Chapter 22: The Second Source

Pierre nodded.

"Boss, didn't you just say that you couldn't find live earth-vein creatures in Hogen City? Isn't this it?" Having received an affirmative answer, Gao De was happy in his heart.

"This counts too?" Pierre couldn't understand.

In his cognition, the earth-vein creatures Gao De wanted to "buy" were either earth-vein creatures that could be used as ingredients or earth-vein creatures that could be used as pets.

How could this kind of worm living in the sewer count? Earth-vein creatures are extremely dangerous, but they are all isolated outside the city, and there will be magic users regularly patrolling and cleaning around the city to ensure that earth-vein creatures will not easily approach human settlements.

So under normal circumstances, earth-vein creatures will not appear in the city, and if they do, they are basically controlled.

Only earth-vein creatures like the Gray-Eyed Mouse that have no threat to humans are the exception.

Although they possess earth-vein creature bloodlines, because they have no threat, they are no different from ordinary animals in human eyes.

The Dark Swamp Crawler is also this type of earth-vein creature.

Of course, this type of earth-vein creature is extremely rare, and most earth-vein creatures are extremely dangerous.

How can this not count... Gao De muttered in his heart, of course, he would definitely not say so on his lips.

"Since this kind of worm is good at hiding, how do you usually clean it up?"

"Either use a lot of boiling hot water to flush the sewers to drive away and clear some worms."

"Or use insecticide, dilute it and inject it into the sewer to kill these Dark Swamp Crawlers," Pierre spread his hands and said.

"It's just that these Dark Swamp Crawlers, because they are earth-vein creatures, have extremely tenacious vitality. If you use the hot water flushing method to drive them away and clear them, it often takes a lot of time, so under normal circumstances, insecticide is used for cleaning."

"Is insecticide very expensive?" Gao De grasped the key.

"That's not it," Pierre shook his head, "but it's just medicine used to clean up worms, how expensive can it be? If the price is high, no one will buy it, at most spend more time."

"Then?" Gao De saw that Pierre was very troubled by this task.

"Mainly because the sewer place stinks and is dark and damp, who is willing to go..." Pierre said helplessly.

Gao De suddenly realized.

Those who can open a shop in the commercial district to do business are all considered to have some family background, and usually they are barely considered "pampered."

Suddenly asking such a person to go to the "dirty place" of the sewer to clean up worms, they must be annoyed in their hearts.

Those larger shops are fine, they can hand this work to the shop assistants.

Pierre was miserable; his grocery store, except for him as the shop manager, had no shop assistants at all.

And the city guards were notified temporarily, and it will be Trading Day in two days. The time is so tight that he has no time to hire a temporary worker and can only do it himself.

"2 Three-Leaf Flower silver coins, you provide the insecticide, I will help you clean up the Dark Swamp Crawlers." Gao De's opening was beyond Pierre's expectation.

"You are interested in earning this kind of money?" He couldn't help but be surprised.

"Why not?" Gao De spread his hands and asked: "Are you unwilling to pay this money?"

2 Three-Leaf Flower silver coins to clean up Dark Swamp Crawlers, to be honest, this price is on the high side.

Changing to a normal season, generally one silver coin plus a few copper coins can hire someone, but now the time is tight, and Pierre naturally will not care about this price difference.

"If you don't dislike the environment of the sewer and are willing to take this kind of work, I naturally can't ask for more," Pierre said happily.

"Then it will be today. I will finish cleaning up the Dark Swamp Crawlers for you before leaving," Gao De was calm on the surface, but couldn't wait in his heart.

"Good, it just so happens that there are still a few bottles of insecticide in the shop, you can take them and use them directly," seeing Gao De so active, Pierre had even more reason not to object.

Taking the insecticide, Pierre took Gao De to the Hogen City sewer entrance closest to the grocery store.

Compared to his previous life, the sewer system in this world is still very simple and lacks systematicity, and is far from the sewer facilities in the modern sense, and the entrance is even more casual—some sewage outlets set at the bottom of buildings or street corners.

It is called a sewage outlet, but in fact, it is just some simple holes, directly connected to the stone-built pipes in the shallow underground, without protective measures such as manhole covers and grilles.

The hole itself is not big, only enough for one person to pass through.

When the wind blows, a foul smell will drift from the hole, making Pierre take two steps back involuntarily, covering his nose and mouth with his right hand.

This smell is naturally not easy for Gao De either.

