Chapter 46: Strange Mechanical-Flow Player

The atmosphere was eerily quiet.

Initially, everyone thought this "Funeral Chicken" species was an incredible reward. But now, witnessing this scene firsthand, their hearts were deeply shaken.

"How tragic! Who would've thought that after the boss ate you from his lunchbox, he wouldn't be poisoned, but instead would remember your deliciousness..."

"Congrats, buddy! You've successfully acquired the initial new species—'Culinary Chicken on the Tip of the Tongue,' transforming into a dish that tastes like chicken, crispy, and with eight times the protein of beef."

"You spent over ten minutes meticulously creating your character's beautiful face, but no matter how pretty it is... it's just meant to be eaten, and perhaps even make the dish more aesthetically pleasing."

"Honestly, I was eating a late-night snack just now and couldn't help but spit it out when I saw this scene. Although it's pathetic, I couldn't stop laughing like a hyena!"

"Brother, honestly, your first species, the Funeral Chicken, is probably ruined."

Listening to the uproarious laughter and teasing on the forum, Chen Wenshan was utterly dumbfounded. Seeing most of his "Funeral Chicken" tribe snatched away, an overwhelming wave of regret washed over him. "Why did I let him eat me when I was doing fine? Now he's remembered my taste and will come for my species every day..."

"My species is probably ruined..."

His fleeting joy quickly turned to sorrow.

The boss's realism, as if it were a real world, complete with memory capabilities, caused another huge stir among players. Everyone was in an excited frenzy, hotly discussing how the very first evolved species to achieve an accomplishment had now become the boss's menu item.

They needed to learn from this!

Xu Zhi, on the other hand, appeared quite relaxed.

He walked back to his room from the orchard, carrying dozens of quail egg-sized Funeral Chickens. He went to the kitchen, put them in a basket, washed them clean, and quickly plucked their feathers. "Just in time, I'm hungry. These will make a good late-night snack tonight."

It was undeniable that this species, despite evolving to be incredibly poisonous, had also become incredibly delicious. It truly lived up to its design as a creature born for taste, a result of his studies in professional evolutionary knowledge.

Xu Zhi considered his situation perfectly normal.

After all, when people are hungry and farming their land, don't they go out, pick some vegetables, and cook a meal?

These Funeral Chickens were simply his homegrown "vegetables."

Leaving the king behind and eating only some of the populations it had bred was already quite generous.

Xu Zhi put the chickens on to stew, then cracked two eggs into the pot. He smiled calmly as he cooked in the kitchen. "I knew this guy would definitely choose Option One. I've been waiting for you right here."

"Buddy, you're one of my regular recipes now."

He simmered them for half an hour over low heat, then sprinkled some chopped green onions. Eating them one by one, they were unexpectedly fresh and delicious—absolutely delightful.

"It seems I'll have to encourage them to evolve more delicious species in the future," Xu Zhi mumbled to himself. In his view, with his late-stage stomach cancer, being kind to his stomach was what truly mattered.

A delicious late-night snack after practicing sorcery and taking a bath truly felt like an idyllic pastoral life.

He suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right, how about I have them evolve a plant species that grows some delicious vegetables and fruits?"

Honestly, Xu Zhi enjoyed sitting at the entrance of his yard, watching the large sandbox, while casually eating apples, pears, and various other fruits. That kind of life felt incredibly pleasant, happy, and leisurely. If even more delicious fruits could appear now, that would be wonderful...

"It's not impossible to achieve."

Xu Zhi thought for a moment. Most players wouldn't choose to evolve into plants right now, as being immobile severely impacted the gaming experience.

A more critical issue was that current players had fallen into a misconception: they initially wanted to evolve eyes and arms to move, never considering the immobile plant pathway...

"Perhaps I should remind them. These people's effort and resilience are stronger than I give them credit for; they can endure the solitude of being immobile, following the plant path, photosynthesizing..." Xu Zhi pondered, then secretly logged into the game account he had created earlier to enter the sandbox. He posted something under the username "Those who insult me are noted down."

The content was as follows:

"I've been watching all you big shots play, why has no one chosen to evolve into a plant? After all, this world has two major categories, plants and animals, but nobody's pursuing the plant evolution path?"

This single sentence woke everyone up, and instantly, players began discussing it heatedly.

"Holy crap, why didn't I think of that! Plants! Plants!"

"Yeah, it's a brand new continent. Anyway, I died fighting the boss, so I might as well try evolving from a spore again. I could open up an unprecedented new world! I've decided: tonight I'm pulling an all-nighter to research the biological evolutionary structure of plants—chlorophyll, photosynthesis, plasmolysis... I'm going to create a perfect plant!"

"Tomorrow, I'll have a new life. I'll be a tree, standing eternal, without gestures of joy or sorrow. Half peacefully in the dust, half soaring in the wind; half casting shade, half bathing in sunlight. Very silent, very proud."

Xu Zhi was satisfied. Someone was already excitedly pursuing the plant path, and he quietly withdrew, his mission accomplished.

Sure enough, secretly lurking on forums was crucial for understanding the "enemy's" situation and subtly guiding public opinion towards the evolution he desired.

He would let them completely become his free laborers, frantically researching science and evolution theory for him, acquiring knowledge, transforming into little Edisons, sweating 99% until they went bald, exhausting their energy to evolve species for him.

If plants appeared, would delicious fruits be far behind?

Not far at all.

Xu Zhi smiled, continued eating the Funeral Chicken, and began browsing the forum again, observing the species being evolved by the "enemy." He noticed a new promising player, besides "Autumn Mountain Speed," who was worth paying attention to.

It was the player "My Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand, I want to evolve into a Kun," also a well-known participant. This guy was now completely neglecting his main task; he wasn't thinking about evolving into a Kun, nor was he interested in evolving species.

As a seasoned "Minecraft" player, a true casual gamer, he was obsessed with farming and building houses.

He had evolved five tentacles previously, precisely to better serve as an "inventor" or "craftsman."

Of his five tentacles, two were sharp, serrated praying mantis scythe-like structures for cutting trees, one was shovel-shaped for digging, and two were nimble auxiliary tentacles.

The entire creature resembled a tool-making robot.

Building a chair.

*Swish swish swish!!*

Chopping trees, processing, assembling, joining—in just a few minutes, all five tentacles moved in unison, each performing its task. The blur of tentacles completed the manufacturing in an instant, and Xu Zhi was utterly stunned by the sight!

"What on earth did this evolve into?"

"This is a damn machine tool assembly line, like a robotic arm in a factory!"