Later in the Morning.

  Standing on a sand dune, Yu Zhiye reeled in his empty hook and blankly stared down at the spot where a few stones were piled together.

  That was the mark he left near his fishing zone yesterday to make it easier to locate the new fishing spot, but unlike the past days...

  Today, he has been fishing around for a while, but he still can’t find any fishing spot!

  “Where did that quicksand pit go? Did it move way farther out or did the pattern change?”

  Yu Zhiye didn’t know, but he knew this whole fishing game just got that much more annoying.

  “Well, I guess I can’t always expect Lady Luck to smile at me.”

  At least there were still smiles from others.

  “Yo Steve! Not fishing today?”

  Yu Zhiye turned to see the friendly Uncle Jack and the cheery Miss Highschooler bouncing his way. He casually greeted them.

  “Morning, you two are heading out early today?”

  “Yeah, gotta risk it for the biscuit!” Jack then patted Miss Highschooler on the head. “And since the little missy woke up as agreed, we can start our adventure early.”

  Xiao Shuling pouted. “Eih! Uncle, don’t say it like this miss can’t wake up! Ling’er is a big girl and can wake up whenever!”

  “Yeah, yeah, little missy can wake up even without an alarm. Bwahaha!”

  Getting a teasing look from both men, the ashamed Xiao Shuling stomped her boots like a little girl throwing a tantrum and went behind Jack to push him forward.

  “Go, go! Uncle, stop talking! It’s adventure time!”

  “Hey, little missy, no need to be so impatient! No need to be so impatient! Bwahahaha!”

  After letting Miss Highschooler push him a few steps forward, Jack turned back and threw out another invitation.

  “Yo Steve, since you’re not fishing, wanna come with us today? I’m sure we’ll get to the ruins by noon at the latest!”

  Yu Zhiye was tempted but still firmed his will to follow a certain senior brother’s steady and stable doctrine.

  “Naw, I’m good. I’ll settle down after I find a good spot. You can tell me all about your adventure once you get back.”

  That wasn’t the answer any party leader was looking to hear, but Jack laughed it off and waved farewell. “Aight, if you say so. Catch ya later then.”

  “Bai bye big brother~”

  Though their faces still had smiles, Yu Zhiye still felt there was a growing division between them.

  Suddenly, inspiration hit him.

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  “Wait!” He took out the stone axe he crafted. “Here, Jack, take this. You might need it.”

  Jack looked at the weapon that was being handed over with surprise written all over his face. “Sheesh. Where did you get such a handy tool, Steve?”

  “Fishing.”

  “Fuu?! From fishing?!” Xiao Shuling is utterly stunned.jpg!

  Even Jack felt it was unbelievable, but considering this was a magical world…

  “Well, I’ll be damned. Anything goes, I suppose. Looks like there’s all sort of loot down there, ain’t that right?”

  “Who knows.” Yu Zhiye had no intentions of revealing more.

  Jack didn’t pry any further and went back to discussing the ax.

  “This... Steve, you sure you want to give that to us? You can keep it for self-defense…”

  “Naw.” Yu Zhiye shrugged. “Not much use keeping it here. Just treat it as me doing my part as a member of the team… or just treat me like your angel investor.”

  “Yeah? Then I’ll take you up on that offer. Bwahahaha!” Jack smiled and unceremoniously accepted the ax.

  Exploring the unknown might get dangerous and it was always nice to have a weapon on hand.

  With that, the party parted on happy terms.

  The uncle-niece pair went down one side of the sand dune and Yu Zhiye trudged down the other.

  Compared to the adventure out there, his aspirations were almost as boring as a hermit’s life, but Yu Zhiye still decided to stick to it.

  This wasn’t discipline. It was logic.

  The growth of his power hinged on fishing, not exploring. If he wanted that observatory constructed by tonight or tomorrow, he must focus on foraging core energy.

  Besides… adventuring has too much risks. Who knows if the desert ruins would be booby-trapped with TNT!

  Safety first, right? Let others explore the way first. Anyways, there wasn’t just two ruins.

  According to Jack, there was one in each cardinal direction, for a total of four. It isn’t too late to go explore the latter two once the guidebook is ready.

  And if he doesn’t get the chance, it doesn’t matter. An evil capitalist will always find ways to make sure all the profit eventually flow into his own pockets!

  Just like this time. Though there were many reasons, his main goal was obviously to invest for profit!

  And since he can craft another ax anytime, there’s not much loss even if this investment is lost!

  Low risk with potentially high profits, why not take it?

  Even better? Once there’s a good opportunity, the same model can be applied to the rest of the sheep here…

  A noob carries the ax to chop wood himself. A pro sells the ax to have others chop wood for him!

  This was the power of capitalism! And this power was in his hands!

  Little Devil Yu Zhiye: Mwahahaha!

  Little Angel Yu Zhiye: Facepalms. Quit wasting time! Get to work!

  Get to work he did.

  But instead of carpet searching even further outwards, Yu Zhiye doubled back around to search in another direction.

  This shrinks the area of coverage to avoid a blind search to infinity and beyond out there.

  As for the chances of finding a fishing spot nearby? That’s up to the heavens above and author beyond.

  “Meh. Even if I don’t find any, that’s fine. Just make it a cobblestone gathering day…”

  Shame that he’ll miss out on points, but just with the passive daily altar income alone, he should have enough core energy to build the observatory after five days.

  And by then, stone collection should be done as well.

  But that’s the worst case scenario. Things can turn out much better if a lucky somebody falls in somewhere...

  As if on cue, Yu Zhiye heard a ruckus happening on the other side of the store. His eyes lit up. Did somebody fall in?

  Like a shark smelling blood, Yu Zhiye quickly headed over and his ears soon picked up on the curses from some angry men.

  “...Damn hole! I almost twisted my ankle!”

  “Ohoho. At least you didn’t fall in. Brother Tae, a hand here please?”

  “Madaraka! Which asshole dug these pits near the exit?! If I find out which beeatch that was, I’ll kick ya arse to the moon!”

  Yu Zhiye froze on the spot then turned around and quickly walked the other way.

  Somebody fell in? Yup, that’s got nothing to do with him!

  Back to searching!

  But it wasn’t long after he started that Yu Zhiye heard somebody hollering for him. He looked back to see Lackey B hopping up and down from afar, waving around and trying to get his attention.

  “Hurry! Hurry! Get over here! Boss fell in!”

  Fell in again? Yu Zhiye’s lips twitched. The pits he dug weren’t even that deep, especially after they got partly refilled by sand!

  Did they really need his expertise for that?

  Probably not, right? If that’s the case, then…

  Did somebody fall into quicksand again? So soon? Was there one this close to the store?!

  Excitement flashed through Yu Zhiye’s eyes and he hurried over.

  Fishing zone, here comes Grandpa Yeye!