Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse-Chapter 194 - 183: Parasitic Treehouse

Xu Xin immediately took out his shovel (blue) and began digging at the base of the treehouse.

With each dig of the shovel, he could clearly feel a sensation of excavation and collection. This sensation was different from ordinary digging.

"There’s hope!" Xu Xin was delighted and continued to swing the shovel to dig.

Silver King saw this and walked over to help, but Xu Xin stopped him. Although he wasn’t sure if he could get seeds from digging up the treehouse, if there were any, only a shovel could ensure the seeds were dug out one hundred percent.

He shoveled persistently; although he felt the sense of collection each time, the process was long.

The poplar fruit trees he used to dig up would only take one, at most two or three, digs to fall. This treehouse, which was just a green-level "Low Treehouse," and even dead, turned out to be this difficult to dig up.

Could it be that it can’t be dug out at all?

Xu Xin didn’t stop his actions and continued digging.

After nearly half an hour of digging, the roots of the treehouse were exposed. Just when he thought he couldn’t find the seeds and was about to give up, he finally heard the faint crack of tree roots breaking.

Small cracks appeared at the roots and gradually became obvious. Then, the upper half of the pockmarked and broken trunk swayed slightly, on the verge of collapsing.

Xu Xin reached out gently and pushed, and the broken trunk, along with the snapped roots, was uprooted and crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

In the dirt pit where the trunk used to be, a light yellow walnut-sized seed lay quietly, blending well with the surrounding soil and appearing quite unremarkable.

Xu Xin was very familiar with this size and color of the seed; when he first arrived in this world, he had clutched such a seed and walked for two days before planting it!

"There’s really a treehouse seed!" Xu Xin was overjoyed and immediately picked up the seed from the pit.

[Parasitic Treehouse Seed: A seed obtained by digging up a normal treehouse, can be planted to grow a parasitic treehouse.

The parasitic treehouse has no core and requires a host to provide nutrients and treehouse abilities, and can only be planted within the protection zone of a normal treehouse, with its roots connecting to the host’s roots.

This seed-grown treehouse form is unrelated to soil fertility and depends solely on the original form of the treehouse before being dug up.]

"...This isn’t the same as the previous treehouse seeds?" Xu Xin widened his eyes at the description. "Parasitic Treehouse Seed?"

What the treehouse core referred to was the luminous white Treasure Pearl he had just obtained, which could provide growth energy for the treehouse.

But the treehouse that could grow from the seed in his hand had no core and could only be planted within the treehouse’s protection zone, parasitically latched to the roots of other treehouses, surviving by absorbing the nutrients from them.

...He had been wondering if he could plant treehouses and then cut them down in bulk to manufacture treehouse cores. It seems he was overthinking.

This seed is not like the previous treehouse seeds that, when planted in soil of varying fertility, would grow into treehouses of different levels.

Xu Xin recalled the broken two-story small treehouse that had just been shattered.

That is to say, if he planted this seed within his protection zone, regardless of the soil grade, it would eventually grow into the form of that two-story small treehouse.

"Isn’t this equivalent to directly transplanting the treehouse?"

Xu Xin squinted his eyes, sensing the significance behind this function.

If all treehouses could have their seeds excavated, extracting other people’s treehouse seeds and planting them within his protection zone would be equivalent to forming an organization centered around him, wouldn’t it?

However, he wasn’t yet clear about the relationship between the parasitic treehouse and the host treehouse. The host might fully control the parasitic treehouse, or perhaps the host would have to provide something for the parasitic treehouse.

He decided to go back and plant this treehouse seed near his treehouse to analyze the situation.

The tree trunk on the ground must not be wasted either.

He took out the iron axe and struck at the treehouse trunk.

Unfortunately, there was nothing special about the trunk. Because this was a low treehouse (green), the material harvested was just ordinary green-level wood.

Talking of which, if he chopped down his own treehouse, he should receive purple-level wood, right...?

His treehouse surely contained a treehouse core too. This obtained core was called a "Core of a Low Treehouse," then his should be called a "Core of a Large Treehouse," with surely different functionalities.

He had no method to chop down his own treehouse yet, but if he encountered other people’s treehouses in the future...

...High-grade resources could indeed incite wicked thoughts within people. But in this world, perhaps that wasn’t even considered a wicked thought.

If you’re not part of an alliance, it’s merely the survival of the fittest.

"Mimi!" Xu Xin called out, and a few seconds later, Mimi, who had been wandering around, emerged from the jungle, stepping lightly and silently beside him.

"Let’s head back."

There was nothing left here, so he decided to go back and carefully research the two special resources obtained this time, the "Treehouse Core" and the "Parasitic Treehouse Seed."

Mounting Silver King, one person and four beasts started their return journey.

[You have returned to the treehouse protection zone.]

