Chapter 238 – Strange Prompts
Because Nier was such a pure person, Zhao Hai unconsciously regarded her as a lovable little sister. As such, Zhao Hai had that kind of expression when he spoke with her.
Thinking about it for a while, Nier finally nodded and said, “Alright. When they give birth to their own piglets, Young Master must give me a couple!”
Zhao Hai nodded with a smile. He knew that Nier liked to raise magic beasts. Nier’s request wasn’t out of some temporary whim. Turning, Zhao Hai looked around and found that they were now far from the Sheep Head Hammer horde. Since no one else was around, he made Laura stop the caravan. He then brought the argali, water-spurting piglets, and the prairie mastiffs into the Space.
Afterward, they also entered the Space. The animals were currently placed in the warehouse. Once Zhao Hai brought them into the Spatial Ranch, they would be evaluated immediately.
After they entered the Space, they heard a few odd knocks. Surprised for a moment, Zhao Hai soon found that it was from Green and the others who were staying at Fort Iron Mountain. They had anxious faces as they knocked on the ground.
Zhao Hai was only surprised for a moment before he naturally understood what was happening. At the same time, he felt guilty. He’d drunk too much yesterday, so they naturally couldn’t return to the Space, nor leave Fort Iron Mountain. Green and the others were definitely concerned about them. He feared they didn’t get a good sleep last night.
Seeing this situation, Zhao Hai postponed promoting the Space. He immediately let Green and the others into the Space. As soon as Green and the others entered the Space, they saw Zhao Hai standing there with a guilty expression. Green quickly greeted him and carefully looked him over before asking, “Young Master, are you alright? Why didn’t you come back to Fort Iron Mountain yesterday? We were worried throughout this sleepless night.”
Zhao Hai guiltily replied, “I’m sorry, Grandpa Green. We met the Big Bellied Pig tribe yesterday. You know how beastfolk drink wine until they get drunk. Yesterday, I got drunk so I wasn’t able to return to the Space. Sorry.”
Upon hearing Zhao Hai’s answer, Green relaxed. He smiled and said, “So you drank with the beastfolk; no wonder. Those beastfolk wouldn’t let go of someone if they didn’t drink until their faces fell to the floor.”
Quinn John, who was talking to Laura, heard what Green said and smiled. “Yes, those beastfolk really are like that. Making Zhao Hai drink till he was drunk on the ground is normal. Right, Zhao Hai, what good things did you get from the trade this time?”
Laura didn’t want for Zhao Hai to speak as she smiled and said, “This time, we got several really good things. There’s five good beastfolk blankets and five carpets, two Big Bellied Pig tribe unique magic beasts; water-spurting pigs, and two unique prairie magic beasts; prairie mastiffs.
Presently, Quinn John and the others knew how much food was in their possession. When they heard Laura’s report, Quinn John nodded and said, “Great. Compared to using normal prices, this isn’t that bad.”
Laura smiled and said, “It wasn’t much, but Spear felt that Brother Hai was a true friend, so he gave us all of these things. Haha. Actually, other things don’t really matter. What’s important is that we obtained three kinds of magic beasts.”
Quinn John understood what Laura meant. This time, they’d obtained three magic beasts which, in other words, might upgrade the Spatial Ranch.
He immediately said, “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s quickly move them. It’ll upgrade the Spatial Ranch for sure.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “It won’t be that easy. These three magic beasts we brought would need to be of high rank, not low. Otherwise, the Spatial Ranch won’t easily upgrade.”
Green smiled. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll take things slowly. We’ve only just entered the Beastfolk Prairie and I heard each beastfolk ethnic race has their own unique magic beast. If we can collect those unique magic beasts neatly, then I think the Spatial Ranch will upgrade. I want to see how it will look when it’s at its highest level.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “I hope so. The problem is that these magic beasts aren’t easy to get. If I didn’t hit it off well with Spear, then it would have been impossible for him to give me those water-spurting pigs. Moreover, what he could only give me were water-spurting piglets and not adult pigs. From this, you can see that the beastfolk really favor their own unique magic beasts.”
Quinn John forced a smile. “I almost forgot about this. To the beastfolk, these unique magic beasts are, in their opinion, part of their family. Would you just hand over your loved ones to someone if they asked?”
Zhao Hai and the others were speechless after they heard Quinn John. With regards to humans, it would be difficult for them to think of magic beasts as family. For the beastfolk, however, this was a normal matter.
