Arriving at Sankeng Reservoir, Zhang Shiyao was immediately captivated by the mist-shrouded scenery.
The environment here was excellent—sparsely populated, with fresh air, and filled everywhere with the rich, natural essence of vegetation, water, and earth.
No wonder it was so beloved by fishing enthusiasts.
Whether it was boating on the water or having a picnic and camping outdoors, it was an ideal spot.
Even the ever-present monsters seemed much rarer here.
“…The surrounding mana seems to have increased—and become stronger too? This is…?” Bai Qiu snapped back to his senses, noticing the changes in the environment.
A thought couldn’t help but form in his mind.
Perhaps something unusual was happening here—maybe it was gradually transforming into something like a dungeon…
Or perhaps the entire Earth was changing, just that some places were showing it more prominently?
Under the observation of his Sevenfold Crystallized Arcane Eyes, every change in the surroundings was crystal clear.
The fish in the water had grown larger and plumper, the mana in the air had increased and intensified, plants were growing faster, and their leaves had become more vibrant and lush, brimming with life…
He took out the Contract Space Card and released A Yuan.
As usual, he patted its head and fed it…
“Alright, A Yuan, go play by yourself. But remember two things:
- Don’t suddenly appear behind people and scare them!
- Don’t play in the water near where people are fishing—don’t scare away the fish they’ve worked hard to lure in.”
A Yuan nodded vigorously and dove straight into the reservoir.
Bai Qiu then found a spot, spread a few cloths on the grass, and sat down with Zhang Shiyao to enjoy the scenery and relax.
“Big brother, has A Yuan grown a lot?” Zhang Shiyao asked, looking at him.
Bai Qiu nodded with a smile. “Snakes grow quickly. A Yuan didn’t eat meat before, so it was a bit underdeveloped. Now that I’ve made up for its nutrition, it’s naturally growing fast.”
“Also, it probably just shed its skin, which is why it’s grown so much.” By now, A Yuan was nearly 30 meters long…
The two of them stayed there the entire morning.
During that time, they even tried cooking outdoors, using the plump fish from the reservoir as ingredients.
However… the attempt ended in failure.
After all, cooking was still too skill-intensive for the two of them…
In the end, they fed the failed fish soup to A Yuan.
Wagging its little tail happily, A Yuan swallowed it all in one go.
Afterward, they returned to Zone 2233 and had lunch at Wang Renfeng’s place.
They even packed a few extra portions, planning to bring them along next morning and eat there if they had time.
Bai Qiu then headed to Guinelia’s workshop.
He hadn’t come by yesterday because he had been busy leveling all day, and he wondered if she had been overwhelmed with work.
Knock knock.
Bai Qiu knocked on the door several times, but there was no response.
So he opened the door slightly and peeked inside.
And that single glance almost cost him his life…
Guinelia was leaning over the workbench with her upper body, her small hips slightly raised, completely focused on the image projected from a small magic cube.
Bai Qiu took a closer look—and wasn’t that person in the projection… himself?
An indescribable sense of embarrassment instantly made his face flush red.
Zhang Shiyao quietly sneaked over and said from behind, “What are you watching, Sister Guinelia?”
“Eek!” Guinelia jumped in fright, her ears standing straight up.
When she saw it was Zhang Shiyao, she complained, “Why do you walk without making any sound?! You scared me to death!”
“Hehe, look—it’s Bai Qiu fighting outside. Pretty cool, right?!”
Zhang Shiyao watched for a moment and said seriously, “He is indeed very cool, but it’s not that I didn’t make any sound. Big brother knocked just now and you didn’t hear it—you were just too absorbed in the video, Sister Guinelia.”
“Uh… ah…” Guinelia froze completely.
Slowly, in disbelief, she turned her head toward the door…
There stood Bai Qiu, stiffly outside.
Through the crack in the door, only half of his face could be seen…
Secretly watching…
At a speed visible to the naked eye, Guinelia’s neck flushed red all the way up to her cheeks as she let out a high-pitched scream!
“Ah!!!”
“B-B-Bai Qiu! Listen to my expla—no, I mean—listen to my explanation! It’s not what you think!”
Bai Qiu said, “Mm, I know. Calm down first—I’ll come back later…”
After saying that, he slowly closed the door…
But Guinelia stopped him.
She practically teleported to the doorway, blocked him, peeked left and right to make sure no one was around, then pulled him straight into the workshop!
After being grabbed by the shoulders and subjected to Guinelia’s frantic explanation, Bai Qiu finally learned that just Guinelia alone had spent 15,000 Sanctum Coins buying his ten videos.
His face instantly darkened.
Damn it—he was rewarded 10,000 Sanctum Coins for the video rights, and then they turned around and sold it for 15,000?!
What Guinelia was watching was a projection from a recording magic cube, a mass-produced derivative item created from Marta’s original recording cube!
In other words, for every copy of the projection cube sold, Marta could make a net profit of half the cost!
This completely shattered Bai Qiu’s impression of the so-called [Supporters].
Who would’ve thought these people from another world could be even more ruthless than players?!
“We can only stay inside the Sanctuary… and the cross-zone communication system for [Supporters] hasn’t been unlocked yet, so it gets really boring. We can only rely on you guys to see the outside world…” Guinelia said, her ears drooping, poking her fingers together.
She looked pitiful and endearing.
Bai Qiu sighed, holding his forehead. “Even so, that’s way too expensive. These boring videos are only fifty minutes long—they’re not worth that much at all…”
“What do you know! Ugh…” Guinelia instinctively tried to argue back, but when she realized the person in the video was standing right in front of her, she immediately became tongue-tied.
Bai Qiu didn’t say much more.
Instead, he took Guinelia with him to find Marta and settle the score.
Damn it—selling his videos was one thing, but selling them to Guinelia at such a ridiculous price?!
15,000 Sanctum Coins!
How many sleepless nights would she have to spend making potions to earn that much? And Marta just took it all with a flick of her fingers?
Unacceptable. He had to get justice for this naïve girl!
…
Half an hour later…
Guinelia left with a beaming smile, holding a larger recording magic cube, completely satisfied.
She handed the cube to Bai Qiu, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Here—take it. From now on, you must record videos for me every day… ten—no, at least twenty minutes!”
“You don’t need to record battles or anything. The outside scenery, flowers, plants—anything like that is fine!”
Bai Qiu took the cube and reluctantly agreed.
Guinelia was overjoyed and decided that from now on, she would supply Bai Qiu with any potions he needed—for free!
As for the money, there was no way to refund it, since it had been a mutually agreed transaction.
However, Marta agreed to give Guinelia a recording cube with the exact same functions as the original.
The only difference was that Guinelia’s cube couldn’t transmit data to smaller projection cubes.
In other words, she couldn’t resell copies like Marta to earn Sanctum Coins.
Even so, the girl was extremely happy—like a child who had just gotten the new toy she’d been begging for.
But as Bai Qiu looked at the faint smile on Marta’s face, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she had other motives.
Perhaps the recording cube she gave Guinelia had something extra hidden within…
Yeah—from today onward, he’d have to stay twelve times more vigilant around that woman.
— The end of the Chapter–
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