Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 324: Chapter 268: The Side Effects of the Portal

Xu Xin returned to the third floor with Silver King, and Keke habitually climbed onto Xu Xin’s shoulder, ready to head out.

But this time Mimi was unwilling, clawing at Xu Xin’s leg, insisting on going along no matter what.

It had been stuck indoors all day yesterday.

Although feline animals aren’t as energetic as canine ones, it was bored to the brink of madness, determined to go out with Xu Xin and the others.

”Take it along, even if it can’t go with you, it can still play in my treehouse, right, Mimi?” Li Wenxi reached out to pet Mimi’s head.

Probably because Li Wenxi spoke on its behalf, Mimi didn’t shy away this time, and Li Wenxi finally managed to stroke the big cat.

Xu Xin thought for a moment and decided to bring it along.

He had previously told Ma Hongwei that Lou Fei’Er had also contracted mutated beasts, so there was no issue taking Mimi.

Moreover, if it was just the two of them, it wouldn’t seem like they intended to cooperate or fight. Bringing Silver King and Mimi added a bit of an impressive vibe.

He also mentioned last time that he’d bring some helpers.

Although there was a risk of being attacked automatically by a heavy crossbow, Ma Hongwei was skilled enough not to set it to that mode.

Plus, the contracted mutated creatures displayed as green companion dots on his map, suggesting that his contract beasts, including Lou Fei’Er’s, were actually on the survivor’s side.

For the survivor’s side, the automatic crossbow’s judgement is neutral, so it wouldn’t proactively attack, making it okay to bring Mimi.

”Alright, Mimi can follow along today,” Xu Xin also petted Mimi’s head. Mimi dodged after two pats, stretching out its paw and using the thick pad to push Xu Xin and Li Wenxi’s hands away.

Mimi’s paw looked somewhat intimidating, but it was very careful, avoiding injuring its allies.

”Mimi, my strength is back today, don’t think you can threaten me like yesterday!” Lou Fei’Er waved her fist at Mimi.

Yesterday, because of Xu Xin’s orders, she was restricted by Mimi, and even the slightest movement made the big cheetah rise, making it feel as if it would pounce on her and take her down, truly terrifying.

Mimi seemed to roll its eyes at her, then moved to Xu Xin’s side, waiting to go down together.

”Let’s go.”

Bringing them to the base of the treehouse, Xu Xin called Afu along.

Afu’s sonic attack was still quite useful, possibly coming in handy.

As for the lovebird, it had to care for its young, and with its not-so-strong combat skills, it was better left at home.

Xu Xin prepared a tag for Mimi and Afu, though instead of hanging it on them, he put it in his backpack.

After all, they usually teleport together; hanging it on them could easily lose it, so better to keep it himself.

Opening the portal to Li Wenxi’s treehouse, Xu Xin led the group of people and beasts through it together.

Whirling and falling rapidly.

Two seconds later, his feet touched the ground, and Li Wenxi’s treehouse appeared before them.

Xu Xin pleasantly discovered that after so many transports, he had acclimated and didn’t feel uncomfortable!

However, behind him, several had fallen over.

Li Wenxi was alright, as she had crossed over several times and adapted much like Xu Xin, barely managing to stand, but still needed to hold onto Xu Xin’s arm, her complexion a bit pale.

The others weren’t as composed.

Lou Fei’Er’s legs buckled directly, and she knelt on the ground, bending over and retching a couple of times, muttering, ”Oh, my... So dizzy... Ugh...”

She covered her mouth and tilted her head back, trying not to vomit her recently eaten breakfast.

Mimi elegantly took two steps forward and then tottered, falling sideways to the ground. It struggled to stand but fell again, only able to emit slightly frustrated feline cries.

Afu flapped in the air twice before sprawling its wings over Mimi.

Silver King immediately lay on the ground upon landing. Compared to previous times, its only improvement was knowing to stay still and recover first, rather than struggle like Mimi.

”Eh?” Keke poked its small head out from Xu Xin’s arms, looking at the people and beasts on the ground.

Jumping from Xu Xin’s embrace, it circled around them, examining each one, pushing them with its small paws, as if saying, what’s going on with you all? Why are you all dizzy?

Li Wenxi just held onto Xu Xin’s arm for about ten seconds before she almost fully recovered.

She released her hand, a bit surprised, ”You can truly adjust! I’m not dizzy anymore so quickly!”

”You also recovered quite fast when you came over to my side,” Xu Xin laughed.

”It seems so, but because you changed so much, I didn’t notice. Ah...” Li Wenxi turned to see Lou Fei’Er sitting dazedly on the ground, quickly going to help her up.

”...I finally understand how you felt back then...” Lou Fei’Er was almost lying on Li Wenxi, her face pale as a ghost; without her support, her legs were too weak to even stand.

”It’s always like this the first time, it’ll get better afterwards.” Li Wenxi comforted her.

Xu Xin then turned to Silver King.

Silver King was still swaying its wolf head slightly, appearing extremely dizzy.

Silver King, haven’t you used the portal many times already? Why do you still look like it’s your first time?

Xu Xin crouched down and asked Silver King, ”Did you find it a bit easier this time compared to the previous times?”

”...Woo?” Silver King called out softly in confusion, then gently shook its head, ”Woo...”

So still not, huh?

It hadn’t adapted like Xu Xin and Li Wenxi?

That doesn’t make sense. In terms of physical fitness, how could Silver King, this big fellow who runs tens of kilometers a day, possibly be weaker than them?

Could it be that... mutated creatures are much weaker in adaptability in this aspect? Only survivors like them can adapt?

