Chapter 003: Underground Base

Stephen Zhou stared in astonishment at the sky, where a creature had suddenly appeared that resembled a pterosaur, with a wingspan of approximately 10 meters. It had strong hind limbs, and its head was somewhat reminiscent of a mutated duck. From its wings to its tail, it had an inverted triangular shape, looking very much like a Pteranodon from the dinosaur family.

This is quite simple; he completed a master-level single bed in just about ten minutes and then placed it by the ventilation opening on the south side. A faint beam of moonlight could reach the underground, but at some point, he felt an inexplicable sense of danger, as if something terrifying had appeared above. Stephen Zhou made a rudimentary blanket from bobcat fur and then lay on his back on the bed, lost in thought for a while, contemplating whether he should climb up to take a look, as he sensed some strange noises emerging from the surface. These noises gradually escalated into violent tremors, causing the underground base to shake and dust to continuously fall. The nocturnal beasts should not be so densely packed, and he also heard a series of muffled roars coming from the forest.

The traces of battle are concentrated in the forested area

Stephen Zhou is preparing to stockpile some timber, and then he will begin exploring the underground mines. There is still plenty of food available at the moment, and the supplies discovered during the day are sufficient to last for ten days to half a month.

He is indeed a man who has once penetrated the Earth's crust

Studio. Kitchen. Bedroom.

A sense of crisis compelled Stephen Zhou to leap into the nearby bushes, and he soon saw a massive shadow diving down from the sky, seizing the carcass of a fierce beast and soaring away towards the distant mountains

To become wealthy, one must first cultivate the trees

It would be great if the ability to transform substances were still present

Their bodies are almost hairless, adorned with light gray spots, featuring a large jaw, a short tail with hundreds of barbs at the end, and their target is the carcasses of dead beasts

At that time, wwwhetushu.comcom could restore the ability of the "Hand of Alchemy," significantly enhancing both work efficiency and the collection of enchantments

Stephen excavated a space underground measuring approximately 100 meters in length, 50 meters in width, and around 10 meters in height. To prevent collapse, he utilized his abilities to alter the material's form and reinforced it. He then prepared to implement the most basic renovation plan. First, he delineated a workspace of about 500 square meters. He directly cut the marble into half-bricks and, within a few minutes, constructed a wall without the need for any adhesive. All the marble pieces fit together very securely, appearing as if they were a single entity. Currently, with his abilities, as long as he does not alter the intrinsic nature of the material, merely changing its external shape and structure is quite simple.

Staying underground is somewhat unbearable for ordinary people, but for Stephen Zhou, it is like a fish in water, as he has had several years of experience mining underground

Under normal circumstances, indigenous civilization alchemists can reach a maximum level of 30. Alchemists at this level, even if lacking systematic knowledge of extradimensional studies, are already qualified to explore other worlds

Stephen Zhou needs to at least restore his strength to level 20 in order to have a chance to attempt leaving this planet to explore the outside world. Sometimes he even doubts whether he is still in the original universe, as the chaos of time and space is truly terrifying

This world is filled with giant trees. As a tree enthusiast, Stephen felt quite pleased. After confirming that there was no danger, he began to climb the large tree with his bare hands. The primitive tools, lacking enchantments, were of average efficiency, and it was more effective for him to climb with his own hands. Although the process was slower, it allowed him to conserve energy

... ...

I knew that this world is not that simple

The workbench is set up

At this point, the rock layer has been reached

Close to ten stories high, he still does not believe that any beast jumping down could survive without dying

The duration of a day in this world is approximately 25 hours, so the arrival of dawn is quite swift. Stephen Zhou casually ate a little something and then cautiously took up his weapon, preparing to climb up and take a look. There seemed to be no changes outside, but upon sniffing the air, Stephen Zhou's expression changed slightly as he murmured, "What a strong smell of blood!"

Stephen Zhou reserved several concealed ventilation openings underground, and then began to make his own bed

Puppets made from various materials are their most important assistants, tools, and servants. Currently, Stephen Zhou is unable to activate constructed life, and even the creation of wooden puppets requires a strength of level 5. According to the classification methods of some indigenous civilizations, this level of energy intensity already qualifies one as a formidable alchemist

Regarding the ability to dig holes, Stephen Zhou claims that he is second to none, and no one dares to claim the first position

Suddenly

Sigh

Stephen Zhou moved around a bit and designated a space of fifty square meters as a kitchen. He directly selected a piece of stone and fashioned a stove by hand. Although it was rather rudimentary, it was at least sufficient for grilling some cooked food to eat.

The temporal and spatial turbulence has left him impeccably clean, and essentially, everything must start anew

Alchemists are skilled in the creation of puppet life

A torch is lit

It seems that another beast has discovered this entrance, but Stephen Zhou took a glance and paid it no mind

Night falls

Pterosaur

He needs metal

Here, more than thirty meters underground, there is no fear of being discovered by wild beasts. Just a moment ago, two or three hyenas approached the cave entrance, sniffed around, and upon seeing the dark, bottomless depths below, they ran away.

