Chapter 159
"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck—"
Facing the vigilant Zhou Qi, the big hen just tilted its head towards him, then continued to lower its head and peck at the insects on the ground, without showing any intention of attacking.
Zhou Qi did not relax at all. He pulled Tang Yu'an back until they reached the entrance of the venue, then stopped.
"Brother Xiaoqi, this big hen doesn't seem to be a dangerous creature..."
Tang Yu'an looked at the map. There was no red dot on the map, and so far, the map's judgment had not been wrong—
Except for the Emerald incident, of course.
In a mild state, emeralds appear as light spots belonging to plants on the map, and only turn red after a riot.
So this mutant hen must be docile in nature to be able to pass through the protective barrier and enter the swimming pool, right?
Zhou Qi nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "If it riots, will it be sent out by the protective barrier?"
Just like when it rains, if the water level does not flood into the grocery store, it will not be blocked by the protective barrier. Once the water level exceeds the warning line, the protective barrier will be activated to block the rainwater out.
"That should be the case." Tang Yu'an nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.
In this way, they don't have to worry about being attacked by the mutant hen. The moment it is about to attack them is the moment it is sent out.
"We still can't let our guard down." Zhou Qi said cautiously, "You stay here, I'll go over and test it out."
Tang Yu'an held him back, "No! If you want to go, let's go together."
Zhou Qi had no choice but to say, "You can go with me, but you have to obey my orders, understand?"
Their main purpose was to test the aggressiveness of the big hen, and they did not want to use all means to deal with it as they would with other mutant creatures.
"Yes!" Tang Yu'an nodded vigorously, "I will definitely listen to you!"
So after using the light body technique, the two of them approached the corner where the big hen was again.
“Chuckle—”
The hen glanced at them and continued eating insects as if nothing had happened.
Zhou Qi and Tang Yu'an slowly approached.
When they got within about 1 meter, the hen ran away on her own.
It was not afraid of the two teenagers, but it always kept a distance from them. If they got too close, it would run away on its own.
In this situation of advance and retreat, although the big hen's cries were obviously a bit impatient, it still did not attack Tang Yu'an and the others. It even laid an egg while running.
After laying the eggs, it didn't care and went back to looking for food.
Watching it lay eggs and run away, Tang Yu'an hurried over to check.
The newly laid eggs were still warm and did not break even if they fell directly from the hen to the ground. They were very strong.
Tang Yu'an had never seen such a big egg. Of course, it was smaller than the ostrich eggs he saw on TV.
After all, an adult ostrich is at least two or three meters tall, while this mutant hen is only over one meter tall.
"It seems that it has a really docile personality. Even though we took its eggs, it didn't react at all." Tang Yu'an said.
Zhou Qi was still staring at the hen and nodded when he heard this.
Tang Yu'an looked at the big egg in his hand, then at the mutant hen, and couldn't help but say, "Brother Xiaoqi, do we not need to study artificial incubation?"
Zhou Qi paused, then shook his head, "This is a way to steadily increase production capacity. It's better to figure it out in the future."
But for the time being, perhaps we can make use of this big hen.
"It started laying eggs, and then it laid one or two every day. We had to come and pick up the eggs every day."
If there are fertilized eggs among the eggs, gather ten of them and let it incubate when it stops laying eggs. If they are all unfertilized...
"I don't know if it would be willing to hatch an ordinary egg."
Tang Yu'an held the big egg in his hand, thinking that he could pick up one every day, and said happily: "We'll know when we try it."
By the time the big hen stops laying eggs, the three chicks in the deserted city home will probably have grown up, and perhaps there will be no need for the big hen to hatch them at all.
"I hope at least some of the eggs it lays are fertilized." Zhou Qi said.
I feel that mutant chickens are quite worth raising. One egg is enough for a family's meal, and they are all high-quality protein.
Tang Yu'an put the mutant egg into his portable warehouse, checked it using the item list function, and was surprised to find that it was a fertilized egg!
