358: Chapter 372 This belongs to all of us!

Water is the source of life.

No living creature can survive without water, so once the Camp had water, all the creatures were naturally jubilant.

Among them, the Hippopotamus group was the most excited.

Barbie laughed loudly, "Boss, can we take a bath first to show our respect?"

Without waiting for An Ke to answer, the animals and savages nearby all roared in unison:

"No!!"

Tiger Mom looked unfriendly: "If you Hippopotamuses dare to enter the water, I'll fight you to the death."

"Count me in!" Even the usually emotionally stable Leopard Mom was unstable now.

"Even if I, Old Crocodile, end up covered in wounds, I won't hesitate!"

"This mother will bite your rears and perform a Death Roll, so what if I'm mocked as a Hyena afterward?"

"This young lady will shoot you!"

"Miss Jin, there's no need for you to act personally; I, the King, am enough!"

Now that Little Scar had the "20x" Gigantification attribute, he could easily handle a Hippopotamus.

Hua Hua strongly sided with Little Scar, "If you dare to bathe, I'll have Little Scar charcoal-grill all of you."

The group of "grumpy brothers" had their desire to bathe thwarted, and facing opposition from all the creatures present, they looked aggrieved.

We just want to take a comfortable bath, is that wrong?

If it weren't for their bodies being unable to handle it, they wouldn't want to either.

It's all the fault of genetics.

Nearby, Kata looked at the disappointed "grumpy brothers" and felt a bit sympathetic.

"Excellency, why do the animals object to the Hippopotamuses entering the water to bathe?"

"This pool is flowing; even if they go in for a bath, it won't be too dirty, and it will soon be washed away by the current."

An Ke was quite shocked; someone was actually speaking up for the Hippopotamus?

He was also strongly on the side of the other animals.

If the Hippopotamus dared to go down for a bath, he would definitely give them a harsh lesson.

But on second thought, An Ke felt it was reasonable.

After all, creatures like the Hippopotamus are extremely sensitive to environmental changes and highly dependent on water resources.

That's why the Hippopotamus went extinct on Blue Star long ago.

It was normal for Kata not to know much about the Hippopotamus.

Once he understood the Hippopotamus, he would surely feel how foolish his current thought was.

An Ke just reached out and patted Kata: "You'll understand in the future."

Kata looked bewildered; could it be that the Hippopotamus had some unknown parasites?

An Ke didn't explain but said:

"Kata, build another pool next to the reservoir. Its area should preferably be more than three times the reservoir's, and the deep part should be deeper..."

"No! From shallow to deep, with the shallowest part being 1 meter deep and the deepest part being 5 meters."

"Also, build it slightly lower than the reservoir to serve as the downstream."

An Ke had previously only considered the issue of drinking water, forgetting to solve the living quarters for animals like the Old Crocodile Couple and Aman, as well as providing a place for the animals and savages to play in the water.

"Alright, Excellency." Kata nodded, "I'll start working on it right away."

"No rush!" An Ke waved his hand.

He decided to go check outside the Underground Lake cave entrance first, and he also called Barbie and the other Hippopotamuses.

"Don't be discouraged; the place for you to bathe is over there."

Hearing "bathe," Barbie and the rest of the Hippopotamuses were all refreshed.

The entrance to the Underground Lake.

The changes now could be described as quite significant.

Outside the cave entrance was originally a large Bamboo Forest, but now a huge pit had been excavated.

Because the cave entrance wound downward, the location of the Underground Lake was at a lower elevation.

Therefore, to divert water, one couldn't dig on the surface; a water channel had to be excavated underground.

Consequently, the Artificial Lake built for the Hippopotamuses had to be at an even lower elevation.

The difficulty of this project lay in digging a large lake and laying stones at the bottom to prevent water loss.

So even with the help of the tall savages and various animals, it took a full few days.

An Ke stood on high ground, looking down at the Artificial Lake below, his eyes flickering.

At this moment, Kata spoke up beside him:

"Excellency, now that the Artificial Lake is finished, standing here fills me with a sense of accomplishment."

Kata smiled brightly, "Before, I was just living my life in a daze."

I never truly felt alive.

Not until I stood here did I feel like I was living.

"Excellency, this land belongs to you!"

"And I feel proud and full of honor to be working for you."

An Ke laughed heartily: "Kata."

"If I didn't know you had 50 billion, I would have believed your nonsense."

Kata was stunned and became a bit anxious.

"Excellency, everything I said is true."

"Perhaps in the old era, a life with 50 billion was flavorful."

