Chapter 63 – Florida Man Builds Recycling Center to Remove Trash, Spreads Cordyceps Zombie Virus
While everybody ignored Wu Buyi's nerdy remarks, Hua Jiashan attempted to convince Leo to give up cultivating the sweat dream mushrooms.
"Have you ever seen Jiangshi, Daoist Florida Man?"
"Jiangshi?" Leo was not familiar with the vocabulary.
"An undead. A dead human mutating into a monster with a human physique."
"Ah, a zombie. I know."
Leo finally figured out the word. He thought of the zombies in Chinese movies. They dressed a dead person in ancient clothes and put a talisman on their forehead. Then, those corpses with talismans came back to life, and they jumped instead of walking like Western zombies. The images of Jiangshis were still funny to him
Hua Jiashan continued, "The mushrooms can turn every cultivator nearby into Jiangshi-like monsters. They can also infect other cultivators by biting and spraying mushroom spores on their skin. Once infected with the mushroom spores, one can only kill himself to escape from the mushroom's poison since there is no cure. This is why you must burn everything before it's too late, Daoist Florida Man."
"…"
Leo deeply sighed as he understood the danger. Cultivating the mushrooms was the same as producing T-Virus. Since it was too dangerous to be contained in a shabby wooden cabin and it might put his future employees' lives at risk, Leo decided to abort the mushroom project for the time being until he could get a better building or structure that could contain the hazardous plants or mushrooms.
"Alright. I'm gonna take care of those. Well, since I'm immune to the mushroom, I'll do it myself. As for you, make sure you cover your nose and mouth."
"Thank you very much for your understanding, Daoist Florida Man!"
Hearing Leo's promise, Hua Jiashan was relieved. He cupped his fist and deeply bowed.
While wearing the hazmat suit, Leo reentered the building. He gazed at the otherworldly orange mushrooms. Then, he noticed something strange.
The mushroom patches that Leo had peeled from the door earlier had already regrown! Moreover, the parts that Leo had eaten were regenerating!
"Uh-oh."
Leo sensed a chill running down his spine. He racked his brain, thinking of what he should do. Then, he came up with an idea.
"System. Can you erase the mushrooms from the building?"
DING
<Cleaning Feature requires Recycling Center Building.>
"…"
A new piece of information piqued Leo's interest. He rechecked his lifespan after the big harvest, wondering how much he got for the next shopping spree.
<Current Lifespan: 91,131 Years, 4 Months, 16 Days, 8 Hours, 36 Minutes.>
Leo gulped. He remembered that he had terminated about 40ish cultivators, and he ate a few kilograms of mushrooms. However, his lifespan jumped from 25,000ish to over 90,000!
Stealing people's lifespans was super effective. Leo wished that more people could come here to attack him again.
As Leo had plenty of lifespans, he quickly purchased the auto-speech translation ability, costing him 20,000 years of lifespan. Then, he opened the door and rushed to the main store building.
Hua Jiashan and the elders were surprised that Leo came out so quickly. The former asked Leo, "What's wrong?"
"Ah, there are some issues. Those mushrooms have already regenerated, and I need to use some… special magic to remove the pest."
"Special Magic?" Han Hao, Han Meng, and everybody were interested, "What magic?"
"You'll find out soon."
Leo didn't bother explaining. He touched the wall of the store building and ordered the system to upgrade it. Although it cost a whopping 5,000 years of lifespan, Leo didn't flinch since he was rich.
DING
<Humble General Store has been upgraded to Level 6.>
<New Construction Options!>
Leo checked the list of the new buildings. However, the recycling center wasn't among them. He pushed on and upgraded the main building again. This time, the system asked for 6,000 years.
DING
<Humble General Store has been upgraded to Level 7.>
<New Construction Options!>
.
Small House
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 500 Years of Lifespan
Space – 5 x 5
.
Small House (2)
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 6
Price – 500 Years of Lifespan
Space – 5 x 5
.
Small House (3)
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 7
Price – 500 Years of Lifespan
Space – 5 x 5
.
Clothing Store
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 6
Price – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 10 x 10
.
Farm Plot (3)
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 6
Price – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 10 x 10
.
Alchemy Workshop (3)
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 6
Price – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 10 x 10
.
Livestock Shed
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 7
Price – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 10 x 10
.
Recycling Center
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 7
Price – 500 Years of Lifespan
Space – 20 x 20
.
Mystic Realm Portal
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 7
Price – 10,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 20 x 20
.
Looking at the long list, Leo believed that he might run out of space to build soon. He might have to rearrange the buildings or organize them to save space in the domain. After all, the grids were limited.
Moreover, there was an extra building that Leo never expected to see.
'What the hell? Mystic Realm Portal? But why?'
Leo didn't understand what the system wanted sometimes. Although he wanted to build the portal, he decided not to as there were too many eyes around him. Leo saved his lifespan and built only the recycling center, placing it adjacent to the warehouse behind the first alchemy workshop.
RUMBLE
The upgrade began. The moats and the ground behind the alchemy workshop were equally elevated, and a new structure grew from the ground. However, nobody noticed it except Leo.
The general store building transformed as the walls were repainted. It became a two-story building, but the ground floor's walls were made from bricks instead of wood. As for the second floor, it retained the cabin-like architecture.
The backdoors were also changed. Instead of being doors, it became a wide shutter door. However, because of its large frame, it looked too big for a 10 meters wide building when Leo and others looked at it from the outside.
The crowd's mouths were agape as they stared at the transforming building. They looked up and ignored the shutter door as it became insignificant to their eyes. Even Hua Jiashan blankly stared at the general store in awe. As for Wu Buyi, he already forgot about the cauldron.
