Suddenly, a burst of white gas, carrying a peculiar odor, erupted, instantly engulfing the swarm of black ants.

The white mist seemed to be incredibly toxic, delivering a devastating blow to the oversized insects.

"Argh..."

Screams filled the air as the black ants scattered in a desperate attempt to escape.

"Think you can get away?"

A cruel smirk formed on Hank Fowler's lips as he pressed down on the insecticide again, unleashing another thick cloud of white mist.

The black ants, having barely taken a few steps, collapsed to the ground, twitching for a moment before falling still.

"Brutal!" the sentient entrenching tool exclaimed, a hint of awe in its voice.

Hank was still the same old Hank!

Still as vicious as ever.

Fowler glanced around, then swung his entrenching tool, crushing any black ants that weren't quite dead yet.

With the grim task complete, he opened his status screen.

[Survivalist: Hank Fowler]

[Area: 10001]

[Level: 4]

[Experience: 20/500]

[Constitution: 8 + 30]

[Strength: 8 + 30]

[Agility: 10 + 30]

[Defense: 5 + 30]

[Spirit: 11 + 30]

[Talent: Healing]

Seeing that he had leveled up to 4, Hank couldn't help but grin.

He had only been on this island for two and a half days and had already reached level 4.

He might not be the only one leveling this fast, but he was definitely among the best.

Of course, Fowler wasn't about to get complacent.

Level 4 was nothing. It was nowhere near his goal.

Then, Hank began to scheme.

The best way to level up quickly was to hunt large groups of monsters.

Like locust swarms.

But he had already wiped out the locusts on the east side of the island.

On the other hand, there was a much larger patch of tall grass on the west side, which might be hiding another locust swarm.

If he could wipe them out in one go, he might even jump to level 5.

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However, ever since he had parted ways with Zara Vance and her two companions, they seemed to have formed a tacit agreement.

The island was divided in half, with the center as the boundary. The east side was his territory, and the west belonged to Zara and her group.

This division was actually quite beneficial to him.

His territory was equal to the combined territory of three people, so he would naturally gather more resources.

If he rashly entered their territory to hunt locusts, it would break the balance, and the gains might not outweigh the losses.

Hank thought it over and eventually abandoned the idea.

He then left the area.

"Big Bro," the entrenching tool said, puzzled, "there are still plenty of ants in that nest. Are you just going to leave? Not wipe them all out?"

"I've already killed so many. That's enough, isn't it? Why are you so bloodthirsty?" Fowler retorted with a hint of disdain.

The entrenching tool paused, confused. "Big Bro, when did you become so merciful? This isn't like you!"

Hank raised an eyebrow. "Wiping out all the ants at once would indeed give me more experience, but that's just a one-time deal. If I leave some alive, they'll breed, and I can harvest them again later. Isn't that better than killing them all now?"

"So that's what you were thinking," the entrenching tool said, suddenly understanding. "When it comes to being sneaky, you're the sneakiest."

"You wouldn't get it," Hank scoffed, continuing on his way.

As he passed through a grassy area, he suddenly noticed several bright red mushrooms growing among the blades.

Generally, vibrantly colored mushrooms were poisonous and therefore worthless.

Fowler had already taken a few steps past them when he suddenly heard voices in his head.

"This human is about to leave!"

"Thank goodness, we're safe."

"I was so scared just now!"

"He could increase his Spirit by eating us, why didn't he pick us?"

"We're wearing these bright red clothes, we look just like poisonous mushrooms. He must have mistaken us for poisonous ones."

"Keep it down, don't let him hear us."

"What are you afraid of? He's not a god, how could he possibly hear us talking?"

Hearing this, Hank abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned back, his eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the red mushrooms on the ground.

The group of mushrooms instantly panicked.

"Why is he back again?"

"Did he hear us talking?"

"Is he going to pick us and cook us into a stew?"

"I'm so scared!"

"Everyone calm down, don't panic!"

"Look at his eyes, they're so intense. He's definitely up to no good. I can't calm down!"

"Don't worry, he doesn't know what we do. He won't pick us. He'll leave in a minute."

"I hope so."

Fowler observed them for a moment, then smirked. "Hey there, mushroom bros, how are you doing?"

"Crap!"

"Is he talking to us?"

"It seems like it..."

"He must have heard our conversation."

"We're doomed, we're doomed. He's definitely not going to let us go."

The mushrooms were in a state of utter panic.

Hank focused his gaze on one of the red mushrooms, chuckling. "Is it true that eating you guys will increase my Spirit?"

The red mushroom quickly replied, "No, it's not true! We're all poisonous mushrooms. You'll die if you eat us!"

Fowler narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, then turned to a smaller red mushroom. "If you tell me the truth, I'll let you go!"

The little red mushroom stammered, "Are you serious? You won't go back on your word?"

"Absolutely not," Hank promised solemnly.

One of the larger red mushrooms roared, "Snitch, we're all brothers here! Don't you dare betray us!"

The little red mushroom, after a moment of internal struggle, said, "Big Brother, I'm still young. I don't want to die so early. Please, just let me have this!"

The larger red mushroom was furious. "You're willing to sell out your own brothers just to survive? What kind of scum are you?!"

The little red mushroom retorted, "Every man for himself. You would do the same if you were in my shoes. But don't worry, I'm grateful. After you're gone, I'll pay my respects to you every day!"

"You're a real snitch, you know that?!"

"Go to hell!"

"You're going to die a horrible death!"

"I curse you to the deepest pits of hell!"

The other red mushrooms erupted in a chorus of curses.

The little red mushroom ignored them, turning to Hank. "Eating them won't have any side effects, and it will definitely boost your Spirit!"

"Excellent!" Fowler grinned, then raised his entrenching tool and started digging.

In no time, he had unearthed all five large mushrooms, tossing them into his Spatial Bag.

He left the little red mushroom untouched.

The little red mushroom breathed a sigh of relief. "Human, thank you for sparing me."

Hank said nothing, simply turning and walking away.

Although the little red mushroom had helped him, it had betrayed its own brothers to do so.

Fowler despised that kind of behavior, so he didn't want to engage with it any further.

"Big Bro, that little mushroom is pure evil. Are you just going to let it go so easily?" the entrenching tool asked.

Hank's eyes flashed coldly. "It's too small, not worth much yet. I'll let it grow a bit bigger first."