Starting with Crimson

At this point, Colonel Chu was no longer the only one on the Oasis leaderboard.

[Oasis Ranking List]

【1. The Magical Pet Civilization of Chu Xuan】

【2. Florus, the Giant Tree Civilization】

【3. The Witch Civilization of Shaya】

...

Well, two more civilizations have made the list.

The seeded players from the US and Mauritius are really disappointing; there hasn't been a single move in so long.

They boast about their military and scientific research capabilities all day long, but their true colors were exposed during the competition.

Li Qingyu glanced at the task panel; it was already ten o'clock.

There are still two hours until the Oasis leaderboard rewards are distributed, so it looks like... I can't sleep for now. I need to go find the Spirit of Nature and try to complete some quests!

However... you shouldn't wander around aimlessly in the middle of the night...

Suddenly, Li Qingyu thought of something and groped his way up to the top floor of Pineapple Castle in the dark. Just to be safe, Li Qingyu didn't dare turn on the lights; darkness was fine with him.

Li Qingyu remembered seeing a ladder leading to the roof before going to sleep, but he was too sleepy to go up and check it.

Pineapple Castle should have a rooftop terrace.

Li Qingyu arrived at the third floor.

Sure enough, there was a ladder leading to the roof, hanging straight on the corner wall of the third floor.

Li Qingyu stood at the bottom of the ladder and looked up. A round metal cover was on the ceiling.

Using both hands and feet, Li Qingyu climbed up the ladder, reached out, opened the handle on the metal cover, and lifted the cover up.

Faint starlight shone in through the gap that Li Qingyu had opened.

Li Qingyu pushed the metal cover open, and the cool night sky was immediately revealed before his eyes.

After climbing out of the narrow, round hole, Li Qingyu arrived at the rooftop of Pineapple Castle.

The rooftop of Pineapple Castle is a small, circular area.

It has beach chairs, parasols, and a small swimming pool... well, the pool is empty.

It really looks like a great place for sunbathing on the beach.

The circular rooftop is completely surrounded by huge pineapple leaves. Through the gaps in the leaves, one can see the endless sand dunes in the distance under the dim night sky.

Li Qingyu circled the rooftop and looked around Pineapple Castle. The ground was covered with the corpses of black sand scorpions.

Look up and gaze into the distance.

The desert under the night sky is peaceful and serene.

But in this pitch-black place, where is any spirit of nature? Where is the promised green light... shining in the darkness?

[Crimson: Don't ask your sister, she didn't see it either.]

However, my sister saw a big boss rushing this way.

"You killed so many of their henchmen, you should be prepared... for their parents to come knocking on your door, right?"

There really is a boss...

Tell us what your strength is, so we can be mentally prepared.

A cold wind blew by.

Li Qingyu couldn't help but shudder, suddenly realizing that it was still too dangerous outside.

Since he couldn't see the spirit of nature, there was no need to stand in the cold wind on the rooftop. Li Qingyu quickly crawled back into Pineapple Castle and groped his way back to the first floor in the dark.

Li Qingyu looked out the living room window and saw that everything outside remained calm.

The iron gates of Pineapple Castle were reopened.

Li Qingyu, accompanied by Erha, walked barefoot through the sand that was still warm from Erha's fiery roars and breaths, until they reached the corpse of a sand scorpion.

A burnt smell permeated the air.

[Crimson: A sand scorpion that's nine-tenths cooked; aside from the magic core in its head, it's not very valuable.]

Of course, if you don't mind, you can also try some sand scorpion meat; it's still part of the BBQ.

Magic cores... like magic crystals, should be able to charge Crimson, right?

Thinking of this, Li Qingyu got excited.

We need to hurry before the boss arrives.

Li Qingyu patted himself down, but didn't have any useful tools... So, Li Qingyu looked at the husky beside him.

"Go, Husky!"

"Smash its head!"

The husky looked at the charred corpse, and all three dog heads showed a look of disgust, but still obediently walked to the sand scorpion's corpse.

"Splat!"

With a single slap, Erha flattened the sand scorpion's head, splattering out unidentified red and yellow liquids that made Li Qingyu want to vomit.

However, Li Qingyu still endured the nausea and used his hands to rummage through the broken skull.

Before long, Li Qingyu found a small, pale yellow ball.

【Sand Scorpion Demon Core】

[Rank: E]

[A magic core containing a trace of earth-elemental magic.]

Li Qingyu placed the magic core in his palm; it was tiny, like a glass marble he used to play with as a child.

Li Qingyu had originally wanted to try and see if he could charge Crimson, but the thought of licking it now made him feel nauseous. He decided to wait until he got back and washed before licking it...

Li Qingyu looked around and saw that there were probably dozens of corpses left.

He sighed inwardly.

Okay, let's dig first.

So Li Qingyu and Erha got to work hard.

More than ten minutes later...

Just as Li Qingyu was groaning and sticking out his buttocks, flipping his skull, he suddenly felt the desert begin to tremble, making him almost unsteady on his feet.

[Crimson: Stop digging! The Boss will arrive in three seconds.]

Three seconds?

run!

Li Qingyu, with Erha in tow, dashed back to Pineapple Castle, just as he closed the castle gate.

"boom!"

A loud bang was heard.

Li Qingyu felt as if Pineapple Castle had been bumped by something, and he was jolted violently.

Looking out the window at Pineapple Castle, sand and dust filled the air, as if a storm was approaching.

"boom!"

Another loud bang.

Li Qingyu was almost knocked to the ground by the shock.

The furniture in Pineapple Castle was all moved by the earthquake.

By the starlight, Li Qingyu could barely make out a huge black shadow in the yellow sand outside, which was swinging its giant pincers toward Pineapple Castle.

[Crimson: Clang clang clang... The Boss has arrived!]

[Race: Sand Scorpion Leader]

[Bloodline Level: Elite-level Complete]

[Talent Skills: Sand Coil, Thrust, Burrow, Scorpion Venom.]

[Keep it up! Don't worry too much, the puppy has grown up and should be able to fight back.]

[But be careful, there are actually two leaders outside. One is attacking, while the other is lurking underground.]

Complete body?

What does that mean?

Li Qingyu was somewhat puzzled.

[Crimson: Monsters are generally divided into four stages: juvenile, child, adult, and fully evolved. Your little puppy is the same, but it's only in its child stage right now, so it still has a long way to go.]

"boom!"

Pineapple Castle was shaken again!

Li Qingyu knew he had to take action as soon as possible.

Even if Pineapple Castle can hold on, if it gets knocked down by Scorpion, will he still be able to sleep at night?

He pulled out a handful of sand scorpion demon cores from his pocket. Without even washing them, Li Qingyu forced himself to swallow one, suppressing his nausea.

There was no time to lick it slowly. Fortunately, this magic core wasn't as big as a magic crystal, and Li Qingyu's throat could handle it.

In his mind, he saw the progress bar for Crimson's evolution begin to rise.

Li Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, it worked.

Although the husky is a warrior-level creature, he doesn't want it to go out and risk fighting two opponents alone. After all, the husky is only in its growth stage, and it would be best if it could evolve one more time.

However, the progress bar for Crimson Evolution only increased to one-tenth before stopping, indicating that one magic core is simply not enough.

Never mind...

Li Qingyu quickly stuffed one after another into his mouth.

"vomit!"

Li Qingyu, who had swallowed twenty magic cores in one go, gagged twice.

This is disgusting; it smells like brain matter...