Today marks exactly two months since this book started; requesting some recommendation tickets and monthly passes to celebrate! (∩_∩) …… BOOM!

A Blood-Toothed Tiger, fifteen meters tall and about twenty meters long, covered in fiery crimson fur streaked with black patterns, strode out of the Rune Space. Its paw landed on the rooftop, causing the ground beneath to immediately crack under the immense weight of its body.

With a single movement, the Blood-Toothed Tiger leaped from the twenty-story building, landing on the ground below. The street immediately concave where it touched down, cracks spreading outwards. Its colossal form consumed the roadway; fortunately, this was a three-way intersection with wide streets, otherwise, a typical alley entrance would never have accommodated such a massive creature.

Ye Chen launched himself from the rooftop, descending straight down. In mid-air, he executed a perfect somersault, absorbing the downward force, and landed steadily upon the tiger’s back. With the back broad enough—six or seven meters wide—he could comfortably lie there, sinking into the soft fur as if resting on a lawn, gazing up at the blue sky and white clouds, utterly at ease.

This Blood-Toothed Tiger was the level 300 variant that Ye Chen acquired when he reached Level 1H3, its size and strength far surpassing the version he commanded at Level 1H1. Earlier, during continuous slaughter in the wild, he had already raised Little Black's constitution to Level 30, enabling it to control this level 300 beast.

“Boss, where are we heading?” Little Black transmitted telepathically.

Ye Chen didn't hesitate. “To Shennongjia in Hubei Province.”

Shennongjia is a famous scenic tourist area in Hubei Province. In his previous life, after the Volcanic Age, a new power arose there, founded by a global "Emperor"-level expert. This leader rapidly brought his subordinates to prominence, quickly establishing one of the world's top ten base cities—a shockingly fast ascent.

Later, people learned the real reason wasn't just the terrifying power of that "Emperor"-level expert, but the discovery of a powerful, ancient civilization ruin hidden within Shennongjia. The immense treasures within the ruins fell into the hands of this "Emperor," and their judicious use fueled such explosive development.

If he intended to establish a base city, Ye Chen naturally could not overlook this location.

“Got it!” Little Black chirped, “Hold tight.” With that, it bolted toward Hubei. Having consumed human brains, it had assimilated memories, gaining mastery of human language and worldview, thus immediately recognizing Hubei as a province name. Coupled with the maps Ye Chen had shown it, its photographic memory instantly retained the location.

The Blood-Toothed Tiger sprinted through the city. Ye Chen lay atop it, feeling the fierce wind rush by, tossing the tiger's fur into the air. The scenery on both sides flashed backward, yet his body remained perfectly stable; no matter how wildly Little Black maneuvered, it could not shake him.

“Beep beep…” His communicator suddenly rang.

Ye Chen casually activated it and heard Xu Tianguo’s voice, tinged with anxiety: “The production speed of weapons and leather armor can't keep up with sales lately, and the competitors keep pushing market prices down. We’ve been forced to cut ours, and with our massive sales volume, any reduction hurts us severely.”

Ye Chen’s expression remained placid. “No matter. We cannot surrender the weapon and armor market. If they lower prices, we lower ours too. First, to seize market share and build renown for the guild and our shops; second, it’s a contribution to humanity.”

Xu Tianguo paused, then realization dawned. He couldn't help but look at Ye Chen with new respect; he hadn't expected him to possess such consideration. Widespread sales of weapons meant more people could afford them, increasing the rate at which they could hunt monsters, thus accelerating overall development significantly.

“But…” Xu Tianguo hesitated, “Recruitment has exploded recently, and bonuses must be paid out. The guild’s treasury and stores are nearly empty.”

Ye Chen seemed to have anticipated this. He nodded. “Deploy the Superhuman Hall and Blood God Hall. Send people to the vegetable and fruit cultivation areas, and rural regions, to search for herbs and pile them up.”

Xu Tianguo was bewildered. “Will these herbs be useful?”

Ye Chen affirmed. “I will transmit pictures to you shortly. However, the specific types of herbs must only be known by those trusted enough to consume them; this knowledge cannot be easily leaked.”

Xu Tianguo considered this. “Very well, I’ll get busy right away.”

Ye Chen closed the communicator, sketching several common herbs. The communicator possessed drawing and color adjustment functions, incorporating vast material libraries—more advanced than a computer. He drew the Blood Holly Grass, Wood Leaf Green, Mutant White Radish, Mutant Red Date, and Mutant Lotus Root. Given his mastery over his fingers, the drawings were about seventy to eighty percent accurate, recognizable enough for someone with keen eyesight.

Beside each illustration, he labeled the name and function:

Mutant White Radish: Can be refined separately into White Luo Pills, increasing internal organ strength, clearing meridians, and washing marrow. Mutant Lotus Root: Can be refined into Lotus Pills, treating internal organ injuries, invigorating meridians, and enhancing vital energy. Mutant Red Date: Increases vital energy, calms the heart and spirit, strengthens the body, aids the brain, and quickly replenishes excessive blood loss following amputation.

