“There really is one.”
Looking at the illusory panel that appeared before her, Bai Yi found that she could operate it by touching it with her finger or by directly using her consciousness.
The appearance of the panel brought some comfort to Bai Yi's long-held fear, making her feel like she had found a lifeline.
“Then the next step is to find a place to be my territory.”
Calming her complex thoughts, Bai Yi tried to summarize the current situation:
Because of a being—whether a god, an alien, or something else entirely—the world she originally lived in had been completely destroyed, and among the remaining people, the young ones were sent here to participate in this so-called game.
Young children and the elderly, however, were protected, with the promise that they could be brought over once one felt capable enough.
However, given her parents' age, they were most likely players like her.
But according to the announcement, everyone was randomly assigned to worlds, and with only 100,000 people per world, the chance of meeting was not high.
What's more, there were even smaller subdivisions, and while Bai Yi was keen to find them, it was better to figure out how to survive than to hope for that.
The name of the world she was in was “Mutated Ruins,” which had been verified by the two animals she encountered earlier; this should be the biological mutation as she understood it.
Her not being injured just now was likely due to the “newcomer protection” mentioned in the announcement.
Without this protection, facing any of those mutated creatures alone, she might not have lasted a single exchange.
No!
Not ‘might,’ but ‘definitely’!
Fortunately, as the announcement stated, she still had one chance to bind a territory!
Looking at her personal panel, the territory column clearly stated “Unbound.”
If she wasn't mistaken, the next step would be to bind a territory, acquire initial troop types, and then begin scavenging for resources to develop her territory. Bai Yi was very familiar with this process.
It's just that Bai Yi wasn't really interested in vying for lordship; this world was too dangerous!
And her ability didn't have much direct combat power.
It's better to find a place to hide and develop peacefully, becoming a big shot before venturing out!
Having decided on her future development strategy, Bai Yi immediately took action.
“Alright, then the next task is to bind a territory.”
Bai Yi murmured to herself, setting a phased goal, completely suppressing the fear in her heart, and began to observe her surroundings.
This area was nestled by mountains and water, seeming to have been uninhabited for a long time, which made it suitable for her to hide her territory.
After scanning her surroundings, Bai Yi selected her target.
—It was a Giant Tree in the woods near the foot of the mountain, much taller than others of its kind.
Bai Yi speculated that it was probably also a mutated creature, a mutated Giant Tree.
Mutated plants were undoubtedly very compatible with her talent, while mutated animals were directly ignored by Bai Yi; it was not easy to bring intelligent mutated animals under one's control.
Without a taming method, it was better to choose plants. She had heard of territories coming with plants, but Bai Yi had never heard of territories coming with animals.
She dared not gamble whether the creation of a territory could forcibly tame animals.
Moreover, there were no better options nearby. On one side was a plain of weeds taller than Bai Yi, and on the other was a forest composed of trees over ten meters tall. Neither was a good place to establish a territory.
“Even if that Giant Tree has nothing special about it, having a Giant Tree nearby can at least serve as a simple shelter from the wind and rain.”
Fixing her gaze on the Giant Tree, Bai Yi plunged into the deep forest.
Although it didn't look far, and the total distance was less than one kilometer, being in a dense forest, and Bai Yi not being an athletic person, she walked and stopped for a full half hour before reaching the base of the tree.
Because of the newcomer protection, Bai Yi encountered many mutated creatures along the way, but none of them discovered her—
But to avoid any accidents, Bai Yi decided to reach the Giant Tree first before making any decisions, so she only secretly noted the general locations of these mutated creatures.
After all, these would be both threats and resources she would need to face after establishing her territory.
Upon reaching the base of the Giant Tree, Bai Yi finally saw its grandeur:
Roots, each thicker than Bai Yi, extended from the trunk, spreading out for nearly ten meters.
There were no other trees growing around the Giant Tree, forming a sizable clearing, with only various low-lying weeds barely reaching Bai Yi's knees.
Through these weeds, Bai Yi could also see many animal carcasses, either entangled by roots or by tree vines hanging from above.
Following the tree vines upwards, she looked up to see plump fruits hanging beneath the dense branches and leaves, emitting an alluring fragrance.
“Eh? There's a tree hole here! That’s great!”
Circling the Giant Tree, Bai Yi saw a triangular opening about two meters high near the base of the trunk.
The tree hole was not as damp as Bai Yi had imagined; instead, it was very dry. Aside from the poor lighting, it was practically a perfect dwelling.
“At least it’s a circle bigger than the school dorms~”
Bai Yi had already decided that this would be her territory, but she still had an idea she needed to verify.
Placing her hand on the trunk of the Giant Tree, her ability slowly extended, sensing the presence of the Giant Banyan.
Although Bai Yi was currently undetectable by the Giant Tree due to newcomer protection, the plant affinity brought by her ability still allowed Bai Yi to communicate with the Giant Tree's faint consciousness.
With just a slight shift in her thoughts, a tree vine lowered from the tree hole's entrance, and a small, inquisitive tree root poked out from the muddy ground, seemingly wondering why it didn't see that “friendly good person.”
Very good, it seems her ability can indeed affect plants.
Having verified one idea, Bai Yi called out her panel.
【Attention: Once confirmed, territory cannot be changed. The system will semi-dataize the territory's scope, incorporating resources within the area into the territory. It is recommended to choose a resource-rich area as your territory.】
【Attention: Territory conversion cannot convert intelligent creatures.】
【Do you wish to select this location as your territory?】
“No.”
Having obtained all the information she wanted, Bai Yi's lips curved into a smile.
She had noticed earlier that the skeletons beneath this Giant Tree, judging by their manner of death, were undoubtedly the Giant Tree's handiwork.
This Giant Tree was carnivorous!
As for why she was fine, not only was the newcomer protection still active, but Bai Yi's plant affinity ability was not just for show!
So she had a chance to exploit a bug:
Relying on her newcomer protection, she would lure some mutated creatures under the Giant Tree, and then use the Giant Tree to eliminate them!
All Bai Yi needed to do was, after luring them over, use her ability to control the Giant Tree to eliminate the mutated creature, and then seize the opportunity to activate territory binding, semi-dataizing the entire surroundings into her territory.
And Bai Yi had already chosen her target—it was a giant mutated wild boar with piglets.
If the plan succeeded, she might be able to directly obtain the meat of a wild boar the moment she established her territory!
Directly putting her far ahead of others!
Moreover, she might even find an opportunity to steal some mutated creature traits using the invisibility provided by newcomer protection!
No sooner said than done, Bai Yi plunged back into the bushes, heading in the direction she had come from.
And this time, Bai Yi's identity had changed to that of a hunter.
………………
Bai Yang Mountain: A low mountain range located in the suburbs of Bai Yang City, with an elevation of about 400 meters, but covering a vast area. It was originally partially developed as a tourist attraction, but after the anomaly occurred, it became one of the first areas to fall, and has since disappeared from human sight…