Seed

"Mm, nothing here!"

Oliver, who had appeared in the Chaotic World, didn't find the lions as he had expected.

All he saw were the bones of the anacondas he had previously killed, without a trace of meat left.

Their flesh had been completely devoured.

The sky was no longer bright—it was dark since he had arrived at night.

The small sun in the distance had already set, leaving behind those large, multi-colored moons.

Their light, at the very least, illuminated the area well enough, though it wasn't as clear as nighttime on Earth filled with artificial lights.

Oliver didn't have a particular goal for where he was going, since unlike the Awakeners, he didn't need to hunt monsters.

However, he was somewhat curious about the sunflower creatures that had previously chased him, so he ended up walking toward their location to see them again.

When he arrived, he did find them—but their bodies were slumped and they were completely calm, as if asleep.

Oliver tried to count them, and there were indeed a lot.

They resembled a sunflower field the size of a football field.

However, their levels only ranged from Level 1 to Level 5.

There were fewer than five at Level 5.

Oliver continued observing them, then found himself intrigued by a cave in the center of the field.

It appeared quite small—perhaps small enough that a human would need to crouch to enter.

Still, it looked as if it were being guarded by the sunflower creatures.

'Maybe two Void Steps and I can reach the front of that cave,' he thought.

Driven by curiosity, he took a step—instantly appearing in the middle of the sunflower crowd.

They were indeed asleep, but they seemed very sensitive.

They immediately awoke the moment they sensed his presence—but by then, he had already taken a second step, appearing right at the cave entrance.

"Human!" one sunflower creature shouted loudly.

After that, they began firing sunflower seeds at him.

At such close range, the attacks landed directly.

Even though all of them were lower-level than him, he couldn't say their attacks had no effect—especially the seeds from the Level 5 ones. They left red marks on his skin, even though they didn't cause much pain.

If he were hit repeatedly, it was still possible for him to get injured.

However, he only needed a speck of Life Energy to heal that kind of wound.

In the end, he ignored the attacks, letting his body get pelted by sunflower seeds.

A little pain didn't matter. What was important was that they posed no real threat to him.

He crouched down and stuck his head into the cave, wondering if there might be any valuable treasure inside.

So far, he saw a faint light glowing.

The inside of the cave was just as small as its entrance.

When his head entered, he immediately saw the only item inside—a single sunflower seed, but golden in color.

It lay atop a small box filled with a bit of soil.

He could pick it up just by reaching out.

(Seed of the Sunflower King!)

His Observation Ring gave him a notification about the seed.

"Human, how dare you!"

The sunflower creatures were furious at Oliver's actions, yet at the same time stunned that their attacks had no effect on him.

Oliver couldn't be bothered to respond. He stared at the golden seed now in his hand.

It seemed like it could be nurtured into growing into a Sunflower King.

But even if it became a King, it was still just a sunflower.

He wasn't sure if a creature like that would really be useful if he kept it.

If it were something like Evylin's black wolf, at least it could help him in combat.

'Maybe I can sell it later,' he thought.

He moved the seed into his Observation Ring, then looked at the sunflower creatures and smiled.

He took two Void Steps and arrived back at his starting position, which was basically right in front of them.

"Human, return the seed!" shouted the sunflower that looked like the oldest.

Looking at them now, they seemed more desperate than anything else—perhaps because they realized they couldn't fight him.

"Quick, call the Golden Lion Boss! He promised to help us if we were ever oppressed by an enemy we couldn't defeat!"

"Wait, I'll send the signal."

RING!

Suddenly, among the sunflower creatures, Oliver heard a loud ringing sound—so loud it almost hurt his ears.

Fortunately, it lasted only a moment.

He furrowed his brows, wondering what kind of creature this Golden Lion Boss might be.

This one probably wasn't a weak monster.

'I'd better get out of here,' he thought.

However, before he could take a step, he suddenly saw a large golden light appear not far from him.

That light then formed the shape of a lion.

'A manifestation…'

Oliver instantly understood what it was.

Manifestation wasn't a new concept—it was something that could be formed by any powerful being by sending a portion of their energy to create an image of themselves, with limited power.

This was often done because sending energy could be faster than physically moving, especially when someone was preoccupied.

For Cultivators, they needed to reach the Earth Master Realm to form a manifestation, while Awakeners and Monsters needed to reach Level 21.

Of course, not all monsters could do it—only those with at least Boss status.

Oliver hadn't expected the Golden Lion Boss mentioned by these sunflower creatures to be that high-leveled.

Fortunately, what appeared was only a manifestation with a small amount of energy.

Still, it was dangerous—perhaps equivalent to a Level 10 Monster.

The lion figure was made entirely of light, yet it was massive—standing perhaps six meters tall.

Its mane looked like it was made of gold, with a thick golden beard and a terrifying expression.

This was just a manifestation—its true form was likely even bigger.

It glanced at the sunflower creatures, then fixed its gaze on Oliver.

"Human, the Sunflower Clan here is under my protection. How dare you disturb them," the lion said with a raspy, fearsome voice.