Chapter 48

Chapter 48

During the journey, Cheng Zhiyu discovered Little Roll's practical use. At first, Little Roll was feeling bored and extended a vine to swing it outside.

Cheng Zhiyu thought this was dangerous: "What if there's an obstacle ahead? You could easily get hurt."

Little Roll: Hurt?

Just then, some large rocks appeared ahead, blocking the path. Zhou Min, who was driving, was about to stop and have everyone get out to clear the obstacle.

But then, Little Roll suddenly extended innumerable vines, each one wrapping around a large rock. The rocks were thrown far away, leaving perfect arcs in the air.

Zhou Min's eyes widened: "Whoa, we don't even need to get out of the car."

Tian Qiao: "Roll, bro, that's insane!"

Whenever he thought someone was impressive, he had no problem calling them "brother."

Little Roll was smug. A short vine waved near Cheng Zhiyu, swaying back and forth as if saying, "See how awesome I am?"

Cheng Zhiyu found it amusing and was about to speak when Little Black, with his half-lidded eyes, took a swipe at Little Roll.

Little Roll wasn't having it. Thorns instantly sprouted from its vines, brandishing them defiantly as if saying, "Come on, come on, you think I'm scared of you?"

But Little Black didn't even flinch and swatted down anyway, smacking Little Roll right onto the seat.

Cheng Zhiyu frowned and quickly grabbed Little Black's paw, concerned: "Are you okay? Little Roll's thorns are poisonous. Did they stick you?"

Upon closer inspection, Little Black's paw was perfectly fine—smooth and soft, with no sign of injury.

Meanwhile, Little Roll was looking deflated, its thorns all bent out of shape.

Seeing Cheng Zhiyu's concern, Little Black wagged his tail happily and glanced at Little Roll as if saying, "You fool."

Cheng Zhiyu chuckled softly and glared at Little Black before turning to Little Roll with concern: "Are you okay?"

Little Roll, being a resilient, high-energy plant, quickly lifted its vine and shook it proudly, trying to prove it was fine.

But it was clearly a bit afraid of Little Black now. After all, it had never encountered a creature that wasn't scared of its thorns. Little Roll now considered Little Black the most dangerous being, hands down.

It didn't dare get close to Little Black anymore and kept its distance, extending another vine outside.

Cheng Zhiyu, like a fretful parent, said: "This is really dangerous. What if we run into a zombie..."

Before he could finish, they actually encountered a zombie. The zombie tried to attack the car, but Little Roll wrapped around it and wrung its head right off. Just as it was about to chuck the head, Cheng Zhiyu's eye twitched: "Don't throw it."

He could tell this was a Level One Zombie, and its head contained a crystal core. Besides, a zombie could survive with just its head.

Tian Qiao and the others were stunned: "Holy crap, Little Roll is amazing! But don't throw the head—there's something good inside."

Little Roll paused, a bit confused why humans would like such a thing, but it was obliging and was about to toss the head to Cheng Zhiyu.

Cheng Zhiyu: "...No."

He quickly called out Little Iron, which transformed into a cleaver and sliced open the head Little Roll was holding. Then, a jet of water entered the zombie's head, washing out the crystal core before handing it clean to Cheng Zhiyu.

Seeing that the rest was useless, Little Roll tossed it away like a ball.

After throwing it, it retracted into the car and tried to wiggle up to Cheng Zhiyu to show off—its vine still covered in zombie gunk.

Cheng Zhiyu quickly had Little Black rinse Little Roll clean before he could relax.

Tian Qiao and the others were stoked by Little Roll's series of actions. If Zhou Min hadn't been driving, they would've piled into the back seat to get a better look.

Even so, he couldn't stop talking: "Holy crap, Brother Roll is awesome! We didn't have to lift a finger, and Brother Roll just snatched the zombie crystal core. Does it get any better than this? Nope!"

Tian Qiao sighed: "Back then, killing a Level One Zombie took a lot of effort. Now Brother Roll makes it look easy. Ah, if only Brother Roll had shown up back then."

Tian Manman joined in, giving a clumsy thumbs-up: "Impressive."

Little Black flicked his tail: Seems like these people used to praise him like this.

Hmph.

Little Roll seemed to understand their praise and was absolutely delighted, its vines swaying happily as it gave each person a little wrap who complimented it.

