"Do you think their line of thinking is correct?"
"I don't know." Ji Hanwu laughed. "But the monster that appeared is quite out of the ordinary…"
Gao Peng looked over at his grandpa.
"We're calling the monster Mountain Spirit. Some scholars wanted to name it Mountain God, but others disagreed. The word God shouldn't be given to any monster without good justification."
"Mountain Spirit," Gao Peng muttered to himself.
"Yes. A top monster trainer went and took a photo of the monster's body. Its body is a mountain. A living mountain. Truth be told, even I have a hard time believing it," Ji Hanwu lamented.
A living mountain? Gao Peng's heart sank. The first image that popped in his head was of a mountain with thousands of towering peaks crashing towards Yuzhou City like a wave.
If such a large mountain really smashed into Yuzhou City, the result would be catastrophic.
"There's been more than one Mountain Spirit photographed," Ji Hanwu added.
More than one?! Gao Peng gasped for air.
"Yes, fortunately, we discovered the average size of these Mountain Spirits isn't very large. The largest one is only about 1,000 feet high. It's more like a big hill than an actual mountain."
Oh, that's better. Gao Peng let out a sigh of relief. The size of these Mountain Spirits was smaller than Gao Peng had imagined, but even so, a monster of this size would be a handful for even Lord tier familiars.
"Besides, perhaps because of their size, they move very slowly. However, they have a strong killing power on the surface of their bodies. We suspect that the missing monster hunters were killed when they accidentally walked into the mountains while the monsters were disguised as ordinary mountains.
"You don't have to worry. I'll protect you, even if the sky falls down. Those Mountain Spirits don't harbor any hatred towards us humans. They've simply gained some intelligence, and if they have intelligence, that means that we can negotiate with them. If necessary, the military won't even need to use missiles. Simple explosives or carpet bombings would be able to blow up those mountains." Ji Hanwu smiled as he comforted Gao Peng.
"Grandpa, do you have photos of the Mountain Spirits?"
"A photo? I don't have one on me. If you want it, I'll bring one for you."
"Okay." Gao Peng was a bit disappointed. He had thought that he would be able to see the Mountain Spirits' features that day.
"Grandpa, what type of monsters are these Mountain Spirits? Are they elemental types?"
"No, they're natural types. Things from the natural world that have gained life and become self-aware are all classified as natural types. Some monsters, such as vine monsters, are classified as natural types."
Instead of calming down after learning the reason for the martial law, Gao Peng instead grew more worried.
The world was changing too fast. If he couldn't keep up with the change of every living creature on earth, that meant his life would be in danger.
When Gao Peng thought of this, he felt a sense of urgency. He felt that his growth was still too slow.
Although Da Zi and the others were provided with the best food and training environment that were available, Gao Peng still felt like something was missing.
Just as Gao Peng was preparing to go upstairs to bed, his grandpa said behind him, "Oh yes. The items that you asked me to keep an eye out for. I have some news about the Wanzai Moon Gold. A company in Xiangxi that I work with has just acquired it. They've agreed to do an exchange and send it over within a few days."
"Okay." Gao Peng nodded, then went upstairs and closed his bedroom door.
Grandpa had succeeded in helping him get the Forbidden Magic Stone. The Wanzai Moon Gold was something that was required in order to promote Dumby to the Legendary Grade, and he would soon have possession of it.
Although grandpa was his blood relative, and he knew that he didn't require nor expect anything in return for helping him, he still felt terrible about not being able to repay him for his help. He felt like a leecher.
I'm still too emotional.
Gao Peng shook his head. The change in situation had completely woken Gao Peng up. Before, when he had been alone, he would naturally never dare to bring too much attention to himself, but now, it was different. With his grandpa supporting him, he didn't need to worry too much.
Even if Gao Peng didn't fully understand everything, grandpa would know what to do. All he needed to do was hand over his finished products and then let the professionals handle the rest.
He could do whatever he wanted. There were tons of different materials stored in the laboratory freezer, enough to make dozens of different types of drugs.
Gao Peng put on his coat, opened his bedroom door, and went downstairs. While passing through the corridor, he took an umbrella from the umbrella stand and pushed the door open. Rain was pouring outside.
Da Zi, who had been sleeping downstairs, suddenly sensed his master's presence. It walked over to Gao Peng and lifted its head towards its master, wondering where its master was going at this hour.
Is it because… master wants to secretly take me somewhere to eat something delicious?!
Da Zi was suddenly full of energy and quickly forgot its sleepiness.
"It's raining very hard outside. You should go back to sleep." Gao Peng lowered his head, looked at Da Zi, and softly laughed.
Da Zi quickly shook its head. "Go. Go with you."
When Gao Peng heard Da Zi's tender voice, his heart softened. Da Zi cares about me the most. He was my first familiar after all.
Gao Peng knelt down and gently patted Da Zi on the head. "Okay. Let's go over together."
Da Zi swung its feelers around in excitement. It eagerly followed behind Gao Peng.
The fire in Da Zi's heart couldn't be extinguished by the rain hitting its back.
...
As Da Zi looked at Gao Peng working busily in the laboratory, it felt like it had been wronged. It went to a corner and curled up.
Gao Peng, you changed. You weren't sneaking out to eat something delicious.
Gao Peng looked down at the fifth concoction he had mixed. He stored it carefully and then labeled it. He used a pen and carefully wrote down the formula ratio and any precautions one should take note of.
There weren't a lot of materials in the laboratory. He could only mix up these five chemicals. I'll just give them to grandpa after I get more materials. He might not be able to handle it if I give him too much at once.
Gao Peng went back to the villa and placed the box containing the chemicals in the living room, then looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was already two in the morning. He yawned and went back to sleep.
The next day, Gao Peng's phone rang while he was in class. He looked down and looked at the message. Grandpa had sent him a picture.
Gao Peng clicked accept, and the download bar started to progress...
Within moments, the picture was enlarged. It was a bit blurry at first, but then it became clear.
When Gao Peng saw the picture clearly, he almost let out a scream.
Holy shhh...
In the photo, a dark black hill was located among some mountains. The surface of the hill was sparsely populated, with a large number of caves scattered over the surface of it.
Gao Peng was able to recognize this exotic hill with only a single glance.
It was the strange hill that had kept attracting monsters that he had seen when he had gone into the forest.