Chapter 3

As someone once said, life's ups and downs are just too intense, really, really, really exciting!

Two hours ago, Lin Taiping had just been fired, simply because when his boss was having a deep conversation with a female employee about life and ideals, he "conveniently" kicked the office door open with one swift kick... By the way, the boss was also a woman.

Two hours later, he was already being surrounded by a large group of minotaurs, marching in a grand procession on Demon Island. The ferocious aura of eating whatever they saw frightened the seabirds they encountered, causing them to scatter and fly away in panic.

"Alright, I'm starting to like this feeling of collecting protection fees when I go out." Lin Taiping had to admit that he really enjoyed this lifestyle—no need to please others or work hard, and he could breathe fresh, free air.

In fact, if it weren't for the noisy minotaur beside him, the originally homeless Lin Taiping might have even planned to settle on this island.

Unfortunately, after sharing food and cigarettes and initially establishing a friendship, the originally fierce-looking minotaur chief Tulu had now fully revealed his nature as a foodie—

"Lin, since bamboo roots can be eaten, other plant roots should be edible too, right? I just saw a huge pine tree. Do you think we should dig up its roots?"

"Lin, this flower has such a strange color. Do you want to taste it? I just ate a few, and my tongue feels a bit numb."

"Lin, have you ever tried eating rocks? Maybe we can use them to make soup. I once ate a shiny rock with a butterfly embedded inside, but it was so hard it almost knocked out my teeth."

"Lin... Lin... Lin... Lin..."

Oh no, who can help me strangle this chatty foodie? Lin Taiping's head was spinning, as if thousands of flies were buzzing around his ears. He even began to suspect that the minotaur beside him was a hybrid of a goblin and a parrot, with a stomach that could digest anything.

However, it was precisely because of Tulu's chatter that Lin Taiping gradually understood the world he had been transported to—

As he had expected, this magical world called Cantus was a Western fantasy world where multiple races coexisted. Interestingly, there were no vast continents here, only tens of thousands of islands and archipelagos scattered across the vast ocean.

As for his current location, it was a remote Demon Island in the Galle Sea. After the Light and Darkness War a thousand years ago, many dark races fled from the resource-rich large islands. Tulu's minotaur tribe and another dark elf tribe had accidentally arrived here and settled down through a one-way portal.

Unfortunately, due to the island's poor resources and remote location, both the dark elf tribe to the north and the minotaur tribe to the south of the island were living in great hardship.

Worse still, it was now the harsh winter season, with plants withered and monsters hiding. Even the nearby rivers were frozen over. After eating all their stored food, Tulu and his tribe could only survive by eating grass roots and tree bark... What? Fishing at sea? Have you ever seen a minotaur who can build a boat and swim?

"Alright, I understand your situation." Lin Taiping sighed sympathetically, suddenly feeling very unlucky. Others who were transported always had a golden finger, but why did he get nothing, except for a ring he dug up earlier?

Speaking of the ring, he subconsciously raised his left hand and looked at the ring on his index finger, which was shimmering in the sunset: "Cough, cough, could there be an old man inside... uh?"

Well, there was no old man, but there was something else!

In fact, the moment he focused his mind, the gemstone ring suddenly glowed red, and a fireball the size of a human head shot out, narrowly missing Tulu's head and heavily hitting a crooked jujube tree several hundred meters away.

Stunned! Poor Tulu was stunned. He first looked at the jujube tree, which had turned into a torch, then touched his head, which was still smoking, and suddenly cried out, "Lin, I thought we were friends."

"Please, we've always been friends." Lin Taiping could only apologize helplessly, but he looked down at the still warm gemstone ring with a strange expression, "Is this thing a legendary magic item?"

"Exactly, but it's a low-level magic item." Tulu curiously leaned over, "I swear by my beloved horns, I once saw a similar ring that could cast a small fireball six times a day, and the magic power would automatically replenish."

Really? Lin Taiping looked at the ring on his hand and suddenly felt much better.

Well, although this thing wasn't a golden finger and was said to be low-level, for an ordinary person who had watched many fantasy movies, being able to use magic personally was a kind of fun. However, the problem now was...

"It's yours!" As if knowing what he was thinking, Tulu waved his hoof generously, "We minotaurs hate magic the most. We only believe in our own strength and totems. But to be honest, your luck is really good, finding a magic ring in a pit, even if it's just a low-level magic item."

