Lin Feng woke up because he was starving.
The moment he opened his eyes, every cell in his body screamed for food. At this point, even if Celestia itself blocked the path, it wouldn't stop him from eating.
—or at least, that was how it should've gone.
But when Lin Feng casually probed Little White lying beside him, this panel appeared:
[Individual Information: Musteline — Newbie Treasure Hoarder Weasel — Little White]
Emotion: Satisfied
Friendliness: 100 (It is completely full.)
!!!
A wave of inexplicable dread instantly drowned out his hunger.
Lin Feng sprinted outside to check the disaster zone.
Please, please don't let the entire rainforest be gone… If so, I'll have to apologize to everyone in Teyvat one by one!
He felt a little sick.
The rainforest morning was cold; dense moisture turned into mist in the air. Dew dripping from leaves landed on his shoulders with soft plip sounds.
Seeing the untouched scenery before him, Lin Feng finally exhaled in relief and retreated back into the hollow where he'd slept.
"So you're saying you found a place far, far away with lots of tasty stuff… and you even brought some back for me?"
Stuffing his mouth with the sunsettias, dusk peaches, and raspberries he'd found, Lin Feng interrogated Little White, who stood obediently at the tree entrance with both paws raised.
In Lin Feng's hand were multicolored, gem-like shards.
He instantly recognized them.
—Elemental Fragments.
Crystallized pure elemental energy, used in breakthroughs in the game.
Even veteran Adventurers' Guild members only got a tiny speck as a daily reward. The value was astronomical.
"You found them in a really deep place? There were a lot of guys with electricity on their clothes, holding hammers… but none of them noticed you?"
Lin Feng froze.
Then he understood.
Then he despaired.
I just arrived in Teyvat… I'm in the rainforest… and my pet has already cleaned out a Fatui secret base?! HELP. Let me go back.
His emotional stability had dropped along with his physical age since crossing over, but staring at Little White's backpack stuffed full of "gifts," he couldn't accuse it of anything.
—After all, it remembered his order not to ravage the rainforest, and even after it was full, it still thought to bring him something to eat.
"..."
He fell silent for a moment.
This tiny creature…
this little gold stash that normally only dropped from killing Treasure Hoarder Weasels in the game…
and Little White just brought it back casually for him.
For a moment, Lin Feng felt genuinely touched.
Regressing from a corporate drone back to a teenager hadn't only changed his appearance.
The heart that had once been crushed by overwork and numb routine…
was somehow beating warmly again.
If at first his goal in Teyvat was simply to find a safe place to survive—
Then now, his goal was to give Little White a life without worry.
To take it across Teyvat to taste every delicacy, admire every breathtaking view, and leave behind footprints that belonged to both of them.
But first, he needed to get out of this rainforest.
He didn't take the stolen goods.
Instead, he instructed Little White to treat those fragments as emergency rations and bury them somewhere safe.
The good news was: pure elemental energy seemed to be Little White's real food source.
It only needed a very small amount to be full, and as long as it didn't use its abilities, its hunger would slow significantly.
Lin Feng inspected his inventory.
Inside were:
one Agnidus Agate Chunk
over twenty elemental fragments of varying elements
more than a dozen elemental particles
around six hundred Mora
Watching Little White casually carve a deep cavern into a cliffside with one swipe, Lin Feng no longer worried about the safety of the stash.
After surviving this chaotic morning, he began wondering about the sunsettias in his pile of fruit. Last night before sleep he'd collected some dusk peaches and raspberries, but this morning some bright orange sunsettias had mysteriously appeared.
He'd assumed Little White had found them, but after questioning it… that wasn't the case.
Lin Feng had a few guesses, but he kept them to himself for now and resumed traveling.
Looking up, he could tell from the cool breeze and gentle sunlight that despite the busy morning, it was still early.
As he continued through the rainforest, Lin Feng clearly felt the effect of his strengthened trait.
Just the improvement from Agility 1 to Agility 2 increased his traversal speed by at least twenty percent.
The trait read:
Agility 2: Your reactions sharpen. Your control over your body improves slightly.
That "slight" improvement had a very real, very noticeable impact.
His body wasn't stronger, but his coordination and reaction speed had skyrocketed.
This made him even more excited about his future growth.
Unfortunately, every other trait now displayed "Conditions Unmet." His malnourished, underdeveloped body simply wasn't ready for more enhancements. He needed a stronger physique first.
Still—if Agility 2 was this good, what would Elemental Affinity 6 be like?
He was curious.
Too bad that even though he could perceive elemental energy and enter what was basically the game's elemental sight, he still couldn't manipulate any element at all.
Do I have to touch a Statue of The Seven like the Traveler?
But he didn't have Paimon to walk him through a tutorial.
He remained doubtful.
Shoving aside the distracting thoughts, Lin Feng pressed on.
By noon, heavy raindrops began pelting his skin.
He and Little White huddled under a protruding rock ledge to hide from the downpour.
He took the wild berries he had collected from his improvised jacket pouch, giving half to Little White and keeping half for lunch and dinner.
It wasn't enough to fill them, but it was better than nothing.
Suddenly, he heard movement outside.
Looking up, he saw a green Land Fungus Beast walking past with a line of matching small mushrooms behind it.
One of the little mushrooms noticed him but, rather than charging like in the game, simply paused curiously before continuing on.
Slightly tired, Lin Feng leaned against the rock, thinking about his next move.
According to Lorma, the humans it had seen were nearby.
So Lin Feng decided to slow down and have Little White scout within a limited radius.
He didn't want to be spotted by others first; if they attacked suddenly, things would go badly.
Not for him.
For them.
After all, Little White couldn't control its strength yet. If someone startled it, they might be wiped out instantly—and then Lin Feng's plan of leaving the rainforest would be delayed indefinitely.
He did consider sending Little White ahead to locate the human hideout…
But when full, the little creature refused to wander far from him.
And considering its questionable intelligence… he had a terrible mental image of Little White leading him straight into a Fatui hideout again.
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