Cheng Zhiyu found it amusing: "But Little Roll really is great for defense."

At the very least, they wouldn't have to lift a finger against zombies below Level Two. Although they could handle Level One Zombies easily now, it was still a hassle.

Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment and asked Little Roll: "Little Roll, can you wrap the car with your vines?"

Little Roll seemed to ponder this, and then several vines crawled over the car's exterior. Cheng Zhiyu raised an eyebrow: "Will this cause any problems?"

Little Roll wriggled one of the vines that had poked inside, looking pretty pleased with itself. It didn't seem like there would be any issues.

With Little Roll around, even if there were zombies outside, ordinary and Level One ones were easily dealt with. For stronger zombies, Little Roll would alert them, and they could react quickly.

Cheng Zhiyu took the zombie crystal cores that Little Roll had obtained and distributed them according to everyone's ability types. Tian Qiao grinned from ear to ear: "Well, I guess we're benefiting from Brother Roll now."

Cheng Zhiyu: "If there's nothing else, go ahead and absorb the crystal cores."

Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were both on the brink of breaking through to Level Three and were about to break through.

Unfortunately, Zhou Min's ability was unique, and he couldn't find any crystal cores that were useful to him. He could only level up by using his ability extensively.

Zhou Min didn't mind. His ability was more like a support character, and improving his combat skills was more important.

He looked at the azure coastline ahead, his voice cheerful: "We've reached the sea."

The car stopped by the shore, and everyone piled out eagerly. Cheng Zhiyu bent down, picked up some sand, and smiled. A sea breeze blew past, lightening his mood.

"Woo! The sea, I'm here!" Tian Qiao was ecstatic. He took off his shoes and ran into the seawater like an overexcited puppy.

Cheng Zhiyu watched and reminded him: "Be careful."

Tian Qiao: "Yeah, yeah."

Then he called out to Tian Manman and Zhou Min: "How about we build a sandcastle?"

Zhou Min: "Sure! I studied architecture in college—everyone do as I say!"

Tian Manman: "What's a sandcastle?"

Tian Qiao: "You'll know once we build it. Cheng Zhiyu, want to join?"

Cheng Zhiyu wasn't interested. He found a lounge chair from somewhere and comfortably lay down on it. Little Black rested his head on Cheng Zhiyu's lap, half-closing his eyes as Cheng Zhiyu scratched behind his ears. It was the picture of relaxation.

With such a beautiful view, it was best to enjoy it quietly.

He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when Tian Qiao's loud voice came from not far away: "Aren't you the one who studied architecture? How come it collapsed halfway through?"

Zhou Min retorted, unwilling to back down: "It's not my fault. I told you to build a solid foundation, but you just slacked off. It's your fault it collapsed."

"I did it just like you said!" Tian Qiao argued.

"Nonsense, don’t think I didn’t see you cutting corners!" Zhou Min firmly refused to admit it was his problem.

The two parted on bad terms, their 'friendship of convenience' temporarily broken.

Tian Manman: "?"

They gave up on building the castle—it was no fun anyway. Since they were at the beach, it was only natural to catch some seafood. They asked Cheng Zhiyu for fishing gear and prepared to catch some seafood.

Cheng Zhiyu offered to help, but Tian Qiao told him to rest: "We’ll need you to cook later. Leave this to us."

Zhou Min also nodded, his mouth watering: "I want to catch a king crab!"

You can’t catch king crabs by the shore, but fortunately, they found a boat that could take them out to sea.

Seeing this, Cheng Zhiyu got up from lounging and decided to join them on the boat. Since he was going, Little Black naturally followed.

Luckily, the fishing boat had enough power, and it handled the weight just fine with everyone on board.

They baited the fishing gear and dropped it into the sea, hoping to lure some fish.

However, after waiting for a long time, nothing was biting.

Cheng Zhiyu stroked his chin: "What if we try driving the fish toward us?"

Tian Qiao asked: "How do we do that?"

Cheng Zhiyu called Little Black over and whispered instructions to him. Little Black looked out at the sea, and soon the water in the distance started churning. The fish in the sea seemed to sense danger and started swimming toward the boat. One of the nets hanging by the boat began to shake.

