```


    "Taming - Modified": You can administer mental punishment and reward through contact with sessfully tamed species.


    Tao Yu sensed the changes in his newly Deified Skill, not as stunningly transformative as "Riding", but still satisfactory as a bonus gain.


    This ability couldn''t help with things like passively increasing loyalty or add any taming experience.


    The bonus can be described as simple and crude.


    But animal training always relied on measures of reward and punishment.


    This was a great convenience for the implementation of ''reward and punishment''.


    Combined with the ''shared emotions'' of "Riding", these two bargain Skills actually made a decent pair.


    "What a pity, though, it would be overwhelming inrge numbers, and the prerequisite is a sessful taming. It seems I can only tame creatures I''m capable of defeating and not too many at once."


    Because both ''reward and punishment'' required physical contact and consumed mental power to execute, this had always been a drawback of Deification Skills.


    Without hesitation, he reached out and touched the Alien''s massive head.


    This time, Tao Yu didn''t strike or use Fist Intention to reinforce the attack.


    Yet, the Alien suddenlyy on the ground, screeching; through ''shared emotions'', Tao Yu continually felt its fear, pain, and submission, which pleased him.


    "Good. Understand who your master is. If you behave well, there''s no reason you can''t receive some reward. From now on, your name is Little ck."


    Tao Yu petted the Alien''s head like one would stroke a cat, and theforting mental power from the reward made the Alien lie down again, seemingly with limp muscles and drooling disgusting saliva.


    This made Tao Yu feel somewhat disgusted and stop his action. What on earth? How powerful is this?


    As the Alien slowly came back to its senses, Tao Yu finally felt its previously rebellious attitude improve significantly; it even affectionately rubbed its exoskeleton head against his trouser leg.


    Then, due to some acid blood still leaking, it corroded a few holes in Tao Yu''s trousers, prompting him to kick the Alien once more and apply partial punishment, causing the Alien to roll on the ground in pain.


    "Brother Tao has great techniques..."


    Lin Chao, who had just dealt with the injured Alien on the other side, had a somewhat strange expression on his face.


    Looking at the Alien that was once again prostrating at Tao Yu''s feet, daring not to make any moves, he asked curiously,


    "Is this some kind of envement skill? Are there any risks?"


    Upon Lin Chao''s words, the originally prostrating Alien immediately turned its head and bared its teeth at Lin Chao, dribbling clear, viscous saliva continuously, looking quite fierce.


    It wasn''t until Tao Yu kicked it again that it settled down.


    "Animals will be animals. Consider it preliminarily tamed."


    Tao Yu nced at the Alien, then motioned with his mouth towards the edge of the roof,


    "Go down and catch Zombies for yourself to eat. Don''t you dare eat live humans, you know you can''t hide it from me."


    The Alien, upon hearing this, didn''t hesitate and immediately lept out, scaling the side of the building like it was t ground and plunging into the Zombie horde below. Its long tail skewered a Zombie, hauling it to a room nearby for its meal.


    Because of the Alien''s exoskeleton, Tao Yu wasn''t worried that the Zombies could harm it.


    With the ''reward'' mark from earlier, he believed it wouldn''t leave easily; if it really were to run off, he''d consider it a test of his Skills...


    "Let''s go, let''s head back. Since five Aliens appeared, there could be more."


    Tao Yu could gather some information from the Alien through the ability of "Riding."


    But as it was cross-speciesmunication, he could only grasp a rough understanding of the Alien''s intended messages and emotions, not too detailed.


    He only knew that this one had been born in the current world fragment and had seen the Alien Queen; there were also a few Pioneers around.


    Based on the timing, they must have arrived before he absorbed the world fragment, so it wasn''t an issue with his absorption of the fragment.


    It was that there were Pioneers who had taken up the task of cultivating Aliens and were testing the waters here!


    Utterly disregarding the life and death of other surviving natives of this fragment or even the Pioneers exploring this fragment.


    However...


    That was indeed typical of how Pioneers operated...


    ...


    "You killed it? I was actually hoping to get a look and learn a thing or two."


    When Tao Yu and Lin Chao returned to the original rooftop, they saw Jack, fully armed and carrying a gun, keeping watch.


    Seeing Tao Yu, he also let out a sigh of relief and then put on a smug expression.


    "But you really are bold. Weren''t those creatures said to be more troublesome than Zombies? You didn''t even call me."


    Jack nced at Lin Chao and nodded as a form of greeting,


    "Yourpanion has already introduced you. Wee to join our settlement temporarily."


    "Thank you," Lin Chao responded politely, shaking hands with Jack.


    "Those creatures are called Aliens. I''ve captured one, and it''s out eating Zombies now. It should be back soon. Don''t worry, it won''t bite with me around."


