Chapter 28: Freeloading

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“As expected of you, bro. You’re so fast,” said Yang Kuifeng with a smile. “I came over as soon as I heard the noise, but I couldn’t make it.”

Jiang Cheng thought to himself, ‘He’s already calling me bro. How friendly. Since that’s the case, would it be impolite if I don’t take something from him? After all, shelter folks are civilized people.’

Jiang Cheng flashed a friendly smile and exclaimed, “Hey, bro! Did you just get off the Terrawheeler? You’re here so early, I almost didn’t hear you!” Before he climbed down from the giant tree, he glanced up and called out to Tong Xiaorou, who was waiting at the tree hole’s entrance. “Xiaorou, bring Yaya down with you, just watch your step.” However, he was not worried that the girls could not get down from the giant tree since he had already made a flight of stairs and the tree was tilted.

Yang Kuifeng explained, “No, I was on the other side. I’m a security guard at the shelter, so I rarely go on Terrawheeler. I usually sleep in my power armor in auto-pilot mode on. ” He then laughed in embarrassment. “Bro, actually—”

Jiang Cheng, who had already landed on the ground at that moment, said, “I wanted to invite you over to try my cooking last night, but I didn’t want to disturb you.” He pretended to make a hand gesture and recited some incantations before pointing at the spot where Liang Xin had dug the previous night.

FWOOSH!

A huge campfire materialized out of thin air, the flames reaching over two meters in height.

Yang Kuifeng perked up with anticipation as he looked on. He smiled and spoke up, “I was swamped last night. Whenever our Terrawheeler stops at a place, we have to work tirelessly until daybreak before we can rest. Is this what you use to cook your meals, bro? It’s quite impressive. I don’t see any smoke, so I assume it’s powered by Evonergy, right? Sadly, the powers of Evolvers are still shrouded in mystery. It involves their willpower and is entirely unpredictable.”

“I hope I’m not embarrassing myself, but my special power does relate to culinary arts. However, as you said, Evolver’s powers are mysterious. Right now, I’ve only figured out how to make barbecues,” Jiang Cheng replied with a grin. “We haven’t had breakfast yet. Why don’t you stick around for a bit? I’ll cook up some roast meat, which happens to be my specialty.”

“I couldn’t impose…” Although Yang Kuifeng declined, he already took a seat a few meters away.

He didn’t take off his powered armor, he just unlocked his dual mechanical arms, stretching them out to both sides, freeing his arms. “The system does not allow us to take off our power armor at will. Please don’t mind, bro.”

“No worries,” Jiang Cheng smiled. Just then, Tong Xiaorou came down with Yaya. He immediately called out, “Xiaorou, Yaya, come here and say hi to Uncle Yang.”

“Uncle Yang,” Yaya and Tong Xiaorou hurriedly greeted Yang Kuifeng.

“Howdy, howdy,” Yang Kuifeng replied with a gentle smile. He instinctively reached for his waist where two pieces of white jade were hidden in his power armor. “Here you go, these are artificial Ice Jade made from the fangs of the Frost Python. It can regulate your body temperature when you wear it, and it’s perfect for this weather.” As he spoke, he was about to hand it over to Tong Xiaorou and Yaya.

Jiang Cheng’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly intervened, “Hey bro, what are you doing? How can you give them something so valuable?”

Yang Kuifeng smiled. “It’s not that valuable, just a material harvested from a Class-2 evolved beast. The beast was quite large, and we can make many pieces of Ice Jade with just one of its fangs. Please accept it on their behalf. Otherwise, I’ll feel too bad to stay and eat your food. I know how valuable your food is.”

‘A Class-2 evolved beast?!’ Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth in secret and hesitated for a moment before accepting it. As he held the Ice Jade in his hand, he felt a cooling sensation spread through his body without freezing his palm, which was quite magical. “Thanks, man. This will be a big help. It’s so hot out here, and they’re sweating through the night. With this thing, they’ll be a lot more comfortable.”

He then handed the two pieces of Ice Jade to Tong Xiaorou and Yaya. “Keep these on you at all times, and don’t forget to thank Uncle Yang.”

“Thank you, Uncle Yang.” The two girls were pleasantly surprised as they took the ice jade and obediently followed Jiang Cheng’s instructions.

“Don’t mention it.” Yang Kuifeng smiled. “Actually, we’ve encountered an Evolver with abilities similar to yours before.”

Jiang Cheng’s heart skipped a beat as he cooked the bison meat he had just collected. He was curious, “Oh? What kind of abilities did that person have?”

Jiang Cheng knew nothing about Evolvers in this world, and now was the perfect opportunity to gather information. “His special ability was mainly summoning food ingredients,” replied Yang Kuifeng.

“Summon ingredients?” Jiang Cheng was surprised.

“Yep.” Yang Kuifeng nodded with a smile. “He can summon living evolved beasts, which are food ingredients, from another dimension. I don’t know where that alternate dimension is, but what he summons is indeed an evolved beast. What’s even stranger is that he can process the ingredients of the evolved beast he summons himself, and the food he makes is incredibly delicious. But when we give him meat from other evolved beasts to process, he can’t do it.”

“An alternate dimension? So, he can summon evolved beasts out of thin air?” Jiang Cheng was taken aback. The power of this ability was immense.

“To be precise, they are ingredients. Even though those evolved beasts are incredibly powerful, they are only his ingredients. Once they leave his possession, they vanish into thin air. Unless he kills them himself, they will not remain,” explained Yang Kuifeng with a chuckle.

Jiang Cheng was taken aback. “So, the ingredients only remain if he kills the summoned beasts?” That was far from the image of a powerful Summoner he had imagined that Evolver could have been.

“Exactly,” Yang Kuifeng replied with a smile. “That’s what makes human evolution so fascinating. He can summon unlimited evolved beasts as food ingredients, but only he can use them. However, if he or someone else kills it with his help, the ingredients will remain and can be given away or sold.”

“With his help?” Jiang Cheng picked up the keyword.

“Yes, he has to participate in killing the evolved beasts personally. Otherwise, no one can touch those beasts he summons. Those beasts won’t harm anyone who didn’t participate in the attack. They’re solely focused on killing the Evolver. It seems to be their only mission.”

Yang Kuifeng grinned. “We theorized that these evolved beasts might be Willcrafted Beasts, the existence materialized from the Evolver’s own willpower. But it doesn’t add up. A person’s willpower should have its limits, yet this Evolver can summon an infinite number of beasts. It’s peculiar.”

Jiang Cheng was amazed upon hearing this. Though his own ability was impressive, he had never come across an Evolver with such a remarkable power before. He wondered, ‘Could this Evolver level up by fighting these summoned beasts, gaining experience points for each one he kills? If so, his leveling speed would be much slower than mine.’

“What a strange and magical ability,” Jiang Cheng said as he looked at Yang Kuifeng. “Can you tell me more about other Evolvers?”

“Sure,” Yang Kuifeng replied with a smile. “There’s another Evolver in the same camp where that chef is who has a similarly unique ability. He can make potions that increase height.”