"Xiaoruan, once they're done eating, have them go tame the other Slimes."
The Grass Slimes branded with the subject mark can brand other Slimes with the subject mark.
In the early morning, a wild wind rose, making the tent flap noisily.
Li Cunxu was awakened by the noise. After a moment, the rain poured down.
The sound of rain was soothing, but Li Cunxu wasn't in the mood to sleep anymore.
Tonight's rain on Muye Plain will spawn a large number of Slimes, a perfect opportunity to tame them.
The more Slimes Xiaoruan tames, the more attribute tax collected at the end of the month, which directly enhances Xiaoruan.
Therefore, tonight's downpour was an opportunity not to be missed.
Li Cunxu donned a raincoat and set off.
Li Cunxu had barely taken a few steps outside the tent when the watchdog emerged; a light also came on in the wooden hut nearby as the Mechanical Annihilation Hunter swiftly jumped out the window.
"Master, are you still awake?"
"Awake? What do you mean?"
Li Cunxu was puzzled for a moment, then noticed the Mechanical Annihilation Hunter cautiously surveying the surroundings with its double-barreled shotgun, finally understanding what it meant.
"Are you suspecting that I was lured out of the tent by some siren song-like trick?" Li Cunxu said with a wry smile.
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter nodded.
Li Cunxu laughed and said, "I wasn't lured out of the tent; I came out on my own."
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter seemed skeptical. Why was Li Cunxu outside the tent on a rainy night instead of sleeping?
Li Cunxu lifted Xiaoruan in his arms and explained, "It's related to Xiaoruan's talent. Xiaoruan needs to tame a large number of Slimes, and it just so happens that the rain will spawn many Slimes."
Li Cunxu didn't hide Xiaoruan's ability to tame Slimes, as anyone with eyes could see it.
Therefore, there was no need to hide it.
Besides, hiding it would slow down the taming process, indirectly slowing Xiaoruan's growth.
Moreover, hiding it would only raise suspicions; it's better to openly reveal part of it.
No matter how good Xiaoruan's talent is, it's still a Slime, not something others would envy or be jealous of.
People's ingrained impression of Slimes is that they are useless trash-like pets, perhaps not even considered pets by some. Some are even discussing removing Slimes from the pet registry.
Any exceptional talent in a Slime is considered a waste.
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter believed it partially, "I'll go with you! After all, I'm a mechanical pet and don't need sleep."
Seeing the Mechanical Annihilation Hunter's cautious stance, suggesting it wouldn't let him go otherwise, Li Cunxu realized it had severe post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Li Cunxu had seen many pet beasts with post-traumatic stress syndrome in the game and could instantly tell that the overly cautious Mechanical Annihilation Hunter had it.
Most cases of pet beasts with post-traumatic stress syndrome stemmed from Beast Masters treating their pets as mere tools, neglecting that they have emotions.
Pet beasts also laugh, cry, and can be depressed like humans.
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter is a mechanical pet. Aren't mechanical pets supposed to be cold and unfeeling like machines? How can they have post-traumatic stress syndrome?
This is because humans, when creating mechanical pets, infused emotions into their souls, granting them self-thinking wisdom and, with it, the troubles of sentient beings.
On the rainy grassland, many Grass Slimes emerged.
Li Cunxu wielded a straight wooden stick, knocking them out one by one.
The stick was effective, more efficient than fists and feet, though Li Cunxu underestimated the fragility of the newly spawned Slimes.
Out of ten, five were knocked unconscious, while the other five were killed.
Li Cunxu silently discarded the stick to the side.
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter observed for a while and said, "Master, are you trying to knock these Slimes unconscious?"
"Yes."
"Leave it to me, Hunter's Intimidation."
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter activated the skill Hunter's Intimidation, covering the area with an invisible pressure, knocking all the Slimes unconscious.
Li Cunxu was overjoyed, "This is much faster than using fists and feet.
Except...
Hunter, I remember this skill allows marking of friendlies and enemies; next time, don't scare our own Slimes unconscious."
Li Cunxu had no choice but to summon Xiaoruan to brand the subject mark.
Midway through branding, some Subject Slimes with the subject mark woke up and joined in branding other Slimes, significantly increasing efficiency.
After branding this batch of Slimes, Li Cunxu instructed Xiaoruan to issue a command to the Subject Slimes to follow the Mechanical Annihilation Hunter and continue taming other Slimes, then recalled Xiaoruan into the Beast Taming Space.
Xiaoruan was displeased, as the Beast Taming Space was barren and no fun at all, leaving nothing to do but sleep inside.
It also wanted to stick close to Li Cunxu.
Li Cunxu knew this wasn't good; Xiaoruan was small, and this could lead to future aversion to entering the Beast Taming Space. Nonetheless, he still recalled Xiaoruan into the Beast Taming Space.
In the dark and rain, in case of an unexpected situation, such as an attack, Xiaoruan's soft body wouldn't stand a chance.
Therefore, safety was paramount, and it was better for Xiaoruan to stay safely in the Beast Taming Space.
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter was responsible for intimidating and knocking out Slimes, while the following Subject Slimes handled branding the subject mark, functioning like a fast assembly line.
Li Cunxu said to the Mechanical Annihilation Hunter, "Head towards the river; the most Slimes spawn on the riverbank."
There wasn't much for Li Cunxu to do.
The Mechanical Annihilation Hunter handled scaring them unconscious, and the Subject Slimes handled the branding.
"What should I do? Go back to sleep?"
He was wide awake.
"Forget it."
Li Cunxu thought for a moment and recalled something.
Next month marks the start of the game server.
He was aware of a storyline about to unfold.
That is the 'Tongdu Garbage Accumulation Incident'.
The incident was caused by an Evilized Red-tailed Poison Scorpion, polluted by the Crowned Evil God's power, escaping into Tongdu's sewers and killing a large number of mud monsters living there that could process garbage, leading to a sharp decline in their population.
Tongdu is a city with a population in the tens of millions, housing a vast number of pet beasts. The daily trash generated was massive, and without the mud monsters cleaning the sewer garbage and wastewater, Tongdu's few waste treatment plants couldn't handle it.
In just a few days, the clean and tidy Tongdu turned into a 'Filthy City' and 'Stinky City'.
"I could capture a batch of Slimes with digestion talent for when the time comes."
Ordinary Slimes couldn't handle garbage, but Slimes with digestion talent could.
Li Cunxu selected from the already tamed Slimes those with the digestion talent.
Slimes with digestion talent were rare; after a whole night, Li Cunxu found only five.
The vast majority of Slimes had the same-kind splitting talent.
[Same-kind Splitting, White Normal, consumes half the power to split a new similar individual from the body.]
The splitting talent for Slimes was akin to a breeding talent; only Slimes with splitting talent could produce baby Slimes.
Besides the same-kind splitting talent, the most common was the same-kind merging talent.
Among one hundred Slimes, ninety-nine had the same-kind splitting talent, and one had the same-kind merging talent.
In a Slime group, the Slime with the same-kind merging talent was often the leader.
This talent allowed the Slime to merge others into itself, forming a large and powerful Slime.
[Same-kind Merging, Green Elite, merges with the same kind to concentrate power in one body.]
Same-kind merging might be a great talent for Slimes, but for other extraordinary creatures, it was a terrible talent, the worst it could be.