Chapter 1003 - 1001 Mike’s Taming Ability’s Benefit
The simple, self-sustaining cycle quietly impressed Kisha. In that moment, she knew she had made the right decision by putting Mike in charge here.
"The farm has really grown... there are already hundreds of animals here," Kisha murmured as she looked around.
At this point, her animal farm could rival the supply capacity of a large commercial operation. Young livestock wandered beside their mothers, lambs, piglets, calves, and other newborns, moving about in an orderly, well-managed space. Though the animals were free to roam and occasionally nibble on fallen fruit from the nearby orchard, each species remained within its designated pen.
Even the chickens didn’t wander into other enclosures, as though an invisible barrier kept them from straying. The orderliness was striking.
What impressed Kisha even more were the thoughtful additions Mike had made. There was a washing station for the sheep to keep their wool clean and to make it easier to process the wool after shearing. The dairy cattle were kept exceptionally clean as well, ensuring the milk collected from them remained free of impurities.
Seeing all this, Kisha couldn’t hide her admiration.
"Good job, Mike," she said with an approving nod.
Mike’s face warmed at the sudden praise. A shy smile tugged at his lips as he glanced toward the animals’ enclosures, clearly pleased.
After taking a moment to admire the farm, something she rarely had time to do, Kisha turned back to him.
"Please take me to the mutated animals," she said.
Sensing what Kisha had come to see, Mike’s expression turned serious as he led her toward the enclosure for the mutated animals.
Though they were kept in the same general pen as their own kind, Mike had installed an inner fence after the earlier incidents when the mutated animals had attacked and killed some of the livestock. The extra barrier kept them from straying too close to the normal animals, restricting nearly eighty percent of their movement.
Even so, under Mike’s taming ability, the creatures had grown unexpectedly docile.
A mutated cow grazed quietly on the grass like any ordinary one. If not for its towering size and the flaming, knife-like horns sticking out from its head, making it look like something dragged straight out of a nightmare, it would have been easy to mistake it for normal.
At the sight of it, Edison instinctively moved closer to Kisha. He clutched the fabric of her pants, silently urging her not to approach, afraid she might get hurt.
Seeing this, Kisha gently patted Edison’s hand to reassure him. "Don’t worry, Sister won’t get hurt," she said softly.
She guided his hand into Mike’s before stepping through the enclosure gate. Then she walked toward the pen where the mutated cow stood.
As Kisha approached, the cow stopped grazing and lifted its head. Though it behaved calmly, its appearance was still deeply intimidating. It was as large as a car and stood taller than Kisha, its flaming, knife-like horns pointing menacingly from its head. No wonder Edison had been frightened.
But Kisha felt no fear. She had seen far too many mutated cows in her previous life.
Instead, she began comparing this one to the creatures in her memory, studying it from head to hoof. From its physical traits alone, however, she could not spot any obvious difference.
So she closed her eyes slightly and extended her senses, trying to detect whether any trace of spiritual energy was radiating from the mutated cow.
She extended her spiritual senses toward the mutated cow.
The animal seemed to feel it. It took two cautious steps back, as if resisting the invisible probe, yet it did not flee. It simply stopped there, tense but compliant, while Kisha’s awareness slipped into its spiritual landscape. She followed the current of energy flowing through its body.
Just as she had suspected, this mutated cow carried far more spiritual energy than she remembered.
Mutated animals possessed crystal cores, which meant spiritual energy circulated within them alongside the virus that caused their mutation. But from what Kisha recalled, that energy was usually minimal unless the creature had leveled up. The cow before her was only a Level 0 mutant. Its spiritual energy should have been limited to around fifty units at most.
To confirm her suspicion, Kisha activated her ’Eye of the Truth’ and brought up the cow’s status window.
[Mutated Cow]
[Description: This mutated cow has been successfully tamed and is now under the tamer’s control. Having lost its wild nature, it has become docile. Prolonged exposure to an environment rich in spiritual energy has significantly enhanced both its physical strength and internal energy. As a result, its overall attributes have increased, and the quality of its meat has improved dramatically. The refined muscle-to-fat ratio makes the meat exceptionally tender and flavorful, comparable to A5 Wagyu, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Level: 0
Strength: 75
Stamina: 75
Defense: 75
Agility: 55
Spiritual Energy: 150]
...
Seeing this, Kisha was stunned. The description almost read like an invitation, subtly encouraging her to consider these creatures as a new food source. If this was true, then wouldn’t the quality of their meat surpass even the livestock already raised within the territory?
The realization struck her like the opening of a whole new culinary frontier, and for a foodie like Kisha, the discovery was nothing short of exhilarating.
More than that, Kisha noticed that the cow’s stats had risen significantly. Mutated animals were already stronger than awakened ability users of the same level, but these numbers were now comparable to those of level-one or even level-two awakened ability users from her past life. That realization shocked her.
She couldn’t tell whether this growth was caused by the territory’s rich environment or amplified by Mike’s taming ability. If it were the latter, then assigning him merely as a caretaker of the animal farm was a terrible underuse of his talent. Mike could be out taming more creatures, strengthening them, and, in turn, strengthening their entire base.
The thought made her feel guilty for overlooking this potential for so long. Thankfully, they had discovered it before it was too late.
Still, she needed proof.
If further tests confirmed that tamed mutated animals truly gained enhanced stats, then they wouldn’t just have livestock, they would have a growing force of powerful battle companions. With such support, their warriors could clear nearby zombies with far less risk and face even high-level or mutated threats with greater confidence.
But for now, all the mutated animals brought in by Vulture and Sparrow had already been tamed by Mike. Kisha used her ’Eye of the Truth’ to inspect the others, and they all shared the same enhanced stats. At the moment, there weren’t any suitable untamed animals left for experimentation; both Bell and Zeus had already become her battle pets, and she doubted Mike’s taming ability would even work on them.
’I guess I’ll need to venture out and find a few mutated animals to test this theory,’ Kisha thought to herself.
Moreover, she thought that bringing more people to assist Mike at the animal farm would be the best solution. This way, he could focus more on taming the mutated animals while still using his ’Fostering’ and ’Animal Care’ abilities to maintain the quality of the livestock’s meat and produce. It was a huge responsibility for a child, but with extra help, his workload would be much lighter.
Besides, she had already introduced him to the use of automatic farming systems, so only a few animals that needed isolation would require some attention to prevent them from becoming spiritual animals.
And then, it could be managed by the automatic system or by the people Marcus and Mike would bring in. She was confident that once Marcus finished harvesting the crops, which would only take a few hours inside the territory, or mere minutes outside, he would come out to recruit more workers. That would solve the manpower problem entirely, leaving her nothing to worry about.
With that in mind, and since Sparrow and Vulture’s team had still not returned, she decided it was the perfect time to go out herself and capture a few mutated animals to experiment on.
’Yes... I’m already feeling so restless being cooped up in the base, just taking care of my store. My body aches for some action,’ Kisha thought to herself. Instinctively, she tilted her head to the side, cracking it slightly to release the tension, and a small smile spread across her lips as she imagined heading out.
Since the idea had already formed in her mind, Kisha didn’t hesitate to act. She left Edison in Mike’s care to let him introduce Edison to his sister, Daisy. Edison, understanding that Kisha had something important to attend to and not wanting to cause trouble, he pursed his lips and silently watched her leave.
Seeing him like that, Kisha felt a pang of discomfort, as if she were abandoning a child. She looked back, pulled some snacks from her inventory, and said, "I’ll be back soon. Just stay here for a bit and keep them company."