CHAPTER 340: CHAPTER 275 CONTRACT RETURN TO TREEHOUSE_2

"Why don’t you go in too and keep Mimi company?" Xu Xin glanced at her sideways.

"No, no, I prefer sitting behind my master!" Lou Fei’Er immediately relented, her face breaking into a smile, "The master is just doing what’s best for it, not wanting it to tire itself out!"

Without Mimi, Afu could only land on Silver King’s back, leaning behind Lou Fei’Er.

"Let’s go!" Xu Xin stroked the sleepy Keke in his arms and spoke to Silver King.

"Awoo—" Silver King let out a long howl and headed north towards Li Wenxi’s treehouse.

"Xu Xin, did you discover the treehouse core by yourself?" On the road, Lou Fei’Er suddenly asked.

"...Why, what do you want to say?"

"I checked the regional channel of Area 187, and even after so many days, they still haven’t discovered anything about the treehouse core."

The treehouse core is indeed hard to find. If it wasn’t for Keke’s reminder, he wouldn’t have thought to chisel open the center floor of the first level of the treehouse to expose the trunk below, nor have the chance to obtain the treehouse core.

Directly chopping down or digging the treehouse won’t yield the core. It must be obtained while the treehouse is still alive.

"Yeah, it was thanks to Keke that I discovered it." Xu Xin patted the sleepy little Keke’s head in his arms. Keke was his little lucky star.

"I see... Do you think I should tell them about the treehouse core?" Lou Fei’Er suddenly asked.

"...Why? What are you thinking?" Xu Xin frowned and asked.

"Look, there are only a few people left in Area 187 anyway, and they can’t be our opponents. If I tell them, they can help us collect cores, and maybe even trigger an internal conflict among them!" Lou Fei’Er thought her idea was sound, "By then, we could obtain more cores!"

Xu Xin remained silent.

He had thought about this too. After all, relying solely on [Explorers], the number of treehouse cores they could obtain was limited. But to prevent chaos, they hadn’t even informed people from their own area about the treehouse core.

If such news were announced, it might instantly become the fuse for chaos.

If it were like now, killing and looting only to obtain one parasitic treehouse wouldn’t cause too severe conflicts. After all, for many, parasitic treehouses aren’t that useful.

But if it were to upgrade to a purple-grade material treehouse core, the temptation would be too great.

Previously, Xu Xin didn’t want to see this happen because advantages are always relative.

Like a group of people encountering a tiger in the wild, the escaping ones don’t need to run faster than the tiger, only faster than the others.

And only they knew the method to obtain the treehouse core, which was the information gap that allowed them to widen the gap between individuals the fastest.

This way, they had the best chance of becoming the last one to escape.

But now, his thoughts were gradually changing.

Can being a "runner" really ensure survival till the end?

After seeing the words left by the giants, he realized this world was not stable, and after escaping a tiger, there could be a pack of wolves. So, perhaps rapidly increasing strength was more important.

Even if other areas’ strength would also increase rapidly, making it more challenging to manage.

"I will discuss this with the members of [Explorers]. Until then, don’t tell Area 187 about it." Xu Xin said after a moment of silence.

"Okay, got it!"

Soon, they returned to the bottom of Li Wenxi’s treehouse.

Li Wenxi saw them from the window and immediately came down.

"You’re back, so slow! I’ve been waiting since that treehouse over there collapsed." Li Wenxi came over and picked up the sleeping Keke in her arms, patting her gently.

"Xu Xin insisted on fighting the mutated Ma Hongwei bare-handed and even got thrown onto the street once." Lou Fei’Er immediately exposed Xu Xin’s blunders.

"Ah?" Surprised, Li Wenxi quickly approached Xu Xin and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Do I look like I’m in trouble?" Xu Xin spread his hands.

He briefly recounted their experience to Li Wenxi.

"So, I took both this treehouse and Ma Hongwei with me."

"Take them, they’re not mine anyway. By the way," Li Wenxi pointed at the coordinates, "Ji Chaoyang just arrived. He went east of my treehouse, saying he’d bring back the treehouse over there and explore a bit."

East?

Right, there was still a small one-level treehouse east of Li Wenxi’s place, which wasn’t dealt with because it was too dark when they returned yesterday due to unexpected events.

"Alright, I’ll head back first to settle in our new member."

"Hmm, I should get going too. It’s not good to leave Yajun mining outside on her own." Li Wenxi nodded.

Activating the portal, Xu Xin waved at Li Wenxi and immediately teleported.

The world spun, a rapid fall, then his feet landed inside his safety zone.

To his surprise, he felt no discomfort this time, having completely adapted to the portal.

"Ugh..." Beside him, Lou Fei’Er knelt on the ground.

This time, she chose to lie flat directly, collapsing onto the ground in a ball: "This is awful...I never want to teleport again..."

Silver King and Afu also slumped on the ground again.

"Is it any better this time compared to last time?" Xu Xin asked.

"...No...I’m still feeling awful..." Her voice was tinged with tears, "Next time, unless it’s something really important, don’t make me teleport... Ugh..."

"...You can go to the Red Mist’s room." Xu Xin suggested, looking at those collapsed on the ground.

Perhaps the Red Mist could ease the side effects.

Hearing Xu Xin’s words, Silver King staggered a bit and stood up, carrying Afu on its back.

Lou Fei’Er also pushed herself off the ground: "Right, Red Mist...but I...can’t stand up..."

Her face was pale, and after a couple of attempts, her legs were too weak to stand, leaving her looking helplessly at Xu Xin.

Xu Xin had no choice but to pull her up, helping her to the room door and opening it.

A waft of Red Mist emerged from the room, invigorating Lou Fei’Er, her previously pale face taking on a hint of flush.

"Awoo!" Silver King’s body also shuddered, while Afu raised its little head from Silver King’s back, flapping its wings twice.

"It really does seem to work!" She quickly opened the door and darted inside, no longer feeling weak.

"...You should go in too." Xu Xin, holding his nose and frowning, said to Silver King and Afu.

Both Silver King and Afu responded before going inside.

Xu Xin quickly closed the door, taking a deep breath.

It was really stinky!

"Oh right, Mimi." Quickly, Xu Xin released Mimi from his bracelet.

But as soon as Mimi emerged, it lay flat on the ground, looking weak and dizzy.

What was going on?

Xu Xin was stunned for a second before realizing. Bringing a mutated creature into the bracelet couldn’t bypass the portal’s side effects.

In its current state, Mimi couldn’t describe its experience inside the bracelet.

Quickly, Xu Xin let Mimi into the Red Mist’s room as well.

Having done all this, he walked to the window of a small wooden hut, gazing inside.

Lou Fei’Er sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, red streaks creeping back onto her face.

The other three quietly lay on the ground, their blood streaks gradually glowing brighter.

Seeing that nothing went wrong with everyone inside together, Xu Xin breathed a sigh of relief.

Better let them stay in there.

Xu Xin walked toward the direction away from the treehouse.

He took out the seed that looked quite ordinary, scrutinizing it in his palm for a moment.

Let’s plant Ma Hongwei’s treehouse. But since it’s a blue-grade one, a proper spot needs to be chosen.

His banyan tree kept expanding, increasing the area inside the treehouse, so it’d be better not to plant the parasitic treehouse too close.

Otherwise, it seemed like it would connect the two treehouses.

Where should it be planted?