Chapter 151: Only I Know How to Care for Big Sister

Lan Qingyou's head throbbed at the mere thought of these questions.

If Albert could be considered the last human of that era, or rather the last intelligent being, then it was obvious that the Mana Tide had not existed before their time.

This meant that the Mana Tide was likely not a natural phenomenon that erupted once a month like it did now.

If it was not a natural phenomenon, then what was it?

A man-made weather weapon?

Or perhaps a massive, permanent residual spell created by a clash between supremely powerful earthly mages?

This was no idle paranoia.

The mana in this world was simply too abundant, to the point where even an outsider like Lan Qingyou found it unbelievable.

Under such mana-rich conditions, she would not be surprised by anything the native inhabitants capable of wielding advanced magic might have done.

Having absolutely no idea which direction the potential refugees might have fled, Lan Qingyou swiped across the Card in her hand.

Although the Card contained a map that The Fool had meticulously measured step by step.

However, there were still many blank areas, places that The Fool had not yet reached.

For example, the Abandoned Mountains were marked on the map.

But the specific details regarding the ravines, riverbeds, and similar terrain within the mountain range were nowhere near as comprehensive.

After all, The Fool was only one person. Being able to sketch out the general boundaries of the Abandoned Mountains was already an impressive feat, and Lan Qingyou had no right to complain about it.

She knew this perfectly well, so even as she scrolled through the Card, she refrained from starting a conversation in the group chat.

Looking closely, her current position was directly above Gu Xiaobei on the map, situated within the mountain range to the northwest of The Abandoned Land.

If she were the one fleeing, where would she go after teleporting from the location of the Abandoned City?

Heading south was definitely out of the question. After all, if they were forced to flee, there had to be some great terror lurking there.

That meant they had no choice but to press forward to the bitter end, heading toward places that such terrible entities could not reach.

In a mountain range, there would obviously be peaks.

Since they were trying to evade pursuit, heading down the mountain was impossible; they could only go further up.

However, surviving in a place with such a harsh natural environment would likely require meeting numerous conditions.

If it were her, she would definitely prefer finding a col or a mountain hollow, just like her current spot on the leeward side. It would suffer from fewer natural disasters, and the living conditions would be much better.

Wait...

At this thought, Lan Qingyou suddenly realized a possibility.

When she first transmigrated, she seemed to recall seeing someone mention in the World Channel or Regional Channel that their Shelter was located on a snow-swept mountain.

Could those fleeing refugees also be in a similar place?

After all, with the existence of magic, hollowing out a mountain to serve as a refuge was not entirely impossible.

In that case, did she simply need to keep scanning with the Card?

The device did have a terrain scanning function, after all.

Additionally, she needed to keep an eye out for Shelters.

If someone on the chat channel spawned on a snowy mountain, it proved that Shelters could indeed appear in such locations.

Moreover, the origins of these Shelters were highly suspicious in their own right.

The initial twenty billion Shelters sounded like a massive number, but once scattered across the world, it did not feel crowded at all.

After all, a single region spanned anywhere from ten thousand to hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. A mere few tens or even hundreds of thousands of people was simply a drop in the ocean.

The Abandoned Land was a classic example.

While some people were clustered together, it was only natural for there to be situations where not a single soul could be found within a radius of several kilometers.

Perhaps some people had no concept of how vast ten thousand square kilometers truly was.

Put simply, the total area of the dozen or so districts of the capital city from her previous world was only about sixteen thousand square kilometers.

That begged the question: who built these Shelters, and for what purpose?

It could not possibly be that the will of the world personally handcrafted them to welcome their arrival, right?

A moment's thought confirmed the impossibility. After all, an obscure and esoteric concept like the will of the world remained nothing more than a disembodied voice even after they transmigrated.

Right, she would try searching those locations first.

There were still about a dozen days until the next Mana Tide arrived, which was plenty of time for her to scout the surrounding area.

It would not matter even if she found nothing. She could simply return to take cover from the Mana Tide and resume the search once it passed.

The Abandoned Mountains were vast enough anyway. Taking her time to search while bringing Little Spoon along to sniff out more treasures would be quite a pleasant endeavor.

Yes!

Wait! How could I have forgotten about Little Spoon!

At this thought, Lan Qingyou's eyes sparkled as she looked over at Little Spoon, who was currently engaged in a battle of wits and speed against a steel wool scrubber.

With this little guy by her side, finding other things might be difficult, but finding treasure would be an absolute breeze!

After all, if there truly were fleeing refugees, they definitely carried numerous treasures with them.

Considering they left behind the Crucible and other alchemical tools that made even her drool with envy, they must have taken only the highest-tier items with them.

"Little Spoon!"

A bright smile blossomed on Lan Qingyou's face as she looked at the little white mouse backed into the corner of the tent.

Hearing Lan Qingyou's call, the little white mouse shuddered violently before sprinting from the corner straight into her embrace, rubbing and nuzzling against her affectionately.

It even let out a couple of soft squeaks for good measure.

It sounded as if it were complaining to Lan Qingyou about the steel wool scrubber's cruelty.

'We are all family now. There is really no need to treat me like a toy all day long.'

Indeed.

After spending the past couple of days together, the little white mouse had completely accepted its fate.

Even though it had become the pet of this terrifying, flying, upright ape, at least it no longer had to worry about food. It certainly beat being with that fat guy before, where it was forced to work twenty-four hours a day without even getting a crumb to eat.

However, it would be absolutely perfect if that obnoxious Aurora Snowy Owl were not around.

"Once the snow outside stops, big sister will take you out for a stroll to see if we can find any good stuff."

Cradling the little white mouse in the palm of her hand, Lan Qingyou took out a comb with her other hand and began brushing its fur.

Good heavens!

In the month or so since its birth, when had the little white mouse ever been subjected to such a delightful test?

Being brushed! It felt unbelievably comfortable!

Consequently, the little white mouse melted into pure bliss. It happily squeaked its agreement without having heard a single word Lan Qingyou just said.

Thump!

Right as the little white mouse was enjoying Lan Qingyou's premium service, a foot suddenly kicked it flying across the room.

Then, it saw that stupid large bird perching on Lan Qingyou's arm.

'You idiot! You are so heavy, how can you perch on big sister's arm? If you have to perch, go stand on her leg!'

'Just look at how far her arm is bending under your weight!'

'Sigh...'

'As expected, only I know how to truly care for big sister.'