It seems Ji Chaoyang, like him, immediately realized how important this ability is.
"Thatâs right, Ma Hongyu relied on the control panel to control the heavy crossbow, otherwise Qi Xuefei wouldnât have been trapped in a dilemma around the manâs tree house." Xu Xin nodded and said.
Ji Chaoyang pondered for a while, staring at the ground, then gradually smiled: "The ability of Ma Hongwei, saying itâs the strongest ability at the current stage is not an exaggeration."
In the second stage, the tree house protection ability enhanced, the tree house functional areas appeared, even the rewards obtained in the defense battle are plant hearts protecting the tree house safety. Obviously, this second stage is centered around the tree house.
Therefore, the attack power of external heavy weaponry is crucial in the current stage.
Like Xu Xin, Ji Chaoyang always felt that this external heavy crossbow was dispensable.
If not set automatically, only two can be controlled at most each time, and accuracy is still questionable.
If set automatically, the automatic function is stupidly ineffective, attacking any area unit, and when enemies attack, perhaps a few rabbits come in first, the heavy crossbow in automatic mode will immediately unleash a volley, at most serving as an early warning.
With this control panel, all external weapons are activated.
"Indeed, this ability truly allows our tree house to become an armed fortress, but honestly, Iâm more interested in your ability." Xu Xin looked at Ji Chaoyang, curious about what ability Ji Chaoyang possesses.
"Haha, youâll know soon, letâs discuss with the four of us later, and Iâm also interested in your ability," Ji Chaoyang laughed, "Your ability shouldnât just be about alchemy, right?"
Xu Xin shrugged, noncommittal, his creatorâs permissions are far more complex, and there might be new abilities coming.
"Ma Hongweiâs ability is indeed strong, but unfortunately, the control panel installed in the tree house canât be taken down, it was destroyed along with that tree house, now thereâs no way to truly experience it... wait!"
Xu Xin rubbed his chin, uncertainly speculating, "Perhaps, the control panel, a fixed device connected to the tree house, might appear in transplanted parasitic tree houses?"
The two exchanged glances, considering it somewhat possible.
"Letâs go, find them!"
About a hundred meters from Qi Xuefeiâs main tree house, thereâs a tree house thatâs almost fully grown.
The three women are under the tree house, watching the rapidly growing tree house while chatting idly. Theyâre feeling the rapid growth of parasitic tree houses for the first time.
This tree house belongs to the woman Ji Chaoyang brought, Ma Hongyuâs tree house seed hasnât been planted yet.
Xu Xin let the Silver King rest under the tree house, and the two walked towards the parasitic tree house.
"Ying!" Keke, who was playing at the base of Qi Xuefeiâs tree crown, quickly climbed down the trunk and jumped onto Xu Xinâs shoulder, then squealed at Xu Xin.
Understanding the little oneâs intention, Xu Xin took it off his shoulder and took an apple from his backpack, handing it to Keke, who immediately started eating it happily.
"The distance theyâve planted is just right, leaving a hundred meters around the main tree house. In the future, all parasitic tree houses can be planted within a range, making it easier to manage." Ji Chaoyang commented.
"I actually think a greater distance between parasitic tree houses would be better." Xu Xin didnât agree, "After all, this is a post-apocalyptic world, fraught with danger, making the tree house clustered makes it easy to wipe out when danger comes. Itâs better to spread out a bit, or form several clusters."
"Hmm, what you say makes sense too. Those responsible for planting and production can be closer to the main tree house, while those defending against enemies can be planted on the outer positions."
The two discussed the future layout of the parasitic tree houses.
Xu Xin suddenly laughed: "We donât even have many parasitic tree houses yet, and weâre already discussing this."
"Better to plan early, parasitic tree houses arenât workstations, once planted the position canât be changed. They wonât give you the chance to rearrange like inside the tree house." Ji Chaoyang explained.
Ji Chaoyang cares about this, if the initial planting is wrongly positioned, making later neat planning impossible, it might bother him continuously.
"Hey, why are you two coming over?" Li Wenxi was the first to see the two coming, waved at them, "Want to see the parasitic tree house too?"
Li Wenxi walked up to Xu Xin and teased Keke, who was gnawing an apple.
Xu Xin directly handed Keke to her, she immediately hugged Keke and rubbed its small belly.
"Ying..." Keke, still gnawing on the apple, let out a mumbling sound.
The slightly petite woman stopped speaking once the two came, but the look in her eyes carried a hint of admiration.
