70: Dealing with ear mice
Su Chen loved making friends; for him, this was an opportunity.
He might as well take the chance to poach a few over.
While the peerless prodigies might be hard to budge, fooling a few ordinary ones into joining would still be a profit.
Although the quantity of lottery tickets they provided would still be worlds apart from the Empress, it likely wouldn't be a small amount.
As long as they stayed together, there was room for value.
Just imagine, which is more valuable: getting 0.01 tickets a day from a friend, or getting 1 to 5 lottery tickets?
If he poached a few more geniuses, they would give him tickets one by one during daily meals or missions.
That's when quantitative change leads to qualitative change. Wouldn't it be great to suddenly get fifty, sixty, or even a hundred tickets?
Isn't that better than a group of people struggling for ages just to save up one ticket?
Accumulating small amounts could also speed up the process; otherwise, if he kept relying on those with E-Rank Talents, they would struggle for a whole year and still hardly save enough for 100 lottery tickets.
Before, his strength was insufficient, but this time was different.
He had the strength; was making that group of geniuses marvel even a challenge?
The plan to poach a few geniuses was feasible.
It just so happened to be a perfect opportunity to do it on the side.
He needed to hurry up and try to fool a few into joining during this mission.
Beside him, Yang Junlong watched his boss lost in thought, and an involuntary chill rose from the depths of his heart.
What is Boss plotting now?
Thinking back to how Su Chen fell silent right after hearing the word 'Genius'...
Could it be... Boss wants to take the chance to eliminate a few?
We have no grievances or enmity with them, so it shouldn't go that far, right?
It's possible... his family also started out in business, and he understood the logic that the fewer competitors there are, the stronger one becomes.
It's just like a competition. If you take second place, why is that?
It's not because you're strong, but because only two people entered the race.
By the same token, the fewer geniuses of the same generation there are, doesn't that also highlight one's own power?
Boss is a bit ruthless; is this still the Boss I know?
Probably not... but this mindset, I like it... 'Ding, gained Yang Junlong's favorability, lottery ticket +1.'
..."Over here! Over here!"
"Weiyu, hurry up and use your ability to block it!"
"Ah! Yang Junlong, you idiot! With your skills, you're a First Rank? You can't even catch a rat!"
Su Chen's group had just arrived at the outskirts of the Xingtai Mountain Range when they found an Ear Rat.
It had white fur and red eyes, was about the size of a rabbit, had a pair of rabbit ears, and an extremely long tail. Using the advantage of its tail, it could fly for short periods.
This caused a great deal of trouble for the three of them during the capture.
While the three of them were capturing it, Su Chen watched from the side and chose not to intervene.
His strength was currently growing rapidly, and he possessed three types of elemental abilities; dealing with this kind of small exotic beast was a matter of a mere flick of his fingers.
So, he wanted to take this opportunity to train the three of them.
Seeing the Ear Rat about to escape, Xiao Qian controlled Ghost to fly over and cut off its path.
Although a spiritual body couldn't actually block it, the Ear Rat didn't know that. It controlled its ears to condense an energy wave attack.
The attack completely missed, making it frightened; it spun in place and ran back the way it came.
Wang Xiaoting seized this opportunity. With a lunging pounce, her palm touched the Ear Rat, and she simultaneously activated her ability.
A Magnetic Effect was generated between her and the Ear Rat.
The Ear Rat had been dodging and running everywhere, but its body suddenly suspended in mid-air and flew toward Wang Xiaoting.
Wang Xiaoting was also ruthless; once the Ear Rat was pulled in, she directly grabbed it in a reverse bear hug.
Foul-smelling saliva dripped onto her face, but she didn't care.
Even as the creature scratched through her clothes, she had no intention of letting go.
"Yang Junlong, hurry up and hit its head! Hit it! Hurry!"
*Thwack!*
Yang Junlong made a mistake and hit Wang Xiaoting on the head with his staff.
"Yang Junlong, where are you hitting!"
"Mistake, mistake! Stand still! You keep swaying around, I can't aim!"
"I'm truly done for, being stuck with a teammate like you!"
Wang Xiaoting, having been hit with the staff, saw stars for a moment. Her grip loosened, and the Ear Rat escaped.
However, Xia Weiyu, who was nearby, found an opening. A Water Bullet shot out from her hand, piercing the Ear Rat's head. Its body fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and went silent.
Not bad, the Empress's judgment is indeed solid.
Finding the attack angle was just right.
She struck just as the Ear Rat jumped into the air, a moment when it couldn't dodge.
The Empress's combat talent was still very strong; even if her talent hadn't evolved yet, she still possessed keen judgment... "Yang Junlong, you have this much trouble dealing with a single rat, and you claim you've fought a Fourth-tier Exotic Beast solo?"
"You're still talking? If you hadn't been moving around just now, how could it have turned out like this?"
"My strength hasn't even reached First Rank yet. Do you think I have a lot of spiritual energy in my body, or that I'm very strong?"
"It's precisely because you kept causing trouble that it was so difficult. Catching one Ear Rat took forever."
"I caused trouble? The main credit for being able to catch this thing is mine, and you say I'm a troublesome nuisance..."
Yang Junlong and the other person started bickering again, one complaining about the other causing trouble, while the other had a pile of crooked logic.
This argument left Xia Weiyu unsure whether she should try to mediate or just ignore them.
"Don't mind those two. Deliver a finishing blow and pack up the Ear Rat."
Following Su Chen's guidance, Xia Weiyu began to process the Ear Rat's corpse.
Su Chen taught her very carefully, making her feel it was extremely useful.
When the processing was finished, the other two were still arguing, so she didn't disturb them.
Xia Weiyu took the water bottle from her waist, and after a moment's thought, she gave it to Su Chen first.
"Su Chen, you've been tired all day, have some water."
"Thanks."
Su Chen took a small sip; it was slightly sweet, so something must have been added.
"Sorry Su Chen, we're a bit weak and dragged you down."
"It's fine. Everyone has their time as a newcomer. You'll get used to it with more practice.
That Water Bullet move of yours just now was quite good. You acted decisively, and its power has also increased, much stronger than a few days ago."
Being praised by Su Chen made her feel inexplicably happy: "It was just luck, I didn't think it would hit at the time."
'Ding, gained Xia Weiyu's favorability, lottery ticket +100.'
Seeing Su Chen constantly smiling, Xia Weiyu asked curiously: "Did you encounter something happy?"
"No, seeing you happy makes me happy."
Yeah, if you're happy, I profit, so how can I not be happy... Yang Junlong and Wang Xiaoting argued for a long time, and their mouths were dry, so they finally stopped bickering.
If I can't afford to provoke you, I can afford to hide from you.
"Boss, it's almost dark. Let's rest first. Dealing with one today is already beyond expectations."
Su Chen looked at the sky and nodded in agreement:
"We can rest first."
As it got darker, visibility would be obstructed, and the difficulty of capture would increase.
Coming here today was about getting familiar with the environment. Having dealt with one and gained experience, summarizing and reflecting would make subsequent captures much more convenient.
Moreover, his mind wasn't on the mission right now.
The 10,000 consecutive draws were long overdue. He would use the rest time to draw them first.
Mm, I feel that with this lottery draw, my strength will take another qualitative leap.
The Empress is indeed the Empress; she has shown me a new world once again.
Let's see what rewards can be given.
There's also the marrow cleansing fruit; it can be drawn in this 10,000-draw session as well.