Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 459 "Li Zheng, save me!" (4.2K)

Despite the husky's reluctance, Li Zheng eventually managed to coax it out of its small enclosure by a combination of bluffing and deception. Throughout the process, the husky let out a pitiful howl, as if Li Zheng had done something heinous to it.

In reality, Li Zheng had only said all the nice things, but eventually lost patience, went in, grabbed the soft skin on its neck, and dragged it out.

"Alright, stop howling. With me here, which Timberwolves would dare to do anything to you?"

Li Zheng's words seemed to be understood by Mediterranean, who immediately fell silent, slightly raised his head, and revealed a look of suspicion in his intelligent eyes.

Li Zheng was both amused and exasperated: "So you were just faking your cowardice?"

The wolf turned its head and bared its teeth, while the husky put on a pitiful expression and quietly burrowed under Li Zheng's crotch, hiding its head.

Li Zheng: "..."

Hmm, it seems he really is a coward, but he just knows how to bully others.

As long as I don't speak up for it, it won't dare to act arrogantly.

However, having owned a husky before, Li Zheng didn't have much ill will towards this breed. As long as it didn't exhibit its destructive tendencies, everything was fine.

“I’ll talk to the wolf king for you. We’re all under the same roof, why make things difficult for each other?” Li Zheng pulled Mediterranean out and they walked together to the entrance of the large animal pen.

"what?"

Looking into the animal pen, I saw that all the feed that had been put in earlier had been eaten, not a single grain was left.

Presumably, the wolves were hungry, and after trying a few bites and finding that the courtship flower had no effect, they gave up.

Among the fourteen forest wolves that consumed the feed, one was an evolved individual.

Within the wolf pack, a patch of fiery red fur caught Li Zheng's attention.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the former wolf king!

Upon reviewing the documents, it was confirmed that a capability had indeed been developed.

Red-maned Forest Wolf
Grade: Silver

Rank: Elite

Sex: male

Race: Timber Wolf (Appearance Mutant)

Status: Old Age
Description: Originally just an ordinary elite forest wolf, after consuming special feed, some simple changes appeared in its appearance. These were the external manifestations of its abilities.

Ability: Wolf King's Intimidation

When leading a pack of wolves, one can freely control the movements of the entire pack.

Note: This ability will disappear if the Wolf King's status changes.

Genetic Ability: Crimson Phantom

The Red-Maned Forest Wolf can sense faint fire energy and can draw upon this energy to form a fire shield around its entire body when running.

(Domesticated organisms have a chance to pass on their genetic abilities to the next generation.)

"This luck..." Li Zheng was speechless.

Why was it this wolf king that successfully developed its genetic abilities?

It is too old to reproduce, so this ability development was a complete waste of time.

"go in."

Li Zheng opened the animal pen and led the female wolf and the husky inside.

The female wolf returned to the pack, cuddled with the other wolves for a while, touched each other's bodies, and then lay down to the side.

The husky hid completely behind Li Zheng, only daring to show its tail between its legs, trembling with fear.

Li Zheng ignored it and called the wolf king to him alone, examining him closely.

Timberwolves have dark gray fur, which at first glance looks like they have a patchwork of fur and isn't exactly attractive.

Strictly speaking, it's also a bit ugly.

But the wolf king was in a completely different state at this time. Not only was his fur much shinier, but a ring of fiery red fur like a scarf had also grown around his neck, making him look majestic and extraordinary.

"Pity."

Li Zheng reviewed the data on other Timberwolves and confirmed that, apart from the alpha wolf, no other individual had successfully developed its abilities. He sighed again.

If it were another younger Timberwolves who could develop their abilities, the small pen would have a new lone resident tonight.

Dragging the silly dog ​​to him, Li Zheng, ignoring the bald man's resentful and cowardly state, angrily rubbed the dog's head and instructed the wolf king, "This guy must have caused you a lot of trouble in the past. I don't expect you to be too nice to him, just don't bully him too much, understand?"

The wolf king only half understood what he was saying. He glanced at the husky with a dignified air, then lowered his head to Li Zheng and let out a low whimper.

Having conveyed the general message, Li Zheng left the animal pen and went to check on the Banyan Rabbit.

Here, the husky probably thought it had Li Zheng backing it up, and its attitude suddenly changed. Its whole dog face showed a smug expression. It circled around the wolf king and looked it over with a critical eye, like a boss looking at a subordinate.

