Red Hare swaggered into the herd, which parted a path in fear.

It walked straight toward the leader temporarily chosen by this large herd.

During large migrations, smaller herds of wild horses would merge into larger ones. Within these large herds, the strongest and most experienced stallion would serve as the temporary leader.

This was a huge, strong stallion covered in wounds.

This stallion was stronger than all its peers, standing a head taller than the rest.

From a distance, Qin Ziwen used Insight on the herd’s leader.

[Ordinary Gobi Wild Horse: ☆☆☆☆☆]

The original leader watched quietly as Red Hare approached. It smelled the thick scent of a Tyrannosaurus.

Although it shook its head uneasily, its instinct to defend its position made it stand its ground, snorting, pawing at the earth, and whinnying warnings.

Red Hare leisurely strolled up to it, then spat out the Tyrannosaurus claw from its mouth.

It stomped on the claw with its hoof and let out a guttural cry.

The leader stallion fell silent. It smelled the thick Tyrannosaurus scent emanating from Red Hare.

It remained motionless for a long moment.

At that moment, the Beaked Eagle silently passed overhead, its broad wings gliding low and causing a stir among the herd.

The leader stallion lowered its head and slowly moved aside, taking a dozen or so mares with it to the edge of the herd.

With the leader stallion’s submission, Red Hare officially became the temporary leader of the herd.

Relying on the strong scent of Dragon Blood it carried, Red Hare ran rampant through the herd, snatching up mares.

It quickly expanded its harem to double digits.

...

The three Cards dropped by the second Tyrannosaurus were an Extreme Breakthrough Card, a Recruitment Card, and a Building Enhancement Card.

As for the Extreme Breakthrough Card, his reserves were now back to two.

The Recruitment Card was a [Recruitment Card] Ordinary Human Race Senior Shipwright.

Qin Ziwen felt that although the Cards dropped by the Giant Beasts they hunted in the wild were random, the drops were generally reasonable and quite helpful.

Judging by the title, a "senior" shipwright should be a tier higher than a "skilled" one.

As for the final Building Enhancement Card, the front of the yellow Card depicted an animal ear.

[Enhancement Card] Beast Spirit: Can grant the special effect "Beast Spirit" to buildings used for raising, breeding, or domesticating animals.

Beast Spirit: Animals raised within this building will experience a slight increase in Spiritual Energy and will be better able to perceive human emotions.

Qin Ziwen thought for a moment. ’The only buildings I can use this enhancement on are the beast cages and the Giant Beast Breeding Center.’

’But the latter is more suitable.’

’I was worried that the animals we raise would be too dumb to understand human speech. Now that I can grant them the Beast Spirit effect, they should be a bit smarter.’

Just then, Qin Ziwu, who was standing nearby, suggested, "Bro, why don’t you try using a Breakthrough Card? Think about it, the next map is an Island, and the large animals there all live in the sea! I think hunting in the sea will be more dangerous than hunting on land. This Gobi Map at least has some large animals, but in the sea, the difficulty will definitely be higher."

"I’m just thinking, what if I fail? The Card would be wasted."

Qin Ziwu said matter-of-factly, "If you fail, just use another one. We can get more Breakthrough Cards in the future anyway."

As he spoke, he lowered his voice. "Bro, you’re the leader of our Qin Alliance! The core! If we were all just regular people, that would be one thing, but since we have Superpowers now, you need to be at least at Second Gear. Otherwise, what if we run into some ’I don’t eat beef’ type one day? We’d be in serious danger."

Qin Ziwen considered it. ’Based on the reward tiers from the weekly settlements, the probability of getting a Breakthrough Card should be pretty high.’

"Yeah, I know. You can go take care of your own business for now."

Qin Ziwen found a spot and sat down.

After a moment of thought, he took out the Breakthrough Card.

’Investing in myself first is the right idea. I was just trying to maximize our gains before.’

’But the next map is coming up. If there’s a new Gated Community and we’re competitors, it would be real trouble if one of them managed to break through and become an Extraordinary Being.’

He silently commanded, ’Use.’

POOF~

The dark gold Breakthrough Card dissolved into motes of light and flowed into his body.

[Esteemed holder of Level 3 Authority, based on your Home panel, the following three Third Gear paths have been randomly generated for you. You may use one (1) Breakthrough Card to refresh the tasks and re-randomize.]

[First Gear: Director]

[Task Requirement: Within seven days, gather over one hundred intelligent beings to complete a large-scale event. During this period, you must provide sufficient food and water for everyone involved.]

[Second Gear: Leader]

[Task Requirement: Within the next seven days, lead a group of any number of intelligent lifeforms to hunt prey with a total weight equal to 100 times the combined weight of all participants.]

[Third Gear: Master]

[Task Requirements: ① Within seven days, newly tame a pet that is either Extraordinary or has a maximum potential weight 1,000 times greater than your own (if the pet is a juvenile, its maximum weight can be extrapolated by the Home). ② Take the newly tamed pet on a hunt. This hunt may only be joined by the Lord of the Homeland and their recruited units. Traits will be awarded based on the outcome of the hunt. Time limit: Seven days.]

Qin Ziwen glanced over the options. ’The First Gear task is very simple.’

’Of course, for a normal person, the difficult part would be providing enough food and water for seven days.’

’The Second Gear task would also be very difficult for a normal person. The more participants, the greater the required weight of the prey. Plus, there’s a time limit. But with excellent equipment and coordination, it wouldn’t be impossible.’

As for the Third Gear option, a flicker of joy lit up in Qin Ziwen’s eyes.

’Isn’t this basically a gimme, tailor-made for an esteemed Level 3 Authority holder like me!’

’I knew having high authority came with perks!’

’Why else would everyone hate people who abuse their privileges, yet secretly want to be the one with special treatment?’

He accepted the Third Gear task without a hint of hesitation.

He looked at the task again and saw that requirement ① was still grayed out, marked as incomplete.

’Incomplete?’

Qin Ziwen was stunned. ’Isn’t the Beaked Eagle already Extraordinary?’

’Don’t tell me that little guy has a rebellious streak.’

’No, that can’t be right. It was summoned with a Recruitment Card, so its loyalty shouldn’t be an issue.’

At this thought, Qin Ziwen grew pensive.

Then he stared at the requirements for the Third Gear task, scrutinizing them.

And then he finally saw the problem.

’"Newly" tamed.’

’Damn it, the Beaked Eagle doesn’t count as "new."’

Qin Ziwen was dumbfounded.

’In that case, Red Hare doesn’t count either. There’s no point in having it break through to the Extraordinary level right now.’

’I have to find a way to complete condition ① first.’

’But whether it’s finding and taming a brand-new Extraordinary pet, or taming one with a maximum potential weight a thousand times my own, neither will be easy.’

’I suspect that the only Extraordinary Animal on this Gobi Map is probably that mysterious Giant Rock Dragon from the Level 3 Task.’

’As for the latter option—taming a pet with a maximum potential weight a thousand times my own—I’d have to find something that weighs upwards of eighty tons! Based on my current weight, finding a Giant Beast a thousand times my size means I’m looking for something in the eighty-ton-plus range!’

...

...