Chapter 204 - 206: Burning Male Competition

Chapter 204: Chapter 206: Burning Male Competition

Everyone was stunned to hear this.

But Si Cheng was the first to react. "Yes, leader. I’ll go find some stones right now."

With that, he instantly vanished from sight.

Seeing Si Cheng leave, Bai Meng also immediately dissipated on the spot in a puff of smoke.

Mo Xuan watched the two of them go off to move stones, having gained no advantage himself. He let out a loud laugh. "Serves them right."

Hearing Mo Xuan laugh, Fu Feng gave him an indescribable look. ’Surely Mo Xuan doesn’t think we won, does he?’

The biggest winner here wasn’t any of them; it was Su Luoluo.

But even so, he found himself thinking what Su Luoluo did was incredibly clever. He was even a little proud of her.

Xiao Ye crossed his arms and looked at Su Luoluo. "You really played your cards right, getting out of it just like that."

Su Luoluo raised an eyebrow. "Get out of what? Isn’t this exactly what you all wanted to see?"

That triumphant little glint in her eyes was utterly captivating.

Xiao Ye felt a tickle in his heart as he watched her.

He absolutely adored this clever side of Su Luoluo.

So much charisma.

As Luan Ting listened, a fond, doting smile appeared on his face.

’Ah, Luoluo,’ he thought, ’she’s getting more and more cleverly mischievous.’

Seeing how quick-witted Su Luoluo was, Xi Yi’s eyes also filled with admiration.

’My little female is really something else,’ he thought. ’The more I look at her, the more captivating she becomes.’

Nantu was also all smiles. No one had gained any advantage... except for Su Luoluo herself.

He found himself admiring her more and more.

With the commotion finally over, Su Luoluo had just resolved the mentally exhausting affair and was about to rest when the system began to chime.

[DING! Congratulations, Host! Nantu’s Heartbeat Value has increased to 200, and his attraction value has increased to 200!]

[DING! Congratulations, Host! Xiao Ye’s Heartbeat Value has increased to 300, and his attraction value has increased to 300!]

[DING! Congratulations, Host! Mo Xuan’s Heartbeat Value has increased to 150, and his attraction value has increased to 150!]

[DING! Congratulations, Host! Luan Ting’s Heartbeat Value has increased to 150, and his attraction value has increased to 150!]

[DING! Congratulations, Host! Fu Feng’s Heartbeat Value has increased to 150, and his attraction value has increased to 150!]

The sudden barrage of chimes left Su Luoluo feeling a little overwhelmed.

’While having the values go up is a good thing, didn’t they increase for the most random reasons?’

"System, what’s with this sudden increase in values?"

They all jumped by at least 50 points at once.

’I remember when they used to crawl up at a snail’s pace, by just 0.001 at a time.’

"Have you forgotten, Host? Your target value is 1000. Although your current values have increased, they are still far from enough. Besides, the Beastmen’s love level is still stuck at ’Drama Brain.’ You need to work harder, Host!"

’If the system hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about that whole 1000-point goal.’

It wasn’t her fault she lacked enthusiasm; the rewards the system had given her so far hadn’t been particularly useful.

So, naturally, she’d started to slack off.

’If my life weren’t literally in their hands, I would have unbound this system and bolted a long time ago.’

’What’s the point of being tied to a stingy, unreliable system? It’s not even that impressive.’

Of course, Su Luoluo could only think these things to herself; she couldn’t dare say them aloud.

Instead, she asked perfunctorily, "What’s ’Love Brain Level 3’?"

"It’s ’Romance Novel Brain.’"

Hearing this, the corner of Su Luoluo’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

’That doesn’t sound normal at all. In fact, it sounds pretty abstract.’

She seemed to recall that people with a "Romance Novel Brain" fell head-over-heels in love easily. During the honeymoon phase, they were practically vibrating with energy, as if glowing from within. But if they got into a fight, they would become completely dejected and listless.

"How am I supposed to handle that? It’s too abstract; I have no idea what to do."

