ying Yuanxing.

Ying Yuanxing sighed. The Weird World's oppression made Earth's look tame.

Human oppression at least had laws to curb it (however ineffective sometimes). Here, it was pure survival of the fittest.

He couldn’t change that, but the employees’ words gave him an idea—perhaps the farming game’s second batch of bound Weirdos could be selected from supermarket employees.

These employees clearly desired change, their oppression fueling that desire.

Though bound by supermarket control, their families might be better candidates.

Jotting down his thoughts, Ying Yuanxing felt mentally drained and decided to unwind.

As a farmer, his relaxation was simple: farm work. Physical labor let his mind rest.

But today’s farming was already done, leaving only the pasture. With time to spare, he headed there to pet the animals.

Few animals were manageable, but with many, petting took ages—especially since he’d started late, and they were all out grazing.

Turning toward the pasture, Ying Yuanxing saw rows of wooden cabins by the water. Thankfully, this was the Weird World—otherwise, seawater would’ve rotted them long ago.

Ying Yuanxing had just walked up when he noticed Mu Ye staring at the water's edge.

"What's wrong?" Ying Yuanxing thought something was amiss and followed Mu Ye's gaze, only to see just some ducks paddling around in the water.

"Do they have to stay in the water? Can’t they come on land? Wouldn’t that tire them out?" Mu Ye pointed at the ducks and asked as Ying Yuanxing approached.

Ying Yuanxing understood what Mu Ye meant. When he had Yuan Qing build the chicken coops, he built the duck pens right by the water’s edge, meaning they were stuck either in the coop or the water—no way to graze onshore.

His reasoning was simple: ducks naturally hunt for food in the water, reducing their need to graze on the pasture. With a sizable duck population, saving on pasture feed would cut costs a lot.

"Swimming’s natural for ducks—doubt they get tired," Ying Yuanxing said. "But if you're worried, why not ask them if they're tired?"

He was joking, but Mu Ye actually went ahead and asked. After listening to the ducks' quacks, he got up, looking confused.

"So, what did they say?" Ying Yuanxing asked.

"They said the water is fun," Mu Ye replied.

Ying Yuanxing glanced at the long row of chicken coops and animal sheds ahead, taking a deep breath. The mix of salty sea air, fresh grass, and the animals’ warm musk was weirdly nice.

Then he dashed into the pasture, snatching up animals left and right, giving them all a frantic rubdown.

When there were fewer furry creatures, petting them was a joy. But now, he was nothing more than an emotionless petting machine.