Finally, it glanced at the wolf king's fiery red collar, snorted loudly, making a sound that sounded like disdain, raised its head, and walked arrogantly to the innermost corner of the pen.

That corner is where the wolf king's scent is strongest; it's going to go and claim it.

The wolf king glanced at the husky, then looked outside the animal pen. Seeing that Li Zheng wasn't paying attention, he turned around and revealed a sinister expression.

As the leader of the wolf pack, the husky's behavior has offended its authority. If it is not taught a lesson, the wolf pack will be difficult to manage in the future.

"Woo!"

At a command, the forest wolves pounced on the husky, who looked on in terror.

In an instant, the entire pen was filled with the pitiful howls of the huskies.

The female wolf, who had a brief affair with the husky, glanced up twice, then lay back down indifferently to continue resting.

In ten seconds, the wolf pack scattered. Li Zheng appeared at the entrance of the animal pen and saw the husky lying there, its face bruised and swollen, its eyes filled with tears of grievance.

With just a quick glance, Li Zheng knew that the husky's seemingly terrible injuries were actually nothing serious.

He didn't even need to see it with his own eyes to know that the husky must have started the trouble. Seeing that the wolf king was quite measured in his punishment, he simply stopped caring.

Huskies are dogs that only remember kindness and never learn from a beating. If you treat them well, they'll dare to climb on the roof and tear down the tiles.

Intelligent, but not using it for good...

The Rongrong Rabbits were in a worse state; after finishing one meal of feed, not a single one of the twenty rabbits had leveled up to elite.

It looks exactly the same as when it was captured.

The rabbits scattered in twos and threes, lying on the ground in the enclosure, resting on their own.

After looking around for a while, Li Zheng felt that the animal pen had a metal floor and no decorations, making it somewhat monotonous. Moreover, the animals kept in such an environment might not be comfortable. So he wondered if he should add something to it.

After thinking it over, Li Zheng started looking through the documents in the trading hall.

This is where the advantage of having a large number of players becomes apparent; the trading hall sells virtually everything.

With a simple search, Li Zheng managed to acquire several hundred kilograms of hay at a very low cost.

This hay is just a grayish-quality stuff, not even worth as much as a soda can.

Because it's relatively 'soft' and better than sleeping directly on a metal floor, many players buy some to put in their homes as their beds.

It's like everyone's Goujian...

Another material that serves the same purpose as hay is 'fiber'. Before making his bed, Li slept on fiber, which was much softer and more comfortable than hay.

However, because fibers can be made into clothing or some low-level armor, and even some gold or platinum armor blueprints require fibers, this has resulted in a price difference of several times between this material and hay, even though they are of the same grade.

As for why they don't sleep on the fur that comes off during the day? Well, that stuff isn't breathable compared to fibers and hay!

Moreover, all sorts of miscellaneous furs piled together smell so bad they could make you rotten. Who could stand sleeping like that every day?
After getting used to the rhythm of life in the matrix, people gradually develop a pursuit of quality of life.

Those with high net worth and who are willing to spend money naturally don't want to live a hard life.

People like Zhan Zhouzhou almost all acquired some daily necessities through various channels.

For example: beds.

Over the past few days, Li Zheng has discovered a very interesting phenomenon.

In the matrix, as long as players are willing to spend resources and exchange goods with others, they can basically obtain most of the necessities of life.

Items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels.

Or various cooking seasonings, many of which can be found in the matrix.

However, there are very few blueprints or items for furniture that can improve a player's quality of life.

Even if a bed is found during the exploration, at most a portion can be broken down, but it can never be taken away.

Move in through the main entrance of the residence?
That's fine.

But first of all, these beds are either made of pure metal and are extremely heavy.

Either the size is too big to fit inside.

Even if you manage to move in, the capsule accommodation is only so small. It's no exaggeration to say that a bed takes up two or three square meters.
Of course, as the saying goes: as long as you don't lose your mind, there will always be more solutions than problems.

What are our strengths as Earthlings?
It's about hands-on skills!

A large number of skilled individuals have emerged from the general public.

Li Zheng had seen people selling mortise and tenon wooden bed frames made by chopping wood themselves on the world channel, and the size could even be customized!

A mere black iron-grade wooden bed was sold for the price of a gold-grade item!
Is this price outrageous?

It's not an exaggeration at all...

Limited by the lack of tools, even a skilled carpenter can only produce two or three wooden beds a day. They also have to squeeze out their daily exploration pace. How can they not sell them at a high price?

