After reaching the cabin this time, he took a different path to explore the other half of the forest.

This side of the forest didn’t disappoint him either. He found tall, dense laurel trees; large-leaf culantro with its aroma of citrus and parsley; oregano, a common herb in Western cuisine; wild garlic shoots; wild ginger; and even lemongrass, that quintessential Southeast Asian spice.

Discovering so many useful plants in such a small area, he couldn’t help but suspect that some of them were assets left behind by the cabin’s previous owner.

’That settles it. I’m fixing up this cabin first!’

He didn’t hesitate, making his decision quickly.

This was a survival elimination game, after all. He didn’t need to worry about the other contestants; he just had to ensure he could survive here for the long haul.

Having decided to renovate the area, he wasn’t in a hurry to head back. He set down his basket and immediately started clearing out the dilapidated cabin.

He moved the broken, rotting logs out one by one, piling them on the grass. The wood, weathered by who knows how many years of wind and rain, had become incredibly brittle. Its surface was clearly moldy and decayed, covered in green moss.

This kind of wood could be used as firewood or as a substrate for cultivating mushrooms.

After clearing the exterior walls, he went inside. As he lifted the first roof beam, a dense swarm of black specks suddenly shot out, brushing past his face as they flew outside.

"Holy shit?!"

The sudden swarm of insects startled him, and he instinctively dropped the beam.

It was strange. He wasn’t afraid of killing or dissection, yet he got the creeps from little things like flying insects, centipedes, cockroaches, and spiders.

It wasn’t that he was scared, he just found them disgusting and didn’t want them touching him.

After he scrambled outside, he looked back into the cabin, still shaken. Only then did he realize that the beams scattered on the floor were now covered with a teeming mass of giant ants.

These ants were different from normal ones. Their bodies were whitish and larger, and they had a pair of long, transparent wings on their backs.

’Are these... termites?’

Almost instantly, Lin Chen identified the insects and drew in a sharp breath.

’So that’s it. I get it. I get it all now. No wonder the previous owner abandoned such a prime location.’

Termites are an extremely destructive type of insect. They aren’t ants, they just bear a slight resemblance to them.

They love to feed on wood, and their nests are usually underground, though above-ground nests do occasionally occur.

During her breeding period, a queen can lay tens of thousands of eggs in a single night. These eggs hatch into winged termites which, after a growth period of several months to a few years, fly off to find new locations to reproduce and establish new colonies.

He didn’t know the specifics, only that termites were an incredibly destructive species.

Once you find a trace of termites in a house, it usually means the structure has already been infested and is very likely compromised.

And in a case like this cabin in the forest, by the time you spot termites, they’ve probably already built an entire kingdom underground.

’Either I abandon this place, or I figure out a way to get rid of every last one of these damn things.’

The resources around here were abundant, making it a perfect shelter. To be honest, he was reluctant to give it up.

Even if he didn’t live here, he could still come by to forage every day, but that would be a hassle. Plus, he couldn’t guarantee that fellow Andre wouldn’t discover this place.

With his skills, it was only a matter of time.

These strategic resources could be the key to winning the competition, and he had no intention of sharing them with anyone.

’Looks like I’ll have to find a way to wipe them all out. But I don’t know the first thing about insects... Maybe I should trade for an ’Encyclopedia of Insects’?’

He had 12 Happiness Points saved up, and a knowledge-type purchase only cost 10.

He thought for a moment. Compared to learning how to swim, this was clearly more urgent.

Done!

’Once he secured the new shelter, with so many resources nearby, would he have any trouble farming more Happiness Points?’

As ten points vanished, a tide of knowledge flooded his mind, and the familiar feeling of his brain being stuffed full returned.

The swelling pain lasted only a few seconds before disappearing, leaving him with the bizarre sensation of having grown a brain, yet feeling like nothing had changed.

He opened his eyes and stared at the termites.

Detailed information about termites began to surface in his mind.

He skipped right past the introductory information on the various species and went straight to the section on control methods.

’Flooding... fire... smoke... physical excavation... biological control...’

Without professional tools, it seemed these were the only five options.

Biological control meant that if natural predators like pangolins or anteaters were nearby, you could dig open the Ant Nest to release the scent, and they would come on their own.

The termites from this nest were already crawling around brazenly, which meant there were definitely no predators nearby. That method was useless.

The fire method was mainly for above-ground nests and carried a high risk of starting a forest fire, so it was also out.

Physical excavation was simple and brutal: destroy the nest, find the queen, and kill her with a single shovel strike to eliminate the problem for good. The downsides were not knowing how deep to dig, the massive energy expenditure, and the high probability of being swarmed by tens of thousands of termites.

That left only flooding and smoking them out.

Flooding was also simple—just keep pouring water into the nest. But transporting the water would be a major challenge.