She heard from Qi Xuefei and Li Wenxi about Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyangâs deeds, knowing they are the first and second in all areas.
"Do you want to go inside and see this tree house?"
At this time, the tree house had matured, Qi Xuefei willed the tree houseâs roots to hang down, then turned and asked the two.
"No, both of us are already familiar with the parasitic treehouse," Xu Xin shook his head. "We want to see the inside of Ma Hongyuâs parasitic treehouse. By the way."
Xu Xin looked at the woman who hadnât spoken since they arrived and asked, "Can you control the treehouse now?"
"Me... me?" The woman glanced up at Xu Xin, then touched the trunk of the treehouse and shook her head, "No, I canât control this treehouse; itâs no longer mine."
"Hmm..." Xu Xin pondered for a moment and asked, "So whatâs your current state, the state of having lost the treehouse?"
The mysterious voice kept reminding them that they absolutely couldnât lose the treehouse, or they wouldnât survive in this world. Since she had already lost hers, then...
"Yes." The woman nodded, "When I dug up the treehouse, the voice told me my treehouse was dead, and I must have another treehouse within twenty-four hours, otherwise I will..."
The womanâs voice paused.
"Will... leave this beautiful world?" the woman said in a puzzled tone, "Isnât that the same as dying?"
Once again, this phrase.
At the end of the first stage of elimination, that mysterious voice said the same thing.
[Leave this beautiful world].
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang exchanged a glance, both knowing some secrets of this world, and both frowned slightly.
"Huh? Is it that serious? Does that mean being without a treehouse means direct elimination? Is this the elimination method of the second stage?" Li Wenxi was somewhat surprised, "Then letâs quickly set this treehouseâs owner."
"Yes, I also want to study the functions of the parasitic treehouse." With that, Qi Xuefei handed a treehouse seed to Xu Xin, "Didnât you want to see Ma Hongyuâs treehouse? Help me plant it, just next to it, maybe twenty meters away?"
"Okay." Xu Xin took the seed, and Qi Xuefei manipulated the roots to pull Li Wenxi and the woman, along with Keke who was still munching on an apple, into the treehouse.
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang found a spot twenty meters away from the parasitic treehouse and planted Ma Hongyuâs parasitic treehouse seed.
The sapling immediately broke through the soil, growing into a small tree within seconds and continuing to grow.
Both of them had planted two parasitic treehouses before, so they showed no surprise at this.
"Xu Xin, do you think leaving this world means dying?" Ji Chaoyang stared at the continuously growing treehouse and asked sternly.
"Perhaps not." Xu Xin thought of the underground city.
Based on their previous theories, the underground city was a temporary place to detain the eliminated survivors.
"Didnât you say all the eliminated people are first held in the underground city? If they just wanted them dead, why bother with all that, why not just kill them outright?" Xu Xin speculated.
"...You have a point, but, where would they go then? Leaving this world, could it be... returning to the original world? Back to our Earth?" Ji Chaoyang mentioned one of his long-standing theories.
"...Impossible." Xu Xin found it unrealistic, "If that were true, wouldnât we survivors striving so hard for higher rankings be foolish? Just sitting idle in the treehouse would mean going home?"
A dreadful thought suddenly popped into Xu Xinâs mind.
This matter might require some testing.
Next time, if they encounter someone like Ma Hongyu, donât kill him and donât give him a treehouse, but control him, wait 24 hours, and see what happens to him.
Will he suddenly drop dead, or simply vanish, or experience some other unusual occurrence?
Next time, it might indeed be worth trying.
The parasitic treehouse in front of them was now lush and full-grown.
Li Wenxi and Qi Xuefei also came down from the nearby treehouse and walked over to them. The woman, however, didnât come down, likely getting familiar with her new treehouse.
"Looking at it this way, the holder of a parasitic treehouse seems more like a lodger in someone elseâs home than a treehouse owner." Li Wenxi subconsciously stroked Keke in her arms as she pondered.
"Donât go around saying this stuff on the regional channel, or a lot of people might not want to cooperate with us," Qi Xuefei reminded her.
"Donât worry, Sister Xuefei, Iâm not that dumb!"
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang waited for them under the treehouse.
"The treehouse is fully grown now, and we canât get in, so bring us up to take a look," Xu Xin said to Qi Xuefei as she approached. Now only Qi Xuefei could control this treehouse.
"Sure." With a thought, Qi Xuefei extended several roots, pulling the four of them into the treehouse.