Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 15 - 15: A Red Panda

After eating the large red berry, Xu Xin immediately grabbed his tools and descended from the treehouse to avoid wasting more time. Standing at the base of the treehouse, his eyes immediately fell upon the apple tree that had already grown into a small sapling.

”That was really fast. Should I take some protective measures? What if, once the new player protection phase is over, a few wild animals come and trample this sapling?”

Xu Xin thought for a moment, then went back up to find a simple fence from the crafting list. He made a few and placed them around the apple tree in a circle, as a form of protection.

Next, he started collecting wood everywhere, chopping until the durability of the improved stone axe in his hand was exhausted and it shattered into pieces in his hand.

Next up was the transportation.

”This is really too much hassle.” For future planning, Xu Xin first cleared a small path around the treehouse by chopping wood. He had been chopping for so long that he was quite a distance from the treehouse, and bringing everything back was no simple task.

Actually, he could leave the wood where it was and move it once the backpack was made, but he was somewhat worried that these scattered pieces might disappear if not collected promptly, like in some games.

”Animals should appear tomorrow, the backpack must be prioritized.” Xu Xin thought silently as he transported the wood.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from one direction in the jungle, startling Xu Xin, who had only heard wind against leaves and insect chirps in the jungle these past days, as he quickly turned his head to look.

Under the night vision capability of the large red berry, the once-dark forest was clearly visible, and Xu Xin saw a clump of low shrubs shaking, evidently not due to the wind.

Xu Xin stopped moving, slowly putting down the wood he was holding, picking up just one that could barely be used as a weapon.

It was not yet the second day according to the darkened sky, even in the summer, it was at most eight or nine in the evening, so there shouldnʼt be any land animals. Could it be... that other survivors had found their way here?

”Whoʼs there?” Xu Xin didnʼt approach but stood his ground, staring at the rustling shrubbery.

As soon as Xu Xin said this, the shaking of the shrubbery stopped immediately, making Xu Xin even more tense because this was definitely something alive.

”Brother, come out, I can see you.” Xu Xin said cautiously.

The shrubs began to shake again, and suddenly a small brown head emerged, with white markings on its face, and its white ears swayed back and forth, its face still covered with leaves.

Xu Xin looked at the small animal, only showing a cute little head gazing at him, in surprise and a bit confused.

”Is this... a red panda or a raccoon?”

This small animal wasnʼt afraid of humans, struggling a bit to emerge from the shrubs, shaking off the leaves on its body, and slowly walked to Xu Xinʼs feet, scratching at the hem of his shorts with its paw, emitting a soft whimper.

Xu Xin, who had been quite tense, almost kicked it away when he saw the little animal doing this. But seeing the creature didnʼt intend him any harm and was very cute, his mood gradually relaxed.

”Itʼs still the new player protection phase, why is there a small animal appearing?” Xu Xin tried to stroke the little animalʼs head; the creature made a comfortable murmuring sound but didnʼt release its paws.

”This is a red panda, isnʼt it?” Upon closer inspection, Xu Xin finally recognized the species of the small animal. Red pandas are typically brown and cute, whereas raccoons have a black and white color scheme and generally give off a cheeky vibe. The small animal clawing at his pants was clearly a red panda.

Xu Xin seemed to understand the pandaʼs intent, and he took out the large red berry he had stashed in his pocket earlier: ”Do you want to eat this?”

The brown little creature whimpered sharply upon seeing the red fruit in Xu Xinʼs hand but didnʼt grab it, instead looking pitifully at Xu Xin, its small eyes filled with longing.

Where exactly did this little one come from? Or has the new player protection ended early? It shouldnʼt be.

This was the only animal heʼd seen in three days, and after deliberating for a while, Xu Xin decided to place the berry beside the creatureʼs mouth, but it caught it with its paws and immediately stuffed it into its mouth.

The little creature squinted its eyes, showing a comfortable expression on its furry face, then murmuring once to Xu Xin, turned and dashed back into the jungle, disappearing.

”This little red panda must be something special; even the bear in the cave was restricted by world rules to vanish, yet it can still move.” Xu Xin felt this little creature was extraordinary, but since it had gone, he went back to transporting the wood without wasting more time.

At this point, the iron blocks in the furnace were already smelted, stacked at the outlet of the furnace; Xu Xin cautiously tested the temperature, it surprisingly was cool.

”This furnace is quite considerate.” Xu Xin took out the iron blocks and put in four green iron ores and one blue iron ore.

Five green iron ores can produce one green iron block, while one blue iron ore makes the iron block of blue quality. By placing iron ores in a 4:1 ratio, blue quality iron blocks can be produced.

Holding the green iron block he had just made, Xu Xin hesitated for a moment but didnʼt rush to fabricate a grill; he wanted to wait for the blue iron ore to come out and use the high-quality blue iron ore to make an advanced grill, based on past experience, the advanced grill of blue quality should have some efficacy, and since he had the materials, he chose to directly make a higher level grille.

While waiting for the ores to smelt, Xu Xin went to the third-floor screen and opened the region channel.

The remaining number of people in the region channel was still 9997 as it was the previous day. He recalled the first time he checked it was 9998 people, indicating the channel should have a total of 10000 people, but three had died during the initial new player protection phase.

”I wonder how they died. During the new player protection phase, did they trip and hit their heads on rocks and die?” Xu Xin shook his head.

The region channel remained lively.

”Friends, only a few hours left in the new player protection phase, how are you all doing?”

”Haha, I found an apple tree! Itʼs not far from my treehouse!”

”This treehouse is too small, I canʼt bring up the wood I chopped, so I just piled it at the base of the treehouse.”

”Brothers, the ID station can be set up outside the treehouse; the treehouse is so small, thereʼs no need to put these things inside.”

”What? Damn, you should have said earlier; my treehouse is already full...”

”Does anyone have food? Iʼll trade with green-quality wood...”

”How come there are still people who havenʼt found food? This is the jungle, not a desert.”

”I directly built my treehouse at the spawn point, thereʼs nothing but poplars around...”