Chapter 189. Demons and Monsters (13) Cleaning up the Battlefield

     Ye Mo knew that people were inherently different, and so were intelligent beings.

     The rich and savory aroma emanating from the grilling meat made the little half-demon drool all over the place.

     Most of the half-demon, once the barbecue was edible, devoured it in large mouthfuls like the little stone monster, exclaiming about the heat as they swallowed. Oil and seasoning smeared their faces. It was the first time in their half-demon lives they had experienced such a feast of flavors, and their crude eating manners would make anyone with a strong sense of cleanliness feel uncomfortable.

     But there were always one or two exceptions.

     The white little mermaid first effortlessly hoisted a skewer with a roasted rabbit leg that was even bigger than their own body. She glanced at Ye Mo, hesitated, and then glanced again.

     Soon, the red little mermaid’s eyes darted around. He picked out two small knife-like tools he could use from the barbecue platter and imitated Ye Mo’s way of slicing off pieces to eat.

     The small knife-like tools were experimental products.

     Spiritual carving was more precise than manual polishing. The resulting tools—miniature versions of daggers, table knives, and the like—not only enhanced strength attributes but also, for the first time, incorporated residual energy from spiritual and speed attributes into the mechanical arrays. 

     This residual power allowed the knife-like tools to have a one-time meat-slicing function for 2 to 3 uses. Upon contact with creatures possessing abilities, it would activate an autonomous mode similar to a machine.

     It could autonomously cut the meat and place it in the mouth.

     The red little mermaid was initially startled, but the deliciousness of the barbecue made him ignore his curiosity about the tools. He also quickly mastered the use of several different utensils, his ruby eyes gleaming with pride.

     The white little mermaid cautiously glanced at Ye Mo and then also learned to use the utensils. She even very quickly and intuitively discovered the magic of the strength amplification. She obediently smiled and thanked her.

     Ye Mo didn’t show much expression on her face, but her heart was melting. Looking at the two little mermaids with their distinct personalities but both with clean, round, bun-like faces, their cheeks puffing out as they ate, her hands itched. She felt a slight urge to poke them.

     Unfortunately, she had never been good with younglings. She had never learned how, not even as a child herself.  

     Too rowdy, and they’re annoying. Too well-behaved, and you’re afraid they’ll cry.

     The delicious food completely quieted the underground cave. After eating halfway through, two or three more half-demons realized their boisterous eating habits, or perhaps simply to follow the trend, and hesitantly joined in using utensils.

     The other two involuntary onlookers, the imprisoned raven demon and the tiny little stone monster, experienced an unprecedented torment since their birth. They desperately absorbed the wood-based spiritual energy in the air, but still felt very hungry.

     Driven by its underdeveloped sense of smell, the tiny little stone monster threw itself into diligent cultivation, striving to refine itself a mouth as soon as possible . From then on, it had a goal to pursue in its sprite life, which was a cause for celebration indeed

     …

     Ye Mo ate some roasted rabbit and temporarily left the basement to collect the scattered wood-based spirit stone resources in the surrounding area and deeper within, storing them all in her belt space.

     When she returned, the little half-demons were all stuffed with round bellies.

     At the white mermaid’s reminder, the little red mermaid and others were reluctant to part with the tools in their hands. They chattered softly about the issue of attribute bonuses, since attribute increase equaled increased strength.

     “These belong to you now. Clean them up, and you can reuse them in the future,” Ye Mo announced.

     Upon hearing this, the half-demons led by the little stone monster immediately became envious, they had only focused on eating just now.

     A very simple barbecue party had greatly relaxed the initially cautious and frightened little half-demons both mentally and physically, and they now had expectations for survival.

     Even the only prisoner showed signs of softening a little, and was hesitating and thinking about how to negotiate or beg for mercy.

     “Grow your brain and don’t eat yourself to death.”

     Facing a pair of eager eyes, Ye Mo decisively sent the remaining few whole roasted prey into the life space to replenish the energy of the plant spirits.

     Then simply divided the half-demons according to their personalities and abilities. The little stone monster guarded the house, cleaned, and studied. The white little mermaid continued to learn water carving. Several little mermaids and little stone monsters continued to explore their own abilities.

     Meanwhile, the bold and agile red-tailed mermaid and the blue fish-headed mermaid were assigned the task of working above ground.

     Before they went out, Ye Mo prepared a set of clothes for them, small cleaning tools with a primary focus on strength attributes, binding ropes with a primary focus on agility attributes, defensive brooches, and two single-use spatial arrays.

     “What’s this?”

     “?”

     The two fish monsters were bewildered.

     The quality of the clothing fabric was excellent, the cut was simple and rough, and it only covered the humanoid parts, leaving the fish heads and tails free. The color choices were inconspicuous dark tones, already much better than the human warriors they had encountered in this world.

     The two little ones weren’t used to it yet, tugging here and pulling there.

     “You will know how to use the tools when you go out.” Ye Mo focused on the disposable space array. It was a thumb-sized round metal sheet with a complicated magic array engraved on it. In the middle was a transparent space crystal core with low energy. It was strung with a gray rope and could be worn or tied around the neck as a “necklace”.

     “When you encounter danger, hold this space array tightly, and the transparent space crystal core will shatter. Then you can teleport to a safe place and wait for me there.”

     The coordinates of the space transfer are in an underground transfer room about 500 meters above the ground.

