Chapter 18: Doing the Task
Just as the massive JuJu Flower opened its enormous calyx, attempting to swallow Fu Qingge whole, a burst of icy blue chill radiated from her body.
In an instant, the frost froze the calyx of the JuJu Flower, rendering it immobile.
Su Ning watched as Fu Qingge walked beneath the flower and began harvesting the JuJu Fruits she needed.
The other JuJu Flowers were handled in the same way—frozen, but not killed.
Fu Qingge dared not destroy them outright.
Once the task was complete, Fu Qingge nodded at Su Ning and left without a word.
Su Ning watched her disappear into the distance.
Player: Fu Qingge
Talent: Breath of Frost – Can control ice
Skills: None
“Breath of Frost? An offensive talent,” Su Ning murmured, honestly envious of Fu Qingge’s gift.
Fu Qingge’s appearance also helped Su Ning understand how cross-zone tasks worked—and revealed the existence of the treasure chest.
But the ownership of the treasure chest wasn’t in Su Ning’s hands. Whoever, between her and Fu Qingge, could enter the Administrator’s Office first would be its rightful owner.
“I need to figure out a way to get into the Administrator’s Office.”
Su Ning began pondering. If Fu Qingge could take on tasks across zones, that meant she could do it too.
While Su Ning was deep in thought, her farm welcomed a new guest.
“Breeder Su Ning, due to your outstanding breeding skills, the farm has delivered a new batch of Meaty Chickens!”
Su Ning didn’t refuse—she had to fulfill her duties.
As the Moko staff member finished delivering the chickens and turned to leave, Su Ning stopped him and pulled out a few Bunny Rats she had previously hunted.
She had observed that, with a little “incentive,” these workers would often leak some useful information—as long as they weren’t caught.
Seeing the Bunny Rat, the Moko staff quickly looked around. Seeing no one, he leaned in and whispered, “Ask quickly—what do you want to know?”
Su Ning: “How can I enter the Administrator’s Office?”
The staffer looked confused. “Employees aren’t allowed in unless it’s important. Unless… your Breeder Level increases!”
“Level up?” Su Ning was stunned.
She had heard something about that before.
The Moko staffer glanced at the breeder ID badge on her chest. “No need to worry. From the look of it, you’re close to leveling up. Once you do, you can enter the Administrator’s Office.”
Su Ning looked down at her breeder ID.
Before she could ask anything else, the Moko staffer took the Bunny Rat and left happily.
Su Ning recalled what the Administrator had previously mentioned: that advancing her breeder level would allow her access to higher-level farms.
“It seems there’s still a lot left to uncover in this instance.”
And her list of wants was growing: Starfruit, Energy Soup, and now the Treasure Chest. But first, she had to level up.
“According to the Administrator, completing tasks earns job experience, which upgrades your breeder level.”
Tasks were key!
Su Ning clapped her hands. Since Fu Qingge could take on cross-zone tasks, she must already know how to enter the Administrator’s Office and was working hard to level up her job.
“Looks like it’s time to hustle!”
Still, Su Ning hadn’t forgotten her original plan: using her Scavenger Backpack to score some hidden loot.
Previously, she hadn’t tried it out. But when she placed a Death Worm into one of the backpack’s slots and took it back out, the worm was still squirming and alive.
Her backpack could store living things.
This delighted Su Ning. The possibilities were endless.
She looked at the newly arrived Meaty Chicks. Though they were only chicks, each one was the size of a basketball.
They were surrounded by fencing—hundreds of them. Losing one or two wouldn’t matter.
Su Ning secretly stashed three of them—one male, two female—into her scavenger backpack. Even though she had scavenged a lot of Meaty Chicken Eggs earlier, nothing beat sustainable breeding.
With these Meaty Chickens, she’d never have to worry about egg shortages again.
After feeding the chicks, she began thinking of how to take on more tasks and gain experience to level up.
“Waiting around in my own farm isn’t realistic. Apart from the daily tasks, I need to seek out tasks elsewhere.”
So, she headed to other regions in search of opportunity.
Soon, she arrived at another player’s farm and saw a chance.
Several zones away from her own farm, two Moko staff were angrily berating a female player.
“You can’t even handle a simple task like guarding the Jade Dew Fruit? Do you want to be fed to the Death Worms?!”
Tears welled in Xiang Qiuyan’s eyes. She definitely didn’t want to be fed to the Death Worms. Her roommate had disappeared after failing a task and being taken to be fed to them.
But protecting the Jade Dew Fruit Tree was no easy task.
Su Ning arrived and saw a massive fruit tree—hundreds of meters tall.
[Jade Dew Fruit Tree]: A special tree that produces Jade Dew Fruits, an ingredient used to make Energy Soup. These sweet fruits are also beloved by many snakes, insects, and rodents.
Su Ning now understood why the player was being scolded.
A gigantic python had coiled itself around the tree, feasting on the fruits.
Xiang Qiuyan was deathly afraid of snakes and had no way to fend it off, making her unable to complete the task.
She had tried asking the Moko staff for help but was only met with insults.
Just when Xiang Qiuyan thought all hope was lost, a voice like a savior rang out.
“If this task is too difficult, then let me take over.”
Xiang Qiuyan turned around and saw a much younger Su Ning, bow in hand, approaching.
The Moko staff didn’t care who took the job—as long as someone did.
“You sure?”
Su Ning nodded.
Xiang Qiuyan wanted to object, but realizing Su Ning’s acceptance would get her off the hook, she bit her lip and stepped back.
Call her selfish if you will—this world worked that way. If you didn’t look out for yourself, no one else would.
She couldn’t understand why Su Ning would “court death” by taking over.
But she was glad someone did.
Xiang Qiuyan thought, “Is this girl stupid? But that’s good. If she fails, it’s not my fault. At least I’ll live another day.”
She sneered in delight, waiting to see Su Ning’s tragic end.
She felt no gratitude at all.
Meanwhile, Su Ning heard the system prompt:
[Task: Protect the Jade Dew Fruit Tree!]
[Reward: 10 copper coins, +100 profession XP!]
Task accepted, Su Ning walked into Xiang Qiuyan’s farm.
On the other side, Xiang Qiuyan was just beginning to feel relieved—until a voice in her ear turned her joy to despair.
[Ding! Because another player has taken over your task, there will be no reward or punishment. A new task has now been issued!]
[Ding! New Task: Kill the giant python invading your farm!]
Xiang Qiuyan: “???”
(End of Chapter)
