The perception brought by his powerful Spirit materialized as an invisible net, forming an intangible sphere with a ten-meter radius centered on Lin Ke.
Within the sphere’s range, even with his eyes closed, he could clearly “see” the color, size, and shape of everything in his mind.
As Lin Ke experimented with Sensory Detection, the new ability that appeared after his Spirit reached 10 points…
…he discovered that inanimate objects like metal, stone, and wood could not block his perception.
However, it seemed unable to penetrate the magnetic fields of living organisms, preventing him from seeing inside their bodies, including their cybernetic implants.
This was the conclusion Lin Ke reached after accidentally peeking through the wall at Gloria sleeping next door while testing his new ability.
Of course, he had paid a price for it.
God, that was hot!
Still, a ten-meter detection range was too small for now.
He should be able to expand it by increasing his Spirit attribute.
However, he couldn’t add more points to Spirit at the moment.
When he focused his mind to perceive his surroundings, he could clearly feel his physical body struggling to cope.
Prolonged use would cause nosebleeds.
For his own sake, he needed to strengthen his other physical attributes now.
Lin Ke had also figured out the new trait of his Soup skill.
The Purify trait allowed him to eliminate toxic components from his ingredients.
For example, he had filled half a pot with polluted tap water.
Once boiled, the polluted water directly turned into Boiled Water.
Upon appraisal by the Eye of Truth, the water was completely free of microplastics and radioactive substances.
The efficacy of this trait immediately sparked a bold idea in Lin Ke’s mind.
He wondered how Vaal Hazak meat soup would taste.
Once his Chef level rose in the future, could he use the entire ocean as a soup pot to conduct a truly grand culinary masterpiece?
*Click.*
The faint sound of a door opening interrupted his thoughts.
Lin Ke swept his perception outward.
Oh!
It was Gloria.
Retrieving four steaks from his inventory, he placed them on a large platter and poured out two bowls of thick soup.
Carrying them with one hand, Lin Ke walked out of the kitchen and set them on the living room table.
He spoke in a stuffed-up, nasal voice to Gloria as she stepped out of her room.
“You’re up.
I made soup and grilled some steaks.
It’s about time, so wake David up to eat together.”
“Oh, thanks.
But why are you pinching your nose?
Are you hurt?”
Gloria ran her fingers through her red hair, brushing it behind her ears as she walked into the living room.
She looked in confusion at Lin Ke, who was speaking while pinching his nose.
“I’m fine.
I saw—uh, no, I ate too many good things and got a little too hot-blooded, which triggered a nosebleed.
It’ll pass in a bit,” Lin Ke said, still speaking through his pinched nose.
“Also, I’ve already eaten.
I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I’m tired now, so I’m going to take a nap.
You and David go ahead and eat this soup and steak.”
Pointing to the soup and steaks on the coffee table, Lin Ke leaned back onto the sofa and closed his eyes sleepily.
“Is sleeping on the couch uncomfortable for you?
If you want, you can sleep in my room.
I have to go to work in a bit anyway.”
Before Gloria could even finish her sentence, Lin Ke’s half-closed eyes snapped open.
He sprang up from the sofa with a look of pleasant surprise, showing absolutely no trace of fatigue.
“Thanks, Gloria!
I’m going to sleep then.
See ya!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Ke had already jogged into Gloria’s bedroom, shed his jacket and pants, and dove straight onto her soft bed.
Wrapping himself in the light blanket, which still held her lingering warmth, Lin Ke slowly closed his eyes.
As for whether David would start yelling when he saw this later, that was none of his concern.
***
Back in the Hunter’s world, after brushing his teeth by the pool, devouring three more steaks, and drinking a large bowl of bone broth, Lin Ke scratched his head in frustration as he looked at the steaks and soup in his inventory, which had barely decreased.
The day before yesterday he had nothing to eat, and today he had too much food to finish.
With this much food, even if two of him, along with Gloria and David, stuffed themselves to the brim, it would still take over ten days to finish!
It looked like he needed to find a way to get rid of some of it.
Packing his gear, Lin Ke extinguished the fire, stored the hide sleeping bag from his tent into his inventory, and walked out of the cave.
Lin Ke sat on the slide and glided down, stepping onto the snow.
He strode forward toward the coastline in the southeast of the New World, to the left of the rocky mountain.
That was where Astera lay.
Entering the forest, his path was filled with nothing but white snow and fallen or still-standing trees.
The scenery was monotonous; he saw no other creatures, nor any plants he could gather, making the long trek highly tedious.
However, along the way, he did spot some strange markings on a few fallen tree trunks, but they were partially covered by snow, obscuring their original appearance.
Lin Ke couldn’t be bothered to brush the snow away to check.
Only after walking another kilometer, when he was about two kilometers away from Astera, did he come across a massive tree on the path—it was six or seven meters in diameter and stood over a hundred meters tall.
He noticed several large scratched graffiti on the thick trunk.
His talent, Civilization, activated.
His talent, Eye of Truth, activated.
Words materialized in the corner of his eye.
[Bugtrapper Graffiti] Expressed Message: Dangerous, meow!
Anjanath hunting territory, meow!
[Bugtrapper Graffiti] Expressed Message: Leave quickly, meow!
Danger, danger!
[Bugtrapper Graffiti] Expressed Message: Dead Zone!
Holy crap, the messages in these three pieces of graffiti got scarier and scarier.
Standing beneath the tree, Lin Ke wondered: who was this Anjanaph?
Was it the name of some Elder Dragon?
How did it terrify the Bugtrapper cats so much?
“Wait, let me think.
I feel like I’ve seen this name somewhere before.”
A bolt of lightning flashed through Lin Ke’s mind.
Crap!
It’s the forest tyrant—the Anjanath!
Its name was written in the Hunter’s Notes.
Thinking of this, Lin Ke couldn’t help but recall the Popo carcass he had found in the snow yesterday.
Weren’t those massive bite marks the handiwork of an Anjanath?
Did this beast fail to survive in the Ancient Forest?
Why did it run all the way to this peripheral region?
As Lin Ke stood under the tree pondering, a very faint rustling caught his ear—the sound of footsteps on snow.
He checked with Sensory Detection, but there were no living creatures within ten meters.
“Sigh, the range is still too short.”
Before Lin Ke could finish sighing, a tiny, snow-white figure emerged from the distant snowy woods, bounding and leaping toward him with extreme agility.
Only when the small figure drew close did Lin Ke see it clearly.
It was a cat, about half a person’s height, wearing a white animal-fur coat and boasting a snow-white coat pattern.
A cat?
The cat that had suddenly appeared and run up to Lin Ke stood on its hind legs and opened its pink mouth.
“Meow~ Meow~~~ Meow-meow~~…”
Civilization Translation:
“It’s a human, meow!
It’s a human, meow!
Have you all come back, meow?”