Chapter 125: Chapter 119: Rotpoison Ratman
Yan Meiyu, although contracted with a Rot Skin Rat and not engaging in frequent battles like Zhu Xiong, progressed swiftly due to her talent in enhancing her Angel Envoy.
Moreover, she had been controlling the Rot Skin Rat to roam around the entire Shanhu Villa District, both as a covert agent monitoring every change and as an additional patrol force.
It was because of her talent and her use of the Angel Envoy that she was able to maintain her strength.
Although later than Zhu Xiong, over the past two days, she had indeed felt that the Rot Skin Rat had reached the racial bottleneck, which was the limit of First Order Upper Grade.
With rewards and penalties in place, Yan Meiyu, who was responsible for the overall operation of the camp, naturally received priority to undergo the Divine Initiation Ritual to advance.
She had been considering using captives like a Meat Mountain Demon or a Clawed Giant, all of which were of First Order Upper Grade.
But now, with several live Eye Beasts in the expansive backyard lawn, some possessing First Order Upper Grade strength, the choice was clear.
Yan Meiyu showed a smile, nodded lightly, and said, "I understand."
She first went to find Zhu Xiong to convey Su Han's instructions; Old Zhu immediately understood this meant extracting value.
Puffing out his chest, he indicated he knew a thing or two, saying a mix of stick and carrot tactics would squeeze out a percentage and then set up a steady flow, having people like Guo Du work for them.
With Su Han's side offering injections, weapons, and more as rare goods, there was no worry they would refuse to trade.
Besides, there were always fists, right?
Therefore, set to lead a team out to search for supplies, Zhu Xiong included the willing-to-depart Guo Du and his two companions, 'warmly' preparing to send them back while also scouting the camp location to gather some supplies.
After arranging everything, Yan Meiyu wasted no time calling Gan Xinglei to the large lawn area.
Her own man was a bit behind, barely touching the racial bottleneck of a flesh corpse, but her breakthrough would at least give him some sense of involvement.
Seeing Gan Xinglei, Su Han smiled; the fellow had slimmed down a bit, not solely from fighting.
But whenever Yan Meiyu called him to work, he had to go; whenever Old Zhu needed help, he had to assist too, being one of the workhorses of the camp, truly befitting a programmer.
"Summon your Rot Skin Rat, let Old Gan watch by the side, just to accumulate some experience," Su Han said.
"Alright, I'll stand aside," agreed Gan Xinglei cheerfully.
Gan Xinglei approached Su Han with a smile, while Yan Meiyu's Book of Blood Spirit lit up and the grizzly form of the Rot Skin Rat appeared before them.
Yan Meiyu's gaze sharpened as she looked at the cage in front of her, which held an Eye Beast of First Order Upper Grade.
Su Han had not paralyzed the Eye Beast; at that moment, the Eye Beast emitted a threatening growl, its gaze firmly fixed on Yan Meiyu and the Rot Skin Rat.
The tentacles on either side of its head cautiously wriggled, ready to attack at any moment.
"Begin," he said.
Su Han's Metal Manipulation acted instantaneously, the metal cage twisted, revealing a large gap big enough for the monster to pass through.
"Roar"
The Eye Beast charged forward, almost completely frenzied.
Having witnessed the tragic death of a Hundred-Eyed Monster and seeing many of its kind devoured, fear tormented this Eye Beast, driving it into utter madness.
The glowing red at the tips of its swaying tentacles was already apparent, ready to use its skill should it get close to the Rot Skin Rat.
However, Yan Meiyu remained calm, and the Rot Skin Rat darted forward with great speed.
Its sharp tail swept through, knocking the tentacles away before they could reach the Rot Skin Rat's head.
Having handled the monster manual, she clearly knew the attack methods of the Eye Beast in front of her, especially those tentacles that could cause mental disturbances.
With its skill interrupted, the Eye Beast opened its huge mouth, prepared to fight the Rot Skin Rat.
But as it came close, the agile Rot Skin Rat seized the opportunity and its sharp claws struck the Eye Beast's body.
The battle ended the moment the Rot Skin Rat's claws tore through the Eye Beast's body.
The Rot Skin Rat showed no signs of further struggle; the Rot Poison spread rapidly, and after a few dodges, the Eye Beast fell to the ground, no longer able to continue the fight.
"Divine Initiation Ritual"
With the timing ripe, Yan Meiyu did not hesitate and immediately initiated the Divine Initiation Ritual.
Like Zhu Xiong's Divine Initiation Ritual, the Book of Blood Spirit emerged, a red light enveloping the Rot Skin Rat and the Eye Beast gradually.
The surrounding Spiritual Energy seemed to change under the pull of the red light, and in the center of the red glow, the gaping wound on the Rot Skin Rat's abdomen was tearing and biting into the body of the Eye Beast.
The Fusion gradually proceeded, the red light growing brighter and eventually forming a cocoon of concentrated light.
Metamorphosis was happening, and Yan Meiyu's expression was solemn, her eyebrows occasionally furrowing.
In her mind, the will of the Eye Beast was battling with her, the fighting within the sea of consciousness being particularly perilous. If she wavered slightly and could not resist, she would likely be eroded by the will of the Eye Beast.
