In a wilderness fraught with dangers, seeing a field of crops was truly the strangest thing yet, although Feng Xue had seen only model-like flora before, the wheat in this field was distinctly different, possessing a special allure that made Feng Xue certain that these plants were not just alive, but all "True Objects"!
Why would there be a field of True Object wheat in Infinite City? Feng Xue furrowed his brow, feeling rather incredulous, yet looking at the stack of straw and wheat bran beside the field... he suddenly had an epiphany.
It seemed he knew where those wheat bran bricks had come from.
Originally, he thought it was just bran, but now it looked like those things were also mixed with plenty of straw...
"No wonder they're as hard as bricks." Feng Xue, with a lingering fear, touched his own front teeth, suddenly remembering what Old Li had told him about avoiding guarded places when dumping a corpse because there were said to be fields outside.
So...
This was the field?
"Why can True Objects be planted in this world?" Feng Xue's curiosity had just arisen when he explained it himself, considering this was a world with settings beyond heaven, who knows what sort of agricultural phantom objects might exist?
However, speaking of which, Infinite City had appeared only a few decades ago, and even if major landfill areas occasionally found True Object seeds in garbage dumps, the time to cultivate them on a large scale was probably insufficient.
Yet supplying the poor with wheat bran bricks seemed like a convention in Infinite City, thus the issue warranted deep thought.
Either, as he initially thought, there was some phantom object that could accelerate plant growth, or Infinite City had a stable channel to obtain supplies from the Real World.
Or maybe... both.
Utilizing the low presence buff provided by his Assassin's Suit, Feng Xue observed the field from a distance. He didn't see any agricultural phantom objects, but he found something interesting—
Name: Phantom Object·Scarecrow
Elements: [Expel], [Watching], [Scaring]
Description: A scarecrow used to disperse unwelcome visitors, placed in the field to scare off less intelligent invaders and protect the crops from destruction.
Note: Kakashi!
"So it relies on this thing?" Feng Xue, watching the scarecrow from afar, slightly squinted his eyes. Without doubt, such a field in Infinite City was not an anomaly. If that were the case, the scarecrow would not be some unique phantom object; otherwise, it would have become a coveted treasure by local powers already.
"It seems this world still has people capable of consistently creating phantom objects." Feng Xue's original arrogant idea that he alone could mass produce phantom objects diminished a lot at that moment, feeling a bit complex, he circumvented the field.
Although causing destruction here could draw the Manager's attention, as long as he thought about how this place was tied to the livelihood of the entire landfill area's poor population, he could not make such a choice.
After all, he had crossed from his original stable and peaceful country just half a month ago, and even though he could now dissect corpses without any mental burden, when faced with living people, especially those who were innocent, he still couldn't bring himself to be ruthless—even though the chances for these people to continue surviving were not high.
After circumventing the field, Feng Xue finally left the high walls and stepped into the unsupported wilderness. The only thing he was grateful for was that his work badge's map function did not crash because he moved away from his work area; otherwise, he truly worried whether his sense of direction would enable him to reach his destination.
Although the wilderness was eerily silent at midnight, after a period of cautious advancement, Feng Xue began to enjoy the tranquility. The darkness adaptability brought by the assassin tag was unparalleled. Although Feng Xue had not found any bug skills like "Eagle Eye Skill" in the knowledge that came with the tag, the skill "Breath Concealment," which allowed him to completely blend into the environment, was indeed present.
"Too bad there's no 'Circle Realm' or 'Bright Mirror,'" Feng Xue thought with a sense of insatiable greed. But after all, the tags granted by Infinite City only provided the "knowledge" that Infinite City possessed. These things that required a bloodline or personal enlightenment were probably not included, right?
However, if he obtained a specific Phantom Object, maybe he could comprehend one or two, not necessarily.
"I just don't know if I can combine things like Skill Books or Secret Manuals." Feng Xue thought of this, his eyes suddenly lit up as he began to ponder the possibility of crafting "Secret Manual-type Phantom Objects." However, he soon realized a problem—
He lacked a medium.Certainly, after turning into a Phantom Object, an item's appearance would change significantly, even transforming from thick-soled boots to soft cloth shoes, but it was still one category.
To make a Secret Manual, at least the base should be a book, right?
But previously at the dump, Feng Xue had not seen a single book. Considering Old Li's previous mention that the "library was monopolized," Feng Xue felt this might not be a coincidence. Books, as carriers of knowledge, just like True Objects and Phantom Objects, were likely the main targets of the Manager gang's selective scavenging at the dump.
"Forget it, let's settle down first. As for having no books... if push comes to shove, I'll use bamboo slips, or I'll go directly for a Jade Scroll!"
Thinking this, Feng Xue seemed to elevate, reorganizing his thoughts and hastening his pace.
A two-kilometer straight distance wasn't too long nor too short. With Feng Xue's current speed, even with a detour, it would take about ten minutes to complete. Following the map's directions and passing through a forest, Feng Xue finally saw the walls of the giant dome, which could only be seen when close, influenced by a special power. But it was at this moment that a deafening roar suddenly exploded overhead.
"Fuck!" Feng Xue heard the roar and jolted fiercely, uncontrollably crouching down while tightly covering his ears, yet his eyes were still aimed toward the source of the sound.
It was a dark red monster over ten meters long, with sharp fangs, lethal claws, massive flesh wings, and a pair of eyes that appeared incredibly sharp even in the dead of night.
Feng Xue recognized this creature; he could even say he was familiar with it.
As a Monster Hunter player, Feng Xue had killed this creature at least eight hundred times in the game, if not a thousand. But at this moment, he finally understood the true weight behind the title "Sky King."
"Could the height of the Blue Star be three meters?" Feng Xue thought.
Watching the Two-legged Fire Dragon slowly land at the edge of the dome, Feng Xue tried to lower his breathing rate, cautiously concealing his figure, and observed this large creature from the game with peripheral vision.
Fortunately, the target of the Fire Dragon was not him but several corpses carelessly discarded outside the dome.
As Feng Xue's gaze focused, a chaotic sphere above the Flying Dragon's head, seemingly made up of countless mosaics, was slowly expanding and contracting. The discernible words within it were only five—
[Fire]
[Flight]
[Lizard]
[Monster]
[Dragon]