"There’s fish! Quick, pull it up and see what it is," Zhou Min said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

Tian Manman pulled the net up with force, and several flopping fish immediately landed on the deck. Tian Qiao leaned in to look and pointed at one particularly ugly fish: "I know this one—it’s a grouper. It’s delicious."

"Hey, what’s this?" Zhou Min picked up one of the fish, and it quickly began to inflate in his hand, turning round and chubby, looking quite cute.

"It’s a pufferfish. Kinda cute in a weird way," Cheng Zhiyu said, taking it and examining it curiously. After all, it was his first time seeing one in person—he’d only seen them in videos before and found it quite amusing.

Little Black offered a blunt opinion: "What’s cute about it? It looks like a ball."

Cheng Zhiyu laughed: "It’s the roundness that makes it cute."

Hearing this, Little Black lowered his head, glanced at his own well-proportioned body, and seemed doubtful, though no one knew what he was thinking.

"Are you done playing? My turn, my turn," Tian Qiao said, reaching out eagerly like a kid wanting a turn.

Cheng Zhiyu handed the pufferfish to him.

Pufferfish: Feed me peanuts!

Tian Manman curiously touched it and quickly pulled his hand back. He was more interested in something else: "Is this edible?"

Tian Qiao thought for a moment: "Pufferfish can be eaten, but it’s poisonous, right? Cheng Zhiyu, do you know how to prepare it?"

Cheng Zhiyu replied: "You’re overestimating me. I'd probably end up making you a pot of poison."

Tian Qiao grinned: "Then forget it."

Hearing that it wasn’t edible, Tian Manman instantly lost interest. In his view, what use was something you couldn’t eat? So he went to examine the remaining fish.

After playing with it enough, Tian Qiao let the pufferfish go since it couldn’t be eaten.

They had cast two nets, and now the other net began tugging violently. Zhou Min hurried over: "Manman, come quick! There must be a big fish in the net."

Tian Manman, with his great strength, could pull the net up fastest. Hearing that another delicious fish might be caught, he quickly walked over and started pulling in the net.

However, once the net was pulled up, everyone was stunned—there was nothing inside.

Zhou Min: "That’s impossible! I clearly saw the net shaking like crazy just now."

"There’s a big hole here," Cheng Zhiyu pointed to a section of the net. The hole was huge, as if something had bitten through it. He was certain the net had been intact earlier.

"Look! A huge crab!" Tian Qiao suddenly shouted. Following where he pointed, Cheng Zhiyu and the others looked over and got goosebumps—the crab was enormous.

It was half the size of a person. Even king crabs weren’t that big.

It must have been the one caught in the net earlier, but logically, it should have escaped instantly. Instead, it hadn't fled; it was circling near the boat.

Zhou Min: "What is it trying to do?"

Tian Qiao stammered: "Is it planning to get revenge on us?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp piece of metal suddenly flew toward their boat. Cheng Zhiyu immediately summoned Little Iron, who blocked the metal.

This giant crab was actually a mutant and intended to attack their boat. If the boat started leaking, they would all be doomed.

Seeing that its first attack failed, the giant crab hurled more metal at the boat. Zhou Min raced to steer, dodging the metal fragments. Tian Manman used a large knife to deflect the shrapnel, while Tian Qiao conjured ice blades to attack the giant crab.

However, the crab’s shell was exceptionally hard—the ice blades couldn’t crack it.

Little Iron’s kitchen knife sliced through one of the crab’s legs, instantly severing it. The shell on its legs wasn’t as hard as the rest of its body.

"Crab legs!" Zhou Min exclaimed.

Cheng Zhiyu: "..." Really? Now of all times?

He summoned Little Roll, who immediately wrapped around the giant crab’s leg and tried to entangle the crab itself. Cheng Zhiyu hurriedly stopped him: "Don’t!"

But it was too late—one of Little Roll’s vines was snapped off by the crab’s pincer.

Cheng Zhiyu quickly checked on him, frowning: "How are you? Are you okay?"

Little Roll was fine, just looking a bit wilted.

Cheng Zhiyu told him to return to his space, but he refused, stubbornly clung on. His vines quivered eagerly, as if planning to sneak attack the giant crab.

Cheng Zhiyu had no choice but to reluctantly warn uneasily: "Be careful."

It was unclear if Little Roll took it to heart, but he gave a vine shake as if to say he understood.

