Zhou Yi remembered clearly. Among the first batch of talent introduced to the company, Cao Dayuan was the only one unwilling to come over.

But for the sake of warming the town through winter, he still came to humbly ask for help.

Cao Dayuan had very little hair, just some sparse, long strands that he tried to evenly spread across his scalp, striving to maintain his image. This reminded Zhou Yi of his high school physics teacher.

Zhou Yi appreciated this local man who wanted to completely change the impoverished condition of Mao Valley Town.

The Monster Attraction Mushroom Cao Dayuan talked about looked similar to enoki mushrooms, but they were shorter and thinner, with very small caps that were inconspicuous.

"People who eat the Monster Attraction Mushroom will experience headaches and breathlessness, and severe cases can be poisoned to death. Everyone avoids them as they would poisonous mushrooms."

Pointing to this species, he said, "But the creatures outside, the clawed pigs and the antlions, they really like it. Once they swallow these things, they become calm and docile, either lying down to rest or staring up at the sky or into the distance. During this time, even if prey passes right before their eyes, they won't attack."

"I've tested it many times, and they truly like it."

Zhou Yi had the Red Kestrel call over Ye Zhao.

As the only clawed pig employee in the company, it was most suitable to test the drug.

After sniffing the mushroom, Ye Zhao's eyes immediately widened, and its breathing grew heavy.

"Master, this thing is filled with... some kind of indescribable allure."

It didn't know what this was.

The taste test began.

Ye Zhao opened its mouth and swallowed a cluster of Monster Attraction Mushrooms, chewing and then swallowing them.

This clawed pig employee's eyes then became vacant for a moment, followed by its entire body visibly relaxing. Crouching on the ground, it entered a state of extreme mental relaxation. Even its normally somewhat fierce little eyes became clear and gentle at this time.

After five or six minutes, Ye Zhao spoke of what it felt.

"After eating it, my body feels very comfortable, especially relaxed and peaceful. The feeling of fatigue is also greatly reduced, making me start to think about what I am really doing, and the meaning of my existence in this world..."

Is this what entering sage mode is like after eating it?

Zhou Yi wondered to himself.

"Red Kestrel, check the Recursive City archives, see if you can find any information about this kind of mushroom."

Dozens of seconds passed.

The drone responded within his mind, "Based on the external characteristics of the plant, the closest match is the cave-dissolving mushroom, but the cave-dissolving mushroom does not have such exciting, hallucinogenic, and sedative effects. No further information can be found."

"In the databases of Recursive City, the focus is on recording various creatures with self-awareness and intelligence. For the vast variety of plants in nature, only basic species are catalogued in the guide."

Zhou Yi then looked at Cao Dayuan again, "How many Monster Attraction Mushrooms do you have?"

"Besides these, there are another twenty-four planted in my cave."

"Wait here, I will call someone to come with us and take a look."

About half an hour later.

The Bone Man, wearing a red scarf, hurried over.

Now, Sun Chonglai was dressed in a black leather jacket, jeans, a pair of Doc Martens, a cowboy hat on his head, and carrying a leather suitcase. This was one of the outfits Zhou Yi had picked out for it.

Except it was limping a little, saying that its leg bone had been broken and hadn't yet fully healed.

Coming along with the Bone Man were two Black Hand Mushroom assistants.

After listening to Cao Dayuan's description and carefully examining the appearance of the Monster Attraction Mushroom, Sun Chonglai said, "There's no such type in the Mushroom Forest."

"Sun Shisan, Sun Shisi, come and identify this."

The two Black Hand Mushrooms approached and began pinching and tugging at the Monster Attraction Mushroom.

"There's some substance inside."

"A special energy that can stimulate and alter the state of the body, making it active and happy."

"It's a bit like the toxin of the giant mushrooms."

"A very magical guy."

"Good mushroom, not bad."

"But it's already dead, hard to say."

"We need to look at the living ones; only the live mushrooms can show their true nature."

...

Zhou Yi had Cao Dayuan lead the way as the group rushed to Mao Valley Town.

Upon leaving, he discovered the wind outside was relentless and there had been a noticeable drop in temperature.

Indeed, winter was not far off.

When they reached Mao Valley Town, nothing seemed different from before; it was still the branch caves inside the mountain where local people dwelled in their own little holes.