These mutated fruits and vegetables had vastly enhanced nutritional functions and offered supreme efficacy. With Atlantean technology, one would first need to construct a refinement factory to process them, and furthermore, they couldn't be mixed and compounded into new variations. In terms of pure sustenance, the Miso-Buta Civilization of the Second Solar Era was the most adept in this current epoch.

Xu Tianguo received the images, along with the functions written beside them, his face stunned. Then, he slapped his forehead, struck by sudden insight, trembling slightly with excitement: “Such negligence! Such negligence! If river water and crops have evolved and mutated, how could these vegetables remain unchanged?”

Immediately thereafter, he scrambled to organize personnel to begin widespread collection.

Ye Chen sent another message: “These items can be collected in bulk; I will devise a method for refinement later.” Xu Tianguo replied: “Understood.”

Regarding these common materials, Ye Chen intended to hide them if possible; if not, it didn't matter. The base city already cultivated many crops, and even without his explicit mention, someone would eventually discover these secrets. However, the main line of thought was currently diverted by the focus on monsters, preventing immediate consideration of these avenues.

Initially, before the concept of 'base evolution' was clear, the base city had planted crops for future development. They had not yet harvested them and were unaware of the new crops' functions, intending them merely for general consumption. Even if someone starving happened to eat a radish and learned of its effect, they wouldn't inform the base city; they would secretly hoard it, fearing exposure.

But Ye Chen was different. He now had ample manpower and could search for these materials openly and massively. By the time others realized the potential, he would have already stockpiled everything.

Ye Chen sent a message to Elvira: “Have the mechanical factory construct a refinement material workshop.”

A reply returned swiftly: “Mm.”

Having dispatched these tasks, Ye Chen clasped his hands behind his head, his eyes half-closed in relaxation. He looked less like a monster hunter and more like a tourist in Hawaii.

“ROAR!”

Upon reaching the suburbs, the Blood-Toothed Tiger encountered several hideous-looking zombies with protruding teeth attacking it. It paid them no mind, its figure shifting as it sped toward the distance. Along the way, it encountered monsters like the Bloodthirsty Rats and Iron Hounds, swatting them dead with a single paw, scooping them up, and tossing them onto its back, allowing Ye Chen to absorb their Life Essence.

Squeak-squeak!

Just then, a massive swarm of insects approached from afar, densely packed, their numbers incalculable, including several mutated insect monsters whose strength reached the teens.

The Blood-Toothed Tiger let out a low growl and charged head-on into the swarm while carrying Ye Chen, its fifteen-meter frame resembling a wild bull crashing through the insects. With every footfall, it crushed dozens of bugs, carving a bloody path.

The insects were instantly enraged, screeching as they pursued the Blood-Toothed Tiger, but in the blink of an eye, it vanished from sight.

Several hours later, the Blood-Toothed Tiger gradually slowed its pace, arriving at Shennongjia within Hubei territory. The mountain forests were dense, the streams clear, the scenery beautiful and soothing.

“Boss, we’re here,” Little Black whispered softly.

Ye Chen moved, leaping off the Blood-Toothed Tiger. He stretched languidly, making Little Black speechless; after running so hard and long, the Boss had managed to nap?

“Let’s go.” Ye Chen walked to the stream's edge, feeling thirsty, but dared not drink. Some water looked crystal clear, but in reality, it contained potent toxins. He had no desire to die so ignominiously.

...

On a mountaintop stood another Blood-Toothed Tiger, about fourteen to fifteen meters tall, its entire body fiery red, bearing a black, striped ‘King’ character on its forehead—a living, 1H4-level Blood-Toothed Tiger.

Curiously, this tiger’s other eye was blind, scarred by a three-meter-long gash that looked terrifying, adding an aura of dread to its appearance. Before it stood numerous smaller monsters: Three-Eyed Wolves, Bloodthirsty Rats, Green-Striped Snakes, and others—all standing rigidly, daring not emit even a low growl. The Blood-Toothed Tiger let out a rumbling sound and spoke in Beast Language: “Bring the food forward.”

Several Bloodthirsty Rats scurried up from below, dragging various corpses of zombies and other animals, placing them before the tiger before quickly retreating. Though these animals had low intelligence, they possessed an innate fear of the massive Blood-Toothed Tiger.

The tiger nodded in satisfaction, then clamped a human corpse between its claws and tossed it into its mouth, chewing furiously as if engaged in a vendetta. Hatred flickered in its remaining eye. It could never forget when it and several of its brothers had ventured into a human city seeking food, only to encounter an overwhelmingly powerful human who instantly slew three of its brothers and chased after it, blinding one of its eyes. If it hadn't fled quickly, its life would have ended there.

“Chew, chew, I’ll chew hard!” the Blood-Toothed Tiger muttered angrily in its mind, treating the corpse as the detestable human. After a few chews, it spat out a human head, now unrecognizable. The brain matter had been entirely sucked out through the ears, nose, and mouth, leaving behind nothing but a skin-wrapped skull.