Chapter 763: Chapter 105: As Steady as Walking on Solid Ground
Watching the staff awkwardly place two tracking devices on the two camels, Chen Wen nodded with relief.
With this device and a drone following them,
he no longer had to worry about the two camels getting lost or encountering danger along the way.
After returning to the team, without lingering too long at the second gathering point, Adam, holding a stick to explore the way, began to move forward again.
The waterlogged savanna was indeed not very suitable for the camels to progress.
The camel that Chen Wen had previously tamed was fine; it had a gentle temperament and walked slowly, posing no major issues.
But the more irritable camel king was different.
It walked faster, and each step into the water was akin to a gamble.
Without mud it was fine.
Whenever there was mud, its feet would slip, and its body would tilt to one side.
This required Chen Wen and Fred to constantly stay beside the camel king, ready to stabilize it to prevent it from falling.
After walking like this for about an hour,
both the camel king and Fred were exhausted!
The camel king uncharacteristically lost its temper, angrily stamping the water with its hoofs, emitting bouts of anxious cries.
Seeing this scene, everyone immediately stopped and moved a distance away from the camel king.
Fred squatted halfway to the ground.
The journey was physically tiring, to say nothing of the mental fatigue!
Seeing this, Chen Wen shook his head.
Forcing wild animals to a place unsuitable for their survival was indeed not a good idea.
He glanced at Hua Yun.
She was busy cleaning the mud off another camel’s hoofs.
"This way won’t work."
Chen Wen said, looking at the camel king.
The camel king felt aggrieved.
It was just about to complain when it saw Chen Wen taking out a bag of wheat.
Its grievances instantly vanished.
It trotted over to Chen Wen and began munching on the wheat eagerly.
Chen Wen also took the opportunity to groom the camel king’s fur: "You’ve worked hard!"
During a pause in eating wheat, the camel king lifted its head, tugged at the skin near its mouth, revealing an abstract smile: "Not hard at all! Just keep the food coming!"
Chen Wen chuckled without saying much.
The Taipan Snake popped its head out from one side of the camel king’s stomach sack.
It didn’t like the waterlogged environment, but it could adapt to it.
It was hesitating whether to go into the water to try it.
But just then, Dennis walked over.
He gently patted the camel king’s body, then looked at Chen Wen: "This isn’t working. It’s not used to this way of walking, and it’s tough for us too. How about we let it go back and only bring the gentle camel?"
Chen Wen shook his head slightly: "I can try to resolve its temper problem. Let’s go another half hour, and if it still doesn’t work, we’ll let it go."
Dennis was a bit curious.
Can the temper of a male camel really be changed?
Chen Wen led the camel king a certain distance away, just enough so the others couldn’t hear them talking.
He knew well that the camel king’s irritability mainly stemmed from not being used to walking on muddy ground.
The broad feet of a single-humped camel were perfect for progressing in soft sandy terrain.
But in muddy areas, their feet would adhere to the mud and increase resistance.
Furthermore, they lack the hoof fissure structure similar to buffalo or hippopotamuses, making them prone to slipping and sinking.
This was why the camel king was so annoyed.
The solution to this problem was either to make the camel king’s temper gentle, like the tamed single-humped camel.
Or resolve the issue of the mud’s impact on the camel king.
Changing temper in a short time was impossible, so Chen Wen planned to try resolving the mud’s impact on the camel king.
In Caprivi, Chen Wen acquired a keyword from an African side-neck turtle—[Walk on Solid Ground].
[Walk on Solid Ground (Purple): Reduces the effect of mud when moving in marshlands]
He intended to let the camel king select this keyword to reduce forward resistance.
The keyword [Desert Ship] provided by the camel king was not very useful now.
Chen Wen didn’t currently need the effects this keyword provided.
Therefore, Chen Wen decided to inform the camel king about the counter-selection, letting it choose.
Upon hearing about gaining a magical ability, the camel king didn’t show much interest.
After listening to Chen Wen, it hesitantly asked: "If I don’t choose, will you send me away?"
Chen Wen laughed: "How could I send you away? What’s our relationship?"
"Buddies!"
The camel king promptly replied.
Chen Wen spread his hands: "There you have it. Whether you choose or not, we’re still buddies. There’s no need to say such things, and this only takes up a tenth of your additional abilities. You can choose the other nine yourself later."
Chen Wen’s sincere words moved the camel king.
It stopped hesitating and nodded: "Then I’ll choose. I’ve eaten a lot of your stuff these days, so long as I can help you!"
With that said, in the keyword library activated by Chen Wen, the [Desert Ship] keyword provided by the camel king gradually faded and disappeared.
Instead, his [Transformation] feature gained a new name—Single-humped Camel.
After the counter-selection, the camel king found the keyword [Walk on Solid Ground] among the eye-catching array in the keyword library, following Chen Wen’s guidance.
The counter-selection concluded.
Chen Wen asked the camel king to step into the mud to test the keyword’s effect.
It was like testing a new pair of shoes, taking a few steps to feel them.
The camel king was also curious about the effect of these new abilities.
Soon, it walked over to the mud.
Facing the previously detested mud, the camel king stepped in.
Soon, it felt the difference.
The once slippery mud seemed like someone added something to it, still soft but much firmer, akin to loose sand.
"It’s not slippery anymore!"
The camel king exclaimed excitedly.
It picked up its foot, and the previously sticky mud, now akin to overwatered dough, crumbled away as it fell.
The sensation summed up in two words—silky smooth!
"Whoa, is it really this magical?"
The camel king said, like a child, stepping on the mud again, then lifting its foot to let the mud continuously fall.
Chen Wen, cheerfully watching this scene, thought that the keywords he gained were indeed an unexploited treasure trove!
He had to check later to see which keywords he could use, choosing carefully for the next survival experience.
With the help of the keyword, the camel king’s aversion to and frustration with the mud instantly vanished.
Upon returning to the group, it immediately returned to its previous self.
Moreover, its steps no longer slipped, and its speed even increased significantly.
This astonished Fred.
He inspected the camel king’s hoofs closely, then looked at Chen Wen suspiciously.
Did Chen Wen rub oil on this camel’s hoofs?
How did it suddenly become like this?
Seeing Fred constantly looking at him, Chen Wen quietly crafted a little lie: "Used a bit of special trick, keep it quiet."
Fred immediately fell silent.
He felt that Chen Wen might have used some prohibited tool, so he chose not to speak further, nor did he look at the camel king’s hoofs.
This made Chen Wen feel relieved.
And from behind, Hua Yun watched the suddenly unaffected camel king by the mud, heart full of suspicion.
How was this achieved?
But with no time to ponder, she again used the clothes-wrapped stick to scrape off the mud from the camel’s hoofs.
However, this challenging situation didn’t last long.
Walking for another hour or so, everyone finally passed the area with much mud, entering an area with more bushes.
Here, the camels faced even less impact, and everyone picked up speed.
