The end of the world is approaching, I'm handing myself over to the country.

Lin Mo waved his hand casually, and the huge light screen in front of him instantly went out, and the noisy noise stopped abruptly.

Only the small light screen representing the turnover remained suspended, and the numbers on it continued to scroll upwards tirelessly.

Lin Mo stood up from the expensive sofa, stretched, and his joints made a series of subtle cracking sounds.

He didn't glance at the dazzling numbers again, but turned and walked straight to the weapons engineering forge.

Pushing open the heavy metal door, a wave of heat mixed with the smells of engine oil, coolant, and burning metal hit you.

In stark contrast to the bright and clean atmosphere of the general store, which exudes a touch of luxury, this is a realm of steel and fire.

A massive robotic arm hovered in mid-air, a sophisticated forging table shimmered with a deep blue data stream, and the walls were covered with tools and semi-finished parts of various shapes and sizes.

The sparrow fluttered its wings and followed, landing steadily on an idle robotic arm nearby. It tilted its head, its small, beady eyes filled with programmed confusion.

He watched as Lin Mo walked to a workbench and skillfully took out several dark-colored metal ingots and a tube of energy crystal that emitted a faint glow from the materials box.

What are you doing?

Lin Mo didn't turn around; his hands moved like the most precise instruments as he began processing the materials.

His movements were fluid and graceful, with a pleasing rhythm.

"Fishing is ultimately just a form of entertainment, and it only satisfies the needs of a small group of people."

His voice was clearly audible in the clanging forge.

"Once the event is over, or once the novelty wears off, everything will return to normal."

"And the Netherworld... that place is so rich in resources, we can't just let it go to waste."

The sparrow twitched its wings, as if processing the information.

[The Netherworld is indeed rich in resources, but now, its creatures have formed an organization and are besieging human players who have entered.]

That's why we need to give them tools.

As Lin Mo spoke, he guided the molten metal into a ring-shaped mold.

The cooling spray was released instantly, and white mist rose up.

He took a dark gray metal ring out of the mold, still warm from the heat.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the tube of energy crystal and carefully dripped the energy liquid inside onto several specific nodes of the ring, then used his mental power to guide the energy to carve intricate patterns inside the ring.

A few minutes later, when the last line of the design was completed, the entire metal ring trembled slightly and emitted a low hum.

Lin Mo picked up the newly made animal trap ring and examined it carefully under the light.

Its body is surrounded by mysterious energy loops, emitting a faint blue glow.

"Um......"

Lin Mo nodded in satisfaction: "Although there are still some minor flaws, and the level can only reach C, it is enough to make monsters below the boss level obedient."

The sparrow flew down from the robotic arm and hovered next to the animal trap. Data seemed to be flashing rapidly in its small, black eyes.

[Unintelligible.]

The system's monotone voice sounded again.

[Using this captured creature carries an extremely high risk of betrayal.]

Based on my database, the probability of betrayal ranges from 12% to 34%.

[Furthermore, in terms of individual strength, they are far inferior to combat pets bred through gene editing in biological laboratories. I don't understand why you're wasting so much time on this.]

"A waste of time?"

Lin Mo smiled. He put down the animal trap, turned around and leaned against the warm workbench next to him, looking at the incomprehensible little bird in front of him.

"You're right, the risks are high and the potential for growth is limited, but you've overlooked the two most crucial points."

He held up two fingers.

"First, the cost. How many resources does it take to breed a pet in a biological laboratory? If there are several, can the average person afford it?"

As he spoke, Lin Mo pointed to the animal trap ring on the table: "And this one is cheap, plentiful, and reusable."

"If the captured creature dies, you can catch another one. How convenient!"

"Secondly, time."

Lin Mo's tone became playful.

"How long does it take for a high-level elite pet to go from hatching to reaching combat capability? Ten days? Half a month?"

"Even if you feed them a lot of high-quality animal food, they still need time to grow. And a player in the Netherworld could be torn to pieces by monsters at any moment. What do they need?"

He didn't wait for the system's reply and continued talking to himself.

"What they need is immediate combat power, cannon fodder that can be thrown into battle immediately, not partners."

"So what if there's a risk of betrayal? As long as they can help the players withstand more attacks and deal more damage, allowing the players to survive and obtain resources, then their value has already been realized!"

Lin Mo picked up the C-grade beast-catching ring and tossed it lightly between his fingertips.

"The actual benefits far outweigh the risk of betrayal, which is only a little over ten percent."

"More importantly, this allows players to accumulate resources and improve themselves as quickly as possible in the most dangerous environments."

"This isn't a waste of time," Lin Mo's gaze fell on the beast-catching ring, as if he could already see countless players struggling to survive in the Netherworld with the monsters they had captured: "This is called... teaching a man to fish."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist, and the faintly glowing animal-catching ring transformed into a gray shadow, flying straight towards the sparrow.

"then."

The sparrow did not dodge, letting the metal ring suddenly hover an inch in front of it, as if it were being held up by an invisible hand.

In his small, black bean-like eyes, data streams were flashing wildly at an unprecedented speed, as if he were performing an extremely high-intensity computation.

After a few seconds of deathly silence, the sparrow mechanically turned its head back and aimed at Lin Mo again.

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the data model of the new item "Beast-Trapping Ring" and the existing player behavior database, the conclusion is as follows: The use of this item will increase players' resource acquisition efficiency in the Netherworld by 73.4% in the short term.

【but......】

The sparrow's electronic voice paused for a rare moment, as if it were processing a logic that it couldn't understand.

[Based on the simulation, once players equip themselves with "beast-trapping rings" on a large scale, plundering will become their core behavioral pattern.]

They disregard any ecological niche of native Netherworld creatures, engaging in indiscriminate and destructive capture—this is a kind of...

The database of sparrows seems to be searching for the most precise word.

[...the act of bandits who severed the lineage.]

"Robbers?"

Lin Mo laughed, a laugh devoid of any warmth, purely because he found it amusing.

He picked up another half-finished animal trap ring that had just cooled down from the worktable.

Without even thinking, I spoke up.

"I only know that those who are not of my kind will surely have different hearts."