"There really is one."
Looking at the virtual panel that appeared before her, Bai Yi found that she could control it with a finger touch or directly through her consciousness.
The appearance of the panel brought Bai Yi some comfort for the fear that had been lingering in her heart, as if she had found a lifeline.
"Then next, I need to find a place to serve as my territory."
Calming her chaotic thoughts, Bai Yi tried to summarize her current situation,
because some being, whether it's a god, an alien, or something else, the world she originally lived in had been completely destroyed. The remaining young people were sent here to participate in this so-called game.
The younger children and the elderly were protected, and once they believed they had the capability, they could bring them over.
But given her parents' age, they were most likely players like her.
However, according to the announcement, everyone was randomly assigned to a world, with only 100,000 people in each world. The chances of meeting them were not significant.
Plus, considering smaller subdivisions, although Bai Yi wanted to find them, rather than hope for this, she might as well think of ways to survive.
The world she was in was called the "Mutated Ruins," and this was already confirmed by the two animals she encountered earlier. This should indeed be the kind of biological mutation she understood.
Not being injured earlier was likely due to the "newbie protection" mentioned in the announcement.
If not for this protection, facing any of the mutant creatures she encountered alone, she might not have lasted a single round.
No!
Not might, definitely!
Fortunately, according to the announcement, she still had a chance to bind a territory!
Looking at her personal panel, the territory section clearly showed the words "to be bound."
If she was not mistaken, the next steps would be to bind the territory, receive the initial soldier type, and then start scavenging resources and developing the territory. Bai Yi was very familiar with this process.
However, Bai Yi was not really interested in the Lord Conquest. This world was too dangerous!
Moreover, her superpower did not have much combat ability.
Better to find a place to lay low and develop quietly, becoming capable before venturing out!
Having decided on her future development plan, Bai Yi immediately took action.
"Okay, so the next task is to bind the territory."
Bai Yi talked to herself, setting a phased goal for herself, completely suppressing the fear in her heart, and began to observe her surroundings.
The area was indeed near mountains and water, and it seemed long devoid of human habitation, making it suitable for hiding a territory.
Glancing around, Bai Yi set her target.
——It was a giant tree in the forest near the foot of the mountain, significantly taller than others of its kind.
Bai Yi speculated that it was likely a mutant creature, a mutated large tree.
Mutant plants were undoubtedly very compatible with her talent, whereas mutant animals were directly ignored by Bai Yi. It wasn't easy to subdue wise mutant animals.
In the absence of a taming method, it was better to choose plants. She's heard of territories coming with plants, but Bai Yi had never heard of territories coming with animals.
She dared not gamble on whether creating a territory would forcibly tame animals.
Besides, there wasn't really a better choice here, one side was a grass plain taller than Bai Yi, the other was a forest of trees over ten meters tall, neither ideal for establishing a territory.
"Even if that tree doesn't have anything special, having a large tree nearby at least provides a simple shelter from the wind and rain."
With her sights set on the giant tree's direction, Bai Yi plunged into the depths of the forest.
Although it didn't look far, barely a kilometer's distance, traversing the dense forest was another matter, especially since Bai Yi wasn't skilled at sport. The trip, with stops and starts, took her half an hour to reach the tree.
Because of newbie protection, Bai Yi, although encountering many mutant creatures along the way, remained undiscovered—
Yet Bai Yi, to avoid accidents, decided to first reach the giant tree before deciding. She mentally noted the general locations of these mutant creatures.
After all, they would be threats and resources she needed to face after establishing her territory.
Under the giant tree, Bai Yi witnessed its grandeur,
roots thicker than Bai Yi's waist stretched from the trunk and extended out nearly ten meters.
No other trees grew around the giant tree, creating a small clearing, leaving only knee-high grasses surrounding Bai Yi.
Through these grasses, Bai Yi saw numerous animal carcasses, either caught by the roots or tangled in fallen vines.
Raising her head to follow the vines upwards, she saw clusters of luscious fruit hanging under the dense foliage, emanating a tempting aroma.
"Eh? There's a tree hole here! Great!"
Circling the giant tree, Bai Yi found a triangular two-meter-tall opening near the base of the trunk.
The tree hole was not as damp as Bai Yi had imagined, but rather dry. Except for the poor lighting, it was practically the perfect dwelling.
"It's at least bigger than my school dormitory~"
Bai Yi already decided in her heart that this would be her territory, but she had another thought she needed to verify.
Placing her hand on the trunk of the giant tree, her superpower slowly reached out to sense the presence of the giant banyan.
Though Bai Yi was still unperceived by the giant tree due to newbie protection, the plant affinity her superpower provided allowed her to communicate with the faint consciousness of the tree.
With just a brief mental command, a vine dropped from the tree hole's entrance, while a small probing root sprouted from the soil, seemingly curious as to why it saw no "friendly human."
Good, it seemed her superpower could indeed influence plants.
Having verified her thought, Bai Yi called up her panel.
[Note: Once territory is confirmed, it cannot be changed. The system will semi-digitize the territory's range, incorporating the resources within. It is advised to choose a resource-rich area as the territory.]
[Note: Territory transformation cannot convert intelligent creatures.]
[Do you choose this place as your territory?]
"No."
Having gathered all the information she wanted, the corners of Bai Yi's mouth lifted.
She had noticed earlier, the bones under the giant tree, judging from their appearance, were undoubtedly the work of this giant tree.
This giant tree was carnivorous!
Why was she unharmed? Not to mention her newbie protection was still in effect, Bai Yi's plant affinity from her superpower was no small matter!
So, she had a chance to exploit a bug,
Using her newbie protection, she planned to lure some mutant creatures under the giant tree, and then rely on the tree to take them out!
All Bai Yi had to do was use her superpower to control the giant tree to kill the mutant creatures once they were lured in, and then bind the territory, semi-digitizing and annexing everything around into her territory.
And Bai Yi had already selected her target—that was a giant mutant wild boar with piglets.
If the plan succeeded, she might acquire wild boar meat at the very moment she established her territory!
This would give her a huge lead over others!
Moreover, she might even find opportunities to use her newbie protection's invisibility ability to steal a few mutant creature features!
Determined to act, Bai Yi headed back in the direction she came from, plunging back into the bushes.
This time, Bai Yi's role was that of a hunter.
...
White Poplar Mountain: A low mountain range located in the suburbs of White Poplar City, with an altitude of about 400 meters. Despite its modest height, it covers a vast area. Previously partially developed as a tourist attraction, it became one of the first areas to fall after the mutation, vanishing from human sight since...