Hearing this, Zhou Qi couldn't help but say, "So there should still be mutant chickens in the center of the deserted city. I just don't know if they can survive the flood."
"It would be nice if there were a few more of them!" Tang Yuan said happily.
Zhou Qi looked down at him. The boy had smiling eyes and chubby rosy cheeks, looking really cute.
Just as I was about to reach out and rub the top of his head, I heard the boy ask, "Brother Xiaoqi, do you know how fertilization works?"
Tang Yu'an had only been in the first grade of junior high school for a month when he traveled through time and space, and hadn't even learned this lesson in biology class yet.
Although the Internet is well developed, he has not been able to access this kind of knowledge because of his parents' strict control. The most he knows is that when people are in love, they hold hands, kiss and hug each other.
When he was in sixth grade, there was a couple in the class next door, and he even saw the boy taking the girl out to play on a bicycle.
When he went home to share the gossip, Xiaoqi warned him not to talk about others behind their backs or to flirt with female classmates.
Tang Yu'an was not interested in this kind of thing. He felt that playing with female classmates was not as good as going home to do homework with Brother Xiaoqi, so he naturally didn't think about exploring this aspect.
And now, he was a little curious.
"Sister Lin said earlier that the mutant rooster was too big and an ordinary hen couldn't handle it. Why is that?"
Zhou Qi: “…”
Looking at the boy's clear and clean eyes, he pursed his lips and said, "You'll know when you learn biology in the second grade of junior high school."
"Can't you tell me in advance?" Tang Yu'an pulled his hand and acted coquettishly.
"No." Zhou Qi coughed, "You might get confused."
"Oh..." Tang Yu'an responded reluctantly.
"Don't ask Sister Lin either." Zhou Qi warned worriedly.
"Humph, I won't ask her."
Tang Yu'an muttered that it was not like he knew nothing at all. He knew the difference between men and women after watching a lot of TV. What's more, his mother had taught him since he was very young.
There are some things that you can't talk about with girls.
"I'm just telling you."
"Yeah." Zhou Qi touched his head and whispered, "From now on, you can only tell me about this kind of thing."
Tang Yu'an glanced at him, "I asked you, but you didn't tell me... stingy guy!"
Zhou Qi was speechless.
He pretended to cough and then changed the subject: "Let's go feed the fish."
Then he pulled Tang Yu'an to the pool, took out millet and sprinkled it into the pool. The originally calm pool suddenly became lively.
Tang Yu'an was not really angry. After all, he would learn the second-year junior high school courses later.
At worst, he can just study the biology of the first grade first, and then go directly to the biology of the second grade. Anyway, he can choose the course schedule himself.
Soon, Tang Yu'an began to concentrate on feeding the fish and threw two purification spells into the water to purify the water quality.
Zhou Qi, who was standing next to him, glanced at him and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Chuckle—”
The mutant hen was attracted and stretched its neck to peck at the millet in the bag.
Tang Yu'an ran over to chase it away, "Don't peck my bag!"
Of course, after the big hen ran away quickly, he still took out some soybeans from the warehouse and sprinkled them on the ground to feed it.
Obviously, the size of the soybeans was more to the mutant hen's liking, and it quickly ran back to peck at the soybeans on the ground.
After feeding the fish and hens, Tang Yu'an ran to see the yellow rabbits.
"Brother Xiaoqi, they dug several holes!"
Because of decades of erosion from the end of the world, coupled with the destruction of mutant giant lizards and emeralds, the tiles and cement on the floor had long been shattered beyond recognition.
The rabbits dug holes in the exposed soil, one after another.
Sure enough, the idiom "a cunning rabbit has three burrows" makes sense.
Zhou Qi looked at the holes and suddenly frowned. He felt that the life energy in these holes seemed to be wrong...
He approached one of the holes carefully, and as he got closer, a yellow rabbit ran out and then ran to the other hole.