Compared to that, the price Li Zheng paid for the advanced bed blueprint was practically a steal... he got a great deal.

Selling bed-making instructions as blueprints?
Don't even think about it!

The creation of blueprints requires a medium!

To create the blueprints, you first need a blank USB drive!
Secondly, you also need to get a computer by blatant robbery, just like Li Zheng did.

Finally, the bed design drawings you collect need to have a certain level of scientific accuracy.

Of these, 99% of the players cannot even meet the first condition.

Because the blank USB drives produced in the matrix are all from special merchants from the outer city, and the price... well...

Players who meet the first condition will be stuck on the third condition 99% of the time.

What does it mean to "require a certain level of scientific content"?
Have you seen Forbidden City Cop?

The bed that Stephen Chow invented, which can move up and down, barely meets the inclusion criteria.

But after it's saved to a USB drive, is this drawing a one-time use item or a learnable resource?
That depends on how the terminal determines it...

In short, there are quite a few players in the Matrix who are now living a good life.

Few people can live a comfortable life.

Pulling away, get back to business.

Li Zheng laid a layer of dry grass in each of the animal pens, which barely improved the living conditions of the two animal groups.

At least the animals no longer have to sleep on hard metal surfaces.

Even huskies cry more energetically when they're lying on hay than when they're lying on the ground.

After finishing all that, Miriel also prepared dinner and came over to call Li Zheng to eat together.

The dishes were still the same three as before. Miriel had only learned to make boiled pork slices and a few other dishes so far. She hadn't had a chance to try any more.

Fortunately, the taste was better than the morning meal, which can be seen from the fact that Sakura ate an extra bowl of rice while she was asleep.

Coincidentally, Xiao Siyuan and Li Zheng ordered a few different dishes tonight. The two of them sat around the stove, eating dinner and learning how to cook them. Miriel watched intently, nodding repeatedly as she watched each step.

Dinner was quickly finished. Li Zheng delivered the food to the others one by one, then rested for a while before summoning the Demon Blade and going outside to practice his swordsmanship.

The Red Porings have truly lived with Sakura for so long; they've even inherited her usual habits. Whenever they have free time, they take her for a run around their home to aid digestion.

The little guy still showed no signs of waking up; only the aroma of food could briefly pull him from a deep sleep into a drowsy, unconscious state.

Once they're full, they'll instantly fall back into a deep sleep, without any regard for reason.

Miriel took the opportunity to rest and recuperate.

Then he came out with two whips and began to teach Li Zheng how to use long whip weapons.

At this point, having lost the convenience of the 'Memory Releaser', Li Zheng once again deeply realized just how poor his talent was in martial arts.

What seems like a simple technique to Miriel often takes Li Zheng a long time to master, even just to get it somewhat passable.

Just to avoid being whipped in the process of being lashed out, Li Zheng spent ten minutes practicing...

This level of comprehension infuriated Miriel so much that she almost swore at the Abyss.

In Miriel's words, even a three-year-old succubus learns much faster than him...

Li Zheng was also helpless. The long whip, a soft weapon, felt completely different from swords and other weapons. He couldn't find the trick to learn it by analogy and could only practice hard.

The progress in acquiring whip skills is at least five times slower than when I first learned swordsmanship!
It took a full ten minutes for the progress to increase by only 3.14%...

Li Zheng's initial enthusiasm quickly turned into boredom, and in the end, all that remained was mechanically waving, cracking, and whipping, striving to make a crisp and loud sound in the air each time.

And this is just the most basic of the basics.

Only if Li Zheng can achieve this step will Miriel teach him the next upgrade techniques.

It was an hour later when Li Zheng successfully fired the first shot.

Miriel covered her forehead, deeply regretting that her decision to teach Li Zheng the whip technique that morning had been too hasty.

Think back to when you first learned whip techniques, how long did it take you to make your first crack?

Ok.

It seemed to take less than five seconds...

At that time, I simply picked up the long whip, swung it, and lashed it—crack!

It rang.

Li Zheng, after an hour of hard training, only managed to catch up with others by five seconds.

Miriel felt that these qualifications were too embarrassing to look at.

It's better to bury it.

Thinking of this, Miriel really couldn't help but advise Li Zheng to give up the whip technique and focus on practicing the sword technique instead.

However, at that moment, Li Zheng's expression changed, and he put away his whip and looked at the world channel.

"Li Zheng, save me!"

(End of this chapter)