12: Chapter 12: The Familia Evolves Madly, and the 800-Strong Wasteland Legion Takes Shape

Lin Yuan did not indulge in the pleasure brought by power. He impatiently submerged his consciousness back into the Divine Realm.

The time-flow scale on the Divine Realm panel showed that three full years had passed inside.

The scene before him made Lin Yuan's heart jolt.

The once empty and deathly silent basin had been completely transformed.

In the center of the basin, the dark red [Abyssal Carrion Tree] was still bubbling and churning.

Around the blood pool, four military encampments built from giant scorched rocks and black carapaces had risen from the ground.

Census data flickered on the light screen.

[Kin: Petrified Goblin]

[Quantity: 800]

Thanks to the blood pool's ability to block pain and repair flesh, combined with the high-pressure combat environment provided by the mutated cockroaches.

The breeding and survival rate of the Petrified Goblins reached a terrifying figure.

From the initial 60 survivors, they had forcibly surged to eight hundred.

What surprised Lin Yuan even more was that this group of goblins were no longer beasts that only knew how to swing wooden clubs randomly.

They had evolved distinct military divisions.

On the left side of the camp, three hundred sturdy goblins nearly two meters tall held giant cockroach carapaces over two meters high as shields.

This was an absolute heavy-armored frontline.

On the right side of the camp, four hundred slightly more lean and capable goblins held sharp bone spears, three meters long, polished from cockroach forelimbs.

The remaining one hundred used thick insect tendons to craft crude slings, with their waists hung full of fist-sized, venom-soaked scorched rock fragments.

They were no longer bottom-tier cannon fodder, but a tightly disciplined Wasteland legion.

Lin Yuan nodded with satisfaction.

But before he could carefully examine the kin attributes, the light screen of the Divine Realm terminal suddenly flashed with a blinding red light.

Beep—Beep—!

[Warning! Your Divine Realm's ecological chain is facing total collapse!]

[Warning! Kin nutrition is severely imbalanced; current caloric intake is insufficient to maintain physical consumption!]

[Alarm: Ash Worm species declared extinct.]

[Alarm: Mutated Black Rock Mushroom reserves have fallen below the warning line and are on the verge of extinction.]

Lin Yuan furrowed his brows, casting his gaze toward the farm area below.

It was a miserable sight.

The once lush Black Rock Mushroom mycelial mat had been gnawed so thoroughly that even the soil at the roots had been overturned.

Although the scale of the mutated cockroach swarm had been suppressed by the goblins, their numbers remained massive.

To fill their stomachs, the goblins and cockroaches had scraped the Wasteland for every edible thing, leaving nothing behind.

For eight hundred berserkers who needed to hone their bodies and consume Qi and blood at high intensity every day, their food consumption was an astronomical figure.

The Ash Worms were wiped out by the goblins, treated as snacks.

While spore mushrooms and cockroach meat could fill their bellies, their caloric content was extremely low.

This was like making a group of heavy infantry, who underwent extreme weight-bearing training every day, eat nothing but boiled cabbage for every meal.

Their bellies were full, but their muscles received no nutritional replenishment, and their Qi and blood were constantly being depleted instead.

"Damn it," Lin Yuan rubbed his throbbing temples. "I overreached and messed everything up."

This was the price of rapid military expansion.

The ecosystem that ordinary gods would slowly polish, he had forcibly forced to mature in three years, and the logistical hidden dangers had finally exploded in full.

He had to immediately find a high-calorie substitute food source.

Lin Yuan cut the connection to the Divine Realm and opened his eyes.

Conventional high-energy crops couldn't survive in the Wasteland at all, and those that could were devoid of nutrition.

After a brief moment of thought, a figure flashed through Lin Yuan's mind.

He opened his terminal's contact list, found the number for his homeroom teacher, Teacher Lei Yan, and pressed the call button.

The call connected quickly, and a holographic projection popped up, showing Teacher Lei Yan's angular face.

He was sitting at his desk, holding a cup of strong tea, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Lin Yuan?" Teacher Lei Yan's voice was low. "Calling me at this hour, did something go wrong in your Divine Realm?"

