Apocalypse: System of lotteries

Ming sawed down another steel wood tree, holding the chainsaw, and began cutting and storing the pieces in the warehouse. This time, he felt somewhat slow, with no mutant creatures around to help, making it quite uncomfortable.

Crack! Another steel wood tree fell, and Ming continued cutting and collecting while taking a repair scroll to fix the chainsaw.

Ming glanced at Desmond and Erik not far away. One was chopping with an axe, and the other was squatting by the tree and sawing. Ming felt a little better; at least he was faster than them. Yeah, they were all hardworking people.

Then, he put the two froglets down, letting them travel and play, mainly to avoid them hindering his work of cutting down steel wood trees.

"Hey!" Ming yelled as the steel wood tree fell to the ground.

He yelled because he hoped to summon some help, like a king-level mutant creature. After all, in the low-level area maps, king-level creatures are only one-star, and they are kind to get along with. Unfortunately, none had been summoned so far...

"..."

Erik called out to Desmond, who was squatting next to him, "This is the fourth tree that guy has cut down, right?"

"How could you count that? It's already the fifth tree."

Desmond threw down the saw and stood up, "This won't work. We need to think of a better way, or else we won't even have a share in this."

"You better think quickly and let me know when you have a solution." Erik continued chopping with his axe, finally about to cut down a tree.

On the other hand, while Ming was collecting steel wood, he was also thinking about a faster method. In these deep forests, there seemed to be no creatures with large pincers like coconut crabs, which was entirely unreasonable.

[Your froglets were hopping on the thick layer of pine needles on the ground, feeling soft and having fun, even though it was a bit prickly on their bellies. Bouncing slowly seemed to alleviate the discomfort a lot...]

[Foodie's eyes lit up and nudged Da Vinci, pointing out a creature holding a pine cone nearby. Da Vinci glanced at it and realized it was a distant cousin of the little gray family...]

[The froglets gently hopped over, intending to befriend the squirrel. The squirrel, seeing them, climbed up a tree while clutching its pine cone. Da Vinci looked up and nudged Foodie, signaling to the squirrel not to be afraid, admitting that his brother did look quite scary, but they were friendly frogs...]

"Squirrels, huh?"

Ming thought about it. If there were king-level squirrels, they could use their two large fangs to gnaw trees, but that would still be too slow.

He wished he had brought the little crab along.

[Your froglets managed to lure the squirrel down from the tree after some coaxing. The three little creatures squatted together and began introducing themselves, all very happy... The little squirrel asked Da Vinci for help, urging Foodie to let go of its tail...]

[Foodie let go and reassured the squirrel not to be afraid, explaining that it was the most popular greeting method in the frog world. The squirrel understood and bit Foodie, saying that it was their squirrel greeting method...]

"…!"

Ming laughed, amused by Foodie's predicament. However, these little guys were exciting, and their small world seemed carefree.

On the other side, Desmond and Erik leaned against the steel wood tree they had just cut down, wiping sweat and drinking water. Hearing the laughter of the formidable chainsaw man, they both shook their heads.

Erik said, "That guy, cutting down so many trees and still so smug. He's so arrogant, not considering our feelings at all."

Desmond put away his water bottle and glanced at the man beside him, "If you're annoyed by him, why don't you go confront him?"

"…"

Desmond picked up his axe, "Let's just keep chopping trees. It's already pretty good that the strong guy isn't robbing us."

[Your froglets followed the squirrel around the pine forest. The squirrel decided to invite its new friends to its home. It climbed a tree and waved at the froglets, inviting them to come up...]

[The froglets looked up at the squirrel, speechless. Da Vinci thought about inviting the squirrel to visit their pond instead... Foodie wanted to taste the squirrel's tail again. After a while, the squirrel realized that its new friends couldn't climb trees, so it came back down and patiently taught the froglets how to climb, one step at a time...]

[Your Da Vinci looked at Foodie, suggesting it bite the squirrel and bring it over. Foodie tilted its head, telling Da Vinci to try the squirrel's greeting method first before making such a suggestion...]

Ming sat down to rest. People get tired, and there's nothing wrong with that, but the chainsaw didn't tire. At this moment, the chainsaw was stuck in a thick steel wood tree, cutting diagonally downward, getting attached deeper with each cut.

Freeing his hands...

[Your froglets followed the squirrel to see a treasure. According to the squirrel, the treasure was guarded by a giant snake, so it must be valuable... The froglets were skeptical; they guessed In the squirrel's eyes, the treasure was just a pine cone...]

[The three little creatures arrived at a small mound, peeking their heads over it, and saw a thick black snake coiled like a disc around a treasure chest. The squirrel warned the froglets to be quiet, saying that the snake was hazardous and had already eaten three of its siblings...]

[Your froglets rushed over, with Da Vinci collecting the black snake and Foodie collecting the treasure chest... The squirrel was stunned, realizing its new friends were quite powerful.]

"A treasure chest?"

Ming picked up his chainsaw and continued cutting the steel wood tree. There would be meat for dinner again. Foodie's dream had been accurate.

On the other side, Desmond and Erik found a suitable method. Desmond took out his spear and used the Charger skill [Armor-Piercing Thrust] to poke a hole in the steel wood tree. Erik, an elemental fire mage, shot an explosive fireball into the hole, causing an explosion! A tree fell.

The two continued poking holes and shooting explosive fireballs, significantly increasing their efficiency.

However, it consumed a few spirit stones and mental potions. Nonetheless, it was more efficient than using physical strength and stamina potions to chop trees.

[Your froglets followed the squirrel to a small hill covered with radiant flowers. The squirrel told its friends that there was another black snake in the flower bushes ahead...]

[Your Foodie was the first to rush over and use its collecting ability on the black snake, successfully collecting it. Da Vinci began to collect the glowing flowers but realized there were too many left to collect... It planned to come back later and tell you so that you could pick them yourself...]

[Foodie bumped into the squirrel and asked if more snakes were around. The squirrel shook its head, explaining that three snakes were in the area; they had already captured two, and the last one was probably hiding. Foodie puffed out its belly, showing that the snake was inside its stomach...]

"That many glowing flowers?"

Ming stood up, glanced into the distance, and wedged his chainsaw diagonally into a steel wood tree. He then headed towards the small hill with the glowing flowers.

As Ming went about his business, the chainsaw continued its work.

Not far away, Desmond and Erik rested on a tree stump. They shook their heads upon seeing the strong man's actions. He was harsh not only on himself but also on his tools.

They looked at each other, realizing that to become a strong man, they needed to be tough, especially on themselves.