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

The sparrow's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible smugness.

So, what do you think of these two options? One is conservative, the other aggressive; surely one of them will suit you.

Lin Mo didn't even pause to think after hearing this; he simply waved his hand.

"stop."

His movements were swift and decisive, directly interrupting Sparrow's attempt to add more words.

"Forget it, let's not do anything else, it's fine as it is."

【......ah?】

The sparrow's chirping instantly shattered its feigned composure, revealing a pure bewilderment.

【What do you mean by "that's it"? I think both Option 1 and Option 2 are pretty good... You have to choose one, right?】

At this point, Sparrow's expression suddenly turned strange: "You don't mean you'd look down on all of them, do you?"

Lin Mo: "You do have some self-awareness. That's right, I won't choose any of them."

Lin Mo rolled her eyes at the sparrow hopping around: "Don't forget what I lack most right now?"

"time!"

"It's time!"

"Ecological restoration? Farming and flower growing? Do you think I have that much free time?"

"These sound wonderful, but by the time those magical plants grow, it will be too late."

"Since I came here, many things in the future have come forward."

"Even a single minute or second can bring dramatic changes, and placing your hopes on returns that can only be seen years later is tantamount to gambling."

"I can't afford to gamble."

As for Option Two... War Workshop?

Lin Mo's mind involuntarily conjured up the stunningly beautiful face of the Weaver of Fate, and the satisfied and intoxicated expression on her face as she swallowed the life core.

She truly deserves to be my best friend.

It's so delicious...

Those gentle words, however, felt like a cold needle, relentlessly stimulating Lin Mo's nerves.

A monster is always a monster.

He didn't want to painstakingly cultivate a bunch of ungrateful wretches who, today, are loyal henchmen, but tomorrow would treat him like a "delicious best friend" and devour him whole.

Non-my family, its heart must be different.

After witnessing the Empress of Fate's actions, Lin Mo understood this sentence perfectly.

Rather than going to great lengths to raise a group of potential threats, it's better to just kill them outright.

Even if it's killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, at least you actually get the chicken and the eggs, which is pure profit without any potential risks.

Seeing the undisguised disgust on Lin Mo's face, Sparrow fell completely silent.

Both of these options are the optimal solutions, both logically and in terms of benefits.

But for some reason, he seemed to understand Lin Mo's worries; distant water cannot quench a nearby fire.

What Lin Mo needs most right now is tangible, visible benefits.

While consistent earnings are important, they are not the right approach.

Moreover, if all threats are eliminated, then these will no longer be needed.

Lin Mo's silence made the air seem to freeze.

He looked at the sparrow, and the little bird seemed to sense the tense atmosphere, even stopping its preening.

In the end, Lin Mo broke the silence.

"Never mind, let's just leave it for now." Lin Mo's tone was casual.

"Let the players explore the forest freely."

sparrow:【......】

Let it go? That's the legacy of a King-level boss, just going to throw it to those locust-like players? Wouldn't that be such a waste...?

Lin Mo seemed to see through his confusion and offered an explanation to himself.

"The ability to kill a forest is largely due to luck."

Lin Mo's fingertips unconsciously traced the wood grain of the counter.

"The forest itself is that giant tree. It can't move and can only stay in one place to take the beating. That's its biggest weakness."

"If it were a King-level being that could move freely, with the current strength of the players, no matter how many there were, they wouldn't be able to defeat it."

This victory was largely due to luck, so much so that Lin Mo felt no pride whatsoever; instead, a deeper sense of vigilance arose within him.

Players aren't truly invincible; they just happened to run into a target that was stuck in place.

Moreover, he also reaped the greatest benefits.

Sparrow remained silent for a moment, seemingly digesting the deeper meaning in Lin Mo's words.

He did only consider the issue from the perspective of profits and rules, but he overlooked Lin Mo's most urgent needs.

【I see.】

The sparrow's chirping rang out again, this time with less of its previous smugness and more of its earnestness.

Your concerns are valid, but completely letting go would be a waste.

The sparrow flapped its wings and flew to Lin Mo's side.

"How about this, I'll help you transform it into a special area, like... a dungeon of the God King's Tomb."

This suggestion made Lin Mo pause.

A copy?

I will first modify it, preserving its life-generating properties, but keeping them within a safe threshold.

The sparrow became more and more excited as it spoke, as if it had found a perfect compromise.

This way, there's no risk of things getting out of control, and players can continuously generate resources and experience.

[Once I've finished modifying it, your new source weapon should also be forged. Then we can directly deploy it into the dungeon and open it to players.]

Lin Mo stretched out his finger and teased the sparrow: "I didn't realize you were becoming more and more human-like."

This guy always manages to offer some constructive suggestions at crucial moments.

Turning that dangerous land into a controllable, continuously generating revenue replica was indeed far more shrewd than his previous idea of ​​"abandoning it altogether."

"but......"

"That's definitely a possibility."

Lin Mo finally nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

"Thank you then."

Sparrow snorted, a fleeting hint of joy flashing in Chang's eyes: [Hmph, I'll take that as a compliment.]

He was genuinely happy to be able to help Lin Mo.

The next second, Sparrow transformed into a streak of light and vanished instantly from the general store, clearly eager to carry out this new plan.

The store returned to quiet.

Lin Mo rubbed his throbbing temples, took out a piece of high-energy beast leg, and ate a few bites.

Although with his current mental strength, staying awake all the time is not a problem.

However, forging source weapons is a delicate and labor-intensive task that takes a real toll on physical strength.

Without eating high-energy foods, let alone forging, he might not even be able to lift a forging hammer.

After quickly finishing a few bites, Lin Mo walked back into the forging room, which was filled with the smell of smoke.

"clang!"

The red-hot metal sparked brilliantly as it was hammered, and the crisp sound of the impact echoed throughout the room.

Lin Mo's movements were precise and powerful, with each hammer strike perfectly timed.

But in his mind, he kept thinking about the words the sparrow had said before it left.

New source soldiers.

Does it really have that much significance?

Even the strongest Origin Soldier can hardly defeat a player with a complete five-piece battle set.

The set bonuses of equipment provide comprehensive improvements, far exceeding the benefits of one or two powerful individual pieces.

If you upgrade the entire set to +5, it will be really hard to find other B-grade source soldiers to replace it.

Unless... it's an A-level source soldier.

Given the current capabilities of the general store, it's not that they can't produce A-level source soldiers; the key issue is the materials.

The core materials for Grade A are missing.