Chapter 23
An Jie was fuming as he looked at the clueless young master in front of him.
Their squad had already been trapped in this damned place for three days. The nutrient bars they carried were long gone; their water was nearly finished. They were at the end of their rope—yet the fastest rescue team would still need another six hours to reach them.
And those people told them that all aircraft were currently occupied, asking them to “be understanding.”
Understanding? My ass!
They lacked aircraft, yet this pampered rich kid wandered out here alone. There was no way he walked—he must have used an extremely precious aircraft.
He knew perfectly well that there were social classes, but at this moment, resentment surged uncontrollably.
Then he looked again at the boy—skin fair, delicate, innocent-looking—and thinking of how their squad was out here risking their lives to retrieve the base leader’s runaway son, An Jie’s anger burst upward.
Did these people understand that because of their whims, the base would lose people?
Heh. Even if they knew, they wouldn’t care—after all, it wasn’t their lives on the line.
He stopped paying attention to the pampered young master and instead checked the mutated rat on the ground.
“Beep. Severe contamination. Inedible and unusable.”
An Jie’s face hardened. He had expected this result, but hearing it still made rage flare.
The final nutrient bar had been divided and eaten—they were entirely out of food. As someone still capable of fighting, An Jie had come out searching for anything edible. But lightly contaminated plants or animals were extremely rare.
Suddenly, a thick, aromatic smell—fatty, fragrant, seasoned—drifted over. An Jie turned his head and saw that the pampered boy was now holding two large bags of something. Those black-and-white eyes looked right at him.
“Hello, are you from Black Eagle Squad? Fifteen credit points. Seven-person meal order. Delivery complete.”
“…Huh?”
An Jie—who prided himself on his quick reactions—blanked out.
Three minutes later, under the massive roots of a mutated ginkgo tree…
The injured huddled with the crippled. Six team members were curled up inside a rabbit-dug burrow under the huge roots. Their mouths were cracked dry from dehydration, their eyes sunken and bluish from hunger.
Now these starved eyes were wide with shock.
“But I didn’t post any task request?” the captain hesitated. He was starving, but still rational. The frontier zone required specialized communicators. Their light-brains couldn’t connect to the base forum—let alone send a task request.
“You made a wish.”
Jiang Jitang pretended not to see their constant throat-swallowing. He took out seven hefty meal boxes, placing a bowl of soup on each.
Although covered with lids, these gene soldiers’ sense of smell far surpassed ordinary humans—they could smell the rich oily fragrance through the tiny vent holes. It was exactly what their bodies needed most.
But what truly broke the iron will of these hardened soldiers wasn’t the food—
—it was the watermelon Jiang Jitang took out last.
It looked exactly like a pre-mutation watermelon, small and round. He made a slit with a knife—
crack—the rind split open. A refreshing fruity scent drifted out.
Fruit. It was fruit.
Their eyes practically glued themselves to it.
Jiang Jitang cut the watermelon into seven equal portions—each piece vivid red and fragrant.
The team members stared, practically ready to pounce.
“The food has been delivered,” Jiang Jitang said.
“You can eat in peace. I’ll go wait outside.”
He left the cave, leaving seven starving men staring at the steaming, fragrant meal before them—wanting to devour it, yet still restraining themselves.
“It feels like a dream… like one of those stories where a starving scholar meets a benevolent spirit.”
“My card really did deduct fifteen credit points…” murmured the team’s finance handler.
“Fifteen points barely gets you expired nutrient paste. How could it buy all this food? And fruit—actual fruit!”
“Could this be a trap? Ever since the boss went missing, they’ve been targeting our corps. In just days, the army split apart. I suspect this ‘accident’ was their doing. And this guy—”
“I disagree. Honestly, do you think we are worth such luxurious food?”
“…”
That… actually sounded true.
“But—”
“Stop. First, test it.”
“Right.”
They opened a soup bowl. Bright red broth sprinkled with scallions appeared—and the sweet-sour aroma hit them like a hammer, drilling into their starving minds.
An Jie licked his cracked lips, “I’ll test it.”
“Quick!”
“Beep. No contamination. Edible and safe.”
The captain’s tiger-like eyes went wide. “No contamination?!”
He immediately lifted the lid of a meal box.
On a bed of fluffy white rice lay a golden, crispy chicken leg, two green vegetables, and half a braised egg.
The captain inhaled deeply—his stomach roared—but he still forced himself to take out the detection probe.
“Beep. No contamination. Edible and safe.” The meal was clean.
“Beep. No contamination. Edible and safe.” The watermelon was clean.
The captain held the probe, speechless. A trap? What kind of trap uses precious uncontaminated food as bait?
“Captain?”
The team was already in a starving-wolf stance.
“…Eat!”
The moment permission was given, one team member could hold back no longer—he lunged and bit into his slice of watermelon.
Cool, translucent flesh burst open beneath his teeth—juice exploded across his tongue like a fresh spring.
For a moment, golden light filled his mind. After being tormented by nutrient blocks tasting like soggy paper, his body and soul felt purified by the sweetness.