’I can’t just deliberately pick a huge fight with one of them and then wait to see them get all dejected or swing between extreme joy and sorrow, can I?’

"System analysis indicates that one of the targets is already showing these symptoms. Host does not need to take special measures to trigger it."

"Oh, really? That’s great. I don’t have to trigger it? Then what do I do?"

"The Host only needs to guide the target through it after it happens."

"Are you saying I have to do this for every single one of my targets?"

"Not necessary, Host. The system detected this as a bug and has already fixed it. The Host only needs to successfully guide the individual with the ’Romance Novel Brain’ tendency, and everyone will upgrade to ’Romance Novel Brain’ status."

Su Luoluo was utterly confused. ’This stupid system seems like it’s been corrupted or something,’ she thought. ’The missions it’s giving out are getting weirder and more chaotic.’

But that wasn’t her main concern. She only cared about the rewards.

"So, what reward do I get for successfully upgrading them to ’Romance Novel Brain’?"

"Your Water Ability will be enhanced, and there will be an extra-special surprise gift pack."

’Woohoo! An enhancement for my Water Ability is all I need.’

She was already at Level 7. A little more of an upgrade would make her even stronger.

Hearing this, Su Luoluo started to look forward to this "Romance Novel Brain" business after all.

"However, I must remind you, Host, the values must not drop. Otherwise, all your previous efforts will be for nothing."

Su Luoluo nodded. "Don’t worry. I’ll guard those values with my life."

Bai Meng and Si Cheng were incredibly fast. In no time, they returned, carrying long wooden poles on their shoulders and holding hollowed-out stones in their hands.

In perfect sync, the two of them set down the stone pestles. They then grabbed a large handful of rice stalks from the side, placed them inside, and began pounding with the wooden poles. POUND! POUND!

From the sound and force, it was obvious they were putting a lot of strength into it.

Hearing this, the others who had been working at a normal pace immediately sped up.

All sorts of superpowers were rapidly deployed—claws, palms, endless legs...

Blue, green, gold, and white lights flashed into existence all at once. The colorful display looked like a battle between mages.

Su Luoluo suspected they were going to pound the stone pestles into dust.

And sure enough, a moment later, there was a loud CRACK as five or six of the wooden poles snapped.

But the men quickly ran into the forest, stripped some new branches, and got right back to work. THWACK! THWACK!

’I have to admit,’ she thought, ’this subtle masculine rivalry is a great thing for me.’ A huge pile of white rice was hulled in no time at all.

Su Luo, her face beaming with excitement, held up the white rice and announced to the group, "You all did a great job today. Tonight, I’ll show you the magic of cooked rice."

With that, Su Luoluo left with the pile of rice grains.

Hearing this, the men who remained behind worked with even greater enthusiasm.

Fu Feng, Mo Xuan, and Xiao Ye in particular knew they were in for a treat after hearing Su Luoluo’s promise.

’Too bad the other two are getting a free ride,’ they thought.

Then again, they did work today, so it wasn’t exactly freeloading. That made them feel slightly better.

After Su Luoluo brought the white rice to her outdoor kitchen, the first thing she did was chop down a stalk of bamboo and split it into several sections.

’With rice this good, it would be a crime not to make bamboo-tube rice.’

Although she couldn’t eat the beast meat, she had made plenty of cured meat and sausages, which would come in handy now.

After cutting the fresh bamboo, she placed the sections in a ceramic vat to soak.

While they soaked, she foraged for some mushrooms and wild beans.

In a primitive society, you couldn’t be picky about ingredients. Su Luoluo’s philosophy was to mix and match, making do with whatever was on hand.

By the time she returned with the ingredients, the bamboo tubes were soaked. She washed the new rice and stuffed it into the tubes, adding the mushrooms, wild peas, and sausage. Then she added a pinch of salt and a homemade sauce, sealed the openings with clean, broad leaves, and placed them on the fire to cook.

There were nine of them in total, so she made about twenty-seven tubes.