One second, two seconds, three seconds… ten seconds.
After waiting for a while, Lu Yuelan still didn’t feel any incoming pain. She slowly opened her eyes.
What came into view was the enormous high-level Mouse Soldier, circling restlessly about one meter away from her, unable to get any closer at all.
What is this?? A level-9 all-purpose protective shield!!
Lu Yuelan shifted her gaze around herself and quickly noticed that within a one-meter radius, there was a layer of transparent membrane. The mouse’s sharp claws were completely unable to break through this seemingly thin barrier.
This immediately reminded her of the highest-tier item, the level-9 all-purpose protective shield. Once again, she silently thanked Big Brother Monkey for his help. Her life had been saved because of him.
Realizing she was safe, Lu Yuelan began to counterattack.
Seeing that it couldn’t do anything to her, the high-level Mouse Soldier tried to turn and flee, planning to retreat and find another opportunity to counterattack later.
Unfortunately for it, Lu Yuelan was even faster. With a single strike, she finished off the previously aggressive high-level Mouse Soldier. Just like the low-level one earlier, it dropped a transparent glowing orb the same color as the box it came from.
There was still a mid-level Mouse Soldier nearby, watching her closely, so Lu Yuelan did not immediately pick up the yellow light orb.
“Squeak squeak squeak—”
Seeing that even the high-level Mouse Soldier, one rank above itself, had been killed instantly by the human in front of it, the mid-level Mouse Soldier let out a terrified scream and frantically fled into the distance.
Lu Yuelan wasn’t about to let go of the benefits right in front of her. She flicked her dagger out and forcefully pinned the mouse to the ground. Then she ran over, stepped on it to hold it down, and pulled up the frost dagger that had pierced its tail.
This time, the frost effect didn’t activate. The mid-level Mouse Soldier still had enough strength left to raise both paws in a gesture of surrender.
Little did it know that this very human-like action would only speed up its death sentence.
Ordinary mice were vengeful, social animals, letting one escape could mean it would gather its companions and bring back entire swarms. And these were not ordinary mice, but intelligent monsters with awareness. Lu Yuelan had no intention of leaving behind any fatal threat or hidden danger for the future.
After quickly finishing off the low-level Mouse Soldier, Lu Yuelan began cleaning up the battlefield.
The three yellow light orbs, she had no idea what they were for, were picked up one by one. At that moment, the system notification sounded.
【System Notification: Congratulations to player Lu Yuelan for killing a Low-level Mouse Soldier. Obtained Mouse Hide ×3, Mouse Teeth ×5, Bread bitten by mice, 100 EXP Pack.】
【System Notification: Congratulations to player Lu Yuelan for killing a Mid-level Mouse Soldier. Obtained Mouse Hide ×5, Mouse Teeth ×2, an Unbreakable Piece of Chalk, 200 EXP Pack.】
【System Notification: Congratulations to player Lu Yuelan for killing a High-level Mouse Soldier. Obtained Mouse Hide ×3, Mouse Teeth ×5, Moldy Cheese, 300 EXP Pack.】
Lu Yuelan examined the rewards one by one and discovered that the bread bitten by mice could infect the eater with plague.
The moldy cheese had variable effects: with a strong body, it would only cause diarrhea; with a weak body, it could directly lead to food poisoning and death.
The other items, mouse hides and mouse teeth, were materials for crafting leather armor and weapons. However, since Lu Yuelan didn’t currently possess any weapon or armor blueprints, these items were essentially useless for now, so she set them aside to gather dust.
This game has no trading platform; all exchanges are conducted through direct, player-to-player transactions. If you don’t understand the character of the person you’re trading with, it’s very easy to get scammed out of your resources.
For example, Lu Yuelan handing the special food over to “Officially Certified by the State” was essentially a gamble on their character, betting that they were trustworthy enough to inform her once the food’s effects had been analyzed. She had never even considered the possibility that the items might be returned to her afterward.
When Lu Yuelan received an email from “Officially Certified by the State” and subconsciously retrieved it, she discovered that it contained the remaining portions of her special food after research.
How did she know so clearly that it had already been studied? Because she noticed small puncture-like marks on the surface, similar to needle holes. It was likely traces left behind by some special instrument used by researchers when extracting samples from the three types of special food.
The message from “Officially Certified by the State” further confirmed her guess.
【Officially Certified by the State: @Please Take Your Seat, Princess, the special effects of the food have been successfully researched. Aside from the small portion taken for analysis, the remaining items have all been sent back to you via email. Please check and receive them.】
【Please Take Your Seat, Princess: @Officially Certified by the State, thank you very much for the strong support from the State. Actually, you didn’t need to return them; it could have been considered payment for the researchers’ hard work.】
【Officially Certified by the State: No need. The state does not take even a needle or thread from the people. If you need anything after reading the research report, you can choose to trade any unwanted special items to the government. The government will exchange them at a fair price or in exchange for important information.】
Hearing this, Lu Yuelan felt a sudden surge of interest. She had far too many questions she wanted answers to, the whereabouts of tracking devices and location cards, her family’s situation, the origin of this game, and so on.
The first two items should be things the government can probably find a way to understand. The last one is purely there to make up the numbers. Lu Yuelan didn’t think the government could uncover the truth about this game within a single day, if they could, they wouldn’t be human, they’d be gods.
She decided to first look at the effects of the three foods the other side had researched, and then decide how to handle the matter.
Previously, when the little boy learned that she had returned and could be contacted again, he had sent her the fuel and electricity cards she needed.
The fuel card contained only 30 liters of gasoline. Lu Yuelan needed to store it as a precaution against future emergencies where refueling might not be possible. Although she already had a fixed gas station card, who knew what tricks this “dog system” might pull? It was still better to prepare extra fuel reserves.
The electricity card contained 160 kWh. For someone like Lu Yuelan, whose vehicle only consumed fuel, a small school bus, this was not very useful, so it would be more appropriate to trade it away.
She didn’t know how much discount the beginner welfare shop offered, but she was already very happy that the little boy had managed to get so many things for her.
According to “Watch Me Punch the Bull From Afar,” the amount of resource coins Lu Yuelan currently had could at most buy 50 liters of fuel or 200 kWh of electricity, even with beginner discounts included, and even after accounting for the fuel costs the little boy himself needed.
She also didn’t know what occupation that person had, but the discount rate was so high that Lu Yuelan even had the urge to hand over tomorrow morning’s resource coins and let the little boy go buy things for her. In the end, she still gave up on this idea of exploiting child labor, thinking that he might not necessarily be lucky enough to encounter a shop every day.
She was truly guilty, she had already become so dark-minded that she was even tempted to make a child work for her.
Lu Yuelan carefully read the information sent by “Officially Certified by the State” regarding the effects of the three special food items. At the same time, the system descriptions of these three foods in her own interface had undergone earth-shaking changes, proving that the information from “Officially Certified by the State” was not false and that its accuracy had been officially verified by the system itself.
【Special Strawberry Pie: Strawberries, strawberries, my favorite. Eating you makes me feel so happy (tested by the Meng Research Institute: has the effect of improving mental strength).】
【Special Chocolate: Oh, this is the sour scent of love, it makes me excited and energetic (tested by the Meng Research Institute: temporarily increases physical stamina, contains side effects, use with caution).】
【Special Lemonade: Sweet and sour, an essential summer item (tested by Meng researcher: has effects of relieving heat, aiding digestion, and removing rust-like toxins).】