Zhou Qi ignored it and took out a small flashlight to shine into the cave.
Seeing his actions, Tang Yu'an also came over curiously, and then he saw——
In this not-so-deep hole, there was actually a litter of newly born rabbits! They were huddled together, their eyes barely open.
"Wow, the mother rabbit gave birth to babies!"
I didn’t expect that these yellow rabbits gave birth to a litter of puppies just a few days after arriving!
Tang Yu'an wanted to reach out and touch them, but Zhou Qi stopped him. He said, "If the cubs have our scent on them, the mother rabbit may abandon them."
"oh oh!"
Tang Yu'an quickly withdrew his hand.
He stared at the little rabbits for a while, then looked at the rabbit that had just run away. It did not hide in the hole, but stood at the entrance of the hole, looking at them, sniffing with its nose moving.
Seeing that it looked cute, Tang Yu'an took out a wild vegetable from his portable storage.
Seeing this, the yellow rabbit slowly ran over. Seeing that there was no danger, it bravely ate the wild vegetables in his hand.
Tang Yu'an looked at the rabbit mother and couldn't help asking, "Will you be short of water here?"
Although there is water in the swimming pool, the water level is still some distance from the shore, so it is probably difficult for the small animals living in the swimming pool to drink water.
Zhou Qi stood up and went to check. Seeing him leave, Tang Yu'an hurriedly followed him. Finally, they found a small puddle at the entrance of the swimming pool.
Many animal footprints can be seen around the puddle. Obviously, the small animals in the swimming pool all ran here to drink water.
and……
Zhou Qi tried to transfer the water from the puddle into his portable warehouse, and then a magical thing happened.
Because part of this puddle is outside the protective barrier, when the water inside the protective barrier is drained, water will flow in again.
Once the puddle was filled, the water flow stopped again.
"Wow! This is amazing!"
Tang Yu'an looked at this scene and couldn't help but say, "Can the fish pond at Store No. 1 be done this way?"
Dig a canal leading to the outside of the protective barrier. When the water needs to be changed, drain the water in the fish pond, so that the water outside will flow in automatically.
Zhou Qi thought about it and nodded: "We can dig another reservoir, so it will be more convenient to collect water and filter it."
But as for the fish pond...
The water outside is too dirty. Unless An An uses purification magic every time he changes the water, the water is not suitable for raising fish.
It's okay if this happens once or twice, but Zhou Qi doesn't want it to become a regular occurrence.
Residents cannot rely too much on them and need to have their own means of solving problems, otherwise they will be tied down.
Zhou Qi always felt that they would not stay in the deserted city forever, and would definitely go to other places to explore in the future.
Listening to Zhou Qi's analysis, Tang Yu'an agreed: "That's true."
Since there is a puddle in the swimming pool, they don’t need to worry about drinking water for the small animals.
Thinking of something, Tang Yu'an touched the small green vine wrapped around his hair and asked, "Emerald, there are more and more small animals here. Are you unhappy?"
A negative emotion came from the little green vine.
It now follows Tang Yu'an around every day and no longer pays much attention to the situation on the main body's side.
Although these small animals will eat its leaves, there are so many leaves that it can eat as much as it wants. Some small animals will even help it eat insects, and it is quite happy about it.
Tang Yu'an breathed a sigh of relief, but still reminded it with concern.
"If you're unhappy one day, you must tell me. Don't lose your temper like before, okay?"
The little green vine rubbed his fingers affectionately with its leaves to show that it understood.
Tang Yu'an smiled, talked to it for a while, followed Zhou Qi, and checked the swimming pool building with him.
Zhou Qi had previously repaired the big hole blasted by the female monitor lizard, and had wanted to reinforce the outer walls and foundation afterwards, but was delayed due to his busy schedule.
After inspection, he found many cracks and the whole building looked shaky. Naturally, he could not sit idly by.