     It’s not that Ye Mo can’t complete the space array more perfectly and jump N kilometers.

     But she can’t do that.

     The main reason is that the space array requires instant energy to start. Even with Ye Mo’s protection, the two mermaids with very low combat power are not suitable for carrying a lot of energy. The secondary reason, of course, was to save where possible. Space spirit stones and spatial crystal cores were stocked the most, but also consumed the most.

     “The spatial array can only be used once. When you encounter a fight, or when you hear me say the word ‘down,’ then you crush the crystal core.”

     Before Ye Mo’s voice even faded, the more impulsive and reckless blue fish-person had already crushed the transparent crystal core, disappearing in the blink of an eye in front of everyone.

     “…”

     “Idiot!”

     “Wuu wuu wuu, Lan lan(blue) is gone.”

     The one scolding the fish was the red-tailed fish-person. It kept flicking their fishtail, their anger making their eyes even brighter. It brow was tightly furrowed, and behind their thunderous rage was unconcealable worry.

     The two mermaids cried like children. The white mermaid was reluctant to stop carving the stone, and whispered in a baby voice; the little stone monster glanced at Ye Mo from time to time.

     “It fine. She went to the safe house. She was so impatient that she wasted a disposable space array. She will need to make up for it in the future. Don’t learn from her. You may lose your life if you make a mistake next time.”

     The half-demons were relieved. Perhaps they didn’t realize that they trusted Ye Mo too much.

     After letting go of most of their worries, they focused their attention on the space array, with strong desire in their eyes, much stronger than the barbecue just now.

     Combat in this world relied more on instinct, and even swords and blades could amaze them.

     But the spatial array was different.

     The spatial array actually allowed the weak half-demons to possess the teleportation ability they shouldn’t have had, like a unique skill born out of nowhere. For them, it was no less miraculous than humans landing on the moon would be to people in the Tang Dynasty.

     It was too incredible, making the half-demons yearn. Could they also possess such an ability?

     “Wait for me to come back.”

     Ye Mo didn’t explain much. She picked up the red-tailed mermaid, who was in the center of the envious gazes, and left the basement. She didn’t use the spatial array, but instead moved swiftly along walls and ceilings in the dark, winding, and narrow underground tunnels.

     “Wow!”

     For the red-tailed mermaid being carried along, the walls on both sides blurred past at breakneck speed—far more thrilling than any rollercoaster. But he wasn’t scared at all. His eyes widened with excitement, and he clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle any exhilarated screams.  

     Before long, they arrived at the underground transfer room, and Ye Mo “re-harvested” one wailing blue mermaid, who looked at Ye Mo as if seeing a relative.

     “Don’t do that again. The spatial array can only be used once. When you encounter a fight, or when you hear me say the word ‘down,’ then you crush the crystal core.”

     The chastened blue mermaid nodded vigorously.

     Ye Mo gave her another single-use spatial array. The blue mermaid carefully hung it around their neck like a precious jewel, tears still not completely dried in their fish eyes.

     Carrying both of them with one hand, Ye Mo continued to leap upwards.

     Red-tailed mermaid: “Wow!”

     Blue-headed mermaid: “Wuuu—”

     …

     At this time, the sun had long since set above ground. The moon was dim tonight, but the starlight was brilliant.

     Compared to the bottomless darkness underground, the forest illuminated by starlight was bright and beautiful. A gentle breeze blew, the air was fresh, and the two merfolk naturally preferred the forest over the underground.

     However, living in a world full of dangers, being heavily discriminated against, and having experienced life and death, the half-demons had a strong sense of crisis. Compared to the unfamiliar forest, they would rather stay in the dark underground, where the feeling of safety outweighed everything else.

     Fortunately, the two merfolk are worthy of being the most courageous of all the half-demons, and soon they stopped trembling all over.

     Ye Mo drew a large circle in the center of the messy battlefield and assigned this simple task to the two merfolk. After exchanging a glance, they got to work—lifting, gathering, tossing—all while remaining alert.  

     If this were the modern world, it would be employing child labor, but the ages of these half-demons were hardly precise.  

     Living in a realm teeming with spiritual energy, even newly awakened creatures like them were far beyond the capabilities of any ordinary human on Earth.

     With the help of their innate talents, the two merfolk could lift tree trunks hundreds of times heavier than their own bodies.

     The red-tailed mermaid and the blue-headed mermaid worked very diligently. Their perseverance, industriousness, intelligence, ability, alertness, comprehension, and basic learning abilities varied, but they were all better than Ye Mo had imagined.

     Ye Mo also worked very diligently. Although the cleanup work seemed simple, the battlefield from the previous day was too extensive, and mechanical tools like cranes and trailers were indispensable.

     Actually, there was also an Hawk Eye that the half-demons didn’t know about, hidden in Ye Mo’s clothes, working tirelessly.

     Hawk Eye had cooperated with Ye Mo through many life-and-death situations and was her irreplaceable best partner. The two of them didn’t even need verbal communication, a glance or a subtle expression was enough for them to know each other’s thoughts or roughly guess the plan.

     At this moment, Hawk Eye’s work was no less strenuous than physical labor. Its 360° vision patrolled and guarded every blade of grass and every tree within a 50-li radius of the forest, focusing on the few sprites that had been confirmed to be hiding in the shadows.

     It was constantly ready to sound the alarm.