My players are too fierce!

Xueshi Chaodu, about an hour ago.

Cabbage sat on the pipe-like threshold, hugging her knees, gazing at the eternally unchanging steel dome of the hive, counting the shadows that streaked across the light.

My sister said it was a shooting star.

The sage created them to transport edible cat food produced in one neighborhood to another in exchange for inedible cat food.

Cat food cans...

As she thought about it, drool started to drip from the corner of Cabbage's mouth.

I really want to try cat food again.

The last time she ate it was when she recovered from her illness, but her younger brother was sick.

I want to eat...

Back when I worked at the cannery, occasionally a neighbor would sneak a bite of an unsealed can of cat food and get snatched away by those wicked creatures.

I never saw them again.

Now, even the adults in the factory don't want cabbage anymore, so she doesn't even have a chance to sneak a bite.

Because cat paws can't do any work.

Just as Cabbage was lost in thought, a group of suspicious-looking vagrants arrived on the street.

They are called migrants because they are unable to register for jobs in any of the units belonging to the nest city, and were excluded from the list of 'valuable individuals' by the statistical sages before they were born.

They lack legal status, but they are still slightly better than mutants.

At least, as raw materials and consumables, they are cleaner.

But now, they are more accurately described as gang members than as vagrants.

They carried some homemade, makeshift weapons; they called a dagger a wooden block with a blade stuck in it.

Aside from the sheer number of people, they are utterly useless.

"The employer said this time it's just catching one mutant, nothing big, why is Dad making such a fuss?"

In the alley, a short, young gang member muttered to himself.

Snapped!

A swift chop to the head struck him mercilessly.

Beside him, a slightly older gang member, with a hint of exasperation, muttered, "If Dad tells us to do something, we just do it! Why are you talking so much? You want Dad's whip?"

Migrants are usually connected by blood ties, and a family often wanders together.

Often, when multiple families of refugees gather together, and their numbers grow, they naturally form gangs.

Each family line is headed by the most 'respected' person.

The young gang member replied with a wronged "Oh," and continued counting the passersby on the street, looking for any mutants with cat ears.

There are quite a few mutants here; it's practically a half-mutant community.

I don't know how the sages of this region could resist purging these vile, filthy cursed beings.

The older gang members shuddered, thinking they should get things done quickly and leave this hellhole as soon as possible.

He didn't want to get infected with any kind of weird stuff like mutant curses or plagues.

However, what they didn't know was that their actions had been observed by a pair of amber vertical pupils in the shadows.

The owner of the eyes is none other than dried fish!

He licked his paws.

Hatred surfaced in his eyes.

Why...

Why won't this nest let it go, let its family go!

calm...

calm down!

The low gurgling sound in his throat was perfectly masked by the blower in the alley.

The necks of those two gang members were right in front of them.

The pulsating arteries are fragile...

With just a scratch of their claws or a bite of their teeth, they would die.

Anyway, they are just refugees, like mutants, and their deaths won't attract the attention of the Arbitration Sage.

It's nothing more than a conflict between disgusting mutants and lowly vagrants.

Nothing surprising.

Kill them...kill them...

Let's use fresh blood to purify their malice towards their families!

Whispers reached my ear, and waves of heat surged through my veins.

wrong!

As if realizing something, the dried fish instantly came to its senses.

I almost succumbed to the evil thoughts my sister mentioned!

I need to hurry home... so that Cabbage... so that Emma can give me a hug...

With a few leaps, Little Fish Dried Fish darted into the familiar "cat path".

boom--

Unfortunately, perhaps because he was distracted, he kicked a metal plate as he was leaving, making a loud noise that couldn't be drowned out by the sound of the Nest City blower.

The commotion attracted the attention of two gang members.

The older man gestured for his younger brother to follow and scout out the situation.

The two lifted a metal plate, revealing a passage so small that even an infant could not squeeze through.

But it can barely allow some animals to pass.

for example...

Rats are everywhere.

"Brother, we've got meat to eat!"

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do is eat! There are so many mutants here, aren't you afraid you'll turn into one of those things too?"

"Oh... okay."

"You idiot! I should have let my sister suffocate you back then! We could have caught you and sold you to those adults; maybe we could have gotten a few cans of meat to try!"

"Hehe, Uncle, you're so smart!"

The two seemed to have forgotten their father's mission, focusing all their attention on catching the "rat".

Anyway, with so many people already here, it won't make a difference if they come back just two more.

Even after they found it, their father didn't share a single piece of meat with them.

At the other end, in front of Emma's water pipes.

Cabbage's cat ears twitched slightly, sensing several malicious gazes.

Although her mind remains forever in childhood, she is correspondingly more sensitive to malice and kindness.

She stood up, rushed to Emma's bedside, and shook her vigorously.

"Sis...Sis! Wake up! There's a group of bad guys!"

"There are a lot of them!"

"Hah—"

After a long while, Emma's body suddenly took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide.

Cabbage took a bottle of clear, transparent liquid from the cupboard, held it to Emma's lips, and fed it to her.

Emma has made various preparations over the years to deal with all kinds of emergencies.

This rapid wake-up process is naturally one part of it.

Although Cabbage has the mind of a child, she has engraved her sister's words into her very bones.

Fortunately, it now has a place to be used.

Although Emma intended that this process would never be used.

The strength of the muscles in his limbs was rapidly recovering.

With Cabbage's help, Emma got out of bed and took out her small bag.

He took out the things Roland had given him.

A glass bottle, half-filled with unspeakable grease, with a wisp of flame flickering on its surface.

[Imagining a source of fire]

[Lighting this will create a makeshift campfire]

Duration: 2 Earth days

Roland once said that this thing could be considered a replica of a tavern fireplace.

Once lit, those fearless warriors will arrive at the nest.

Emma and Cabbage moved the bed frame and blankets aside, revealing the piles of books.

These books and this knowledge are flammable materials, carriers of the spark in the mortal world.

Without the slightest hesitation, Emma poured the grease from the glass bottle onto the pile of books.

Flames, rise!

A flicker of heartache crossed Emma's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a look of unwavering resolve.

Knowledge is important, but she collected this knowledge and scavenged in the spirit world all for her family!

The cabbage's tail wrapped around her sister's waist, offering silent comfort.

But suddenly, Emma seemed to remember something and turned to Cabbage urgently, saying, "Quick! Go find some rags!"

She didn't want to keep Cabbage's eyes covered for a while.

-

Dead End, Tavern Lobby.

[Temporary Campfire: The Knowledge Nest City, B42 Lower Nest District, 5F42D13H Street has been lit!]

Player drop-off is available!