Zhao Hai suddenly thought of those pets being raised by lonely elders back on Earth. Those people regarded their pets as family and would even leave a large inheritance for them after they died. Compared to these elders, the beastfolk didn’t seem as crazy. They both placed magic beasts or pets in their hearts.
He didn’t say anything more, but instead transferred everyone into the Spatial Ranch. He then took out the argali, water-spurting pigs, and prairie mastiffs.
After the three types of magic beasts were released, the Space immediately prompted in a tone:
[Discovered new sheep-shaped animal variation. Evaluating level: Level 3 animal.
This animal has replaced the Space’s original sheep.
This animal has a maturity time of eight hours. Can produce wool seven times and give birth once.
Each birth will produce eight lambs. Each wool cycle will produce 100 kilograms.
Requires feed twice per hour.
Digitizing animal. Animal can now be purchased from the Spatial Shop.]
[Discovered pig-shaped animal variation. Evaluating level: Level 20 animal.
This animal has a maturity time of twenty hours and can give birth to piglets ten times.
A max of ten piglets can be birthed at a time.
Requires feed five times per hour.
Digitizing animal. Animal can now be purchased from the Spatial Shop.]
[Discovered dog-shaped animal variation. Evaluating level: Level 15 animal.
This animal has a maturity time of twenty hours and can give birth to puppies five times.
A max of nine puppies can be birthed at a time.
Requires feed twice per hour.
There is a 10% probability every birth for a chance of a variant. Evaluating level of variant: Level 30. All other data stays the same.
Digitizing animal. Animal can now be purchased from the Spatial Shop.]
Zhao Hai listened to the three long prompts and was stunned. While the evaluation of the water-spurting pig was normal, the argali and prairie mastiff had abnormal Space prompts.
It was especially amazing for the Space’s prompt for the argali. It produce wool seven times and a set of eight lambs at once. This was something Zhao Hai hadn’t encountered before.s
The prompt for the prairie mastiff indicated that there was a 10% chance of a variant being birthed, and that the variant was a Level 30 magic beast. In the end, how did this occur?
Zhao Hai immediately examined the Spatial Ranch’s storage and looked at the list. There really were three more magic beast pictures. The argali occupied the original position of the sheep while there wasn’t anything different about the other two.
He looked at the slot for the prairie mastiff and saw that there wasn’t anything different about it. In the end, how would it work? Why did the prairie mastiff have a 10% chance of producing a variant?
Zhao Hai stared at the picture of the prairie mastiff and carefully examined it. In his head, the number, ‘nine’, kept flashing, along with the word, ‘variant’. He was caught by them. The idea flashed on and off, so he couldn’t grasp it.
Laura arrived at Zhao Hai’s side and said, “Brother Hai, what’s the matter? Will the prairie mastiffs really have a variant[1]? Moreover, its battle prowess isn’t that low. Listening to the prompts, it seemed that the strength of the variant would be equal to a Rank Five or Rank Six magic beast.”
Battle prowess! When Laura mentioned those words, Zhao Hai’s thoughts finally got a few clues. He now knew why the prairie mastiff would create a variant.
On Earth, not all dogs could be considered mastiffs. Zhao Hai had once heard the phrase, “9 dogs, 1 mastiff[2].” In other words, even if all nine were supposedly mastiffs, only one could be considered a true mastiff. That mastiff wasn’t only a name or a species, but a symbol of its battle strength.
This time, the prairie mastiff could give birth to nine puppies. Nine dogs, one mastiff. This phrase maybe pointing out the reason why the Space had said there was a chance of a variant emerging. This variant, to put it bluntly, was the one out of the nine that was a proper mastiff.
After he figured it out, Zhao Hai laughed and turned to Laura. “It’s nothing. The variant is just an ordinary prairie mastiff that undergoes a mutation. As such, its battle prowess is higher, that’s all.”
Laura agreed but still said unhappily, “Even with the three different magic beasts here, the Spatial Ranch didn’t upgrade. What a pity.”
Zhao Hai smiled. “It’s not a pity. In the future, it’ll become even harder to upgrade. Alright, let’s go out. First, we’ll need to be self-sufficient. When the Black Waste grows larger after the transformations, we’ll need to be able to establish a business in the Rosen Empire.”
Laura didn’t oppose. While at present they still had the continued cooperation with the Purcell clan, they weren’t prepared to build it further. It would only be after they establish a business in the Rosen Empire that they could do so.
After Zhao Hai handled the matters of the Spatial Ranch, they all returned to the Spatial Farm. Sitting down, Zhao Hai began to explain about what happened after they came into contact with Spear and also went into detail about the war flags for Green and the others. Zhao Hai told them these matters because he was thinking that it would help them in the future for when they made further contact with the beastfolk. The experience gained from dealing with Spear had a possibility of being needed in the future.
