Chapter 285: Outside the Forest

Kali frowned.

She still wasn't used to the canine girl whose personality had changed so drastically.

To be honest, when the three of them had discussed the cutting-branch maze ritual together before, they got along quite well, and she had a good impression of the girl.

Rod used 【Chain of Far Speech】 to explain the changes in Sharon to her.

It involved the 【Plague Seal】 and the memory-knowledge of Amel.

"This is troublesome. Unlike the tampering of mental spells which leaves traces, the form of digested memories is extremely difficult to remove."

The elf's delicate brows furrowed even deeper.

"She claims she was always this way."

"Even foreign memories have a subtle influence; this might be her failing to recognize herself."

Sharon over there suddenly looked displeased.

She ran over and shoved Kali aside with her bottom.

"What are you two doing, exchanging glances? Talking bad about me?"

Rod ignored her provocation.

"Saving people is the priority. Let's handle Watching Yuna's situation first. Kali, I'm counting on you."

"Have you troubled me with little things before?"

The elf spoke coldly, but her body was honest enough, heading over to the drider to set up the ritual.

Rod couldn't help, so he stepped aside and waited quietly.

"Come to think of it, Amel had deep expertise in soul research. You digested his memories, yet you don't know soul transfer?"

He suddenly remembered and posed the question to Sharon.

Sharon shook her head: "Certain knowledge of soul rituals was deliberately erased from the memories. Perhaps he knew the memories were at risk of being decomposed. However, the basic knowledge is quite rich. If I spend a week, I can research the soul transfer ritual. It's just that these two little spiders won't last a week."

"I see."

Thinking it over carefully, it made sense. Amel's memories were foreign objects after all. If he couldn't defeat the original owner's consciousness and the knowledge in the memories was acquired, wouldn't that be biting the hand that feeds?

"It's not that I don't want to help you save them. Honestly, can't this succubus come off you? Are you two always like this?"

Sharon's expression on her face showed some jealousy.

At this moment, Tally was held by Rod with one hand under her bottom, nestled in his arms, pulling his collar with her hands, and kissing his neck affectionately with slurping sounds.

"Tally is always like this when she's hungry. Ignore her."

"Tsk."

The canine girl clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

Not long after.

The girls in the forest learned of Rod's return and came over to welcome him one by one.

But they weren't as nervous as Kali. It wasn't that they didn't care; they just weren't clear about the situation in the extra-dimensional space.

"Rod!"

Little Pony Girl Little Bangde ran over, followed by Big Squirrel Cui Qian.

One human and one squirrel, expressions excited, spoke in unison: "Do you have any local specialties?"

Rod thought for a moment and pointed to the drider not far away.

Little Bangde was overjoyed: "Roasted spiders!"

Half-Deer Girl Miss Xiao Ke slapped her on the head: "That's not for eating."

She looked at Rod, hands on her hips, expression displeased.

"Another girl? What do you think this forest is!"

"I-I think it's great! It can strengthen the forest's power. I support Master's decision."

Ghoul Pan Ni didn't dare to speak loudly in the crowd, but firmly expressed her support.

The female orc Amy over there hadn't arrived yet. Seeing the large pruning shears stuck in the ground, her eyes lit up, and she lifted them to cut wildly at the void with joy.

Tiefling Cecile let out a gasp and clapped gently beside her.

"Hey, hey, hey, I thought of a great idea that's sure to make the farm earn a fortune. But before that, give me five hundred thousand Jin Along as startup capital."

Banshee Chris floated over, recounting her grand ambitions.

Treant Vivian passed through her spirit body as if nothing happened, making her shiver.

"Hey! Vivian! Didn't I tell you not to pass through my spirit body? It tickles!"

But Vivian didn't pay any attention to Chris.

With a blank expression, she approached Rod and pressed directly against his chest.

Then she lifted her delicate little face, her big eyes shining with Bai Guang, looking innocently and blankly into her master's eyes.

Rod wrapped his arm around the other's waist and smiled, kissing her forehead.

Hearing the noisy chatter of the girls beside him, he felt no irritation at all.

Instead, he felt a sense of satisfaction and relaxation.

"You will die. No, you will absolutely die in bed."

Sharon was dumbfounded, looking at the eight girls surrounding this guy.

"Is that so? But compared to dying at the hands of cosmic beings, I indeed prefer to die on your bellies."

"'Your'? Does that include me?"

"Of course."

Rod leaned close to her ear and whispered softly: "Come to my ranger's hut tonight."

Sharon's ears were always very sensitive. With the warm breath of his words blowing onto them, her body involuntarily went a bit soft.

"Get out!"

Everyone chatted for quite a while.

With their own matters to attend to, they all dispersed separately.

Pan Ni and Chris seemed to have reached an agreement on friendly management, returned to the farm, and busied themselves preparing various matters.

After Miss Xiao Ke absorbed a Spirit Seed, her aptitude increased significantly; recently, she has been very keen on practicing and enhancing her spiritual accumulation.

Cecile went to find Amy to practice combat techniques.

The big squirrel Cui Qian and the pony girl Little Little Bangde were rather mischievous and not the type to stay put, so they went back to the forest to explore again.

Sharon took a scale from the 【Rotting Moon Seed】 and went to Shi Ying Town to prepare the ritual for treating Dimia's mana outburst.

Meanwhile, Vivian also went off to busy herself, as the forest's ascension required arranging a certain number of Fountains of Life.

Only Rod and Tally remained waiting at the original spot.

The succubus had been away from her master for too long and was still absorbing her master's scent.

About another hour passed.

As expected, the ritual was completed smoothly.

Rod went to check.

He saw that Watching Yuna's body had completely collapsed, crouching on the ground like soft mud, unable to even maintain the basic form of muscles and bones.

Meanwhile, her older sister Yufi's body showed faint signs of breathing.

"As for her spider limbs..."

"... they will regrow. The spider-fused part has regenerative abilities; at that time, let Miss Xiao Ke's 【Light Spirit Care】 help, and the healing will be even faster."

Lady Kali wiped the fine sweat from her forehead.

The finger-piercing bracelet on her hand radiated white light in the afterglow of the sunset.

【Mage Hand】 gently lifted the newly revived Watching Yuna.

"She still needs quiet rest; I will arrange for her to be placed in the hospital treehouse over there."

"Troublesome."

"Have I troubled you less than that?"

Rod laughed: "Then you must call me over to help when you ascend to the Seventh Rank; otherwise, I would feel too embarrassed."

"Hmph."

She sneered coldly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"By the way, why is Number Thirteen not seen?"

Neither the zombie Selena nor the rat girl Number Thirteen came out.

The former was understandable; she was burying her head in work in the laboratory to earn money, and Rod had specifically told her not to come.

As for the latter, she had always been following the elf's rear end.

Lady Kali scowled, a trace of anger appearing on her face: "I put her in solitary confinement."

(End of this chapter)