Chapter 35: The Mine

Chu Jiu opened the item column in the backend.

Under the "Facility Blueprints" section, two new [Blueprints for Honor Zone Exclusive Facilities] had appeared. One was the [Bucket Waterwheel], and the other was the newly generated [Apiary].

Chu Jiu opened the [Apiary] and received a notification:
[Exporting the blueprint requires: Tanned Leather x1, Charcoal Pencil x2]
[Export now?]

Export.

A few seconds later, Chu Jiu held a heavy roll of parchment. Unrolling it, he saw that the content was completely different from the facility blueprints he had previously provided directly to his spirit beasts through the backend.

The blueprints for the spirit beasts, whether self-comprehended or rewarded by the system, were just a small icon accompanied by a single sentence of explanation. Clearly, the spirit beasts did not need to read blueprints in a traditional way but rather "imported" the relevant content directly.

However, this parchment, intended for the villagers of Bean Village, was densely packed with detailed information:
[Beekeeping Tools: Beehives, Frame Hives, Straw Hats, Face Veils, Honey Knives, Bee Brushes...]

Under each item, specific dimensions were listed. For example, the length, width, and height of the hive, the thickness of the boards, the height of the bottom rim; the length, width, and thickness of the top bars of the frames...

Beyond that, there were various meticulous tasks a beekeeper needed to perform: how to observe the bees, how to insulate the hive, how to inspect the hive, how to prepare winter feed...

"That's right, a very, very small cat," Chu Jiu said.

Suddenly, countless fragments of stone plummeted, leaving several bloody scratches on Chu Jiu’s arms and neck.

A tall, thin middle-aged man; a woman with her hair in a bun; a little girl who looked no more than six or seven years old with a bow in her hair.

But the village lacked a proper carpenter. The precision required for these hives and frames could not be achieved by simply knocking a few pieces of wood together.

"Yes, that is the closest ore collection point with the fastest round-trip time," Chu Jiu replied.

He explained that he used to be an esper and had spent years traveling, never having time to accompany his family or pursue his passion for carpentry.

Chu Jiu decided to take Little Can with him to "attend the banquet" at Douglas’s house.

[Under the host's guidance, the villagers have begun building the artificial apiary.]

However, seeing the hesitation on Douglas’s face, Chu Jiu naturally asked, "Is there something special about the underground mine?"

The only consolation was that the dessert after the meal was tofu—and tofu without any seasoning, at that.

The others present, though they had some premonition beforehand, couldn't help but look solemn upon hearing Marshal Lu state the decision himself.

Chu Jiu, no longer concerned with collecting materials, scrambled toward the exit of the cave, whispering as he ran, "Don't be afraid, Little Can, let's get out of here first..."

Little Can let out a cold "meow" as a reply, his two paws moving with lightning speed.

*

On the way here, everything had been normal. Little Can had been chatting and even talking about hunting another jungle wild boar to take home for pork chops. Now, he was curled into a ball in his palm, shivering uncontrollably.

"I heard from Reg what kind of village this was before I came," Douglas said in a calm tone.

Some time ago, due to the fading of his abilities, his health had been in very poor condition, and he had even prepared for the worst.

[Alert! Alert! High-level Grotesque Insect! High-level Grotesque Insect!]

Compared to the pioneer suit, this outfit felt much more restrictive.

After the Douglas family settled into the village, the hostess, Irene, sincerely extended a formal invitation for him to "come to our house for dinner."

...

A Grotesque Insect, with a head alone as large as half the mine, opened its mouthparts wide, saliva dripping, its tentacles dancing in all directions. It was swimming rapidly from the depths of the mine toward him!

Echoes reverberated; dust billowed.

Chu Jiu was stunned: Is this a carpenter...? Or is it the whole family of carpenters?

Just like before, the mine was gloomy and the cold wind was biting.

Standing by the bed, fumbling in a panic for a long time, Chu Jiu still couldn't tie a decent bowtie.

"Eh? You’re a cat, you know how to tie a human bowtie?" Chu Jiu asked.

"Confirmed," Lu Qingyan replied.

After much effort to get the shirt, vest, and trousers on, he still couldn't manage the bowtie.

"So the spirits are still here..."

Even the old village chief sat on a stool at the village entrance, waiting with them.

"We fight, we argue, we do business, we buy things among ourselves..."

Out of respect for Irene and basic guest etiquette, Chu Jiu forced himself to finish the meal.

Marie blinked her large brown eyes. "So cute! It’s the first time I’ve seen a cat wearing clothes! Too cute! Can I pet him?"

"But..." the chief engineer paused for half a second, emphasizing, "Marshal, this is only theoretical."

"I will conduct this test myself."

But this giant Grotesque Insect was far superior to the low-level one they had encountered in the forest in terms of both speed and strength.

Before long, Reg’s carriage pulled up in front of Chu Jiu and the village chief.

"Those, uh, pets that appeared in the videos from the wt0906 world... no, no, those creatures, are... are..."

