Dong!
With a crisp crack, the window glass shattered, and Jiang Ye jolted awake, sitting up in bed.
He turned to look out the window, his face draining of color.
A purplish-black head, ringed with scarlet eyes, was staring at him through the glass. Terrifying, like a demon!
Dong! The purplish-black head slammed against the windowpane again, emitting a loud thud.
Instinctively, Jiang Ye reached for the repeater shotgun by his bed, pushed the window open with its barrel, and fired directly!
Boom boom!
The purplish-black head didn't dodge; instead, it lunged towards the barrel, directly into the path of the bullet! It exploded on impact!
Scarlet blood splattered across the entire windowpane, countless droplets slowly sliding down the glass.
Jiang Ye was drenched in cold sweat, his hands trembling. A thousand expletives flashed through his mind as he quickly scanned the surroundings from the window.
A monotonous pale-green grassland, the sky a dull gray, with no signs of any living creatures.
What the hell had he just killed?
It felt vaguely familiar, but he was certain he had never encountered such a malevolent being.
Jiang Ye placed a hand over his chest, took two seconds to calm himself, and reloaded the repeater shotgun.
Then, he pushed the base door open a crack and peered outside.
He stepped out of the base, gun in hand.
A purplish-black animal, as large as a human, lay on the ground, bloody and mangled. Fragments of its head were scattered several meters away.
The creature was furry, with a long tail, powerful hind legs, prominent chest muscles, small forelimbs, and a pouch on its swollen belly.
Damn it, a kangaroo? Jiang Ye was greatly startled.
Judging by its body, it did indeed resemble a purplish-black kangaroo. However, its head was nothing like a kangaroo's. It lacked the adorable ears, and instead of two eyes, it had over a dozen, all scarlet, encircling its entire skull.
Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment, then bent down, grabbed the kangaroo's tail, and dragged it forcefully into the base, shoving it into the trading pod.
After a brief scan, information appeared:
[Item: Blood Kangaroo]
[Item Description: Its young are pink, deepening in color as they mature, transitioning through light red, blood red, purplish-red, and finally purplish-black. They are ill-tempered and highly aggressive, prone to initiating attacks on other creatures, often ending up covered in blood, hence the name Blood Kangaroo. Scientist Alimu was the primary researcher of the Blood Kangaroo. During an attack by a pack of kangaroos, his skull was crushed, and he died. According to Alimu's surviving notes, adult Blood Kangaroos can leap 1.7 meters high and can quickly break human ribs. Extremely dangerous.]
[Appraised Value: 10,000 Yuan]
Jiang Ye clicked to sell. His personal assets increased to 1,574,800 Yuan.
This Blood Kangaroo was clearly not a docile animal but possessed a rabid temperament. Its attempt to ram the windowpane was undoubtedly an attack.
Jiang Ye felt a chill of fear, grateful that the base's glass was sturdy. Otherwise, he might be dead by now.
The trench he had dug hadn't stopped this creature from getting in. The reason was simple: it could leap 1.7 meters, while the surrounding trench was only half a meter deep!
Jiang Ye had no desire to be attacked by another Blood Kangaroo; it was too terrifying.
He retrieved a piece of bear meat from the warehouse, quickly fried it, ate it, donned his padded jacket, and went out with his shovel.
He had to deepen the trench immediately!
Deepening the trench from half a meter to one meter took the entire morning.
His arms ached from the effort.
However, a one-meter-deep trench wouldn't stop a Blood Kangaroo, as it could leap 1.7 meters.
Therefore, Jiang Ye needed to build a one-meter-high earthen wall behind the trench. This way, the combined height of the trench and wall would be two meters, enough to deter the damned Blood Kangaroos.
He fried another piece of bear meat for lunch, skipped his nap, and continued working after eating.
Building the wall was slower because he had to pat down the loose soil with his shovel and then trim the wall to be perfectly straight.
Halfway through building the wall, Jiang Ye spotted movement in the distance again.
About a kilometer away, a red animal was hopping around with great vigor.
The animal wasn't large, probably about human height, appearing as a mere speck from afar. But it hopped so much that it was hard to ignore.