Xu Xin stood up and said to Lou Fei’Er, who was still supporting the pale-faced Li Wenxi, ”...Maybe you might not adapt in the future either.”

”...Huh? What do you mean? Ugh...” Lou Fei’Er felt nauseous again, almost in tears.

”What’s going on? When I teleported for the first time, it wasn’t this extreme?” Li Wenxi found it somewhat strange.

During her first teleportation, she only felt dizzy and weak in the legs. Although she felt a little nauseous, it wasn’t to the extent of Lou Fei’Er’s constant dry heaving.

Moreover, judging from how she was being supported, Lou Fei’Er seemed to have no strength left in her whole body, whereas Li Wenxi only had wobbly legs back then, not this exaggerated.

”Silver King has teleported so many times and hasn’t shown any adaptation. Perhaps mutated creatures can’t adapt to the side effects of the teleporters,” Xu Xin speculated, ”Perhaps these teleporters are exclusively for ordinary survivors.”

Lou Fei’Er’s legs gave way, almost falling to the ground again, but Li Wenxi quickly caught her.

”I-I-I... I won’t teleport again... It’s too uncomfortable...” Lou Fei’Er felt dizzy and nauseous, even squeezing out a tear.

Seeing her like this, they couldn’t set off immediately.

”Why not go up and rest a bit first?” Li Wenxi, supporting Lou Fei’Er, asked Xu Xin, ”She can’t leave right away in this state, right?”

”...Alright, let’s rest a bit first then.” Xu Xin glanced at the time and nodded.

They had agreed with Ma Hongwei to meet within half an hour. Ma Hongwei’s treehouse was just over ten kilometers from Li Wenxi’s place, and Silver King only needed ten minutes to get there.

Even if they were a bit late, it wouldn’t matter—let him wait.

Li Wenxi led everyone, humans and beasts alike, into her treehouse.

Once inside, Lou Fei’Er collapsed onto the sofa, clutching her head and curling up.

”Is it really that extreme?” Xu Xin glanced at her.

”...It’s unbearable...” Lou Fei’Er buried her head in the sofa, grumbling, ”I’m going to have another psychological trauma... You’re just a machine for creating psychological trauma...”

...Speaking of which, all her psychological traumas were indeed related to Xu Xin. The first was her throat being slit, the second was the wristband void, and this was probably the third.

At this time, Silver King, Mimi, and Afu were also lying around and hadn’t recovered just yet.

It seems that, for mutated creatures, the side effects of coordinate teleportation are indeed significantly greater than for survivors.

A teleporter specifically designed for humans?

All they could do was wait.

”By the way, where’s Li Yajun? I haven’t seen her,” Xu Xin asked Li Wenxi, sitting down on a chair.

He noticed Li Yajun’s treehouse on his way over, but with all the commotion on their side, Li Yajun hadn’t even peeked her head out.

”Oh, Yajun left before I came to find you, saying she was going mining for me,” Li Wenxi explained, finding a chair to sit down as well. ”She’s really motivated today. I told her she didn’t need to go out so early, but she still couldn’t resist going out to take a look, so I let her go.”

”...Did you give her blue-tier gear?”

Li Yajun used to wear green-tier gear, and in this weather, wearing green-tier gear wouldn’t do for going out.

”Yes, a blue-tier leather armor set. I sent her to a mining site northward, and Aniu went with her,” Li Wenxi explained.

”Truly becoming a mining boss?” Xu Xin chuckled and shook his head.

”What are you talking about!” Li Wenxi gave him a playful punch, ”That sounds awful! I call it a prospector!”

”Ugh...” Lou Fei’Er was still lying miserably on the sofa.

Since she had hogged the whole sofa, Keke, who wanted to roll around on it, could only stand by the side of the sofa, tilting her little head and watching her.

Xu Xin and Li Wenxi chatted leisurely while waiting for her to recover.

It took Silver King and Mimi about five to six minutes before they returned to normal.

Afu and Lou Fei’Er, on the other hand, took much longer, about ten minutes, before they gradually got better.

Silver King and Mimi were mid-level mutated creatures, while Afu and Lou Fei’Er were low-level ones.

It seems that although mutated creatures might not adapt to the side effects of teleporters, the duration of the side effects could shorten as their level and strength increased.

”Finally...finally not feeling so awful...” Lou Fei’Er sat up from the sofa, rubbing her temples and complaining, ”This is way too uncomfortable!”

”You should teleport a few more times in the coming days to see if you can get used to this side effect like we did,” Xu Xin suggested.

”I...you...you’re a devil!” Lou Fei’Er’s face showed sorrow, ”How did I end up with an owner like you!”

”Maybe it can happen; I’m already not feeling so bad now. Maybe you can too!” Li Wenxi pointed at herself.

”...But didn’t Xu Xin say I might not adapt?” Lou Fei’Er stood up from the sofa, still haunted by the recent experience, though luckily, it lasted only about ten minutes.

”Yip!” After waiting a long time, Keke pounced onto the sofa and began to roll around.

”And why is this little guy okay?” She enviously watched the lively Keke, reaching out to pet her, only for Keke to agilely dodge and wave her little paw while baring her teeth playfully.

”I’m just speculating. Although you’re a mutated creature, you’re also a survivor, so you’ll need to try a few more times to find out.”

”Ugh...alright...” Lou Fei’Er had no choice but to agree with a sullen face.

Xu Xin glanced out the treehouse window.

To the south, that treehouse remained lush and green, waiting for Xu Xin and the others to go to it.

”Since everyone’s recovered, let’s set off now for Ma Hongwei’s treehouse.”