Seizing the opportunity when the visitors were distracted, Leo kicked the ground and vanished. He reappeared behind the alchemy workshop, which was close to the newest building.
The recycling center building was behind the workshop. As it occupied 20x20 grids, it took up a lot of space. Half of the land appeared as a junkyard while the other half was a rusty-like shed. However, something in the shed emitted blue light, which was similar to the light of spirit stones.
Leo bypassed the empty junkyard and entered the rusty shed. He touched the wall, hoping to see the information of this building.
DING
.
Recycling Center Level 1
Available Production - None
Assigned Material: None
Automaton Worker – (1/10)
Worker Speed – (0/10)
[Upgrade] – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
.
It showed no other detail except the simple menu. Leo scratched his head as he couldn't figure out how it would help him.
'Oh, well. When all hope is lost, I'll just upgrade this to the max.'
Fortunately, the upgrade cost of this building was the same as the others. Leo immediately spent 6,000 years of lifespan, upgrading it to the highest possible level at this stage. He also allocated all points to the worker slot.
DING
.
Recycling Center Level 7
Available Production - None
Assigned Material: None
Automaton Worker – (7/10)
Worker Speed – (0/10)
[Upgrade] – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
.
Seven wooden mannequins rose up from the ground and stood idly in front of Leo. They had the same appearance as the warehouse worker, but they all wore yellow plastic helmets and yellow jackets.
"I guess you are following the OSHA handbooks by the book, eh?"
Leo laughed at them. The mannequins flailed their arms in response to Leo's stereotypical joke in protest.
Since they had no work, Leo fiddled with the menu, exploring how it worked. He touched the [Assigned Material] in hoping to see some hints or descriptions.
DING
<You may choose any material you wish to discard or destroy. Once assigned, the workers will automatically collect the assigned material at the recycling center and attempt to create a new product from the discarded materials. The level of the recycling center determines the quality of the new items.>
"…Okay. That's normal, I guess."
The mannequins worked similarly to the warehouse's worker as they automatically collected items to their perspective building. However, only the recycling center could produce something out of the junk.
But the information didn't tell Leo one thing.
"And how do I assign those mushrooms to this place? But if these mannequins touch the mushrooms, will they be alright? Can the mushrooms infect wood golems?"
WHIRRRR
As if the mannequins understood Leo's words, they turned around and walked in unison. They marched toward the second alchemy workshop.
Leo was surprised. He followed after them to see how they worked. As Leo walked along with the mannequin automatons, they arrived at the second workshop at the same time.
When Leo and the automatons came out of the alley and gathered in front of the second workshop, the elders noticed their presence. They watched them from afar, wondering what Leo was doing.
Tiger Swordsman narrowed his eyes. As he played with similar golems during his training, he recognized them.
"Ah, golems. So, Daoist Florida Man must be capable of using Spirit Summon Dao. It's rare to see spirit summoners these days."
Han Meng added, "Yeah. Aside from you, nobody in our sect uses Spirit Summon Dao. Your contracted spirit is a tiger, right?"
Han Meng and Tiger Swordsman were close friends. They used to be rivals when they were young, and they grew up together in the same sect. While Han Meng was an expert in flying swords, Tiger Swordsman was a hybrid between a swordsman, a shaman, and a physical cultivator. He came up with the combination of Daos to reinforce his physique, making him stronger than every nascent soul elders in the sect in terms of physical strength and endurance. Moreover, he had a shaman ability, which allowed him to summon spirits to pilot his manmade golems.
"Haha, not exactly. My golems are humanoid tigers, and they use big swords like me. They look completely different from Daoist Florida Man's golems."
While Han Meng and Tiger Swordsman chatted, Leo fiddled with his online shopping system and purchased large Tupperware boxes to store the mushrooms. He then opened the door and let them go inside.
Hua Jiashan had been on standby. He waved his hand and created a round barrier array with his Qi, blocking the air from the workshop from reaching them.
PIKI
PIKI
It was a good decision. A few seconds later, the leaked spores of the mushrooms latched on the array barrier and stained the semi-transparent energy dome. It gradually expanded as it ate Hua Jiashan's Qi.
Hua Jiashan's face was ashen. He drew a word in the air, creating the Chinese word "Fire".
BOOM
As soon as the word was completed, it lit up in red, and the barrier dome was ignited on fire, burning the mushroom spores on it. A few seconds later, Hua Jiashan's barrier reverted back to the light blue dome.
"Be careful. Don't go out until Daoist Florida Man finishes removing the mushrooms. If you accidentally inhale one of the spores, you're dead."
"…"
Wu Buyi and the elders gulped. They gazed at Leo in wary, hoping that he could get rid of the dangerous items soon.
Meanwhile, Leo and the mannequins struggled inside the workshop. The mushrooms seemed to possess a will or become sentient. As soon as Leo and the mannequins plucked or peeled the mushrooms, they rapidly regrew and attempted to spread the mushrooms on their skin.
"Oh, boy. Do I really need to summon Hans?" Leo grumbled. He shoved a piece in his mouth and chewed it raw. As for the mannequins, they calmly removed the big heads and stored them in the Tupperware boxes outside the building.
The situation turned into a tug-of-war. The mushrooms absorbed Leo's radiation to grow while Leo and the mannequins cut them and prevented their growth. The stalemate continued for 30 minutes.
Then, someone broke the stalemate. A certain plant stopped hiding in the granary and came out. Even though she had eaten plenty of potatoes, she was still hungry for more.
Cat crawled on the newly upgraded general store building and crept toward the backyard. She then saw Leo and the new mannequins. However, her food radar picked up the presence of the mushrooms in the Tupperware boxes.
"Nom-Nom Meow?"
