The group circled in one direction, cautiously heading toward the city ruins.
In a matter of moments, they arrived at the edge of the ruins, where enormous trees towering tens of meters could be seen everywhere.
"Rustle rustle rustle..."
Suddenly, a strange and dense sound came from the treetops, causing Lin Xiaomei and the others to freeze, their alert eyes slowly moving up from the trunk.
"Be careful, this sound could be..."
Before Lin Xiaomei finished speaking, a low lion roar suddenly came from the treetop, and the rustling sound abruptly stopped.
Qin Shou glanced at the thick treetop overhead and said, "There's something strange here, let's go!"
"Mm."
The group snapped back to reality, quickening their pace and continuing cautiously forward.
After Qin Shou and the others left, a humanoid upright lion beast suddenly jumped down from the treetop.
Rein Jia'er!
Qin Shou had already released Rein Jia'er to scout the path earlier.
With its invisibility ability, Rein Jia'er would almost surely avoid any accidents unless it encountered a monster with special abilities.
As Qin Shou walked away, Rein Jia'er trembled, its figure gradually fading before invisibly chasing after Qin Shou.
...
As he officially stepped into the city ruins, Qin Shou was slightly stunned by the primitive forest-like scene in front of him.
Beneath his feet, thick tree roots intertwined, showing no sign of the former concrete road.
Beside Qin Shou, a rusted small car was sandwiched between two thick tree trunks, crushed into scrapmetal.
The buildings that once existed here had been occupied and eroded by these roots, covered in moss; without careful inspection, it was impossible to notice.
"Is this the city from the Old Era?" Long Xia asked.
Lin Xiaomei nodded, "This place has been occupied by monsters for over a hundred years, and the appearance of the Old Era city has changed enormously.
Finding a safe place to shelter doesn't look easy."
Hong Cong surveyed the surroundings and said, "We've walked for so long and haven't encountered any monsters, it might not be as dangerous as you say, right?"
Qin Shou shook his head, glancing at Rein Jia'er hidden in the shadows.
Upon receiving the signal, Rein Jia'er let out several low roars, startling Hong Cong and the others.
"Oh no, the same sound again, are we being targeted by some monster?" Hong Cong asked, panicking.
*Without his beast, the Beast Tamer's combat ability dropped a level; he couldn't help but feel panicked.*
Lin Xiaomei looked around, saying, "It's still not safe here; let's be cautious and keep exploring."
"Okay."
The group nodded, continuing to probe forward.
A moment later, a low lion roar echoed once again from the darkness ahead.
"It's that sound again!" The group was startled.
Qin Shou's expression remained unchanged, pointing to the left.
"We'll go this way."
Hong Cong's forehead was drenched in sweat, "Qin Shou, we're being targeted, maybe we shouldn't..."
"Don't worry, trust me."
With that, Qin Shou ignored Hong Cong's concerns, turning to cross over thick tree roots, heading left.
Long Xia and Lin Xiaomei naturally followed closely.
Hong Cong and Ye Ning exchanged a glance, having no choice but to trust Qin Shou.
A few minutes later, the low lion roar echoed again, driving Hong Cong nearly insane.
"That sound again..."
Qin Shou pointed again, changing direction once more.
Long Xia followed closely.
Behind them, Lin Xiaomei raised an eyebrow, contemplating.
*Who knows what she thought of, but she followed Qin Shou without hesitation, the unease in her heart completely dissipating.*
Ye Ning witnessed this, feeling startled, immediately following Lin Xiaomei's shadow.
"You guys..."
Hong Cong pointed at the group, his face expressing annoyance.
*You're such big fools, being targeted by a monster and you don't even know it.*
...
Following Rein Jia'er's directions, an hour later, Qin Shou and the others finally discovered a villa that was still relatively intact and overgrown with vines.
Although the foundation of the villa was damaged by thick tree roots and somewhat slanted, the roots made the villa more solid.
"Long Xia, set up the barrier, we'll rest here tonight," Qin Shou said.
"Alright."
Long Xia nodded, running to the side to activate the barrier, enveloping an area of tens of meters around them.
Once the barrier was set, Qin Shou stepped toward the villa, pulling down the vines from the door with a wave of his hand, and pushed gently.
"Bang!"
The door collapsed with a sound but didn't stir up much dust.
The inside was full of weeds and tree roots, somewhat damp, with insects vaguely visible.
Qin Shou frowned, "Looks like we can't stay here; we'll set up tents outside."
Lin Xiaomei and the others nodded, immediately taking out tools from their watch spaces, each setting up their own tent.
After a while, Long Xia finished setting up Qin Shou's tent.
"Lao Qin, your tent is ready..."
Before he finished, Long Xia looked at Qin Shou and twitched his mouth.
At that moment, Qin Shou already had tables and chairs set up before him, with steaming hot pot fragrance wafting invitingly.
Qin Shou picked up a piece of cooked meat and sighed softly, "Too bad, there's no cilantro!"
Long Xia: "..."
*Big brother, understand that we're fleeing, not having a picnic!*
...
After dinner, the group returned to their tents to rest.
Qin Shou opened the system interface, starting to build the Skeleton Giant Lizard model.
[Qin Shou]
[Synthesis Points: 350]
[Currently Available Biological Device: Monster Battle Talent x1, Level 1 Giant Strength Cell x1]
[Level 1 Gene Bank: Black Forest Giant Python, Yimuki, Pangolin Beast, Killing Wolf, Warick, King Big Big Wolf, Mermaid, Merfolk, Lion, Rein Jia'er, Skeleton Giant Lizard…]
Throughout the journey, Qin Shou had killed nearly thirty Skeleton Giant Lizards with varying strengths, setting a new high in synthesis points.
He stared at the Skeleton Giant Lizard on the interface, touching his chin, fingers lightly tapping.
[Skeleton Giant Lizard]
"Synthesize!"
"Ding! This biological model cannot be synthesized."
Hearing the prompt, Qin Shou nodded slightly.
*Indeed, the system could only synthesize monsters, not copy them.*
His finger moved slightly, establishing a model of a Danger Level 5 Skeleton Giant Lizard.
[Skeleton Giant Lizard] + [Ordinary Creature: Komodo Dragon]
Instantly, the models of the two creatures merged.
At this moment, the Skeleton Giant Lizard had grown two short hind limbs, and its sunken eyes no longer looked so terrifying.
"Ding! Model established, synthesis requires 50 synthesis points, do you want to start synthesis?"
"Synthesize!" Qin Shou said.
The model slowly solidified.
"Ding! Synthesis successful, this creature is a Danger Level 5 monster, please name this creature!"
Qin Shou said, "Skeleton Giant Lizard!"
"Ding! This creature possesses the original Skeleton Giant Lizard genes, naming failed!"
Just as expected!
*Qin Shou frowned, wasting fifty synthesis points to confirm his own guess.*
*This system explicitly allowed him only to synthesize a certain level of "pirated" monsters, not allowing him to copy perfectly identical "authentic" monsters!*
*He dared to conclude that those who created this system must have suffered greatly from piracy in the past.*
*Otherwise, how could they have fallen to the point of using piracy to fight against authenticity?*