Chapter 374: Chapter 359: A Sunny and Cheerful Big Boy

After the three of them exchanged looks for a moment, Yang Chi, outnumbered one to two, finally gave in to the ladies. He clapped a hand over his nose and mouth and took a tiny step forward with a look of utter despair.

It was a truly tiny step, barely more than a shuffle.

Then he turned back to the two formidable young ladies and shook his head.

Qi Xiang and Qin Yi continued to stare at him.

Yang Chi had no choice. After steeling himself, he tentatively took another tiny step forward...

By now, Qi Xiang had already taken some instruments out of her large backpack, with Qin Yi helping her.

Seeing the two look up and motion for him to continue, Yang Chi had no choice but to take another step, and then... BLECH!

’It’s too smelly! I really can’t take it!’

Yang Chi decisively retreated back behind the safety line.

Nearby, Qi Xiang was already busy operating various small instruments. "Color, shape, and size of the droppings... method of transmission... transmission medium... range... distance... condition of the surrounding soil and mutant plants..." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

It took a good while for Yang Chi to recover.

"Thanks." He took the water and cloth Qin Yi handed him, rinsed his mouth out several times, and wiped his face before sighing. "Bai’s rat droppings are on a whole other level of smelly."

At that, Yang Chi suddenly had a thought. "You know, Bai’s been with us for more than a day or two. Were its droppings ever this smelly before? Or has it just never pooped in front of us until now?"

Qin Yi thought about it with a serious expression, then shook her head. "I honestly never paid attention. But,"

She looked up toward Bai, who was surrounded by a group of mutated beasts in the distance. "Bai is a dignified Mouse King. He has his pride, you know." ’He can’t just go around pooping in front of people.’

Qi Xiang, while testing her data, casually chimed in, "Bai has definitely pooped before, but I’m guessing it wasn’t this smelly."

If it had been, they definitely would have noticed by now.

Yang Chi and Qin Yi squatted beside her, watching the distant pack of mutated beasts crowded around a pile of droppings with looks of pure bliss on their faces. They both shook their heads and sighed in unison.

Those mutated beasts didn’t seem to be low-level, and some might even have developed some intelligence. So why did they have such a peculiar fondness for Bai’s droppings?

They couldn’t figure it out. They really, really couldn’t figure it out.

"Could it be that Bai’s droppings contain some kind of special energy that helps them evolve?" Qi Xiang mused, chin in hand. Then she looked up at Yang Chi. "It would be great if we could get a sample to test."

Yang Chi’s face was a mask of horror. ’Wait a minute, sister, you can just say it. Why are you looking at me? Don’t tell me you expect me to go...’

Yang Chi pointed toward the distant scene, then back at himself...

Qi Xiang looked at him and gave a calm nod. *Yes, it’s exactly what you think.*

Yang Chi waved his hands frantically, his entire body screaming refusal. ’No way. I really can’t do something like that.’

Qi Xiang frowned. "You’re a grown man..."

Before she could finish, Yang Chi adopted an expression of a man who would rather die than submit, as if he were about to become a martyr for a great cause. He stuck his neck out and declared, "I’m a pure, innocent, clean-cut, cheerful guy..."

’Scooping poop is something I wouldn’t do even if it killed me!’

Hearing this, Qi Xiang rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Hmph."

She started rolling up her sleeves.

Yang Chi watched her overtly threatening gesture but said nothing, only conveying his stubborn refusal with his eyes.

Beside them, Qin Yi looked from one to the other, and finally couldn’t help but raise her hand and timidly offer her own opinion. "Um, well, I was thinking, why don’t you just have Gu Xi call Bai over..." *to poop?*

Qi Xiang froze.

Yang Chi froze too.

The two looked at each other. ’Right, why didn’t we think of that?’

A moment later, a look of mutual disdain appeared in their eyes. They snorted, looked away from each other, and both turned to stare at Bai in the distance. ’It’s all Bai’s fault. Its droppings are so smelly they fuddled our brains.’

