Chapter 7 A Fluffy Unexpected Surprise: Language Skills Soar
Since unlocking the Salt of Life and gaining a preliminary glimpse into the truth of the Cursed Land, Lin Yue felt that his life goals had been elevated.
The goal has shifted from "survival" to "leading our primitive companions out of poverty and towards a better life, while also cleaning up the wasteland environment." Is this some kind of nationalistic ambition stemming from the deep-seated drive for stability and prosperity inherent in the people of a certain infrastructure superpower?
Of course, to realize this grand vision, the first step is to solve the communication problem. After all, you can't expect to direct engineering construction and promote advanced ideas through gestures and a system with high latency and occasional glitches, can you?
Thus, Lin Yue began his accelerated language learning project in this other world.
The core of the plan is simple: be thick-skinned, not afraid of making a fool of yourself, and seize every opportunity to have a friendly and cordial exchange with Boss Gray.
For example, when Lin Yue wakes up in the morning, he will point to the sun and try to pronounce a syllable similar to "sunrise" and then look at Gray expectantly.
Gray would usually correct his pronunciation with a blank expression, or simply show him through his actions that "it's time to get up and get to work."
When working, Lin Yue transforms into a walking encyclopedia of questions.
Pointing at the tree: "Grey, what's this called?"
Gray: “...tree.” Concise and clear.
Pointing to the stone: "What about this one?"
Gray: "...Stone." Still concise.
Pointing to himself as he diligently dug in the dirt: "And what about me? Handsome, intelligent, and beautiful... uh, how do you say that again?"
Gray glanced at him and uttered two words: "...idiot."
[System Translation: The other party refers to you as 'slow to work' or 'clumsy.' Please note that this may simply be an objective description based on facts and does not necessarily contain subjective malice.]
Lin Yue: "...System, I suspect you're subtly criticizing me, and I have evidence!"
Although the process was filled with blood and tears of being despised, corrected, and ignored, the results were still significant.
With the help of the system's translation and the reluctant instruction of the great Gray, Lin Yue's language skills in this other world improved at a visible rate.
From initially only being able to utter single words, to later being able to speak simple short sentences, and now, he can barely organize some slightly complex sentences for basic daily communication, although his grammar is still appalling and his pronunciation still carries a heavy... construction site accent.
[System Notification: Host's language ability has improved, and the skill [Otherworld Language (Beginner)] has been unlocked. Translation system latency has decreased, and accuracy has increased to 65%. Note: Congratulations on finally escaping 'illiterate' status and taking a solid step towards 'being able to communicate with some difficulty'.]
Lin Yue looked at the system notification and smiled with the satisfaction of a proud mother. Gray, standing next to her, thought: "Yue~ I can't bear to watch."
That day, as usual, the two went out to find food and useful materials. Lin Yue was responsible for identifying plants, while Gray was responsible for guarding and hunting.
They were lucky enough to find a small patch of edible berries that they hadn't discovered before.
Just as Lin Yue was happily picking fruit and preparing to add some fruit flavor to the Bluebird stew that evening, a faint, kitten-like "meowing" sound caught his attention.
"Huh? What's that sound?" Lin Yue stopped what he was doing and listened intently.
Gray also became alert, gripping the wooden spear in his hand tightly and scanning his surroundings.
"Waaah...waaah..." The sound was intermittent and very weak, seemingly coming from behind a clump of dense bushes not far away.
The two exchanged a glance and carefully parted the bushes.
The scene before him stunned Lin Yue.
Behind the bushes, curled up... a furry little thing?
It looks like a puppy or kitten, only about the size of an adult's palm.
Its body is covered in soft, fluffy fur that is between gray and brown. It has a pair of large, droopy, furry ears and a short, equally furry tail.
At this moment, it was closing its eyes, emitting a weak groan, and its body was trembling slightly. It looked very weak and seemed to be injured.
“This is…” Lin Yue squatted down and carefully observed the little guy.
[Bio-scan: Unknown orc cub detected (canine/wolf characteristics). Weak vital signs, external injury, suspected fracture of the left hind leg, severe dehydration and malnutrition. Danger level: Extremely low (current status).]
Orc cubs?!
Lin Yue's eyes widened in surprise. Here they come, here they come! Orcs, the legendary orcs! They're much cuter than the ones in DOTA.
Seeing the little guy's pitiful appearance, Lin Yue's last bit of sympathy instantly overflowed.
"It's so pitiful, it looks injured." Lin Yue reached out to touch it, but was afraid of disturbing it.
Just then, Gray suddenly stepped forward, blocking Lin Yue's path, his face showing an extremely solemn and... disgusted expression.
"...Orcs. Danger." He said in a low voice, raising the wooden spear in his hand slightly, as if ready to deliver a fatal blow to the weak little creature at any moment.
Lin Yue was startled and quickly stopped him: "Wait! Gray! What are you doing? It's just a cub! And it's injured, it's not a threat at all!"
Gray frowned and stubbornly shook his head: "Orcs...when they grow up...they...eat people. They're violent. They're...a menace."
[System Translation: The other party believes orcs are a dangerous race, becoming violent and aggressive upon reaching adulthood, and are a menace. Rescue is not recommended.]
Lin Yue panicked: "That's prejudice! You can't discriminate against it just because of its race..." He wanted to say "discriminate against it," but realized he didn't know the word in the otherworldly language.