Moreover, they might also encounter something that required Green to help solve. Therefore, it was better to let Green have a better understanding of the beastfolk’s situation. As such, Zhao Hai naturally discussed the war flag matters. He also told them that he wanted to help Spear by dealing with the Jackal tribe.
Green and the others listened attentively. To be honest, if they went and had contact with the beastfolk, then they wouldn’t have been able to do what Zhao Hai did. They were like other humans on the continent; they wanted to find out how to gain more benefits from the beastfolk. On the other hand, Zhao Hai had won the beastfolk’s friendship with sincerity and generosity. It could be said that this recent transaction didn’t only give them materials, but also the treasured friendship of the beastfolk. This was especially true when Spear gave them the friendship war flag.
After Zhao Hai finished, Green grew a bit out of breath[3]. He looked at Zhao Hai with a complex expression. “Young Master, you did a wonderful job. It was better than what I could have done. Oh, Young Master has truly grown to be a person that can deal with all sorts of situations. With this, I feel relieved.”
Looking at the somewhat excited Green, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but smile slightly. “Don’t get too excited, Grandpa Green. I still have much to learn from you, so don’t leave me. Oh, right. Do you think it was a good idea to help Spear by dealing with the Jackal tribe?”
Green nodded. “It’s fine. How can it not be fine? With regards to us, dealing with the Jackal tribe isn’t a difficult matter. Moreover, we will also obtain a few benefits. What’s most important are the unique magic beasts of the Jackal tribe. We definitely must take them. This is important as the Spatial Ranch still needs them.”
Quinn John nodded. “The best way to deal with this is for us to leave a little trace of what we did so that others will know of it. With this, the beastfolk would welcome us warmly.”
Zhao Hai and Laura laughed at Quinn John’s thoughts. They definitely wouldn’t do this as they knew Quinn John was just cracking a joke.
Although the beastfolk didn’t approve of the Jackal tribe, don’t forget that the Jackal tribe was still one of the beastfolk. Regardless of what the Jackal tribe did, it was still an internal affair of the beastfolk. If the beastfolk found out that people killed a beastfolk tribe within the prairie, then it would be difficult to imagine what kind of reaction they might have[4].
After joking around for some time, Green and the others wanted to return to Fort Iron Mountain. Although there weren’t many matters that needed to be addressed, there also weren’t a few. Zhao Hai released two of the argali and was looking for a place in Fort Iron Mountain to raise them. At the same time, he passed Green and the others the blankets and carpets.
After doing all of this, Zhao Hai led Laura and the others back to the carriage. The caravan hadn’t stopped, but had continued to move forward. Here in the prairies, however, they were surrounded by the same constant view. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were looking for plants, then they wouldn’t have wanted to stay here.
After coming back to the caravan, Zhao Hai filled one carriage with food. If they met a beastfolk tribe, then it would guarantee that they would be warmly welcomed.
To be honest, just hurrying along was quite boring. Fortunately, Zhao Hai still collected plants and this relieved him of his boredom. There were many plants in the prairie, and except for a few specific areas, everywhere else was covered with grass. All of this grass would be uniform. While Zhao Hai and the others wanted to distinguish them, they unfortunately couldn’t really tell the difference.
For Laura and the others, this was fine. They crowded together and chatted, which was quite lively. On the other hand, Zhao Hai was quite depressed as he didn’t understand many of the topics they discussed.
Noon arrived soon after. Zhao Hai and the others were ready to re-enter the Space and eat something when Zhao Hai heard the cry of a blood-colored eagle. They decided to stay as they knew they’d found the Jackal tribe.
Notes:
-This chapter was MTL’ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.
-Please support the author if you love this novel.
-Please check out the Editor’s footnotes, thanks.
Footnotes:
[1] You know, a smart thing to do now was to have him ask Cai’er… But then, I’ve never seen Zhao Hai as smart… he’s just really good at following whatever the plot has for him. ↩
[2] I have never heard this before. I assume it’s like the majority of Zhao Hai’s phrases which come from nowhere, or from author’s obscure understanding of actual phrases… Rarely have I come away from here with a good, legitimate phrase. Maybe it’s from this (the site is basically like a yahoo answers site): https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/44003106.html ↩
[3] People have weird fetishes… ↩
[4] Yes, last chapter they discussed that the beastfolk wouldn’t care of and might even thank them for dealing with the beastfolk. Once again, I’d just ignore the inconsistency.