In Teacher Lei Yan's perception, for a civilian student with an F-rank Wasteland start, surviving the first few days was already a miracle.

Calling now, it was 80% likely that his kin were all dead, and he wanted to ask how to pursue a mortal logistics path.

"Teacher Lei, sorry to disturb you." Lin Yuan's expression was calm, his tone unhurried. "My Divine Realm's ecological chain has indeed run into some trouble."

"I previously used a loan to buy a fast-breeding mutated beast as food, but they ended up breeding out of control and ate all the plants in the Divine Realm."

He paused, then threw out the core issue: "My kin numbers have increased quite a bit, and their daily energy consumption is immense."

"I would like to ask you, in such an extremely harsh environment, is there any way to quickly solve the food problem for high-energy-consuming kin?"

Teacher Lei Yan's hand holding the teacup paused in mid-air.

The expression on Scarface's face froze for two seconds.

He looked up and down at Lin Yuan in the holographic projection, his eyes gradually changing.

Breeding out of control? Kin numbers increased? High energy consumption?

Combining these terms together, it meant that this student had not only not given up on himself, but had instead proactively introduced foreign species to conduct ecological warfare.

And judging by what he said, his goblins hadn't died, but had grown to the point where he had to worry about food.

Teacher Lei Yan put down the teacup, a flash of undisguised admiration in his eyes.

He knew Lin Yuan was the orphan of a martyr, raised by a disabled veteran.

In this era of relying on fathers and resources, for a poor child to pull a Wasteland start was equivalent to a death sentence.

But in Lin Yuan's eyes, he saw not a hint of despair or resentment, only the calmness of someone seeking a breakthrough.

Good lad.

"Conventional farming strategies won't save your Wasteland." Teacher Lei Yan leaned forward, hands crossed on the desk, pointing out the crux of the matter with surgical precision.

"Since the environment is harsh, don't count on natural agricultural output. What you need is the concept of a 'Flesh Factory'."

Lin Yuan's gaze sharpened: "Flesh Factory?"

"That's right." Teacher Lei Yan nodded. "The military is stationed on the Abyssal front line, and logistical supply lines are often cut off.

The daily consumption of hundreds of thousands of high-ranking kin is an astronomical figure.

To solve the food issue, the military cultivated a type of aberrant plant called the [Abyssal Carrion Tree]."

Teacher Lei Yan tapped his fingers on the desk, his speaking speed increasing.

"This tree doesn't need sunlight or clean water. As long as you bury the corpses of fallen monsters or useless flesh remains under its roots, it can rapidly digest the corpses and continuously bear high-calorie meat fruits."

"Although that thing looks like a tumor and tastes like rotten rubber, it fills you up and contains terrifying biological energy. As long as there are corpses, this tree can keep producing."

Lin Yuan's heart raced as he listened.

In future battles, the enemy's corpses would be the military rations for his kin.

Sustaining war through war, a perfect closed loop.

"However, this stuff is military-controlled material and can't be bought on the market." Teacher Lei Yan changed the subject, looking at Lin Yuan. "I happen to have a cutting of an Abyssal Carrion Tree branch that was retired from the front lines."

"It was originally meant for combat damage research. For the sake of your ambition, I'll sell it to you for 1000 Faith Points, basically giving it away. Do you want it?"

"I want it. Thank you, Teacher."

Lin Yuan did not hesitate at all and transferred 1000 Faith Points via his terminal.

His movements were clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Teacher Lei Yan looked at the balance that arrived in his account instantly, stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud:

"You kid, you didn't even haggle. Looks like you've been busy these past few days. Alright, I'll have the item sent to you via the logistics channel immediately."

The call ended.

Three minutes later.

Ripples of space stirred in the middle of the bedroom.

An alloy sealed box wrapped in heavy seal runes slammed onto the floor.

Lin Yuan stepped forward and flipped open the lid.

Lying at the bottom of the box was an aberrant branch, as thick as an arm, dark red throughout, and covered with vein-like patterns on its surface.

At the broken end of the branch, it was still slightly wriggling