He had to change his approach: "Look at it! So small! So pitiful! If we leave it here, it definitely won't survive! If we rescue it, give it some food, heal its wounds, maybe... maybe it won't turn out the way you described when it grows up?"
Gray looked at Lin Yue, then at the dying little furball on the ground, his eyes filled with struggle. Clearly, his preconceived notions were locked in a fierce battle with the shock of this fragile life before him.
“We…don’t have much food…,” Gray offered an excuse. “We can’t afford to…feed it.”
"I'll figure out a way to get food!" Lin Yue patted his chest and assured him, though he wasn't entirely sure himself. "Look, we've found something to eat now, haven't we? One more mouth to feed won't hurt! We can't just stand by and watch people die!"
As he spoke, he carefully approached the little ball of fur and gently stroked its soft down.
The little guy seemed to sense the kindness, stopped groaning, and even rubbed his little head against Lin Yue's fingers, making a soft purring sound.
At this moment, Lin Yue's heart completely melted.
"Look! How well-behaved it is! Not fierce at all!" Lin Yue picked up the little guy and gently checked its injuries. "It seems like its left hind leg is broken. We need to find a way to immobilize it. We also need to get it some water and food."
Gray looked at the harmless little furball in Lin Yue's arms, and then at Lin Yue's defiant attitude of "I'll talk until you agree if you don't let me save it," and finally sighed and put down the wooden spear in his hand.
"...Troublesome." He muttered, which was taken as an admission.
[System Notification: Successfully persuaded partner 'Grey'. Team member +1 (temporary). Please note that the addition of a new member will bring additional resource consumption and potential risks of internal conflict.]
"Great! Gray, I knew you were a good person!" Lin Yue grinned and quickly used his increasingly worn but truly versatile T-shirt to carefully wrap the little guy up, trying not to touch its injured leg.
The two returned to camp with this unexpected, furry surprise.
The next task is to treat the little guy's injuries and feed him.
A splint was needed to stabilize the fractured leg. Lin Yue found two relatively straight twigs, smoothed them with a stone knife, and then tore off more strips of T-shirt fabric, carefully securing the little guy's hind leg. Now he felt like he was about to run around naked.
Feeding was even more of a challenge. The little guy was too weak to eat solid food. Lin Yue had no choice but to skim off the broth from the stew, let it cool slightly, and then use his finger to dab it and feed it to the little guy little by little.
The little guy had a strong will to survive, and he stretched out his pink little tongue to lick the soup, making a satisfied "slurp" sound.
Lin Yue's heart melted as he watched the little guy eat with such gusto.
Gray watched silently from the side, his face expressionless, but his eyes were noticeably softer.
Caring for this little guy also greatly facilitated Lin Yue's language learning. He needed to constantly discuss with Gray how to better care for him:
"Grey, look at it (pointing to the little guy)... Is it cold? Should we... add some more hay?"
"Should we give it more water? It seems... it still wants to drink?"
"How do I use this herb? Crush it... and apply it?"
In discussing these relatively complex issues, Lin Yue's vocabulary and expression skills improved rapidly. The accuracy of the system translation also increased accordingly.
Of course, trouble followed.
The arrival of the little guy meant an increase in food and water consumption. He also required extra care, taking up a lot of time and energy.
More importantly, its existence disrupted the simple, even somewhat dull, world between Lin Yue and Gray.
For example, when the little one is sleeping at night, he/she will make a "woo-woo" sound because of pain or fear, which will disturb both of them from sleeping.
For example, Lin Yue would unconsciously focus more on taking care of the little guy, sometimes neglecting to communicate with Gray, which earned him several death stares from the latter.
Overall, the arrival of this furry little life added a lot of vitality and... well, cuteness to this simple camp.
Lin Yue even started naming it.
"What should we call it? It's so fluffy, how about 'Fluffy'? Or 'Little Grey'? They would match Grey's name quite well." Lin Yue held the little guy and muttered to himself.
Gray, who had been listening nearby, unusually spoke up to correct him: "...It's 'Fenrir'."
Lin Yue was taken aback: "Fenrir? It's called Fenrir?"
Gray nodded, pointing to a faint, lightning-shaped white mark on the little guy's forehead, "...the mark of the wolf god."
[System Translation: The other party recognized the mark on the cub's forehead as the legendary mark of the 'wolf god Fenrir,' which seems to represent some special identity or lineage.]
Lin Yue looked at the seemingly harmless little furball in his arms in surprise: "Wow! It's got such a big background? The world-destroying wolf from Norse mythology?!"
Looking again at the little guy's big, watery, dark eyes, he couldn't reconcile them with the ferocious image from the legend.
“Okay, Fenrir it is, it sounds much more imposing than Momo.” Lin Yue scratched Fenrir’s chin, and the little guy squinted his eyes comfortably.
"However, we'll still call you Xiao Fen, it sounds more friendly."
Xiao Fen seemed to understand, and nuzzled Lin Yue's hand with her little head.
And so, a modern man, a taciturn native, and a beastman cub with a powerful-sounding name but actually a whiny one, formed the strangest trio on the edge of this cursed land.
Their path to rebuilding the wasteland seems to have become more exciting, but also more uncertain.
A note from the author:
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