Duan Linzhou reached out and grasped Lin Hu's hand, intending to say something more, but Lin Hu suddenly stood up.

"I'll go upstairs first. Call me when it's done cooking."

He left after saying a few words, as if he were fleeing in panic.

Lin Hu felt that he couldn't be alone with Duan Linzhou right now. This guy talked too much, just like this morning, he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

It's like they've unlocked some new sadistic skills.

Lin Hu even suspected that Duan Linzhou was a lover whose new territory was yet to be explored.

Lin Hu rubbed his burning face, forcing himself to calm down before remembering that he had something he hadn't finished.

While waiting for the porridge, Lin Hu went back to his room and teleported to the secluded countryside to check on the situation.

By the way, let's upgrade it. He was rewarded with a pair of yaks and a pound of sea cucumbers after landing on the island. With Duan Linzhou's reward of a pair of deer, he can now upgrade to a level 5 island.

He's still more excited about upgrading the island. As for finding his thing on the island, he doesn't care too much, as long as they can't get on his island and cause damage.

Lin Hu was teleported to the island entrance, which was the same spot where he had stood when he first contracted the island.

It has now automatically turned into an open space, with a wooden sign next to it that reads "Pastoral Paradise".

It's very casual, just like any random sign stuck in the ground.

He glanced around but didn't notice anything unusual.

However, he did not doubt that Ling Jiuqi's perception was faulty, as the island was controlled through her system interface.

Even if he can't usually keep an eye on things, Ling Jiuqi will still keep an eye on them.

Lin Hu went inside, put his things out first, opened the 1097 system interface, and saw the message that it could be upgraded. He clicked "upgrade" without hesitation.

The island trembled slightly, but only briefly; Lin Hu wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been standing on the ground.

Lin Hu brought up the 3D model of the island and saw that only 50% of the island's ground remained to be unlocked.

I took another look at the conditions for the next level:

Animal husbandry: (51/120), Crops: (56/120)

Um?

Didn't he remember there were only 55 kinds of crops?

Did I remember it wrong?

Looking at the scale, Lin Hu sighed, "It will take quite a while to collect enough data to upgrade."

Lin Hu zoomed in on the 3D model on the screen and rotated it to look at the newly opened mountain.

The mountain was white, like a snow-capped mountain, and it was only that white mountain that was snowing, while the rest of the island was not covered in snow, creating a strong sense of separation from the rest of the island.

There was still a warehouse at the bottom of the mountain.

Lin Hu put away the light screen and went over to take a look out of curiosity.

When he arrived at the foot of the white mountain, he reached out and grabbed a handful of snow. Only after touching it did Lin Hu realize that it was a snow mountain.

[1097: Host, are you surprised?]

Ling Jiuqi's voice suddenly rang out, but this time Lin Hu wasn't startled.

"What kind of operation is this?" Lin Hu asked curiously. He knew that as long as Ling Jiuqi's system interface was open nearby, she could see the surrounding situation.

Lin Hu could clearly feel that the temperature around him dropped instantly when he stepped into this snow-capped mountain area, feeling like it was minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius.

Even though he had brought a nightlight and a bearskin coat, he could still feel the snowflakes falling from the sky icing his face again and again.

[1097: This is like a barrier; the temperature and snowflakes from the snow-capped mountain area can't escape this zone, but other creatures can freely enter and exit, just like you and the animals on your island.]

Lin Hu nodded, indicating that he understood.

[1097: This snow-capped mountain isn't just for show; it can nurture snow lotus flowers that cure all ailments! It can even pull someone back from the brink of death.]

Ling Jiuqi boasted in an arrogant voice without any attempt to hide her pride in producing this masterpiece.

Lin Hu felt a little uneasy and tentatively asked, "If this is so nice, you're not going to ask for crystal cores again, are you?"

[1097: No! This island only needs 10 million level-three crystal cores per year.]

Lin Hu's eyes lit up, but he was also somewhat taken aback.

He had been fed crystal cores so many times that he was really not used to not needing them anymore.

"Where is the snow lotus? I'll go take a look." Lin Hu imagined the kind he'd seen in the game, the kind that looked a lot like a lotus.

[1097: I've marked three points on the map for you; those are where the snow lotus grows. However, only three flowers mature each month, so you'll need to water them all tomorrow.]

Lin Hu swiped the 3D model to view the three flashing red dots on the snow-capped mountain on the map.

"Okay, I know. Good things are scarce." Lin Hu felt that having a new warehouse and a few acres of land would be enough, so he didn't care about the quantity of snow lotus; having any would be good enough.

Lin Hu placed a sign containing some spiritual spring water before casually flying to a red dot to locate and check it.

When Lin Hu and others got closer, they saw a slight ridge in what was originally a smooth, white snowfield.

"Is this the snow lotus?" Lin Hu asked curiously.

[1097: Yes, don't touch it, and don't dig away the snow. Just pour water on it.]

Ling Jiuqi's voice was also noticeably excited. Upon hearing this, Lin Hu asked curiously, "You've never seen a snow lotus before?"

[1097: No, these are new props that were just distributed from above.]

"Oh? Your boss?" Lin Hu asked curiously. He had heard Ling Jiuqi talk about their system many times.

However, each time it was just a vague, offhand remark, which inevitably aroused his curiosity as a time traveler.

I'm curious about how he was chosen as a transmigrator, and also how he was matched with a host from which system?

I'm even more curious about what Ling Jiuqi's world is like. Does it exist in an invisible parallel universe, or an alternate dimension?

[1097: I guess so... *beep*]

Lin Hu had just heard Ling Jiuqi finish speaking when he experienced a ringing in his ears and could not hear anything else.

Lin Hu reached out and rubbed his ears, only then could he hear the whistling wind beside him, carrying with it the chill of the snow-capped mountains.

Lin Hu couldn't help but shudder: "Ling Jiuqi?"

...He tentatively called out, but after three seconds there was no response. Lin Hu thought that maybe their employees had some kind of confidentiality agreement.

Just like he can't tell others about the existence of 1097.

After watering the three places, Lin Hu drove the yaks to the snow mountain. During this time, Ling Jiuqi did not contact him, but the thing that Ling Jiuqi had mentioned before came to him.

Lin Hu was standing at the teleportation array, about to teleport back to the raft, when a bright yellow shadow flashed past him.

When Lin Hu looked closely, he saw a dragon head, two or three times larger than himself, pressing against the protective shield and staring at him with two big eyes.

Both Lin Hu and the other party were clearly shocked. Lin Hu reached out and patted his wildly beating heart.

Fortunately, the protective shield is a bit far away from here, otherwise, the sudden appearance of such a behemoth would have given me a heart attack.

It was that five-clawed golden dragon. After its initial shock, the dragon began to excitedly gesture with its claws.