Upon arriving at the suburbs, Chen Yining noticed that there were more people around than he had imagined.

Many were armed to the teeth, with some carrying cleavers and others clothes rail.

Still, Chen Yining was not surprised—the population of Mountain Water City numbered up to millions. There would be many people even if just one percent of that came to the edge of the city to kill goblins.

Moreover, the most important thing here was that the citizens who were living near the city's borders were vulnerable to attacks by the monsters in the forests. Under such circumstances, it was likely that some citizens might have killed those monsters already.

Chen Yining's pupils suddenly constricted.

There was a black-clad man with three goblins following him.

All three goblins were standing tamely behind him and there was no one else around the black-clothed man.

Could all three goblins be his summoned beasts?

At the moment, the black-clad man was buying water at a convenience store. Judging from how he conversed with the store owner, he appeared close with the shop owner as well.

Chen Yining walked to them and said to the store owner, "Two bottles of mineral bottles please, boss."

"Sure, Red Spring or Green Gem? Neither are chilled, though—everything is room temperature with the power out," replied the store owner, a man in his fifties.

"Two Red Springs, then."

Arching his back to pick up two bottles from a box, the store owner then handed them to Chen Yining. "Eight dollars."

"Eight?" Chen Yining paused just as he was about open his wallet—the price had been doubled from the previous day.

"Yeah, prices are inflating even here at convenient stores," the store owner chuckled cheerfully. "Heck, I'm selling these cheap, since there are others who sell them at five dollars per bottle. And do you see that forest? There's no telling when rescue would come, and I don't know about the supermarkets, but they would be inflating their prices soon."

Chen Yining said nothing, and merely handed the store owner a ten-dollar bill. Then, while the store owner went to search for change, he turned toward the black-clad man and look at the three goblins behind it, asking casually, "Eh? Bro, are these all your summoned beasts?"

"Yes." The black-clad man nodded.

Chen Yining noticed then that the black-clad man's fingers was yellowed, caused by long-term smoking.

He hence took out the packet of cigarettes in his trouser pocket and passed one to the black-clad man.

The man stared at the cigarette box—Red Inn, worth thirty-five dollars.

Taking the cigarette, he then took out a lighter from his own pocket and lit it.

As he puffed out a ring of smoke, the air between both strangers seemed to be more harmonious.

Then, the black-clad man said offhandedly. "You're thinking about asking me on how to increase your number of summoned beasts."

"Yes, I am a little curious." Chen Yining did not deny it.

"Go kill some monsters in the forest." The black-clad man did not beat around the bush.

"Kill monsters?"

"Yes. You tame the monsters that you kill. However, since there is a limit to the number of pages of your grimoire, you could summon three beasts at most, and no more than that," the black-clad man explained.

"Thanks," Chen Yining replied.

"You're welcome. You would find out after you kill your first monster anyway even if I hadn't told you—consider it a token of friendship." The black-clad man smiled. "Many in the city still aren't aware so the competition is still low, though there would be scarcity when more people come."

"Of course. Well, I'll be going then… it's my treat if I see you again," Chen Yining said, and took his change of two dollars from the store owner before heading to the forest.

Chen Jing, who had been getting some fresh air in the distance, jogged toward him. He was also fully armed—he wore a motorcycle helmet over his head, carried a large backpack, and held a rebar.

Arriving at the edge of the forest, Chen Yining dropped to a crouch and lightly pulled apart the grasses, revealing a perfect border, with one part being the city's concrete landscape and the other filled with grass.

It was as if the border had been carefully and neatly measured before being marked.

Then, Chen Yining dug out some soil, revealing that the concrete had been cut off, leaving a perfectly even surface.

"What are you looking at, Brother?

"These plants do not seem to have grown through the roads and concrete. Instead, they appear to be growing here in the first place." Chen Yining told him.

"Oh." Chen Jing scratched his hand, not quite getting it.

After a brief silence, Chen Yining said directly, "I mean, our city might be the real foreigner here."

"So, you're saying…" Despite having steeled himself, Chen Jing still found it hard to accept.

"Alright, stop thinking too much. Get yourself ready for a fight," Chen Yining said with a complicated tone.

Chen Yining rose to his feet, clapping the shoulder of his brother, who was still spacing out.

"Let's go, stop spacing out. Live well!"

***

The trees in the forests were exceedingly huge and the tree canopies dense.

Such lush vegetation certainly meant a sufficient underground water source.

The fifty-meter-tall trees were as tall as apartments, and would give mid-sized apartment buildings a run for their money.

Moreover, they stretched on as far as the eye could see.

As such, it was quite dark in there and there was substantial algae growing out of the tree roots.

Rustle…

Nearby, the sound of bushes shaking could be heard, and it certainly did not sound like a small beast.

The two brothers' nerves tightened and they clenched upon the rebars they were holding.

After a while, a yellow-green figure poked out from some bushes.

It was around two meters long, its body was marked with ink-green spots, and it had an exceedingly long beard that dangled.

Chen Yining's Summoner's Grimoire suddenly leapt out of his body and hovered before him. Opening on its own, a translucent page then floated over one of the blank pages.

[Beast Name: Wood Leopard]

[Current Level: Level 3]

[Rank: Normal ⭐]

[Species: Beast]

[Introduction: The wood leopard is a midsized predator that dwells in forests, and prefers to hunt its pray openly.]

[Race Talent: +20% agility at complex landscapes.]

[Bond (Beast):]

[(1) Gain an increase in strength by 5% when there are more than two beasts.]

[(2) Gain an increase in strength by 10% when there are more than five beasts.]

[Summary: I like watching your helpless self from the bushes.]

If a two-meter-long animal was a midsized predator, how huge would a large predator be?

Chen Yining stared warily at the wood leopard, and headed toward a nearby tree at the same time.

If the wood leopard closes in, he would have to use this tree and circle around it to try to flee.

However, the beast appeared to be wary as well since Chen Yining's side had advantage in numbers. It backed away slowly after staring at them for a while, and leapt up a tree before disappearing from sight.

Right then, Chen Yining thought that he would not be lacking meat since the leopard might last them half a month.

"Where do you goblins usually live?" He asked Green Skin then.

The goblin scratched its head.

Its master really was getting weirder. Why would he ask where I sleep?

Could it be…

"Master, we usually sleep on the ground and occasionally in caves."

Green Skin said, just before demonstrating the typical goblin sleeping postures: sitting on the ground, it folded its arms before its chest, leaned backwards until it was lying on the ground, and closed its eyes.

"Do your kind usually sleep like that?!"

"Or like this, occasionally." Green Skin then spread its limbs in a '大' shape.

"Alright, I get what you mean—now get up." Chen Yining got the general idea then, as well as a deeper understanding about the goblin mind.

Nonetheless, he did not dare to venture too deep into the unexplored forest, as there would be more unknown threats within.

His hard work paid off, regardless. After a twenty-minute search, Chen Yining finally found the traces of the wild goblins' whereabouts.

There were some gurgling voices from the forest ahead.

Be that as it may, there were thick dried leaves piling over the ground, and stepping on it would make distinct sounds.

Still, Green Skin had an idea.

Throwing aside its weapon, it wrapped its legs around a tree trunk and climbed it.

Like a monkey, it easily made it up to a tree branch.