Tang Yu'an said, "Brother Xiaoqi, leave the outer wall to me, and you just go and reinforce the foundation."
Now that we have enough points, we can use the hard installation function to replace the walls. This is what we did in Building 1 before.
"Okay, I'll leave it to you then."
"Okay."
They divided the work and worked together to quickly reinforce the swimming pool's foundation, exterior walls, and floors, spending a total of more than 20,000 points.
As for the top, since the hard decoration has not yet unlocked the roof decoration function, I can only wait until I have time after Zhou Qi to do it.
"Mee-mee-mee"
After the walls were completely replaced, the goats were finally unable to climb walls.
They still avoided Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi, and showed strong aggressiveness when they tried to get close.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi had no choice but to give up.
"It seems that we won't be able to drink fresh goat milk for a while."
However, they can exchange milk for milk at the system wholesale market, so they have no shortage of dairy products to drink.
Arriving at Store No. 1 through the teleportation array, Tang Yu'an hesitated for a moment and said to Zhou Qi, "Brother Xiaoqi, should we tell Grandpa about the teleportation array?"
Zhou Qi didn't hesitate, "Well, go ahead."
He felt that Grandpa Li should have guessed something. The old man might not know how they did it specifically, but he was definitely aware that they went out every day.
Anyway, Xiaocao and Shitou already knew about it, so having another Grandpa Li didn't seem to be a big problem.
In Zhou Qi's mind, as long as Ping'an Grocery Store is not exposed, other branches can be sacrificed at any time, so he doesn't care much.
"Okay! Then I'll go tell Grandpa!"
In this way, perhaps the task of feeding chickens and fish can be distributed. Even if Grandpa Li is not available, it can be handed over to Xiaocao and Shitou.
Oh, and pick up eggs!
You have to pick up the eggs every day, otherwise when you have 10, the hen will start incubating the eggs and will not lay any more eggs.
As for that litter of rabbits, when they grow up, they can be brought to the deserted city home to be raised by the residents.
Tang Yu'an flew downstairs happily.
After constant practice, his flying skills became more and more proficient, although his reaction to avoiding obstacles was still not up to standard -
The main reason was that Xiaoqi was too strict! He actually asked him to dodge his attacks!
Tang Yu'an couldn't keep up with the speed at all. He didn't even see Zhou Qi's moves clearly before he was hit directly. Naturally, he couldn't pass the level.
However, when facing stationary obstacles, he can already do whatever he wants.
"Grandpa, are you free?"
When Tang Yu'an found Old Li, he was looking at the star chain fruit vines in the yard.
Last night, after laying a thousand blue beard leaves, the star chain fruit seedlings successfully survived the severe cold and have now grown all over the two-meter-high fence wall and are beginning to move towards the top of the shed.
"Wow! He's looking so good!"
"Yes." Granny Guo said, "I only helped it grow when it sprouted, and the rest grew on its own."
This growth rate is only slightly slower than when she tried her best to grow plants.
Of course, what is even more amazing is that it can grow so fast in this barren land. She has begun to look forward to the black soil that it will transform.
"Xiao An, what do you want to talk to me about?" asked Old Li.
"Yeah, Grandpa, come with me!"
Tang Yu'an directly carried Old Li on his back and flew with him to the ninth floor.
Even for the knowledgeable old man Li, it was the first time for him to fly like this, and so high. He was not afraid. Instead, he was a little excited and seemed to want to do it again.
Of course, after hearing what the two kids told him, he was completely distracted.
"Going to Jufeng Town?" Old Li asked suspiciously.
"Yes."
Zhou Qi granted Old Li the authority to allow Store No. 1 to travel between Store No. 2 and Store No. 3.
This is the authority he has as the No. 1 store branch manager, and this way he will not expose Tang Yu'an's identity as a mysterious businessman.
"Teleportation array?"
Although he was mentally prepared, Old Li couldn't help but widen his eyes.
"Teleportation... is this the kind of teleportation I understand?"