"But in this current era, what can money do?"

"Isn't most of the time still spent drinking nutrient solutions?"

"Excellency, I swear to God—"

An Ke interrupted, "There's no need to swear, Kata."

"I have that feeling too."

When An Ke stood on high ground, overlooking this Artificial Lake, he was also deeply moved.

From a crude Camp No. 1 to now building two Artificial Lakes the size of a basketball court.

It all felt like a dream.

A smiling An Ke looked at Kata and said with a grin:

"Kata, let me correct you."

"All of this doesn't just belong to me."

"It also belongs to you, and to our companions from all different races."

"Wahahaha! Well said, Boss!"

Barbie's boisterous laughter broke the atmosphere.

"This lake also belongs to us 'No-Crocodile-Unseated' Hippopotamuses!!"

"Brothers and sisters, follow me to take a bath!!"

"My skin has been thirsty for a long time."

"It's been a long time since I felt the sensation of crawling in the water."

"Thanks, Boss!"

"Boss is truly generous; this lake is big enough for all of us Hippopotamuses to do the backstroke in."

"..."

These "grumpy brothers" didn't have as many feelings as An Ke and Kata.

All they had in their heads was bathing.

A swarm of Hippopotamuses dashed toward the Artificial Lake down the slope.

One of them, because it was running too fast, slipped, and the whole person... no! The whole horse rolled down the slope.

When an avalanche occurs, no single snowflake is innocent.

And when the Hippopotamus herd rolls on the ground, except for the first Hippopotamus, all the others are innocent.

Under the impact of the first Hippopotamus that rolled down, many other Hippopotamuses also began to roll.

In the end, these rolling Hippopotamuses fell into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Kata watched with his mouth slightly agape.

He said with some concern: "Excellency, are they... are they going to be okay?"

Wouldn't a whole bunch of them be injured? There might even be deaths?

But as it turned out, Kata was worrying too much.

Those rolling Hippopotamuses were perfectly fine.

They popped their heads out of the water one after another and cursed loudly: "Which bastard hit me?"

"So stupid! Of all the places to run, why there? You made so many of us buddies roll into the water."

"Who was it? Get out here!"

"..."

However, not a single Hippopotamus admitted it; the "culprit" also cursed along with the others, pretending it wasn't them.

...

Outside, in the live broadcast room.

The viewers were calling it deep.

"Good grief! That 'culprit horse' is really a great actor."

"If I join in the cursing, no one will know it was me?"

"Reasonable, reasonable! I've learned something!"

"The way those Hippopotamuses entered the water just now reminded me of a meme; let me post it for everyone to see."

Soon, a meme of a group of sows lining up to dive into the water was posted.

"Zi Qiao, guess what I saw?"

"..."

The scene of the Hippopotamuses rolling into the river brought joy to the viewers, while the huge Artificial Lake also made them quite emotional.

"It's hard to imagine that such a massive lake is actually man-made!"

"By the way, these animals and savages are just too capable; they managed to create such a huge lake in just three days."

"Speaking of which..."

"A month and a half ago, Boss An's Camp was still just a... hmm... den that could barely fit one person."

"Hahaha! What the heck do you mean by 'den'!!"

"I've been watching Boss An's Camp grow larger bit by bit; I have to say, it's filled with a sense of accomplishment."

"Haha! Me too, it feels like playing a management sim."

"It could be said that the reason I'm still alive is because of the courage Boss An has given me."

"Me too..."

"..."

What An Ke brought to the people of Dragon Country was not just joy, but also hope for the future.

With An Ke around, life will get better and better!

Oil rationing has now been completed in many regions.

Through the utilization of energy, electricity has been restored.

On Blue Star at night, more and more areas of Dragon Country are being covered by light.

Life is returning to the right track, and the people can gradually emerge from an era of scarcity and depression.

Inside the Dragon Country Live Stream Room, the Foreigners looked at the massive Artificial Lake in the live broadcast room.

They were sighing incessantly in their hearts.

Many of their national players still have crude Camps and live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

Yet An Ke has already relied on his strength to create an Artificial Lake the size of two football fields.

Isn't this gap a bit too large?

It feels like a collision between the Stone Age and the modern era.

How long will it take for them to catch up to An Ke and Dragon Country?

Of course! Not all Foreigners are envious of Dragon Country.

For example, India; ever since their player No. 2 obtained the transcendent gene core, they have become emboldened.

Their high command now almost has no room for other countries.

They are even clamoring at the United Nations to apply to become one of the Five Elders.

This behavior has left many countries speechless.

