Chapter 82 is not about stealing, it's about purifying the environment.
With Fanzi's permission, Xiaobao happily began to use his superpower to refine and devour the metal inside the gold-devouring ants. In just over an hour, he absorbed all the gold-devouring ants that Pandora had brought back.
"Xiao Bao, are you not overeating?" Zuo Shan was so startled when she came to her senses that she quickly touched its belly.
"Don't worry, Master. Before Xiao Bao awakened this supernatural power, he ate too much metal and was definitely stuffed."
However, after acquiring this supernatural power, the absorbed liquid metal was used to strengthen its body. You can see that now it's not just its claws that are metallized, but even the surface of its belly is covered with a thin layer of metal.
"Unfortunately, there weren't enough of these gold-devouring ant corpses for it to complete the metallization of its entire body," said Mao Li.
“Sister, since Xiao Bao needs it, why don’t we try our luck at the central square? If no one’s watching, Xiao Bao can suck as much as he wants,” Pan Duole said, her bright eyes sparkling.
“Alright, for Xiao Bao’s sake, we’ll be thieves this once,” Zuo Shan said decisively.
"Master, stealing is not a good quality. You shouldn't condone Lele's unhealthy thoughts and behaviors," Mao Li reminded him.
"Ahem! Well, Mao Li, we're not really stealing. Think about it, so many corpses piled up in the square, it's such a pollution to the environment. Our little Bao is helping them clean up the environment," Zuo Shan argued.
Mao Li felt that something was wrong with what she said, but he couldn't find the problem for the time being, so he could only shake his head and go to look up the database.
That evening, Zuo Shan and Pan Duole put Xiao Bao in their backpacks and strolled together to the central square.
At this time, the central square was piled with the corpses of about 30,000 gold-eating ants. Because of the hot weather, the corpses had begun to smell bad. Chi Zhengyang set up an isolation enclosure to ensure that the smell would not spread.
Because the corpses of these gold-devouring ants are mostly composed of special metals, it is difficult for his supernatural fire to completely incinerate them.
So he contacted Pei Chongguang, a third-tier metal-type ability user in District 42, and asked him to come and help completely refine the corpses of these gold-devouring ants. If he could absorb the special metals in these corpses, it would be a win-win situation.
Chi Zhengyang and his men had just gone out on a mission and wouldn't be able to arrive until noon the next day at the earliest, so the corpses of the gold-devouring ants on the square would have to be left piled up for now.
Because everyone disliked this thing, it was just piled up there without anyone guarding it. When Zuo Shan and his group came over, the square was quiet, and even passersby deliberately took a detour to avoid it.
After all, it's terrifying to see so many horrible ant corpses piled up there in a mess!
Zuo Shan and Pan Duole each guarded one intersection to keep watch for Xiao Bao, while it plunged headfirst into the protective isolation shield.
This protective shield is an energy shield, originally intended to prevent odors from escaping, and does not have the function of preventing people from entering or leaving.
After Xiao Bao crawled inside, it was so overwhelmed by the stench of the corpse that it almost vomited. But seeing the mountain of metal piled up, it couldn't bear to give up and could only endure the discomfort and begin to absorb it with its supernatural power.
After absorbing about five thousand gold-devouring ants in one go without stopping, Xiao Bao felt it had finally reached its limit, and it staggered out of the isolation enclosure.
Zuo Shan and Pan Duole, who were keeping watch, were already yawning from exhaustion. As soon as they saw it come out, they said, "Little Bao, you've worked hard. Be good and come into your sister's backpack!"
As soon as Xiao Bao came closer, Zuo Shan was nauseated by the stench emanating from it.
Pan Duole, with a keen eye, took the backpack and slung it over his shoulder, letting Xiao Bao crawl in.
As soon as Xiao Bao crawled into the backpack, Pan Duole stumbled and almost collapsed under the weight.
"Xiao Bao, how did you get so heavy?" Pan Duole asked in surprise.
Xiao Bao has been with Zuo Shan for over a month, and its weight has increased from more than three pounds to about six pounds. Its size has also changed from the size of an ordinary cat to the size of a large orange cat.
Zuo Shan often keeps it in her backpack, so she doesn't feel its weight at all.
Although Pan Duole is not old, he often goes out to scavenge, so carrying 20 or 30 kilograms of heavy objects should not be a problem for him.
Zuo Shan held his breath, leaned over and reached out to lift the backpack. Oh my god! Xiao Bao has gained at least 20 pounds in just a few hours!
Seeing that no one was around, Zuo Shan patted his backpack and said, "Xiao Bao, you're too heavy now. You should run home by yourself!"
Xiao Bao: Doesn't Fan Jie love me anymore? Just a few days ago she said, "Xiao Bao, eat more and grow up quickly," but now she's complaining that I'm too heavy! Waaah! Fan Jie has changed her mind!
The next day at noon, Chi Zhengyang finally met Pei Zhongguang. Knowing that the energy of the isolation shield he had set up was almost exhausted, he didn't waste a moment and dragged Pei Zhongguang directly to the central square.
Looking at the mountain of gold-devouring ant corpses, Pei Zhongguang couldn't help but frown: "Brother Chi, you're being too unfair. Didn't you say there were only a little over ten thousand? You must have at least twenty thousand, right?"
Chi Zhengyang smiled guiltily: "Hehe, where would I get that many? If you don't believe me, count them. At most, it's only 18,000 or 19,000."
When the residents of District 50 brought them over yesterday, a junior administrator carefully counted them, and there were a total of 30,000 plus a few extra.
But why do they seem to be fewer today than yesterday? Could it be that after a night, the body's moisture evaporated, causing it to shrink in size?
"Fine, fine, since I'm already here, I might as well make the best of it. Anyway, you've already tricked me into coming here, so I'll risk my old life and do it for two days and two nights!" Pei Chongguang glared at him and said.
They met during a battle to eliminate high-level mutated beasts. At that critical moment, Chi Zhengyang shielded him from a fatal attack, making them sworn brothers.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have come all this way to help him with this thankless task.
Pei Zhongguang took out a high-grade gas mask from his spatial button, then plunged into the isolation shield and began using his supernatural abilities to remove the metal from the corpse.
As he continuously unleashed his powers, a steady stream of metallic limbs were ripped from flesh and blood, converging at the location he designated.
"Brother Chi, this is the first time I've encountered a gold-devouring ant. The metallic texture that makes up its body is hard and dense, and I can't absorb it directly."
"However, after this metal is processed at the smelter, it should be able to be used to reinforce houses and the ground, which would be perfect for the post-disaster housing repairs in District 50," Pei Chongguang said honestly.
"That's great. Thank you for separating them. The management here can use them and it will save a lot of money on building maintenance," Chi Zhengyang said.
This time, in the issue of aiding orphans and pregnant women, he took a bite out of the management's pocket. These metals can be considered as some compensation for them, as they can embezzle this money from the disaster relief funds.
Chi Zhengyang knew that things couldn't be pushed too far at once. If he really pushed them too far, the management of Districts 49 and 50 might pack up and run away, plunging those two districts into complete chaos.
Pei Chongguang understood Chi Zhengyang's difficulties, so he gritted his teeth and persevered, burying himself in hard work.
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