The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

"The fruit of this tree is hidden inside the leaves until it is fully ripe. However, the fruit doesn't taste good when it's fully ripe, but it has energy after it's ripe, so we usually eat it when it's ripe. It turns black when ripe, and it's more noticeable during the day. I wouldn't have picked it before it was ripe if you hadn't said you were hungry."

After taking a bite of the fruit, Moros's eyes visibly lit up, and he mumbled something to Lin Xiyue.

"Wow, do you guys check the energy content of everything you eat? I thought you all ate raw food!"

Lin Xiyue was almost full after eating two or three fruits. When she saw Molos bring up this topic, she was clearly very interested. After all, she had only ever seen low-level alien races, who ate raw food and were no different from animals.

"Well, it's mainly about energy. We alien races can see the flow and fluctuation of energy from birth, so we use energy to distinguish people. Lower-level alien races don't have much brains; they mainly go looking for energy and then get devoured by higher-level ones. You could say that according to your human classification, they are not entirely our kind; they are just free-range food."

Melos casually explained to Lin Xiyue, then continued eating the next fruit. In just a short while, he had already eaten five or six.

"Okay, let's take the rest of the fruit. It feels like it'll be dawn if we delay any longer. Let's try our best to find the town before daybreak."

After discussing it with Moros, Lin Xiyue tore open the space around her and put all the fruits inside.

"Let's go."

This time, Melos took the initiative to reach out his hand to Lin Xiyue, preparing to take her hand and walk together.

"Okay, let's go! (?′▽｀)??"

..............................

As dawn broke, Lin Xiyue and her group finally arrived in front of a village.

Moros stood at the entrance to the village, pulling Lin Xiyue back to prevent her from going in.

"Hey?! Why aren't you going in?"

Lin Xiyue looked at the open gate of the village and the wooden fence that wasn't even as tall as her calves, then turned to look at Moros with a puzzled expression.

Meros didn't speak, but silently stretched out his hand and made a pushing gesture forward.

"呲-"

A piercing sound rang out.

A white barrier lit up right at the palm of Meros's hand, and it seemed that the entire village was under the protection of this shield.

"Wow, no wonder this village doesn't even have a gatekeeper. This protective shield is so well hidden! How did you find it?"

Lin Xiyue was startled and stepped forward to take a closer look.

"This is the most basic protective shield, and there is a very obvious energy flow. Logically speaking, since you have already awakened your energy, you should be able to see these energy flows. You probably haven't learned how to see them yet. I'll teach you when I have time."

As he spoke, Meros gripped the protective shield tightly.

“Crack—Crack—”

The entire protective shield cracked outwards from the center of Meros's hand, with fragments falling down and landing on Meros's shadow before disappearing completely.

When Meros withdrew his hand, a large hole had appeared in the protective shield in front of him, big enough for the two of them to pass through.

"Let's go, it's safe now."

After saying that, Meros went inside first.

"Hey?! Wait for me!"

Lin Xiyue chased after her.

"Strange, is there no one in this village? How come no one came out to check after such a loud noise? Even if the sound was very quiet, there should have been an alarm, right? To be honest, this is getting a bit too eerie. I'd rather a monster showed up."

Lin Xiyue looked around but didn't see a single living creature. She rubbed her arms, trembling, and moved closer to Meros.

"→_→ You don't actually think all alien races are humanoid, do you?"

The way Meros looked at Lin Xiyue was like looking at a child who had no common sense.

"Huh? Isn't that right? I thought all alien races had humanoid forms."

Lin Xiyue was shocked.

"No, low-level ones can only imitate a part of it; at least mid-to-high-level ones are needed to perfectly imitate a humanoid figure."

Melos reluctantly explained the facts to her.

"so?"

Lin Xiyue was somewhat puzzled.

"So these are all the 'people' of this village."

As Melos spoke, a tentacle materialized before Lin Xiyue's eyes, gripping something that looked like a sticky, mushy mass.

"???!!! So, these... this isn't even one?!"

Lin Xiyue looked at the large, sticky mass that kept falling apart and expressed her disbelief.

"Yes, so you were actually standing on the roof of their house."

Melos pointed to a small, raised mound of earth at Lin Xiyue's feet.

"Ah! What's the point of that thing that looks like a door and that low wooden fence outside?"

Lin Xiyue quickly took a few steps back to make sure she was standing on a lower plane.

“Captive breeding. This is a captive breeding facility for a middle- to high-level alien race.”

Meros pulled the tentacles, along with the large lump of mud, into his shadow.

"Huh?! Then, we won't be in danger, will we?!"

Lin Xiyue was a little worried, after all, it sounded like this was someone else's pen, their private property.

"No, there are no marks left at the entrance. This is an abandoned animal shelter. We can rest here for the night."

As he spoke, Moros skillfully led Lin Xiyue to the very center of this "village".

There's a small two-story wooden house here. It doesn't take up much space, but it seems to be fully equipped, even having a nice large balcony. This two-story house is enough for the two of them to stay here for one night.

Lin Xiyue stood at the entrance and looked back the way she came, discovering that the path led by Moros was the only one here without many bumps. The few scattered bumps on the path were probably built by the lower-level alien races themselves after the area was abandoned.

"Let's go inside. We'll stay here for the night. There should be maps or something here, so we can find a bigger town later."

Although Meros looks small, he is very reliable.

"Okay! As a way of thanking you, how about I cook you a meal? My cooking is pretty good, and you seem to really enjoy good food."

Lin Xiyue pushed open the door of the small building and said to Molos with a smile.

I don't want to do nothing and rely entirely on my son. Luckily, he seems to enjoy good food, so I'll cook him a nice meal to let him try my cooking.

Lin Xiyue thought to herself, not worried about not recognizing the ingredients here, since she had the system.

……