Who said food only needs to meet basic nutritional needs and that good taste is an unnecessary luxury?
Oh. That was him.
Sounds of ravenous chewing and sobbing drifted from the burrow. Jiang Jitang’s eyebrows lifted in amusement. His cooking had been validated once again.
But looking at the outside world—shrouded in suffocating negative energy—his smile faded.
It was unimaginable that humans could still survive in such an environment.
But precisely because of this harshness… it also produced two rare types of materials:
One born from extreme resistance — light-type materials with extraordinary healing and vitality.
One born from adapting to darkness — dark-type materials with terrifying death and curse attributes.
Jiang Jitang glanced back at the ginkgo tree, then forward.
He sensed a point with a strong energy fluctuation—likely containing the material he needed.
This world didn’t permit active magic, but magical items could exist. With the right materials, he could craft tools—and this time he had a cargo pass, allowing him to bring valuable items home.
But this world’s beasts were dangerous—even to him.
“Fortune favors the bold. Staying in safe zones forever leads nowhere.”
Jiang Jitang was not the type to hide. He pulled out a military shovel and advanced cautiously.
Using his sharp senses, he avoided every danger and reached the energy-rich spot.
“Wow.”
He hadn’t expected the first material he encountered to be… a mulberry tree.
Here, everything was massive—grass, rats, even weeds grew like giants. But this mulberry tree was the opposite: mature, yet only five meters tall. Its branches were covered in deep-purple mulberries—each bursting with energy.
“Such strong vitality and healing power…”
But why hadn’t animals found it?
Jiang Jitang looked around—and finally noticed it.
A natural barrier encased the tree in a tiny space. Only someone with acute sensitivity to energy—like him—could detect it.
“Fate has brought us together…”
He couldn’t help humming as he patted the trunk.
“This treasure and I are destined.”
He originally wanted to use the wood for crafting, but seeing how healthy it was… he hesitated.
Then he spotted a cluster of leaves wrapping a small hidden chamber—inside was a silkworm cocoon. And more than one.
He tugged lightly; the silk was tough, resilient, and carried a faint light attribute.
No need to hesitate now.
Wood tools were one-time use. But silk? Silk could last.
“Spend 100 points to upgrade the Tasker Backpack.”
He had 115 points remaining; he upgraded.
[Backpack upgraded to Lv2 — 100 cubic meters, non-vacuum, same time flow, no weight limit, usable when carrying pockets. The next upgrade requires 1000 points.]
One hundred cubic meters. Plenty.
Jiang Jitang immediately started digging—shoveling out the entire mulberry tree with the surrounding soil. Soon, a five-meter-wide pit formed.
Ever-thrifty, he even dug up the nearby small plants affected by the tree’s benign mutation.
A few uninvited mutated animals appeared—he stunned them with his electric gun. Without a contamination detector, he didn’t know if they were edible, so he left them all behind.
“A great harvest.” If not for the time limit, he would’ve stayed much longer. But ninety minutes were up—he reluctantly left.
Beep!
[Items from this world detected in backpack. Use one cargo pass?]
“Yes.”
Back home, he dug a pit in his yard, filled it with the otherworld soil and the plants. The original soil he quietly dumped at a mountain foot that night.
Looking at the mulberry tree now spreading its leaves in his yard, Jiang Jitang squinted in satisfaction. Even if he unbound this task world after nine tasks, this tree alone made it worthwhile.
“Hey, Little Jiang, where’d you get such a good mulberry tree?” A neighbor peered over the back gate.
“Auntie Shen, where are you headed?”
“Oh, off to stretch my legs at the park.” —She was going to dance at the public square.
“Ah right, Little Jiang, I heard there’s a foreigner doing street performances nearby! So strange, a foreigner coming here. Lots of people went. Want to go?”
“I’ll pass.”
He saw enough foreigners in school—and he still had things to do tonight.
And what was that? Wood polishing.
These were leftover pieces from Boss Xia’s factory—good-quality scraps from high-end furniture.
Cylinder-shaped ash wood, square rubberwood, long chicken-wing wood, irregular walnut…
Didn’t matter what—everything had to be sanded smooth, no splinters, no sharp edges.
Jiang Jitang sat on a small stool under a lamp, sanding wood for more than an hour. Several sandpapers were worn out. His hands were numb.
But dozens of smooth wooden pieces lay before him.
He wiped each clean and tested the feel in his hands.
“Ready for varnish.”
He sprayed each piece, arranged them in the yard to dry, covered them carefully.
—
Exhausted from the day, he showered and collapsed on his bed, reviewing everything he experienced.
He had made first contact with a new task world—rich in resources—and brought back a mulberry tree with silkworms.
He extended goodwill to the government via Officer Han—another useful connection.
He confirmed the enemy: the Dongying Association.
He also met someone from another organization—the Research Society. His wallet refilled.
Finally, he gained some understanding of the Cube World.
A productive, busy day. Jiang Jitang closed his eyes in satisfaction—
Ding!
[Strong desire detected. Special order updated.]
He opened his eyes.
Golden Eye said it didn’t want to sleep.
