Monster Dismantling Company

The Shen is a type of Jiao, far more powerful than lower-level dragons like the Taba and the White Deer.

He and the Thunder God that Li Lin and others were going to defeat were on the same level.

However... the mirage before us seems to be in a similar state to Thor—a state of dormancy.

In order to get more information, Li Lin decided to take a bite himself.

The roasted meat was laid out in front of him. Li Lin found a quiet spot to reheat the leftovers and then savored them.

The taste was indeed as Luo Yinchang said: for abalone, this was already the finest. The most outstanding texture of abalone is its crispness, which is also delicate, and this delicacy brings out the deliciousness of the broth.

When these are combined, they become the meat in front of you.

However, this was no ordinary abalone. Li Lin used his senses to read the information within:

【meat】

The explanation is simple and straightforward, consisting of only one word. Unlike the lengthy explanations of the past, only the word "meat" is readable here. However, this is enough to explain the matter.

After all, both the black swan among white swans and the white swan among black swans are very conspicuous. Their ability to conceal information already makes their identities obvious.

"Hmm?" Aren noticed something amiss, something she'd also noticed. "This mirage seems more complex than it appears... It's unidentifiable. If we hadn't known its characteristics beforehand, it seems we wouldn't be able to glean any useful information from it."

"Then you've found the right one. Concealing one's information is a characteristic of a mirage. Moreover, this seems to be a very powerful mirage."

The Shen is the dragon that creates mirages. Or rather, the dragon that creates mirage towers. If we consider "mirage" as the dragon's most basic ability, then the Shen has reached the pinnacle of mastery in "mirage".

So what do we do next? Should we run out of here as quickly as possible?

"Run? Why should I run? Since it's coming towards me, I have no intention of running away. Besides, Miss Arren, haven't you noticed—this mirage is quite delicious?"

I can't get any...

"Well, let me tell you, this is absolutely delicious! It's the best dragon meat I've ever tasted. I'm going to hunt this clam, and then... hehehe, the real show is yet to come."

I don't quite understand what you mean... Besides being delicious, what other uses can a clam be?

"For a mirage, the most important thing isn't meat. It's—the mirage tower."

"Wait... Ah!" Aren suddenly realized, "I know what you mean! You want the Dragon Palace! You want to seize a Dragon Palace for yourself?!"

Li Lin nodded: "I'll give it a try. The structure of a mirage is unique; after all, not every dragon has its own shell. Occasionally, it's nice to be a hermit crab and find a moving shell. A dragon palace is always better to seize than to build it yourself. It's a natural treasure."

But that's too dangerous!

"Do you remember what I said? The coalition government is getting stronger and stronger."

Along the way, he witnessed the various actions of the United Government. Their determination to reclaim lost territory was far more resolute than he had imagined. Furthermore, the United Government itself seemed to possess considerable knowledge of dragons. Li Lin knew he had to be well-prepared to deal with all of this.

He needed a secluded place to serve as his base of operations and to expand his power.

Everything about Fire Raven Company is in the open, right here in Ningzhou, where it's always been in broad daylight. But if they were looking for a way out, a secluded place, a paradise, then the shell constructed by the mirage would be an excellent choice.

However, this means he will have to confront the mirage head-on—after all, no one wants to hand over their house.

"You can handle the mirage now, right? After all, you only have a human body right now."

"You can rest assured about my affairs. I have a 'backup hidden energy source.' The only person I'm worried about is someone else—so, Arren, I need your help."

...

A short while later, after discussions with Luo Yinchang, the news was made public. In general, there are two points:

First, the investigation team's plan failed.

Secondly, although the investigation team's plan failed, Li Lin discovered that the meat they were standing on was edible. Not only was it edible, but it was also very delicious.

The order of the messages is important. For example, "repeatedly defeated, repeatedly fighting on despite repeated defeats" and "repeatedly defeated, repeatedly fighting on despite repeated defeats" both describe the same thing: someone keeps failing. But the former sounds like someone is indomitable and brave, while the latter sounds like someone is just throwing their life away.

Simply rearranging the order of the messages can significantly improve the overall listening experience.

The news today can be summarized as follows: although we don't know how to proceed, at least we won't starve. The reverse isn't quite right—you can't say, "Although we won't starve, we don't know what to do."

Although they would not starve, Luo Yinchang later emphasized that large-scale consumption should be postponed, at least until the poison testing process was over.

"Well then, that's it." Luo Yinchang concluded, "It's been 49 minutes since I took it. I feel great. As I said before, please wait until at least tomorrow to take it. If you're very hungry tonight, please be patient."

Even so, Luo Yinchang knew that this was hard to bear.

The army is now out of food. Tonight's dinner won't even guarantee everyone a full meal. But what's more troublesome than the food shortage is the water shortage—a person can endure many days without food, but without water, they'll be too weak to do anything after just one or two days.

Right now, there's water everywhere, and it's even delicious clam chowder. This feeling of thirst is probably not something everyone can handle.

Luo Yinchang pinned his hopes on the water tank inside the train. When the train was running, there was plenty of water in the water dispensers, faucets, and toilets. This meant there should be a water tank in the carriages. However, the maintenance team hadn't found the water tank yet. They had been searching under the train for several hours without finding a place to add or remove water.

After putting down the microphone, Luo Yinchang leaned against the door with his eyes closed: "Now all we need is water."

During the speech just now, everyone's emotions were stable. Knowing that there was an inexhaustible supply of food beneath their feet, and with Luo Yinchang taking the lead in "testing the poison," everyone could still endure until tomorrow. But the prerequisite was that they could at least have water to drink tonight.

"Once the maintenance team finds the location to drain the water, the problem should be solved."

He looked at Li Lin, but Li Lin's behavior made him unsure—Li Lin looked at him, then lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.