The difference was, last time the residents merely glanced at him, but now many emerged from their burrows, offering up their collected items for sale: pitch-black twigs, oddly shaped leaves, things that looked like bones or rocks...

But none of them dared to speak. They lowered their heads and avoided making eye contact with Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi felt as though he was there to collect protection money.

So he said, "Everyone go back. Gong Zheng will continue the trading. Go on."

The townspeople looked at each other before putting away their various items and retreating into their burrows.

Cao Dayuan spoke softly, "Winter is coming, and everyone is worried. They want to buy more firewood for heating, fearing they might freeze to death in their sleep. This is also the time when death comes easiest. If the fire is strong, there'll be a greater chance to survive."

Zhou Yi nodded.

Under Cao Dayuan's guidance, the group arrived at a low cave further inside, lined with damp soil and emitting a putrid, sour stench.

"This is one of the ten caves I use to cultivate mushrooms."

Cao Dayuan explained, "The new batch of mycelium is in the soil; it'll take four months to mature. After that, we wait another month and the cave-dissolving mushrooms will grow. However, this spot is a bit special."

He crawled to the deepest part and carefully pulled back a layer of soil to reveal the delicate white Monster Attraction Mushrooms.

"They're all here. These mushrooms are poisonous and no one comes to collect them."

Two Black Hand Mushrooms began to inspect the clusters of mushrooms.

One buried its head into the soil, doing something inscrutable, while the other examined the surrounding walls and rocks.

Bone Man asked Cao Dayuan, "Are the Monster Attraction Mushrooms naturally occurring wild mushrooms?"

"No."

Cao Dayuan shook his head. "They grew from mushroom caves here in Mao Valley Town."

"The first Monster Attraction Mushrooms appeared six years ago and nearly poisoned someone to death. They didn't exist before, and I don't know where they came from."

Bone Man touched his jawbone thoughtfully.

At that moment, one of the Black Hand Mushrooms struggling out of the soil suddenly burst forth.

It shook its head to scatter the dirt and said, "Found it. These mushrooms are a result of cave mushroom species mixing with a type of feces. The feces have a strange smell, not human, nor sand rat... Have you used any other kind of dung?"

Cao Dayuan furrowed his brow and rubbed the mud on his hands. "We only use dry dung we collect from outside. Apart from that... just the clawed pig."

"That's it! The scent of clawed pig dung; it needs this key kind of dung to grow."

The Black Hand Mushroom gave a thumbs-up.

The other Black Hand Mushroom, who had been observing the surroundings, added, "Actually, this environment isn't ideal for their growth. They need more light, more Death Light exposure, and richer soil. We need to transplant them to the Mushroom Forest so they can grow faster."

At Zhou Yi's command, the batch of Monster Attraction Mushrooms was moved to the Mushroom Forest.

Three days later.

Bone Man came running with a report, "Good news, Chairman! Those Monster Attraction Mushrooms are doing great. They're especially tempting to the Black Hand Mushrooms, but the little ones are behaving. They know there has to be more grown before they can have a chance to eat. So they're all working harder than ever."

"Ye Zhao has made contact with quite a few clawed pigs and is taking the Black Hand Mushrooms to find dung. There's a large Claw Pig Group to the north, so we won't have to worry about a shortage of dung. They prey on various animals in the Northern Forest and some low-level creatures."

"The most important thing is, we've confirmed the effect of the Monster Attraction Mushrooms."

The Lord of Mushroom Forest said, "It's a kind of psychotropic mushroom that is highly attractive to the Flesh Guangna Species, creating a sense of fulfillment and excitement in them, similar to a successful hunt. This reduces their aggressive impulses, stimulates their intelligence, and encourages thought."

"It's a potent, calming natural drug, and a natural lure to distract all kinds of creatures. It will be very useful when hunting Guangna Species!"

After hearing this, Zhou Yi shook his head, "The value of the Monster Attraction Mushrooms is far greater than that."

These mushrooms, they carried the effect of sage's time like tobacco.

If Monster Attraction Mushrooms could be cultivated on a large scale, that was undoubtedly a golden route!

In addition, Bone Man had brought some bad news.

Snowfall had started to persist in places like the Mushroom Forest, the Oasis Side, and other areas.

Winter had arrived.

The Winter Beast might arrive at any time.