Stephen Zhou saw hundreds of beast carcasses scattered in the distance, some of which were mutated species he had never seen before. There were some strange bones on the ground, and these gray bones quickly melted away in the sunlight, soon disappearing completely. There were dark brown bloodstains in many places, but nothing could be found except for the carcasses of the beasts, as if everything had vanished into thin air

Stephen Zhou hardly slept all night, merely closing his eyes to rest. Several times he wanted to crawl out and take a look, but in the end, he held back.

After finishing these tasks, there was not much wood left. He climbed up to take a look and confirmed that there was no danger before heading towards the forest.

... ...

Stephen Zhou is currently unable to deal with so many hyenas

The organisms in this world are quite large, with many resembling mutated beasts that have been seen before, alongside the existence of oversized carnivorous predators akin to dinosaurs. The strange occurrences at night remain unclear; it is too bizarre that so many beasts have died at the edge of the forest. Some of the large carnivorous predators weigh over 3 tons, and even without special abilities, Stephen Zhou might not be able to contend with them. He plans to observe for a few days to see how things unfold. Currently, the surface is gathering many scavenging animals, and he cannot even handle those hyenas, so he does not dare to venture out and investigate.

Stephen Zhou held two bobcat tails in his hands, studying them, but ultimately decided to just go to sleep instead

He sensed that the situation was not right and crawled back underground, but he had already gained some understanding of this world.

At such a height, they would undoubtedly die if they jumped down

Stephen was pounding on the giant tree in front of him while reminiscing about his past, muttering to himself: "I still have that golden seed whose purpose I do not know. Once the safe base is established, should I find a place to plant it and give it a try?"

According to his estimation, he will likely reach level 1 strength in approximately three days

Numbers are the beauty of alchemy

After returning to the underground base, Stephen Zhou continued mining

However, the hierarchical classification of indigenous civilizations is quite peculiar, and Stephen Zhou still prefers to use his own data methods for statistics

Due to the asymmetry in the colors of the rock and soil layers, Stephen Zhou began to renovate the underground base. He expanded the space once again and constructed walls using half bricks of marble to cover the soil layer. He spent quite some time rebuilding even the vertical passage, and subsequently installed an elevator directly in the passage connecting to the surface

The process of tree climbing is enjoyable

These hyenas discovered Stephen Zhou through their sense of smell, but there is currently no way to deal with him

a vertical height of thirty-five meters

Come on, jump down if you dare

As a legendary alchemist, Stephen Zhou possesses his own alternate space

Stephen Zhou quickly felled more than ten large trees by hand, collecting over three hundred units of wood, and then returned to his underground base

This method is merely a temporary solution; if it is done repeatedly, he will not be able to conserve much energy.

Moreover, the purple rings in the sky of this world resemble those of Saturn, evoking a sense of unease. Three moons, each the size of a large satellite, orbit around, easily altering the energy field of this planet. Who knows if ascending now would lead to one's own demise.

The area is not very large, but it is sufficient to store thousands of units of materials for the time being. As his strength is restored, he can expand it again, even transforming it into a demiplane. Currently, the entire underground base is quite spacious, with most of the materials stored in an alternate space.

Stephen Zhou dug down for a while and was fortunate to discover marble, which was harder than he had previously known. It took about a hundred strikes with a pickaxe to extract it. This marble is extremely sturdy and would be very durable for construction.

Since it has been decided to build a temporary safe base here, Stephen Zhou, after extracting more than 300 units of stone, and *Tu* *Shu* decided to first renovate the underground space

The strange noises continued until dawn

A pack of hyenas the size of gray wolves appeared

The alchemist is not skilled in combat, so he should refrain from putting himself in danger.

Oh? The luck is quite good!

When will I be able to restore the ability to activate constructed life! Even making a wooden puppet first is much better than currently having to manually chop down trees!

The basic needs of an alchemist are just this much. He constructed a space of one hundred square meters and tossed a solitary single bed inside. There is still plenty of empty space, and Stephen Zhou placed the one cubic meter of soil he initially collected in the adjacent area, which will serve as a planting zone in the future. As long as the issue of light sources is resolved, indoor planting can commence. It is currently unknown what crops can be grown; it would be much easier if he could come into contact with intelligent beings, as finding seeds would allow for planning to begin. The water source is quite simple, as there is a river to the north. Given some time, he could dig a channel for an underground river.

Alchemists generally possess a degree of obsessive-compulsive tendencies

Three hundred meters to the right, Stephen Zhou saw several adult-sized antelopes that had been killed by some kind of monster, their bodies half-eaten

Of course

The night brought an inexplicable chill to Stephen Zhou. Taking advantage of the fact that it was not yet completely dark, he sealed the entrance with soil, and then altered the structure of the material to reinforce it, effectively blocking a thickness of three meters.

His abilities at the peak of his career were nearly divine within indigenous civilizations. During his early wandering years, he once helped an indigenous civilization transform thousands of miles of barren desert into soft, fertile land, to the point where he was almost worshipped as a deity.

The surface portion of the secure base will not be constructed for the time being, and Stephen Zhou has installed a trigger gate above.

If one possesses a complete set of enchanted metal armor, they would not fear even a pack of hyenas