"Oh my god, look! The giant crab’s leg regenerated!" Zhou Min, eagle-eyed, noticed immediately. The newly grown leg looked paler than the others, and its shell hadn’t hardened yet.

"Can it heal like that?" Tian Qiao asked in shock.

Zhou Min shook his head: "Probably not. It doesn't work like my power. It might be... regeneration? I can’t even imagine how happy I’d be if I had a crab with infinitely regenerating legs."

The group instantly understood what he meant: "Are you some kind of devil?"

However, they glanced at the crab leg, almost as thick as an arm, that Little Roll had retrieved... It was really hard not to be tempted.

The giant crab, having lost a leg, was completely pissed off and attacked even more fiercely, churning the water and causing their boat to rock violently.

Tian Qiao held onto the side of the boat: "Whoa, I'm getting seasick."

Cheng Zhiyu frowned and let off a few rounds from his machine gun. One of the bullets managed to hit the giant crab, blowing through its shell, but the wound quickly closed up.

"How do we fight this thing? It can regenerate infinitely?" Zhou Min was stunned.

Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "Impossible. This time it was clearly slower than before."

Although it could heal, it wasn't that OP.

Even so, it was still tough to deal with.

Cheng Zhiyu estimated that this giant crab was at level three, and because it was dual-element, its strength was close to level four.

"Let me try my new ability." Little Black took a few swings at the giant crab, then stood up, his expression finally turning serious.

"New ability?" Cheng Zhiyu looked at Little Black.

Little Black, feeling the eyes on him, gave a dignified nod. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the giant crab.

Little Black swished his tail nervously and asked, "Are there any powerful creatures in the sea?"

Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment: "Uh... a great white shark?"

Little Black didn't know what a great white shark looked like, so he asked Cheng Zhiyu to describe what it looks like.

Cheng Zhiyu had seen one on TV before and described its features as best he could.

Seeing Little Black close his eyes, Cheng Zhiyu didn't dare disturb him. Instead, he teamed up with Tian Qiao and the others to block the giant crab's attacks and wear it down.

Just then, Cheng Zhiyu and the others saw a massive dark shadow emerge from the depths of the sea, much larger than the giant crab. The shadow moved silently, and the giant crab was completely unaware of the impending danger.

The shadow alone was intimidatingly huge. Even though they knew its arrival was related to Little Black, Cheng Zhiyu and the others couldn't help but feel a sense of pressure.

The giant crab finally sensed the danger—a threat it couldn't handle. It wanted to flee, but the shadow wasn't about to let it escape. A great white shark surfaced, opening its mouth to reveal rows of sharp, triangular teeth glinting coldly in the sunlight. Without hesitation, it bit down on the giant crab. The group clearly heard the unsettling sound of the crab's shell being crushed.

The giant crab was severely injured and unable to recover immediately. The great white shark, as if following an order, carefully delivered the crab to their boat.

Tian Qiao, seeing the great white shark's head nearly touching him, gulped and resisted the urge to attack.

After delivering the crab, the great white shark flicked its tail and bolted away.

Little Black explained: "Right now, I can only control such a creature for up to five minutes."

Within those five minutes, the great white shark had to be kept away from them; otherwise, it would attack on sight.

Cheng Zhiyu ruffled Little Black's fur and told him to rest. The giant crab was now severely injured, and they could easily take it down.

"A crab this big—I can't even imagine how delicious it must be," Zhou Min said, drooling as he hacked at the crab.

"Well, you're a coward. I can imagine it just fine," Tian Qiao retorted, wiping the corner of his mouth and chuckling foolishly as he hacked at the crab legs.

Tian Manman, having heard that giant crab was incredibly tasty, put extra effort into chopping, a strange smile on his face that was kinda creepy to watch.

Cheng Zhiyu let them handle the work and walked over to Little Black. Just as he was about to ask how he was doing, Little Black said, "Is crab tasty?"

Cheng Zhiyu chuckled: "Very tasty."

"Then I want some," Little Black said, taking the opportunity to loop his tail around Cheng Zhiyu.

He had seen Little Roll do this before and had wanted to try it himself, but back then he was too small and his tail was too short. Now he could finally do it.

Well... even though Cheng Zhiyu couldn't carry him anymore, it wasn't without its perks.

