Chapter Forty: Development

The creatures within the cavern resembled toads, but their bodies were covered in folds and wrinkles. This unique physique allowed them to expand themselves greatly, enabling them to swallow their prey whole in a single gulp. Fortunately, their numbers were few—only eight. After sacrificing five of his followers, he was able to dispatch them with ease.

[Your tribe has achieved its first victory]
[You have conquered your first territory]
[Your leadership has brought your tribe one step closer to civilization]

Having eliminated the immediate threat, Li Shan swiftly searched the entire cavern. When he found nothing dangerous, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. This batch of followers was truly difficult to lead. He disengaged the following status and began to ponder his next move.

“Progress bar?” As he mused, he suddenly noticed that his progress bar was different from when he was underwater.

[Prompt: Would you like to enter the next stage?]
[This stage will simulate your behavior patterns]
[Note: There is a risk of extinction]

When he focused his gaze, these two prompts appeared before him. Li Shan thought for a moment and understood their meaning. By selecting the next stage, his actions in this phase would be projected onto his tribe, and they would act according to his behavioral model.

“Brothers, I finally understand how to play on land.” Once he figured it out, Li Shan addressed his fans in the livestream.

‘Old Demon truly knows his stuff.’
‘He’s got it again, I’ll just sit back and watch him show off.’
‘You’d better keep an eye on your group of artificial idiots—I just saw one run off.’

Li Shan ignored the barrage of comments and set out with three followers, leaving the cavern behind. The most pressing matter now was to find a source of food. If he didn’t discover edible plants, his dim-witted followers would surely end up eating him instead.

He emerged from the cavern and entered the forest. The trees in this area were not tall, but they grew densely. Many bore fruit, their colors unusually vivid, resembling stars illuminating the world.

Whenever he encountered a fruit he hadn’t seen before, he picked one and handed it to a follower. After making a circuit of the woods, he had gathered twenty fruits of different hues. Seeing that he had collected nearly all the fruits in the forest, Li Shan led his followers back to the cavern. Initially, he intended to simply leave them and move on, but after some thought, he felt uneasy. He hid the fruits in a narrow crevice to prevent his followers from mistakenly eating them.

Having finished, he left the cavern once more, this time with ten followers. Entering the woods again, Li Shan ignored the fruit, instead carefully searching for signs of other creatures.

Fans in the livestream now understood his intent.

‘Li the Old Demon isn’t trying to catch white mice, is he?’
‘Nonsense, he’s obviously searching for the Divine Farmer.’

Seeing that some had already guessed his purpose, Li Shan did not conceal it and explained:

“My goal has two parts.”
“One, as mentioned in the comments.”
“The other is to train the tribe’s combat abilities.”
“With greater strength, the chances of survival increase.”

After clarifying, Li Shan soon found traces of other creatures.

“These trees have been gnawed, so they’re probably herbivores.” With that, he quickened his pace, following the trail.

Before long, he found his target on a small slope—a group of rodents, each only as tall as an adult’s calf, about twenty in total. Li Shan did not rush in. Instead, he and his followers studied the terrain carefully. After confirming there were no burrows and that these rodents couldn’t dig, they surged forward.

Though they had just come ashore and his followers were somewhat slow-witted, their combat power was not lacking. With superior genes, they easily overpowered ordinary creatures. The surprise attack made the capture effortless.

Apart from those that escaped or were accidentally killed, Li Shan managed to catch seven. It seemed a bit few, but he dared not bring more, fearing he’d lose control of the situation.

“This will have to do. It’s not a lot, but it’s barely enough.” With that, Li Shan led his followers back to the cavern.

He had his followers secure the captured rodents and began testing the fruits one by one.

‘Old Demon is ruthless.’
‘Oh, when will the mice rise up?’
‘The mice are so cute, why not stew them all together? I bet they’d be delicious.’

Amidst a barrage of comments, Li Shan tested most of the fruits.

As for which were poisonous and which were safe, it was clear by whether the rodents’ health bars diminished. Soon, all seven rodents had perished. The result: he learned three types of non-toxic fruit. This was an initial solution to the food problem.

“All right, brothers, I think surviving the next stage shouldn’t be an issue. Let’s try it once and see how it goes.” With that, Li Shan clicked to start the next stage.

His perspective quickly shifted to a god’s eye view. The actions below sped up. Li Shan watched as his tribe, besides searching for food, only hunted ‘white mice.’ This seemed to become a ritual of special significance.

During this process, other species around the cavern dwindled. His followers grew stronger through constant hunting, but the tribe’s numbers never increased; in fact, they decreased.

Li Shan was speechless.

‘Ha! As expected from Old Demon’s tribe—what flair!’
‘The drug-testing ritual turned into a custom—ridiculous.’
‘Whoa! This game is fascinating, I’m going to try it.’

“Unexpected, unexpected, brothers, this was just a mishap.” Seeing the comments, Li Shan hurried to explain:

“A minor mistake is normal for the first time.”
“Now that I understand the game mechanics, watch me dominate the world next.”

As he finished, the game screen froze on his pyramid-shaped tribe, unable to catch any more white mice and preparing to migrate elsewhere.

His perspective returned to his body.

[Under your guidance, your tribe has developed great interest in various plants]
[They continue to experiment]
[Your tribe has gained a basic understanding of flora]
[Acquired talent: Herb Testing]
[Can now simply judge whether food is edible]
[In constant battle]
[Your tribespeople have grown individually stronger]
[But civilization’s progress does not rely on individual might]
[Population is the foundation]
[Compared to before, your tribe is steadily declining]