After eating the large red berry, Xu Xin, in order not to waste any more time, immediately grabbed his tools and descended from the treehouse. Standing at the base of the treehouse, the first thing he saw was the apple tree that had already grown into a small sapling.
"It's really fast. Speaking of which, should I take some protective measures? What if some wild animals come and trample this sapling once the newbie protection period is over?"
Xu Xin considered for a moment, then went back up and found a simple fence in the crafting list. He made several and inserted them around the apple tree, forming a circle as a protective measure.
Next, he began collecting wood from all around, chopping until the durability of his improved stone axe was exhausted, shattering into fragments in his hand.
Then came the transportation.
"This is really troublesome." For future planning, Xu Xin first cleared a small path around the treehouse. After chopping for so long, the distance from the treehouse had become quite far, and bringing everything back was no simple task.
Actually, these wood materials could be left in place and transported after crafting a backpack, but he was worried that these scattered wood pieces might disappear if not collected quickly, like in some games.
"Animals should appear tomorrow, so the backpack needs to be prioritized," Xu Xin thought to himself as he transported the wood.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from one direction of the jungle, startling Xu Xin, who had only heard the sound of wind blowing through leaves and insect chirps in the jungle for the past two days. He quickly turned his head to look.
With the night vision ability from the large red berry, everything in the originally dark forest was clear to see. Xu Xin only saw a low shrub shaking, clearly not from the wind.
Xu Xin stopped, slowly put down the wood in his hands, and only kept one piece as a makeshift weapon.
It wasn't yet the second day, judging by the time the sky darkened. Even in summer, it would be at most 8 or 9 pm now. There shouldn't be any land animals yet. Could it be… that other survivors had found this place?
"Who's there?" Xu Xin didn't approach, standing in place and staring at the rustling shrub.
The shrub immediately stopped shaking after Xu Xin spoke, which made him even more nervous. This must be something alive.
"Brother, come out. I've seen you," Xu Xin said probingly.
The shrub began to shake again, and suddenly a small brown head poked out from within, with white markings on its face and white ears that swayed back and forth. Its face was covered with leaves.
Xu Xin looked at the small animal that only showed its cute little head with astonishment, feeling somewhat perplexed.
"Is this… a red panda? Or a raccoon?"
This small animal wasn't afraid of humans. It struggled vigorously and crawled out of the shrub, shook off the leaves on its body, and slowly walked to Xu Xin's feet. Its paws clung to his shorts, making a soft whimpering sound.
Xu Xin had been quite tense mentally, and when the small animal did this, he nearly kicked it away. However, seeing that the small animal showed no intention of harming him, and was actually very cute, his mood gradually relaxed.
"It's still the newbie protection period, how could a small animal appear?" Xu Xin tried reaching out to pat the small animal's head. The small animal made a comfortable whimpering sound, but it didn't let go of its grip.
"This is a red panda, right?" Upon closer inspection, Xu Xin finally recognized the species of this small animal. Red pandas are generally brown and cute, while raccoons have a black and white color scheme and always give people a mischievous impression. The small animal clinging to his pant leg was clearly a red panda.
Xu Xin seemed to understand what the red panda wanted. He took out the large red berry he had put in his pocket earlier: "Do you want to eat this?"
The brown little fellow saw the red fruit in Xu Xin's hand and immediately made a high-pitched whimpering sound, but it didn't reach out to grab it. Instead, it looked at Xu Xin pitifully, its small eyes full of longing.
Where did this little fellow come from? Or has the newbie protection ended early? That shouldn't be the case.
This was the only animal he had seen in these three days. Xu Xin considered for a moment and still put the fruit in his hand to the little fellow's mouth. The little fellow caught it with its hands and immediately stuffed it into its mouth.
The little fellow squinted its eyes, showing a comfortable expression on its furry face. Then it whimpered at Xu Xin once before turning and disappearing into the jungle.
"This red panda must have something special about it. Even the black bear in the cave earlier was restricted by the world rules and disappeared, yet it can still move around." Xu Xin felt that this little fellow was quite extraordinary, but since it had disappeared, he didn't waste any more time and continued to transport the wood.
By now, the iron blocks in the furnace had finished smelting. The formed iron blocks were piled at the furnace's exit. Xu Xin carefully tested the temperature and found it surprisingly cool.
"This furnace is quite thoughtful." Xu Xin took out the iron blocks and put in 4 iron ore (green) and 1 iron ore (blue).
Five iron ore (green) can produce one iron block (green), and one iron ore (blue) can turn the iron block blue. By putting in iron ore at a 4:1 ratio, he could produce blue quality iron blocks.
Holding the already crafted iron block (green), Xu Xin hesitated for a moment and didn't rush to make a grill. He wanted to wait for the iron ore (blue) to come out and directly use the high-grade blue iron ore to make a high-grade grill. Based on previous experience, a blue quality high-grade grill would certainly have some special effects. Since he had the materials at hand, it was better to make a higher grade grill.
While waiting for the ore to smelt, Xu Xin went to the screen on the third floor and opened the regional channel.
The remaining number of people in the regional channel was still 9,997, the same as the previous day. He remembered it was 9,998 when he first looked, so the entire channel should have 10,000 people, with three people dying at the very beginning of the newbie protection period.
"Wonder how they died. During the newbie protection period, did they trip and hit their heads on a rock?" Xu Xin shook his head.
The regional channel was still very lively.
"Friends, there are only a few hours left in the newbie protection period. How are you all doing?"
"Haha, I found an apple tree! It's not far from my treehouse!"
"This treehouse is too small. I can't bring up all the wood I've chopped. I've just piled it at the bottom of the treehouse."
"Brothers, the identification table can be built outside the treehouse. The treehouse is so small, there's no need to put these things inside."
"What? Damn, why didn't you say so earlier? My treehouse is already full…"
"Does any big shot have food? I'll trade green-level wood materials for it…"
"How come some people still haven't found food? This is a jungle, not a desert."
"I directly planted my treehouse at the spawn point. There's nothing around except poplar trees…"