"Okay, I'll make some for you once we're ashore," Cheng Zhiyu said, allowing Little Black to be clingy, his heart softening.

"Are you tired?" He patted Little Black's head, feeling a bit of heartache.

Many times, it was because of Little Black that they managed to escape danger.

Little Black lazily flicked his tail: "It's fine. Even if I hadn't stepped in, that ugly thing wouldn't have taken you down."

The cost might have been high, and Cheng Zhiyu might have been injured, but he didn't want that to happen.

Even though the feeling of having his energy drained was uncomfortable, he didn't mind. It was a common occurrence back when his father pushed him during training.

But now, someone actually cared about him.

Little Black's tail was twitching restlessly. Cheng Zhiyu grabbed the large tail that was trying to slip under his clothes: "Stop messing around, it's ticklish."

Little Black squirmed awkwardly, not using much force—mainly because he felt a bit guilty. His tail had acted on its own... it was totally not what he meant to do.

Cheng Zhiyu held Little Black's tail. The fur was slightly long and soft to the touch. He found himself stroking it from the base all the way to the tip.

Little Black felt a jolt through his whole body. He instinctively pushed with force, sending Cheng Zhiyu sprawling on the deck. Cheng Zhiyu lay on the boat floor, with Little Black's large paw pressed against his chest, and laughed completely unbothered: "What's wrong, Little Black? Can't I even touch your tail?"

Little Black flicked his tail anxiously, looking at Cheng Zhiyu's smiling face. He felt his teeth itch, and his damp nose nudged against Cheng Zhiyu's cheek: "No!"

He didn't know what he was doing; he just wanted to be near Cheng Zhiyu, as close as possible.

"Hey," Cheng Zhiyu complained, laughing as he felt tickled: "So possessive!"

---

Onshore, Cheng Zhiyu and the others skillfully set up the big iron pot to prepare the ingredients they had caught that day.

They harvested two cores from the giant crab: one Metal type for Little Iron, and the other, which was similar to Zhou Min's healing type, was given to Zhou Min.

Zhou Min was happy to receive the core—after all, finding a core he could use was sheer luck—but he wasn't in a hurry to absorb it. Instead, he bustled over to Cheng Zhiyu: "Brother Cheng, let me help!"

The faster he helped, the faster they could eat.

Cheng Zhiyu assigned Tian Qiao and Tian Manman simple tasks like preparing the ingredients, while Zhou Min's job was slightly more challenging since he knew how to cook: "Make the batter. We'll coat the crab meat with shells and fry it later."

Zhou Min: "On it!"

Cheng Zhiyu planned to prepare part of the crab dredged in flour for spicy crab, and the other part plain steamed.

Although the giant crab was also a mutant beast, Cheng Zhiyu noticed that its meat was quite similar to ordinary crab—perhaps due to a different species.

Besides the giant crab, they also had seared grouper and stir-fried octopus. Worried they might not finish everything, they only cooked half of the giant crab. With the preservation space, there was no issue storing the rest.

Not far away, Little Black watched jealously as Zhou Min hovered around Cheng Zhiyu, his tail drooping. He had also been circling Cheng Zhiyu earlier, but because of his large size, Cheng Zhiyu found him in the way and chased him away.

He felt quite frustrated, looking down at his own paws... When on earth would he be able to transform into human form?

Not far away, the aroma of ingredients sizzling in hot oil wafted over, and Little Black couldn't help but stand up. It smelled so good.

Tian Manman was wielding a spatula, while Cheng Zhiyu crouched to control the fire in the earthen stove. Seeing that it was about ready, he said, "It's done."

This was the spicy crab, followed by steamed crab, braised grouper, and stir-fried octopus, all coming out of the pan one by one. Cheng Zhiyu called out to Little Black, who was watching eagerly from a distance, "Come over and eat."

Little Black immediately walked over, sidled up to Cheng Zhiyu, and gently rubbed his head against Cheng Zhiyu's arm.

Cheng Zhiyu was already used to Little Black's affectionate behavior and didn't mind it. He patted Little Black's big head and placed some spicy crab into his bowl.

Little Black lowered his head to eat the spicy crab, feeling a bit warm all over. But he didn’t pay it much mind—after all, whenever Cheng Zhiyu petted him, his whole body would heat up.