Chapter 187: Chapter 178: Coal Mine, Steel Fire!

Xu Xin walked to the window and looked out at the treehouse.

Although his vision was no longer as powerful, Xu Xin’s extraordinary hearing allowed him to hear the rustling around the treehouse clearly.

He heard the sounds of the little pangolin beneath the treehouse, and all sorts of insect and bird calls; beyond that, there was no sound from any other animals.

Without yesterday’s super eyesight, he could no longer see distant things clearly, but he remembered that he had seen another survivor’s treehouse earlier, which was to the east. He decided to head eastward to find that survivor’s treehouse.

Since the distance was so close, that treehouse should belong to the people from Jungle Area 188.

But before doing that, he needed to handle some matters around the treehouse first.

Looking towards the lake beside the treehouse, the water was rippling under the wind’s touch, and there were no red dots displayed on the map where the lake was.

After consuming blue-grade resources, Xu Xin’s ability to withstand water pressure had increased, allowing him now to explore the deeper parts of the lake.

Also, a hundred meters away from the treehouse, the patch of yellow in his line of sight, which was alchemy materials, needed to be dug out to see what it was.

He planned to go down and ask Concubine to help dig out the materials.

“Oink!” Keke noticed Xu Xin heading out and climbed off the sofa, nimbly scaling up to Xu Xin’s shoulder.

Xu Xin petted Keke’s little head and took him out, arriving at the entrance of Concubine’s burrow under the treehouse.

A circle of red berry bushes had grown around the entrance, full of fruit. Xu Xin had used green-grade fertilizers to ripen them last night to cover the entrance. It looked much nicer this way.

Keke was immediately attracted by the red berries, jumping down to pick and eat them. Xu Xin slid into the burrow.

Inside, Concubine was lying down, with two little ones that had just eaten their fill sprawled on the ground, tummy up, slightly wriggling.

Goodness, these little ones… have grown a bit bigger again, haven’t they? Xu Xin stepped forward and picked one up.

Concubine merely glanced at him and did not stop him.

He weighed it in his arms, provoking the milk-filled little one to squeak twice. As expected, it was much heavier now!

The growth speed of these beast-bloodline creatures was impressive; he couldn’t wait for them to grow up.

“Concubine, come out with me; I need you to help me dig a place,” Xu Xin put down the little one and spoke to Concubine, who was lying on the ground.

Concubine emitted a chirping sound like a bird, stood up, and indicated readiness.

Xu Xin crawled out of the burrow, with Concubine following closely; the two little ones also followed their mother out.

“Oink!” Keke looked at the two little ones in astonishment, with some unswallowed berries still in his mouth. It seemed those little ones would soon surpass him in size!

The little ones were promptly pushed back into the burrow by Concubine once they emerged, and they obediently did not come back out.

Accompanied by Concubine and Keke, Xu Xin reached the vicinity of the yellow light. The yellow light was indeed emanating from underground and, upon closer inspection, was not shallow–at least five to six meters deep.

“It’s right here. Dig down; there should be something underneath,” Xu Xin also pulled out his shovel.

Concubine immediately began to dig at the spot Xu Xin pointed to, scattering dirt backward rapidly; this stopped Xu Xin’s attempted shovel swing.

Goodness, the speed at which it dug was astonishingly fast; Xu Xin’s attempt to assist with the shovel was completely redundant.

Watching as Concubine completely submerged into the hole, Xu Xin put away his shovel, knowing he’d only hinder.

While Concubine dug the hole, Xu Xin wandered around the area.

Located nearly two hundred meters from the treehouse, this area was outside the protective range of the plant heart. Except for this place twinkling with yellow light, there were no other yellow lights around.

Apparently, this was the only area around the treehouse with alchemy materials.

He wandered near the entrance of the pit where the mutant plant heart had been earlier, but the pit and map marker seemingly vanished.

Why? Was it filled in by someone?

Standing on the original pit location, Xu Xin dug a few times with his shovel; thick soil lay beneath.

Strange…

Unfortunately, it seemed he couldn’t visit the place Ji Chaoyang knew secrets about.

After circling twice more, Xu Xin returned to the spot where Concubine was digging, where a hole with around a one-meter diameter had appeared on the ground and sounds of digging emerged, although it sounded like chipping stones rather than digging soil.

Keke sprang from Xu Xin’s shoulder, jumped straight into the hole.

Soon, the digging sounds ceased, and Xu Xin looked into the hole.

Before his eyes were not only the yellow glow representing alchemy materials but also green glow representing material grade.

Green-grade materials dug out!

At this moment, Keke climbed out of the pit with a black chunk in his mouth, then spat it out on the ground with a “plop,” flicking his little tongue; the area around his mouth was stained black, and some blackness clung to his fur.

Xu Xin picked up the fist-sized black fragment Keke spat out.

[Obtained Coal*1]

[Coal (Green): A very efficient furnace fuel that enhances smelting efficiency. An indispensable material for steelmaking.]

The prompting sound curved the corner of Xu Xin’s lips.

Indeed, it was coal; wonderful! With coal, he could now forge steel blocks!

Xu Xin slid straight into the pit from the entrance.