Treasure Appraisal
When Yang Xiao was in the countryside, his family kept bees, and eating honey and larvae was common. So he unhesitatingly popped the larva into his mouth and chewed.
Besides the sweet honey, the tender larva meat had the smoothness of tofu, like eating a ham sausage.
A powerful energy entered his body, instantly triggering an electric current.
Yang Xiao stood stunned in front of the hive for a few minutes until the current passed, then let out a long sigh.
"Delicious! We've struck it rich!" he exclaimed, asking Chen Fei and the others to try one too.
They were still somewhat wary at first, but seeing Yang Xiao eat it readily, they hesitated and then followed his lead. They picked larvae from the comb, sucked the honey coating them, found it sweet and tasty, then tentatively took a bite. The taste and texture were like ham sausage, instantly delighting them.
The four girls each ate one larva. After feeling the electric current temper their bodies, they looked happily surprised.
Yang Xiao immediately decided to head back to camp.
"This giant beehive is a treasure trove. Unfortunately, the larvae haven't finished mutating, so we can't get genetic fragments from them," he said.
The massive hive was inconvenient for one person to carry. Chubby and Dai Yun lifted the hive and headed back along the original path.
Seeing the enormous beehive, Huang Wen and the others ogled it, smelling the sweet honey within.
While no one was looking, Chubby sneakily took out the huge mutated spider, waved it at everyone, then plopped it directly onto Huang Wen's head.
"Ahhh!"
"Ahhh!"
"Ahhh!"
The girls screamed.
Seeing them giggling, Yang Xiao thought "Childish" then headed to the Gene Store.
Inside, five or six people were already exchanging genetic fragments. Gu Bo was busy explaining basics to them, looking quite harried.
Of the thousand-plus people on the playground, at least 300 had mutated by now. Many had started hunting small mutated bugs nearby for food and genetic fragments.
For everyone, food was no longer as scarce as before. Finally, there was a way to obtain it.
Yang Xiao noticed most of these people had only one to two genetic fragments. After exchanging them for crystal coins at the store, they couldn't buy anything, since the cheapest weapon still cost 3 crystal coins.
After they left, Yang Xiao approached Gu Bo's counter.
"Old man, tell me what these are," he said, placing the round genetic fragment, golden dagger, and Golden Bee Sword Technique paper before Gu Bo.
Gu Bo's eyes lit up. "Congratulations, boy! You've struck gold, managing to kill a leader of a species with primitive genetic mutation and getting three treasures!"
"What treasures? Tell me," Yang Xiao asked excitedly.
"Alright, let's start with this round fragment. It's a complete genetic fragment, equivalent to 10 regular genetic fragments, and can be directly synthesized into a gene potion."
"What about the dagger?"
"Hmm, let me see..." Gu Bo picked it up and turned it over. "I'll need to appraise the sword to know its attributes, but that costs 1 crystal coin. Want me to appraise it?"
"Of course," Yang Xiao replied.
Gu Bo grasped the golden dagger. His eyes flashed blue as he scanned the length of it. The dagger seemed to glow, a ripple of light flashing from hilt to tip.
"+3 Strength, +1 Poison Damage, valued at 10 crystal coins."
Yang Xiao couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. "That's it?"
Gu Bo laughed. "That's already quite good. What were you expecting, a heaven-slaying sword?"
Yang Xiao realized he'd probably placed too much expectation on the golden dagger. After all, it was just a weapon dropped by the primitive genetically mutated Queen Bee. How could it be so extraordinary?
Taking the dagger, Yang Xiao asked, "Why don't I feel the attributes you mentioned, +3 Strength and +1 Poison Damage?"
"Hehe, your genetic data system hasn't been activated yet. Naturally, you can't feel it, but judging your state, I'd say it'll open in a few days," Gu Bo said.
"Ah, what about this Golden Bee Sword Technique then?" Yang Xiao pointed at the gold page.
"It's a cultivation method. I'll also need to appraise it before you can study it, another 1 crystal coin. Appraise now?"
"Yes."
Gu Bo grasped the page. His eyes flashed blue, bathing the page in light. The golden page emitted a flash of light, and then, Gu Bo handed the golden page to Yang Xiao.
A simple intro was inscribed on it: "Goden Bee Sword Technique, a low-level sword technique, with a total of 9 levels. As familiarity with cultivation continuously increases, with each level up, the damage caused by each sword thrust will increase by one sword shadow. When level 9 cultivation is completed, a single sword thrust will have ten sword shadow damage, increasing the damage tenfold."
Seeing this, Yang Xiao was thrilled. Ten times damage!
"The Golden Bee Sword Technique is worth 50 crystal coins and belongs to the low-level cultivation method. However, if you want to cultivate it to level 10, it's not that easy. Unless you use the Golden Bee Sword Technique in every battle, in reality, it's more suitable for your current stage. In the future, you will encounter better cultivation methods, and our store also sells cultivation methods," Gu Bo continued.
Yang Xiao suddenly asked, "How do I learn it? The intro seems simple, but no details."
"Learning is a simple matter, but you'll need to wait until you've completed the genetic mutation and have the genetic data system before you can learn it. At that time, you just need to activate your consciousness to integrate this sword technique into your mind."
"Can I teach it to others after learning it myself?"
Gu Bo chuckled, "You wish! If cultivation methods can be shared freely, what would I sell? Each cultivation method can only be learned by one person. Once integrated into your mind, it'll vanish."
"I see!" Yang Xiao left the store with a deeper understanding of this apocalypse world. The entire Earth seemed to have become some mysterious power's gaming playground, with everything gamified.
Yet why had the mysterious force behind Gu Bo so cruelly destroyed Earth and rewritten the rules?
Returning to camp, the girls were gathered around Chen Fei's group, listening raptly to their adventures hunting spiders, frogs, and the Queen Bee. Everyone was enthralled and terrified.
Seeing Yang Xiao, they flocked to him. "Boss, what about those things you got?" Chubby asked.
Yang Xiao briefly explained, taking out the remaining 8 crystal coins. He gave Chen Fei, Chen Lu, Dai Yun, and Chubby 2 each.
"The secret technique's worth 50 crystal coins, the golden dagger 10, totaling 60. I'll take it for now since it's more suitable for my use. That means I owe each of you 12 crystal coins."
By Yang Xiao's principle, those who contributed benefited. Only battle participants could earn crystal coins, though food was shared.
Huang Wen and the others didn't object.
A third of the giant hive's larvae had been eaten. Many still weren't used to eating the raw larvae, just enjoying the honey.
A thought struck Yang Xiao. Bringing Chubby along, he went to the playground's edge, finding where he'd buried the suitcase of food.