"Well, it should be." Zhou Qi said, "Let us demonstrate it for you."
Then, they took Old Li to the basement of the Jufeng Grocery Store. "This is Store No. 2."
"It burned down two days ago, and Sister Hongli's people are helping us build a new one."
Tang Yu'an briefly explained the situation to Old Li, "That's why we rescued Xiaocao and Shitou and brought them back to their home in the deserted city."
Old Li opened his mouth and then closed it again.
Finally, he couldn't help but say, "So, it only takes a few seconds for us to travel between Desolate City and Jufeng Town? Is that correct?"
"Well, yes, you're right."
Old Li looked at the exit above his head. He had no doubt that the two teenagers were lying to him, because he could hear every noise outside clearly.
He mumbled for a while, and finally managed to calm down.
Every time he thought he couldn't be surprised anymore, these two children would refresh his worldview again.
Is something like a teleportation array really something that can be achieved through supernatural powers? Isn't this just a concept from novels about immortality or magic? It actually exists in reality!
"So can we go directly to the fortress?" asked Old Li.
"No." Tang Yu'an shook his head.
"Yes, the mysterious merchant did not open up the authority for us to enter the fortress." Zhou Qi said seriously.
Old Li looked at them suspiciously.
Who gave him another 10 Fire Stones today? And what about Granny Guo's 1,000 blue beard leaves? Where did they come from?
However, he still maintained his previous habit. As long as the two children didn't say anything, he would pretend not to know.
"Okay, then where is store number 3?" asked Old Li.
So they went back to Store No. 1 and then went to the swimming pool from Store No. 1.
Looking at the animals in the swimming pool, Old Li was already quite calm. He said, "So this is the breeding base you built?"
"Well, that seems to be true."
Old Li smiled and said, "So this place is also under my management?"
When he said that, Tang Yu'an suddenly felt a little embarrassed, "I didn't do it all for you, but I thought that when we are too busy, grandpa can help take care of it..."
Then he heard Old Li say, "At your age, studying is important."
"I understand. Just study hard and I'll take care of things here."
Then Old Li started strolling in the swimming pool. From the back, he seemed very happy.
Old Li had actually thought about raising animals, but the previous conditions did not allow it.
Now that we have such a safe place and so many harmless animals have moved in, it makes people feel satisfied just by looking at it!
Seeing him like this, Tang Yu'an felt relieved.
"Grandpa, let's go back first," he said. "Be careful and don't go outside the barrier."
"I know, I know. I will pay attention."
Seeing this, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi slipped away. They still had to go to Jufeng Town to complete today's daily tasks.
-
When they returned to Ping'an Grocery Store in the evening, Yuantou had already made clothes for Kang Kang and Lily, and all the fabrics they left behind had been made into low-temperature cloth.
The clothes for the two children are made in a loose style and should last for a while.
Tang Yu'an changed the settings of the printing machine again, took out new materials, and asked Round Head to continue to help them operate the printing machine to produce a batch of room temperature cloth.
Tomorrow, let Roundhead make another batch of ready-made clothes and put them in Room 501 for sale.
"It's a lot easier to have Roundhead here!"
At night, Tang Yu'an lay down in the bed, rolled around happily, and said.
"Don't you feel bad about losing points anymore?" Zhou Qi said with a smile.
"It's only 6,600! If I could get another one, I'd buy it!"
One more robot means one more productivity.
Zhou Qi nodded in agreement. He stood up and prepared to grab the message in the bottle, then heard Tang Yu'an say, "Brother Xiaoqi."
"Um?"
"Do you think we can trade the water outside for Gan Lin?"
Zhou Qi was startled, "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, the first time we didn't give him the water in a bottle, it just splashed on him and he thought it was raining."
Tang Yu'an said, "Then can we use the water outside to create a real rainfall?"
The author has something to say:
Old Li: Aba Aba
Gan Lin: Aba Aba
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