"Can't help it, I've always had good luck." Lin Taiping happily accepted the praise and then decided to change the topic, "By the way, we've been walking for a whole hour. Why haven't we seen your tribe yet?"

"It's just a bit further ahead." Tulu shook his horns and stomped on the frozen river, "See, the place with the smoke on the other side of the river is our minotaur tribe."

Indeed, as they talked, the outline of the other side of the river became visible. Lin Taiping tiptoed and looked forward, seeing a wisp of smoke rising in the distance: "Hmm, that's your... uh?"

At this moment, upon seeing the minotaur tribe clearly, he suddenly felt tears welling up, and he was completely petrified.

In the dim sunset, a few crows cawed and flew past. By the desolate riverbank overgrown with wild grass, a dilapidated stone wall surrounded a dozen ramshackle thatched huts.

In front of the wall, two creaking wooden gates looked like they could collapse at any moment. Someone had written a line in red ink on the gate, though the handwriting was elegant, the content was menacing: "Pay your debts, or pay with your life!"

"Is this your tribe? Are you sure?" Lin Taiping was drenched in cold sweat. He suddenly felt like he had entered an African refugee camp, one that had just experienced a fire, earthquake, and mudslide.

"Well, the dark elves to the north of the island have some disputes with us, so they often come..." Tulu's face was clearly red, and he looked awkwardly at the other minotaurs, "Cough, cough, actually, it looks a bit miserable from the outside, but it's not that bad inside."

That was true. Ten minutes later, when Lin Taiping climbed up the riverbank, he found that Tulu was indeed honest. The legendary minotaur tribe looked miserable from the outside, but it was even worse inside... because it couldn't be described as just miserable.

A dozen crooked thatched huts, a dilapidated dark temple, and a warehouse so clean that even rats would starve to death. In short, the tribe was completely empty, with everything that could be used to pay off debts already taken away. The only thing left was a hungry cow tied to a crooked pine tree, desperately gnawing on the bark.

Is this a tribe? Is this a dark race? Lin Taiping felt tears welling up and raised his hand, "Excuse me, may I ask what's left in your tribe?"

Good question. Dozens of minotaurs looked at each other in silence for a long time before Tulu finally bit his hoof and hesitantly said, "Well, if I'm not mistaken, there's a totem pillar in our dark temple, a relic passed down for hundreds of years!"

Really? Lin Taiping barely retained a sliver of hope, waiting to see the totem pillar.

A moment later, with the grunts of a few minotaurs, the totem pillar was indeed carried out—nearly six meters tall, covered in dense totem runes, emitting a black glow. Even the mushrooms growing on the top of the pillar were... Wait, mushrooms?

Stay calm, stay calm, Lin Taiping told himself seriously. But the next moment, Tulu suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Wow! Mushrooms! Thank goodness, we finally have something to eat tonight!"

Pfft! Thus, Lin Taiping, who had just promised to stay calm, suddenly felt an urge to bash his head against the totem pillar.

Very well, very powerful. Dozens of starving minotaurs, a tribe so poor they couldn't find a single grain of food, and a life where they shivered for warmth, walked for transportation, and ate porridge for meals... Come on, you're dark races, and powerful minotaurs. How can the players in the magical world bear this?

But the problem was, no matter how much he complained, the facts were right there. In the dilapidated camp, dozens of minotaurs looked at him with sad, wide eyes, their stomachs rumbling.

"Alright, I give up." Defeated by their collective cuteness, Lin Taiping could only raise his hands in surrender, frowning in thought, "So, let me think, what else can we... Hmm? What's that?"

In an instant, he noticed a faint cold light in the distance. He almost instinctively stood up, and at the same time, Tulu, noticing his strange expression, involuntarily turned to look—

In that moment, the minotaur chief's face was full of shock, and his pupils suddenly dilated: "Damn! That's..."

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A few notes: Although the story initially takes place on an island, and the setting mentions many islands in the world, the main plot, including farming and battles, will primarily take place on the mainland. The ocean is just a supplement to add new elements. Don't worry, I won't turn it into a sailing era.

After more than two years, I'm back. Seeing everyone's comments, votes, and rewards, I'm truly moved. It turns out you've all been here, it's just that I left... I won't say more, I'll just work hard to write and hope to make everyone happy.

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