Chapter 12: This is Scientific

Soon, Alpha returned to Bai Qi's side, his soul-fire flickering with a handful of Screaming Mushrooms. Bai Qi patted him on the head approvingly.

"Good job."

Chitter-chatter.

Pleased by Bai Qi's praise, Alpha hopped and skipped with joy

"Bai Qi, is your pet truly an Undead Department's Ghost Bone Spur?"

Gao Cheng approached Bai Qi, cast a doubtful glance at the metallic sheen on Alpha, and asked, "Those moves... they aren't something a skeleton beast trainer could make, are they?"

"And the color of the skeleton…"

Bai Qi nodded, saying, "Indeed, Alpha is a Ghost Bone Spur. Yet, before his evolution, he went through a mutation which explains his speed."

"Before his evolution? Mutation?"

Gao Cheng seized on Bai Qi's point, saying, "So when you made the pact, he was just a skeleton soldier? And now he's evolved?"

"Well… I was just lucky, very lucky."

Realizing his slip, Bai Qi hurriedly added: "As for the color, I painted it myself, because the original appearance was somewhat frightening."

It wasn't that Bai Qi intentionally wanted to deceive anyone; it was simply that the power of the Evolution Egg was somewhat special, and it was better to avoid complications.

Bai Qi's explanation didn't convince anyone, however, not knowing a better explanation, they left it at that.

"Forget it, let's just complete the task first. The reward for this task is calculated per mushroom. We'd better not waste time."

Gao Cheng looked at the vast mushroom field and said, "Judging by the situation, the density of the Screaming Mushrooms here isn't small."

The others nodded, unconsciously eying the Screaming Mushroom in front of Bai Qi, with a flicker of envy in their eyes.

Apart from the basic remuneration for the task, they could also sell the Screaming Mushrooms to the workers here, each worth 50 Federal Coins.

In other words, with Alpha's efficiency, as long as he collected more, they could make back the money for a training ground visit.

However, while Bai Qi was pleased, the others didn't have it so easy.

"Well, let's go and clean up the other side, Bai Qi will be enough for this place."

The only girl of the trio, Wu Lan suggested first, and her two partners nodded in agreement.

If they stayed with Bai Qi, they had reason to believe that they would complete this task empty-handed.

"That's fine, we'll regroup here in three hours."

Seeing this, Gao Cheng also went with the flow. After all, they would finish faster if they worked separately in such a large farm.

Once the five agreed on the time, they went their separate ways.

"Alpha, let us set a small goal: catch 50 before noon."

Bai Qi said to Alpha beside him.

"Whether or not you can evolve quickly depends on your performance!"

Chitter-chatter.

(Evolution, Evolution!)

Alpha nodded his understanding. Recalling his rapid improvement in the Black Iron Egg, he shot off like a bullet.

The Screaming Mushroom task was even simpler than he'd thought. He just didn't know how long this task could last; otherwise, Bai Qi was confident about reaching a small target first.

Time flew, and three hours passed quickly.

The density of Screaming Mushrooms was far greater than Bai Qi's estimation, and Alpha had gathered 68 of them.

If it wasn't for their worry about damaging the original mushroom field, Alpha's efficiency might have been higher.

After all, the major advantage of the Undead Clan was that they didn't need to rest.

Soon, the other four persons also returned. Gao Cheng was in a somewhat better state, but the other three were clearly exhausted.

Alpha's method of clearing the Screaming Mushrooms had given them some new insights. They also planned to neutralize the Screaming Mushrooms before they could apply their skill.

However, what was expected didn't go as planned. The idea was good, but there were inevitable mistakes during implementation, and after three hours, the three people were left spinning from the Screaming Mushrooms.

"Bai Qi, are you still gathering?"

Seeing Alpha still racing around the field, Wu Lan and the others couldn't help but be surprised.

"Well, Alpha is an Undead, he doesn't need to rest."

Bai Qi nodded, looking at the exhausted group of three, and asked, "So, you are done?"

Wu Lan and the others smiled awkwardly, and Gao Cheng also found it somewhat embarrassing, saying, "It's been three hours, even if the beast isn't tired, the person should be."

Bai Qi understood and absent-mindedly responded, having just remembered that he had only eaten a compressed food pellet that morning and was not hungry just yet.

Gao Cheng glanced at the box at Bai Qi's feet and curiously asked: "How many have you gathered?"

"It's just okay, just 68."

Bai Qi yawned, "The density of Screaming Mushrooms is lower than I thought. By the way, how did you fare?"

"Well, we barely managed to complete the task."

Wu Lan and her teammates looked at each other, not wanting to discuss this further.

"Okay, let's eat first. I saw the workers preparing lunch—it should be ready soon."

Gao Cheng diffused the tension, and the focus then shifted to food without anyone noticing him kicking a box into the background.

Gao Cheng's Fire Armor Scorpion was also quick in attacking, and its efficiency had increased considerably after adopting Alpha's strategy, gathering 22 Screaming Mushrooms in three hours.

He didn't expect Bai Qi and Alpha to be even more incredible, reaching a count of 68. This made him, a veteran who had participated in three Beast Master exams, quite uncomfortable.

Soon, the workers brought lunch boxes for the group and began to collect the Screaming Mushrooms. Bai Qi and the others each received a lunch box and started to eat heartily.

After working all morning, they had expended a lot of energy and naturally needed to refill their energy, especially since they would be working for longer hours in the afternoon.

During lunch, the group started chatting again.

"Bai Qi, since you're a student of Mechanical Engineering Department, why did you choose a pet from the Undead Department?"

Wu Lan had had this question for a long time and asked it straightaway when she had the chance.

"My talent awakened late, and coincidentally, I came across Alpha, a mutant species, so I just made a pact with him."

After swiftly finishing a lunch box, Bai Qi still felt unsatisfied and asked a worker for another portion.

He didn't know if it was because he had eaten compressed food pellets for two days, but he found his appetite had significantly increased, and he still did not feel full after eating two portions.

"I see."

Wu Lan nodded, scrutinizing Alpha, who was obediently standing behind Bai Qi. Soon, she noticed something unusual about Alpha's joints.

"Huh? Those don't look like normal joints, do they?"

Wu Lan's words attracted the attention of the others who came over to take a closer look, their curiosity piqued.

"You mean these? Yes, you're right. Alpha was too fast, and his joints were too fragile, so I replaced them with mechanical ones."

Everyone was silent after hearing Bai Qi's explanation.

No wonder Alpha could make such strange movements—the joints had been modified!

A Mechanical Engineering Department student installing mechanical joints on his undead pet.

Well, that makes sense.