While Silver King was running, a notification sounded again in Xu Xin’s ear.

On that previous stretch outside the protection zone, sure enough, they weren’t attacked.

It seems, just as described, even though the treehouse has died and its seed extracted, its roots continue to intimidate the underground creatures.

However, unless there are special circumstances, it’s better not to come to this area. This protection zone is actually like a scarecrow in a wheat field, only able to serve as a deterrent. Once the underground creatures detect something amiss, they will still swarm in.

During the first chest event, those underground creatures must have been forced to emerge from underground. If a similar situation occurs in the future, and the creatures find that coming to the surface doesn’t lead to death, this area will no longer be safe.

Silver King’s speed is very fast. In less than ten minutes, Xu Xin was already back near his treehouse. He returned the animals to the treehouse and prepared to venture downwards to find a suitable spot for planting the treehouse.

"Ying!" Seeing Xu Xin about to leave again, Keke jumped onto his shoulder.

Xu Xin patted its small head and took it along as he went out.

"Where should I plant this seed..." A map surfaced in Xu Xin’s mind.

The current information is still too scarce. He does not know how this parasitic treehouse functions or how it differs from a regular treehouse. But since they’re all treehouses, it’s best to plant it nearby.

Ultimately, he decided to plant the treehouse at the edge of his plant heart’s protection range. This way, the parasitic treehouse can benefit from the protection of the plant heart and serve as a watchtower.

Arriving at a spot roughly a hundred meters from the treehouse, Xu Xin planted the seed.

Since the parasitic treehouse acquires nutrients from the host treehouse’s roots and is unrelated to the soil, he did not use blue-grade soil but planted it in a regular patch instead.

At the very instant it was planted, a shoot broke through the ground and began growing at an incredible rate.

This speed was far beyond what Xu Xin saw when he planted his treehouse!

"Ying!" Keke, who was closely observing from the ground, was almost poked by the rapidly growing treehouse seedling and jumped back to Xu Xin’s shoulder, baring its teeth at the seedling.

"So fast!" Xu Xin was astounded. In just a few seconds, this seed had already grown into a small tree.

His treehouse took two hours to grow, but this one might only take a few minutes.

Xu Xin touched the sapling that had grown as thick as his arm.

[Low parasitic small treehouse seedling (Green): will grow into a treehouse in 4 minutes and 43 seconds.]

Five minutes! So quick!

Xu Xin took a few steps back, rubbing Keke’s fluffy big tail while observing the treehouse’s growth.

Five minutes later, a two-story low small treehouse appeared fully formed before him.

The lowest part of the canopy was just three meters in height, and the tallest merely ten meters, even not reaching the height of his own treehouse’s trunk.

He reached out to touch the fully grown treehouse.

[Low parasitic small treehouse (Green): a treehouse without a core, currently parasitic on a tall small treehouse (Purple). Because it is parasitic on the host’s roots, it lacks a strong root system and does not have its own protection zone.

The parasitic treehouse cannot be transplanted again, but as long as the host remains alive, even if chopped down, it can regenerate in a short time. Once the host dies, the parasitic treehouse will die along with it.]

...As long as the host does not die, this treehouse can regenerate indefinitely!

The strategic significance is enormous! Xu Xin’s mind began to spin rapidly.

If many treehouses are transplanted into his protection range using this method, an incredibly potent team can form. In the event of disaster or war, as long as his treehouse remains intact, all parasitic treehouses within his protection zone will regenerate to their original form in no time!

Automated post-disaster reconstruction!

Xu Xin gazed at the newly grown treehouse.

Underneath this treehouse, he could feel a sensation akin to merging with the treehouse — with a mere thought, the treehouse’s roots wrapped around his waist, bringing him and Keke inside the treehouse.

The first layer of the treehouse was empty; a mere twenty-square-meter space, still too small in Xu Xin’s view. The entire layer only had a single screen embedded in the wooden outer wall, and the screen was black, unactivated.

He stepped forward and touched the screen, which immediately lit up.

[Parasitic Treehouse Host Startup]

[Current treehouse holder: Xu Xin. To change holder, operate at the host treehouse.]

[All current functions are locked, unlocking required at the host treehouse.]

The three notification sounds made Xu Xin’s eyes gradually brighten.

Thus it seems, as the holder of the host treehouse, he possesses supreme control over these parasitic treehouses!

The treehouse holder can be changed; if he transfers the treehouse ownership to another person, that person can freely enter and exit the treehouse using root manipulation and utilize the treehouse’s capabilities for crafting.

He needs to unlock the treehouse’s capabilities by operating the host treehouse, referring to the screen within his own treehouse.

Nonetheless, he need not return to the treehouse since he owns a purple-grade treehouse watch, which encompasses all treehouse functions.

He swiped the watch; it projected a virtual interface, showing a new main option.

[Parasitic Treehouse]

```