“Squeak…?”
“What is that!?”
The blue-haired girl froze, heart snagging like a kite on a branch, because a dingy yellow creature waddled into view.
It had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two ears, and one long tail—dopey as a sun-warmed stone, nothing like an SSR-grade rarity.
“Huh…? What is this, a big yellow mouse?”
Dixue leaned in, silver hair glinting like frost on willow leaves, yet even she hadn’t seen this kind of beast.
“Mm… no idea. But it looks like it can’t fight at all,” she said, doubt pooling like dusk.
The little thing burst from its shell and bounced everywhere, springy as a grasshopper after rain—zero menace, nowhere near fighting zombies or tanks outside.
“But that flash just now means it’s high rarity. Don’t lose heart, Xiao Yue—if we don’t recognize it, it might be some divine beast.”
“Mm…”
“Xiao Yue, let’s smash the rest of the eggs.”
“Okay!”
Hand in hand like twin crescent moons, the two girls cracked the remaining shells… and, unsurprisingly, out popped more of the same yellow creatures—simple as straw dolls, no sense of danger.
They’d opened four eggs; four of these had hatched. The moment they appeared, the little animals swarmed Yue Liuyi, chirping with festival-joy, oblivious that their “mom” was actually a boy.
“LittleSnow, what are these things?!”
Yue Liuyi stood there, lost like a boat in fog. Being nuzzled by small animals was sweet as warm tea, yet these were too silly and not exactly cute.
(At least compared to kittens and puppies, way less cute~)
“No clue… I’ll check.”
“You can check?”
“Yeah… it should be in the grimoire.”
She took out a magic book and, under a peach-fruit chandelier glowing like a tiny sun, read with careful breaths.
“Found it… This animal is called the little monkey, and it’s SSR rarity. Little monkeys are ancient creatures, said to be ancestors of humans, packed with primal life force.”
“Huh… Little monkey? Sounds kinda powerful.”
“Mm! It says the grown ones are called big little monkeys, newborns are little little monkeys. But we can just call them Little Monkey Zhi.”
“Little Monkey ‘Zhi’?”
“Zhi~ zhi~”
Hearing their name from Yue Liuyi, the little monkeys hopped in place, joy falling like petals.
“LittleSnow… can these animals fight at all?”
“Mm… the book says they’re brimming with life force, so they can be synthesis material to rank up a World Tree Maiden. Cooking methods include…”
“Squeak?”
At that word, the yellow creatures stiffened, tails shooting up like startled reeds, and backed away.
“Braised, steamed, or deep-fried all work~ Xiao Yue, we just found lunch!”
“Squeak? Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”
They bolted and hid trembling behind Yue Liuyi, like fallen leaves clinging to a trunk.
“Huh? We can eat them?”
Yue Liuyi looked at the huddled little monkeys, face clouded with confusion. Usually, the dumber the animal, the tastier—think dumb chickens and daft ducks—but if she roasted these silly monkeys, she worried she’d become silly too.
Curiosity simmered like broth, but the blue-haired girl shook her head, a cool breeze through bamboo.
“Let’s keep them for now. They’re too rare—eating them feels wrong.”
“Then we’ll go with Xiao Yue~ One last egg—do you want to try?”
“Mm, one more push. Let’s finish it.”
This final crack didn’t blaze like before.
Only a small light… the size of a flashlight beam.
But what came out was…
A big lizard, all scarlet, like a coal given wings.
“Is… that a lizard?”
“It’s a dragon!”
“Huh? A dragon?!”
“Look, Xiao Yue—she’s got wings on her back!”
If this was a dragon, it was tiny—wings spread less than half a meter, a fledgling ember.
“Rooaar~”
The little red dragon didn’t like her nap disturbed, puffing a thread of flame like a candle’s kiss. She wriggled, trying to tuck back into her shell.
“So mischievous! Just like Xiao Yue~”
“I’m not mischievous!”
“Squeak, squeak~”
Sensing the danger had passed, the little monkeys bounced over like neighbors after rain, eager to play with the dragon.
But the red dragon looked proud, chin lifted like a ruby crest, ignoring their invitation… until one little monkey climbed behind her and happily wiped egg fluid off her scales with tiny hands.
That startled her! A chill ran down her back; she flared her wings and shot up, carrying the monkey into the air like a gust lifting a kite.
“Squeak?”
“Squeak squeak squeak!?”
The red dragon had never flown—she buzzed around like a headless fly, zigzagging wildly.
“Careful, you’ll hit the wall!”
The hatch room was ringed with trunk-pillars, and the dragon hadn’t noticed… As she aimed straight at a pillar, the monkey on her back twisted left, shifting her center of gravity like a leaf catching wind.
“D-did we dodge?”
“Squeak~”
With the monkey’s help, the little dragon skimmed past the pillar by a hair’s breadth, like a swallow cutting the rain.
“Squeak squeak squeak!”
The three monkeys on the floor cheered, voices popping like beans in a pan.
“Is this… a dragon rider? Though… it’s way too mini!”
“Squeak~”
The monkey quickly found the rhythm of riding with the red dragon, guiding her on the air like a rudder, and they flew smooth arcs around the room.
“Xiao Yue, this is great! The book also says little monkeys can serve as auxiliaries for other rare beasts. Paired with a dragon, they trigger unique magical resonance!”
“Huh…?”
“We can take the dragon, the monkey, and Xiao Yue, and go fight zombies right now!”
“That’s a plan… Wait, don’t lump me in with pets!”
…
…
Outside the Forest Fortress, a comical scene painted itself like a festival scroll.
Comical, yet mighty—laughter clothed in thunder.
The little red dragon bearing her little monkey rider spat fire far beyond her size—tiny body, titanic blaze. A dragon less than a meter long breathed flames dozens of meters long, scattering the zombies besieging the Forest Fortress like dry leaves. Even tank armor melted like wax under noon sun.
Maria recalled all the withered-wood sentinels, sap retreating like tides. At the same time, the fortress defense turrets woke—countless icicles launched with pumpkin shells, watermelon shells, winter-melon shells, north-melon shells, and pea bullets, riddling the zombies like winter hail, stripping them of any ability to fight.
“It really turned into… Plants vs. Zombies!”
Yue Liuyi glanced back. The server sprites hustled around the sunflowers, watering them like little monks tending lamps, flooding the vines with mana that surged to every turret.
Under that storm of attacks, zombies thinned like fog at dawn, and finally all fell still, only corpses left.
“If I… just petrify them, it’s fine. Butterfly Snow President, why… won’t you let Breeze attack?”
Breeze floated in the air with the girls, watching the battlefield below like hawks over a river.
“This is the enemy’s vanguard, a probe to test us. Breeze and Xiao Yue are precious World Tree Maidens—our key cards can’t flip this early.”
“Then, LittleSnow… who’s attacking us?”
“They sent troops the moment we settled in… The mastermind must be native monsters from the Rainbow Sanctuary. Other adventurers wouldn’t move this fast,” Dixue said, voice like a strategist’s ink line, calm as night water, every enemy motion caught in her mental abacus.
But—
“Butterfly Snow President! Bad news!”
Lingwei came sprinting in, panic flapping like a torn banner—her maid dress half-off, skirt slipping down.
“Huh? What is it… Zero Wei?”
“F-fire! The east tower… it’s burning!”
“Eh?! An enemy raid?”
Our ‘Zhuge Liang’ turned pale, shock cracking like ice.
“N-no! The little red dragon… lit the tree on her way back!!”
“….”