    As Tao Yu spoke, he ate his canned beef, puffing his cheeks.


    ```


    "Caught one? You''re standing right there and not biting anyone?"


    At that moment, Jack was also a bit dumbfounded. Then, he imagined Tao Yu holding a zombie as a pet, instructing it, "Bite him."


    "You know, we Pioneers can always conveniently learn some skills," Tao Yu said.


    Jack felt as if he''d been handed a lemon, so he stopped engaging with Tao Yu and led the way to the hotel rooftop.


    "Come on over first, andter, let us see exactly what your pet looks like. I''m now nning to move people to that base, but we stillck suitable vehicles and food, and we need to n the route..."


    Jack and Tao Yu discussed their ns.


    Previously, it was just Jack and Tao Yu going out. With the two of them capable of not holding each other back, everything went smoothly—a round trip in just three days and nights.


    But now, with the addition of other people from the settlement, problems were bound to get much moreplicated.


    Vehicles, route nning, supplies, attracting zombies, and so on—all needed consideration. Given the number of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled in the settlement, if they didn''t n well, inevitably, some would be left behind forever.


    Once the team became bloated, the efficiency would drastically decrease.


    "I''m afraid you''ll need to revise your n. This afternoon, I''ll go with you to look for vehicles, and then we''ll hit the road immediately. It''s okay if we have less food. As long as the main forces are fed, the others won''t die from hunger for two days.


    "It''s best if we can depart today. Otherwise, if you encounter an Alien attack on the way, along with zombies from all around, chances are none of you will survive," Tao Yu warned.


    Looking at the time, Tao Yu decided that after the noon bloodletting was done, he would apany Jack out in the afternoon.


    Actually, his original n was good, helping out nearby for a few days. After seven days, once the zombie was trained, he would return directly.


    But with the sudden arrival of the Aliens, the n had been utterly disrupted.


    At this point, Jack looked gravely at Tao Yu and spoke in a deep voice,


    "Is the threat really that great?"


    Tao Yu, feeling his ''Riding'' creatureing within range, nodded and said,


    "See for yourself."


    No sooner had he spoken than the Alien, following the scent, climbed swiftly up the wall and directly onto the rooftop.


    Suddenly leaping from the eaves, itnded on the ground!


    It then started to bare its ferocious steel teeth at Jack and Lin Chao, grimacing menacingly.


    The sight of this creature with its dark exoskeleton and those grotesque teeth put Jack immediately on guard.


    Fuck!


    You''re keeping this thing as a pet?


    Looking at the Alien''s cherry-sized mouth, Jack thought back to Tao Yu''s mention of not biting, and couldn''t help but think that a bite from it would hurt a lot...


    The next moment, he saw Tao Yu kick the Alien, causing it to shrink away and lie down sullenly on one side.


    "Behave."


    Tao Yu issued a ''punishing'' kick to the Alien and then turned to a gaping Jack,


    "This thing is still somewhat dangerous. It really will bite people when I''m not around, and we''re not yet certain of their numbers."


    While saying this, Tao Yu pointed to the eaves next to him andmanded the Alien,


    "Flick your tail."


    The next moment, the Alien''s slender tail whipped out like a steel whip against the eaves, making a loud bang.


    The outeryer of concrete cracked open, and debris flew, leaving behind a deep mark!


    Previously, Tao Yu had arm-wrestled with the Alien. If it weren''t for his ''Fist Intention'' skill, Tao Yu wouldn''t have been able to ovee the pure strength of the Alien!


    "See why I''m telling you to speed things up?"


    After speaking, he pulled out an ordinary handgun and fired a shot at the Alien''s leg.


    Although it whined pitifully, the bullet seemed to bounce off the shot area, merely splitting open and oozing some green blood. As the blood hit the ground, it emitted corrosive white smoke.


    A regr handgun bullet was almost useless against it!


    "Let''s go down. I''ll exin in detail all of its characteristics in front of everyone. Then, you all need to make a decision fast..."


    Seeing that even the creature''s blood was highly corrosive, Jack''s face turned ashen.


    When Tao Yu had said Aliens were more troublesome than zombies, Jack didn''t quite grasp the concept.


    The creature had just appeared looking hideous and frightening, but Jack had managed to stay calm.


    After all, in terms of size, it was only slightlyrger than a human. As long as there weren''t too many, firearms should have been sufficient to handle them.


    But now that Tao Yu had demonstrated just a few of the Alien''s abilities, he understood that even a single one of these creatures could take him out if he was caught off guard.


    If he felt this way, the others in the settlement would be even less able to defend themselves!


    ————