Gan Xinglei clenched his fists tensely, his fingernails turning white, but he was utterly unable to help in this aspect.
As time slowly passed, finally, Yan Meiyu opened her eyes, her expression bright and vibrant, and major changes had also occurred within the red light.
The red light faded, revealing the figure of an Angel Envoy.
Standing over two meters tall, with the head of a rat and the body of a human, the figure was robust, covered in jet-black long hair, with both arms being black claws that faintly glowed green. Along its spine, it had four or five tentacles.
The tentacles retracted into the spine, slightly stirring, appearing like dormant predatory insects.
"Whoosh,"
With just a thought, a black shadow enveloped the rat man, and then it moved swiftly to Yan Meiyu's front in an instant.
The speed was so fast that only a blur was visible, even Su Han unconsciously showed a look of surprise.
"Advanced Rotpoison and Shadow Strike, two skills,"
Yan Meiyu then slowly spoke of her Angel Envoy's new abilities, smiling as she said, "A Second Order Low Grade Rotpoison Ratman, specialized in speed and poison attacks; its strength may be slightly lesser than Old Zhu's Glutton."
Shadow Strike was that layer of shadow, which significantly boosted the Rotpoison Ratman's speed and strength while Advanced Rotpoison was its fundamental skill. Not only were its claws embedded with poison, but the Rotpoison Ratman could also envelop its entire body with poison if it wished.
Under Yan Meiyu's control, the tentacles on the spine of the Rotpoison Ratman were also fully displayed, pitch black without much mucus, but hidden under the flesh were fine poison thorns, which were also potent offensive tools, extending out sharp as knives.
Su Han nodded slightly, saying, "Not bad, quite suitable for you, after all, what you handle is different from Old Zhu."
Zhu Xiong was in charge of scavenging supplies, and almost daily he had to battle numerous monsters.
The stronger one is, the more monsters they can sweep aside, making it easier to move outside.
Yan Meiyu, undoubtedly, was more of an assassin; she might not have the advantage against a large number of monsters, but in one-on-one fights or in covert assassinations, the Rotpoison Ratman in front of her was an absolute terror.
"You first get accustomed to the evolved Angel Envoy; don't rush for the second one, let's prepare to capture the Bei Qing Grain Warehouse then plan further,"
Two Second-order Lower-level Monsters had already been discovered at the Bei Qing Grain Warehouse, and there was no doubt that the area had many monsters, choosing a second Angel Envoy wouldn't be a problem.
As for the contract with familial beasts, Su Han's familial beast needed time to develop, so naturally, this time wasn't ideal to have Yan Meiyu contract it, nor was there any necessity yet.
Having signed the contract, Yan Meiyu immediately returned to her post to deal with her duties, Gan Xinglei also being dragged along.
Poor guy couldn't beat his wife before, and now he'd probably get completely drained by her.
With only ten days to prepare, especially when both camps were eagerly gathering everything.
Three days after Guo Wutao left, Zhao Yaqian and her team arrived to complete the preliminary ammunition trade—1,000 handheld crossbows and 30,000 crossbow arrows, along with a brand-new blueprint, approximately three meters long for a fortress crossbow and 2,000 chemical bombs.
Su Han did not disappoint, delivering the metal-manufactured handheld crossbows and arrows, and even the newly-obtained fortress crossbow blueprint was crafted according to design, directly producing twenty units and hundreds of additional arrows.
The fortress crossbow's power was impressive; a single test was enough to shoot through walls, and even a car if put in front of it could be easily penetrated.
For many large monsters, this tool was already stronger than bullets, not to mention that alterations could be made to the arrows, turning them into hooked barbs with added poison—entirely reasonable.
And over at Bai Qilan's site, they worked overtime on extracting organs from Scorpion Spider Demons, Ancient Worm Trees, Tree-Born Worms to make into injections.
Based on previous contributions, this opened up the current exchange.
Zhu Xiong was the first to exchange, using the injection from the Ancient Worm Tree. One vial propelled his already First Order Upper Grade Bone Armor Giant Pig directly into Second Order Low Grade, with portions of its skin turning woody, and its bodily strength and defense capabilities were significantly enhanced.
He was the most advanced person; the remaining Gan Xinglei, Ye Kailing, Zhang Dahai, and others followed suit, based on their requirements.
The First Order Upper Grade team, while not yet breaking through, saw their Angel Envoys drastically gain strength through the injection-induced mutations and were now not far from their species' bottlenecks.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yimin, Xia Ning, Guo Gang and others took advantage of this injection-induced mutation to advance to First Order Upper Grade over the next few days.
This significantly raised the power of the Shanhu Villa District camp, with Su Han, Bai Qilan, Zhu Xiong, Yan Meiyu making up the Second Order individuals, with reserve Second Order members including Gan Xinglei, Ye Kailing, Zhang Dahai, and approximately ten individuals at First Order Upper Grade.
Adding those who had explicitly joined the combat sequence, there were now 150 people total, including several squad leaders at First-level Intermediate, whose overall combat power was not to be underestimated.
In essence, the combat forces of Shanhu Villa District had now initially taken shape.
And on this ninth day, the first familial beast of Su Han's Ancient Worm Tree finally matured successfully.