Jiang Ye squinted and took a closer look.
Indeed, it was another Blood Kangaroo!
He instinctively took the rifle off his back, raised it, and leveled it.
Just as he was about to aim, Jiang Ye suddenly realized the distance was too great; he couldn't possibly hit it.
The Blood Kangaroo showed no intention of approaching, instead hopping further and further away, disappearing into the distance with cheerful abandon.
Jiang Ye deduced: there were likely quite a few of these creatures in the vicinity.
In Australia on Earth, kangaroos were a plague, outnumbering the human population, forcing Australians to cull them and even sterilize them with vaccines. Jiang Ye had once seen kangaroo testicle keychains sold for a hundred yuan a pair online, with tens of thousands of positive reviews, testament to the sheer number of kangaroos.
He had killed one Blood Kangaroo in the morning and seen another now; the local population must be significant.
Digging the trench had indeed been a wise decision. Without the trench, he might have woken up to find the base's windows surrounded by the scarlet eyes of Blood Kangaroos.
Energized, Jiang Ye vigorously continued building the wall.
He patted the soil down firmly with his shovel and then smoothed the outer wall.
The work was tedious, but the thought of the disgusting Blood Kangaroos fueled his determination.
It took him the entire afternoon to build the surrounding wall up to half a meter high, with another half a meter still to go.
The five-meter gap left during the trench digging, Jiang Ye decided, would be filled with a tall earthen wall. In a critical moment, the base vehicle could smash through the wall to escape. If he didn't build the wall, the Blood Kangaroos could still get in.
Now, from the trench to the top of the wall, there was a height of one and a half meters.
Smaller Blood Kangaroos, at least, should not be able to jump over.
Jiang Ye returned to the base and fried another piece of bear meat for dinner.
The frozen bear meat was quite tough, making it easy to slice into very uniform thin pieces, which fried up even more deliciously.
After a full day in the extreme cold, returning to the warmth of his dwelling, sitting by the stove and eating fried bear meat was a true pleasure!
While eating, Jiang Ye suddenly got a nosebleed.
Bear meat was very nourishing. Eating it all day had been too much, causing an internal heat imbalance.
Jiang Ye felt a bit embarrassed, so he put down the half-pound of bear meat and cut half a watermelon to cool down.
The watermelon had frozen and cracked, becoming an ice watermelon.
After slicing it, each bite was refreshingly cold and sweet.
While munching on the watermelon, Jiang Ye opened the chat channel.
As expected, the order from the Cao County citizen was waiting.
This time, she was smart, not sending催货 (cui huo - reminder to ship) messages every so often like before, because she knew Jiang Ye usually only checked in the evenings.
So, she had only sent one message half an hour ago:
Business is picking up! Today's total order is for 3000 sausages, one warehouse, and one toilet. Please ship as soon as you see this message! Are you still safe over there? Any wild beasts?
Without a word, Jiang Ye clicked on the Galaxy Mall and began buying and shipping the goods.
The profit from the sausages was 120,000, and the warehouse and toilet together earned 100,000.
Half an hour later, the shipment was complete.
The payment arrived simultaneously, and his personal assets rose to 1,794,800 Yuan.
Next, the Cao County citizen transferred another sum, which was her share of the sales profits.
Today's amount was substantial, a full 48,100 Yuan.
Jiang Ye looked at his account: 1,842,900 Yuan.
Jiang Ye was very pleased. At this rate, he would be able to upgrade his base in the next day or two.
It seemed that other people on the planet were also getting rich by gathering resources and were now able to afford purchases.
Cao County Citizen: I saw a wild beast today. I couldn't see it clearly from a distance, but it was hopping.
Jiang Ye: Red? Purple?
Cao County Citizen: Whoa, that's amazing! How did you know!
Jiang Ye: Not only do I know, but I also killed one. That thing is called a Blood Kangaroo. It's very fierce. You can tell it's that thing from its hopping, even from far away. Be careful.
Cao County Citizen: Mmm-hmm, I'm very cautious. Besides going to the restroom, I basically don't go out.