Chapter Eleven: Subdimensional Space

No one paid any mind to Lu Sheng’s words, dismissing them as nothing more than angry retorts. Lei Yan was, after all, the captain of the Sixth Squad, a mid-tier figure in the second rank—what could Lu Sheng possibly use to take revenge? After the incident, the mood in the squad remained gloomy and subdued throughout the day.

Lu Sheng, however, was not particularly bothered—a skill lost, nothing more.

Night fell.

The nine members of the team sat in a circle around a campfire, each holding a skewer of meat. In this setting, at last, the oppressive atmosphere was broken.

“That Lei Yan is really a piece of work…”

Thus began their campfire dinner, with everyone cursing Lei Yan. Though venting wouldn’t cost Lei Yan a single bite of meat, it did make everyone feel better. Lu Sheng joined in the scolding as well.

When the meal was over, Lu Sheng took advantage of the darkness, knife in hand, and slipped back into the small grove. A few minutes later, he emerged, exhilarated.

Back in his room, his consciousness sank into his mindscape.

He placed the silver Spacetime Ant, glowing green, in the main card slot. Then, he loaded seventy-seven Piglet cards into the secondary slot, pushing the fusion progress to seventy-seven percent. He added twenty-three Goblin cards, and the fusion progress reached one hundred percent.

[Fuse!]

The hundred secondary cards shattered like mirrors struck by a stone, then melted away like snowflakes in the sun, dissolving into points of light, finally pouring into the Spacetime Ant.

In that instant, the Ant’s green glow shifted to blue.

Quality successfully advanced!

[Spacetime Ant]

Quality: Blue

Rank: Early Tier One

Skills: Subdimensional Space, Twentyfold Strength, Time Reversal.

Subdimensional Space: A small space of one hundred square meters, sky without height limitation, ground with depth limit.

Twentyfold Strength: The terrifying innate power of the ant tribe, freely adjustable.

Time Reversal: The Spacetime Ant wields a touch of temporal and spatial power. With the downgrade in quality, this power is now even weaker; currently, time reversal can only be used on itself.

Somewhere in the vast void, an unknown space established a connection with Lu Sheng. Through thought alone, he could enter and exit at will.

More importantly, this hundred-square-meter space was like a small plain, with air and the passage of time.

These two facts meant living creatures could survive here!

He had been fretting over how to develop his farming enterprise, but now, it seemed there was nothing to worry about.

Then there was the matter of strength. From tenfold to twentyfold, Lu Sheng could say without reservation that, among those of the first tier, none could rival his power.

As for the final ability, Time Reversal, at first it made Lu Sheng quite excited, but a closer look at the description left him puzzled.

Time reversal could only be used on himself—what use was that? To maintain youth and immortality?

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

If he were injured, could he use Time Reversal to return to a moment before the injury, erasing the wound entirely?

The idea thrilled him.

Only practice reveals the truth—he’d never know if he didn’t try.

He drew his machete and made a shallow cut on his forearm. A thin line of blood welled up.

[Time Reversal!]

The blood on his arm began to flow backward, and the wound closed in an instant.

In just a second, his arm was completely healed.

Remarkable!

The following morning—

“Assemble!”

Early in the morning, Lu Sheng was roused by Shi Jiu knocking at his door. The entire Seventh Squad quickly gathered.

Their task today was to take supplies to the main city to sell, and pick up a few things in return.

At the entrance to the settlement, five wagons stood ready, loaded with black timber, tusked boar meat, and some goblin weapons.

The team set out, heading toward the main city.

In this apocalyptic world, the main city was the only place immune to instances and monsters. Apart from newborn infants, anyone wishing to live there had to pay one Tier One Source Pearl per day.

The city they were heading to was called Celestial Beetle City.

As for dangers along the way, it was not as perilous as one might imagine. The lands around Celestial Beetle City had already been explored, and many settlements thrived there, all operating on models similar to the Gale Settlement. Even if they encountered monsters on the road, there wouldn’t be many.

The truly dangerous places were the wilds, and forbidden zones inhabited by powerful monsters.

By mid-morning, they left the forest path and entered a wider road. Here, they occasionally saw other humans driving wagons toward the main city from side paths.

This sight gave Lu Sheng a rare sense of liveliness; his mind’s image of this world was no longer one of apocalyptic desolation.

The wagons soon entered the city, where the crowds made the desolation of the outside world vanish completely.

The team wasted no time—each member went about their assigned tasks, and the group quickly dispersed.

Lu Sheng followed Shi Jiu to sell the meat.

“Captain, how many Source Pearls can we get for this wagon of meat?”

“Normally, just five.”

“So few? That’s a thousand pounds of meat!”

“Tusked boars are too low-tier; they contain little energy. High-tier beasts fetch much more.”

The result was just as Shi Jiu predicted—they sold the meat for five Tier One Source Pearls.

“Our mission is complete. Dismiss for now—regroup here in an hour!”

This was the hidden perk of coming to the main city: a chance to wander about for an hour.

As Shi Jiu put it, if you didn’t stroll a bit in the city, you’d almost forget you weren’t a wild man.

“Lu Sheng, want to come with me? I’ll take you somewhere interesting,” Mu Kui offered.

“No, thanks. I’ll wander around myself and get a feel for the city.” Lu Sheng knew the main city fairly well. Between conversations with his teammates and the lingering memories in his mind, he’d already set his sights on today’s goals.

First, he returned to the butcher and sold off the piglet carcasses he’d stored in his Subdimensional Space.

He exchanged over a hundred piglets for two Tier One Source Pearls. With three more of his own, he now held five Source Pearls.

His next stop was the breeding shop.

There, they sold cards for monsters that could be bred, and they also bought such cards if you wanted to sell.

“Boss, do you have a catalog I can look at?”

“Sure, here you go.”

Upon entering, Lu Sheng didn’t browse the store; asking for the catalog directly was much more efficient.

[Flame-Spitting Chicken]

Description: Lays one egg every three days if provided with sufficient food; highly nutritious.

Price: Five Tier One Source Pearls

[Swift Mouse]

Description: Breeds a litter each month, three to eight per litter; adults can be tamed for dangerous scouting tasks.

Price: Six Tier One Source Pearls

[Tusked Boar]

Description: Breeds a litter each month, five to ten per litter; ninety percent of the body is edible, making it an excellent food source.

Price: Ten Tier One Source Pearls

Lu Sheng slowly paged through the catalog, finding all manner of strange and exotic creatures. If it could be bred, it was there—snakes, rats, insects… nothing was too bizarre.

Still, nothing had caught his eye yet.

The breeding cycles were too long, the litters too small, or the breeding conditions too complex. These factors made him hesitate to make a decision.