Marco looked at Chu Jiu’s serious face and, thinking of their friendship, skipped the suspense and spoke directly:

He Fang’s mouth opened and closed, opened and closed for a long while before he finally found his voice: "My lord, are you saying..."

Chu Jiu took out a [Cold Light Torch] made of fluorescent grass and walked into the mine with Little Can.

Irene looked at Douglas and Chu Jiu again, smiling as she said, "I think we will be staying for a while."

"Theoretically speaking, if there exists a homologous spirit body that perfectly matches the local spiritual power at a fixed coordinate point, and provided the local spiritual power is sufficiently concentrated, it is indeed possible to break through the traditional limitations of space and time to project local spiritual power to the designated coordinate."

This voice was very different from the usual aloof or haughty "meow."

There was no better way to express gratitude.

At this moment, the village chief nearby couldn't help but raise his voice: "Douglas? Are you Douglas?!"

Chu Jiu had originally planned to head to the mine as soon as possible to collect gypsum, but a sudden invitation delayed his trip by a day—

Isn't the best form of defense to run away?

It wasn't until Reg told him and the village chief very seriously: "My brother has loved carpentry since he was a child, and all the woodwork at home was done by him. Although he hasn't worked as a professional carpenter with fixed prices, you can absolutely trust his craftsmanship."

"I discussed it with Irene. We’ll stay for a while first. If we get used to it, we’ll stay long-term; if not, we’ll move again."

Reg nodded and said, "Indeed, a very good carpenter."

"I have reviewed the results of your simulation calculations; there are no issues."

He nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will be very careful."

Does building an apiary require the whole family to move out?

Those small, furry little animals that looked so squeezable and would dance on the spot in front of the young man—they were the... spirit bodies of Marshal Lu and General Kang?!

The village chief was filled with emotion upon hearing this, not knowing whether to be thankful for Douglas’s generosity or to marvel at Chu Jiu’s kindness.

"Marshal Lu, this is the spiritual transmission pod reconfigured according to your theory."

He gnawed on the air-dried pork seasoned with fish paste, silently missing his own stir-fried spicy pork.

Lu Qingyan looked at the silver-gray transmission pod and said:

Ineffective again? What kind of broken skill is this? How has it not worked a single time after being used so many times!

Reg continued, "I can find a carpenter, very cheaply."

Little Can "meowed," jumped over, snatched the clothes away himself, and said huffily, "I'll dress myself!"

!

But as the discussion reached this point, the village chief and Grandpa Du looked through the parchment Chu Jiu had given them, their faces clouded with worry:

Marie was a bit disappointed but nodded obediently: "Oh, I see. Then I won't pet him."

Chu Jiu hadn't yet found Little Can in the dust and shadows when he heard a chilling hissing sound from above.

However, even if the skill had no effect, Chu Jiu had no intention of staying behind to fight the monster head-on.

After Reg jumped off his horse, the people in the carriage descended one after another.

"The 'Black Cat' corresponds to my spirit body," Lu Qingyan said, his voice pausing for half a second before continuing to speak without emotion.

The instructions were detailed enough, and the steps were very clear.

There was also A-Man and his friends. These children seemed very interested in carpentry, hovering around Douglas, helping to pass tools and press down wooden boards, working with great joy.

[Estimated completion time: 3-7 days]

[Skill failed to take effect. Now entering cooldown. Cooldown duration: 5 minutes.]

Later, Reg brought back the potion Chu Jiu had made.

Reg wasn't in a rush to return to Emerald Town, instead staying behind to help chop trees, saw boards, and plane wood...

"Therefore, the projection must have a time limit and must be terminated before your body reaches its limit."

[The attack power far exceeds the range the host can defend against. Please be highly vigilant!]

Chu Jiu looked down at the bowtie and exclaimed, "Wow! Little Can is amazing! You can even do this!"

"That place... I heard it is infested with very dangerous monsters," Douglas said.

Half a minute later, a neat, full, and beautiful bowtie appeared under the little cat's paws.

And there was Grandpa Du. Although he didn't understand carpentry and couldn't even read the instructions on the parchment because he was illiterate, he still watched intently as Douglas measured dimensions and made the frames.

In short, rather than an "Apiary Construction Manual," it was more of a "Beekeeping 101" that even a novice could understand; one just needed to follow the contents of the parchment step by step.

That insect net, which could perfectly intercept giant blood-sucking mosquitoes, was torn apart like a little toy; those toxins that could cause unbearable pain were swallowed by the Grotesque Insect as if it were just cleaning its teeth.

And so, Chu Jiu, carrying a cat in formal wear and holding a basket of potatoes, arrived at Douglas’s house.

The dodo bird bobbed its neck, flapped its wings, and turned back toward the forest to forage.

He paused, then added, "I can bring him over tomorrow."

"Marco, if you can find such a person, please ask him to come to the village to work. How much would it cost?"