But he took the money and did the work, so he took a deep breath and drilled into the hole.

As soon as he entered the sewer, the foul smell mixed with countless odors came to his face. Even though Gao De was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help but dry heave twice.

Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to eat, the ancestors did not deceive me.

Fortunately, Gao De's main purpose was not to earn those two silver coins, but to come for the Dark Swamp Crawlers. The reason he opened his mouth to charge money was first to rationalize his behavior, and second, not to earn money if he can.

The sewers of Hogen City extend in all directions, and the damp ground feels wet and slippery when stepped on, making people feel disgusted.

Not to mention that it is narrow here, there is almost no light, and it is difficult to distinguish the direction.

Besides the insecticide, Pierre also provided a hand-held oil lamp for Gao De to use for lighting.

With the light at the entrance as a reference, Gao De soon distinguished the direction.

According to Pierre's instructions, he carefully stepped on the narrow and slippery moss-covered pipe walkway.

After passing two intersections, he came to a sewer corner.

Above is the location of Pierre's Grocery Store, and the sewer section in front of him is what Pierre needs to clean.

Gao De confirmed that the location was correct and quickly took out the insecticide given by Pierre.

Insecticide is not as precious as magic potion, and because its main role is to be injected into the sewer sewage to kill insects, the specification is larger.

For example, this bottle of insecticide is a full pint (20 ounces), close to 600 milliliters.

Gao De unscrewed the bottle cap and installed the matching special nozzle, which is equipped for precise application.

But for the first time, he did not set his target on the Dark Swamp Crawlers that might be hiding in the cracks of the pipe wall, but aimed at the worms that might be hiding in the sewage at the bottom of the pipe.

It just so happens that he can do a test he has long wanted to do.

—Does the acquisition of this source necessarily require him to kill it with his own hands, or can it also be done by "props" used by him? Gao De sprayed the insecticide into the turbid muddy water, stirring up circles of ripples.

The efficacy of the medicine spread rapidly through the water flow.

After Gao De sprayed about 10 ounces of insecticide, he lifted the oil lamp to illuminate the water surface, staring intently at the flowing sewage, waiting quietly for something.

A few minutes later, a section of worm corpse emerged from the water with a "gurgle" sound and was carried by the sewage toward the drainage outlet outside the city.

Gao De knew that the efficacy of the insecticide had taken effect.

He calmed his mind and immediately focused his attention on his mind.

Source:

0-circle—【Human】 (1/7), 【Gray-Eyed Mouse】 (used), Dark Swamp Crawler (2/7)

Spells:

0-circle—【Mage Hand】, 【Mending+】, 【Acid Splash】, 【Ray of Frost】, 【Resistance】

Sure enough, it doesn't necessarily have to be killed by one's own hands to acquire source!

This is great news for Gao De.

Because if it must be killed by one's own hands to acquire source, it would mean that using magic potion or other magical items to kill would not be able to acquire source.

This is definitely a big limitation for magic users.

People are happy when they have happy events.

Gao De was instantly motivated.

With a thought in his heart, the insecticide in his hand floated up from thin air.

"Mage Hand"! Casting Mage Hand, controlling the nozzle of the medicine to approach the cracks in the sewer pipe wall, and then pulling the nozzle, the insecticide instantly turned into a fine mist-like spray, spraying into the cracks.

Those Dark Swamp Crawlers hiding in the cracks and some ordinary worms began to show abnormal reactions the moment they touched the medicine, beginning to struggle and twitch, trying to escape this sudden fatal attack.

However, the efficacy of the medicine was powerful, rapidly penetrating their skin and reaching the nervous system, making the worms lose their vitality in a short time, gradually becoming limp and losing their life.

It's just that most of them are ordinary worms, and the number of Dark Swamp Crawlers is still not many.

Gao De advanced step by step along the pipe, meticulously spraying every crack area, and at the same time injecting medicine into the sewage.

With the help of Mage Hand, Gao De's work efficiency was extremely high, and he completed the cleaning work of this sewer section in a few minutes.

A faint chemical smell permeated the air, and the active ingredients of the insecticide will continue to work for a period of time. Although it is impossible to cure it once and for all, at least it prevents the worms from making a comeback in a short time.

And the second source had already been collected.

Source:

0-circle—【Human】 (1/7), 【Gray-Eyed Mouse】 (used), 【Dark Swamp Crawler】 (7/7)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 23 =====