India's obsession with the Five Elders is just too deep, isn't it?

Ever since resources became scarce, the Five Elders have almost become mere figureheads.

After all, every nation is too busy looking after itself.

Unexpectedly, the first thing India did after becoming emboldened was to immediately apply to become one of the Five Elders.

In the past, the Five Elders would never have agreed.

But now, no country has voiced any opposition.

There's no choice! The A-rank Mother Body ability of India's player No. 2 is simply too perverted.

Not only does it have the ability to insta-kill any creature other than humans once a week.

It can also give birth to offspring that obey orders.

And it can produce one offspring every twenty-four hours.

Barring any accidents, in three months, India will have an animal army of a hundred.

The scale won't be any weaker than An Ke's.

Even because of the "insta-kill" trait, An Ke would have to be somewhat wary.

Once King Kong, Little Scar, or Three Hairs are hunted down, the trouble would be immense.

This is exactly what the Dragon Country High Command is most wary of now.

But since they used up their bullet comment count when sending information about the Japanese player before, they have no way to notify An Ke of this news now.

Fortunately, An Ke has not personally stepped into the new map of the second stage, so he won't encounter the Indian Players.

As for Three Hairs.

It's so small that it probably wouldn't even be noticed if it walked right under the Indian Players' feet.

But this can't go on forever.

The two sides will meet one day; what will happen then?

The Dragon Country High Command is very troubled; they feel the best option at present is to maintain good relations with India.

To avoid future conflicts.

In the live broadcast.

The Hippopotamuses are finally comfortable.

After they enjoyed themselves for a while, they all came to the shallow water area.

Barbie laughed and said to An Ke and Kata:

"Boss, thank you for giving us a comfortable home."

"We're just a bunch of crude animals and really don't know how to express our thanks."

"How about this: we'll use our highest ceremony to express our supreme respect for you."

On the slope.

Kata was quite surprised, "What kind of 'highest ceremony' do these Hippopotamuses have?"

Then, he smiled and said to An Ke, "To be honest, I'm a bit looking forward to it."

However, Kata noticed that An Ke's expression beside him had changed drastically.

He quickly raised his hand to stop them, but the Hippopotamuses below had already started their performance on their own.

Under the sunlight, the Artificial Lake was sparkling, and the gentle spring breeze was very beautiful.

However, in this beautiful landscape painting, a group of Hippopotamuses was rapidly wagging their tails... and "taking flight."

Kata's face gradually turned blank; the scene was too "beautiful," making him unable to resist covering his mouth and gagging.

"My God! This is the so-called 'highest ceremony' of the Hippopotamus?"

Kata felt like his young soul had taken a critical hit.

He was about to vomit up his meal from the night before; in the wilderness, food is very precious, okay?

At the same time, he understood why the other animals and savages in the Camp had such a strong reaction when the Hippopotamuses said they wanted to go into the reservoir to bathe.

The animals and savages in the Camp would have such a large reaction.

If this group of Hippopotamuses went in, that water wouldn't be drinkable anymore.

Kata really wanted to pluck out his own eyes.

After gagging for a while, Kata suddenly realized that An Ke beside him was very calm.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel a sense of solemn respect.

As expected of Excellency An Ke; his psychological quality and endurance are beyond what an ordinary person can compare to.

What Kata didn't know was that if he had followed An Ke's group into the dungeon back then, he would also be very calm now.

After all, they had already waded through a "cesspool"; what did a scene like this count for now?

It's just child's play.

"Excellency." Kata calmed the churning in his stomach and said bitterly:

"If this group of Hippopotamuses plays like this every day, this body of water will soon be polluted."

Even if it's flowing water, it can't withstand so many Hippopotamuses tossing about like this.

"That's exactly why I took in this group of Hippopotamuses," An Ke laughed.

"Don't worry! I'll handle it; you don't need to worry about this matter."

An Ke planned to go to various parts of the island in the next few days to recruit a batch of "employees."

To improve the fertility of the land to be used for farming in the future.

The farmland is right next to the Artificial Lake; it's very convenient for the "employees" to transport the "flying" matter.

Then An Ke took out the blueprint for another project from his Portable Space.

The blueprint was drawn on a bamboo plank.

"Kata, once you've finished modifying the Camp's reservoir, proceed with this project."

After Kata took it and looked it over carefully, he immediately understood it was an underfloor heating system.

He also understood why An Ke wanted to build an underfloor heating system.

In the bullet comment sent by the Dog Tycoon's royal family before, the news of the approaching winter was mentioned...

...