’Yep, that’s what happened.’

In the distance, Bai was thoroughly confused by their stares.

*Squeak?!*

’What are those two knuckleheads scheming now?’

Bai decided to ignore the two rookie knuckleheads. Lightly wagging its tail, it trotted over to Gu Xi’s feet, rubbed against her, and raised its little rat head. "Squeak squeak..." *Not bad, huh? I did a pretty good job, didn’t I?*

Gu Xi nodded. It was indeed a good job. If not for the little rat’s stunt, she would have never known that even the waste products of a mutated beast influenced by a Superpower Seed could, in turn, affect the surrounding mutated beasts.

Though it was most likely an accident, Bai had still performed a great service this time.

Gu Xi thought for a moment, then casually took out a bag of dried sweet potato and tossed it to Bai.

Bai looked up at her in disbelief. "Squeak?" *I worked my tail off all day, and you’re just fobbing me off with this?*

*You can’t just get free labor like this!*

*I’m not having it.*

With great dignity, Bai pushed the bag of dried sweet potato aside, forcing back the aggrieved tears welling in its mouth and refusing to look at the fragrant snack it had just rejected.

"You don’t want it?" Gu Xi asked coolly.

Bai’s sleek, glossy golden fur trembled as it let out a few squeaks. *Dried sweet potato isn’t out of the question, but the quantity is a bit...*

The little rat furtively glanced at Gu Xi, sizing up her expression. Seeing that she didn’t seem too angry, it held out its front paws and rubbed them together tentatively...

The haggling gesture was no different from that of a stall vendor at a food market.

It was exceptionally clever-looking.

Gu Xi: "..."

Although Bai had been incredibly intelligent from the moment it appeared—everyone said the little thing was practically a spirit—it was obvious that the Bai from back then didn’t know how to haggle.

Let alone rub its paws together to demand more!

This was clearly something it had learned from humans.

’In other words, the evolved Bai isn’t just smarter; it’s subconsciously learning certain human habits... It’s even possible that it’s learning more than just habits.’

’Bai was already a Mutated Rat King, with combat power surpassing most human superpower users. If it were to also learn the ways of humanity...’

Gu Xi looked at the little rat before her and narrowed her eyes.

An invisible and incomparably powerful aura emanated from her, silently sweeping out in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the mutated beasts that had been clustered around the rat droppings were all knocked unconscious. Even Bai went rigid, its four paws planted on the ground and its back slightly arched. The entire rat was coiled in a tense, combat-ready stance...

But even so, it fought its instincts and didn’t retreat. Instead, it tentatively let out two squeaks in Gu Xi’s direction—

*Squeak squeak?*

*What did I do wrong? Just tell me, and I’ll change, alright?*

*Just stop looking at me like that!!*

Bai was actually terrified, but Bai didn’t dare run.

It knew it couldn’t beat this biped, and its little rat brain vaguely sensed that if it ran now, it really would be game over.

Bai had struggled hard to get where it was today; of course, it didn’t want it all to end.

So it suppressed its fear, tremblingly relaxed its body’s subconscious combat stance, and nuzzled its little head against Gu Xi’s leg. "Squeak... Squeak...?"

It even rolled over at her feet, proactively exposing its belly to Gu Xi.

This was a mutated beast’s sign of submission.

Sure enough, the invisible killing intent that had permeated the area vanished in an instant.

Just as Bai breathed a sigh of relief, it saw the biped staring down at it with a slight frown.

*Squeak? What now?*

Bai felt that a rat’s life was hard. Overcome with despair, it flopped onto the ground, deciding to just give up and let whatever happens, happen.

Gu Xi, however, was staring at its belly and thinking, ’This little rat hasn’t seemed to eat much recently, so why does it look... like it’s gotten a lot fatter?’

Remembering how she herself had survived by licking small stones right after she was born, a bold theory suddenly formed in Gu Xi’s mind. She raised her hand, activated her personal terminal, and sent a message to Li Ming.