After learning about that little fact, Chen Jing prudently told Chen Yining that it should be kept between them, and no one else should be told.

Naturally, Chen Jing was sincerely happy for Chen Yining that he possessed that special ability—he could flatter his big brother since he was awesome.

On the other hand, the other group had varied reactions to Chen Yining's refusal to join them.

Some were sneering while some were indifferent, and there were those who mocked them too.

After that, they passed through the block ahead, and soon saw the jungle at the edge of the road beyond a corner.

A group of gnomes could be seen dismantling everything in sight at the front gate to a residential complex nearby.

They were drunk with delight as everything in the city seemed to stir their interest and bliss, including iron garbage cans, artistic marble sculptures, street lamps, and the window panes of beautiful houses.

Some of the gnomes had even started fighting over a steel bench and paid no attention to Chen Yining even after seeing him.

After all, Chen Yining was less interesting to them than an iron garbage can.

The only thing that kept the gnomes wary was the goblin warrior standing beside Chen Yining, but they became noisy again once they realized that the goblin warrior had no other companions, while they numbered up to a hundred.

That was when one of the windows high above the residential complex suddenly opened and two blue cans were thrown out.

It took less than two seconds for the cans to land in the middle of the gnomes.

Bang!

Boom!

It was very loud, and there was no more than one second in between as one unlucky gnome was smashed to death by the first propane tank, while the second one exploded.

Powerful shockwaves and fire engulfed everything around it, instantly vaporizing five other gnomes!

Chen Yining could clearly see that there were two propane tanks.

Perhaps because the second propane tank had fallen some distance from where the first propane tank, the explosion did not extend to the first propane tank.

Nonetheless, the remaining gnomes' reactions changed drastically after six gnomes were killed instantly.

They were in an uproar, with some looking above at the building, though none of them noticed which house dropped the propane tank.

Some of them even glared vengefully at Chen Yining, but did not dare to approach with the goblin warrior standing beside him.

Nonetheless, the residential complex was quite heavily populated, and what happened just now appeared to have alerted the others in the complex.

After that, some of the people who had unwanted furniture or dangerous objects such as propane tanks appeared to be inspired, and it began to rain objects from above all across the residential complex.

The gnomes around the building hence suffered.

Their legs were too short for them to run and everywhere around him was danger. Moreover, some of the people throwing objects were doing so too inaccurately for a human to predict where the projectiles would land, let alone the gnomes.

Many of the gnomes were killed right then.

Some of the gnomes hence ran out of the residential complex, while others dashed up the stairs of the building.

While the thrown objects did not kill many gnomes, they were scared off nonetheless.

Five little gnomes ran out of the front gate of the residential complex then.

Chen Yining smiled. He was going to leave at first, but he would not hold back from accepting these little presents that came running towards him.

"Hit them, Green Skin."

Green Skin smiled ferociously. Clenching its left hand into a fist under its right, its finger joints cracked loudly.

"Don't you want to get another gnome to strengthen the bond?" Chen Yining asked Chen Jing then.

Chen Jing felt he was put on the spot. His standards have increased a lot after seeing that his brother's summoned beast could evolve, and he really could not be bothered with plain gnomes like these…

I was getting ahead of myself…

Chen Jing was both disappointed and frustrated.

Meanwhile, Green Skin had already ran over, swinging his casserole-sized fist viciously into the first gnome's head.

Its body stiffened and dropped to the ground with a thud, and disappeared as a puff of white light.

The other four gnomes shrieked, and one of them whipped out something resembling a crossbow—however, it was much cruder than the crossbows found on the markets, and it had a snow-white bolt that resembled a beast's tooth.

It aimed at Green Skin and was ready to fire it.

Chen Yining promptly warned, "Watch out, Green Skin!"

As a matter of fact, Green Skin had noticed the crossbow even before Chen Yining warned it.

With sirens wailing in its mind, it gave up on attacking another gnome and dashed forward to the gnome with the crossbow, flooring it with a single slap.

The bolt fired from its crossbow hence missed, but it still brushed over Green Skin's arm, leaving a deep bloody gash.

However, the gnome that was slapped to the ground did not turn into white light—it was not dead, but merely unconscious.

Meanwhile, the three gnomes had seized the opportunity to run far away.

Green Skin quickly caught up and killed one, but did not pursue the other two. Instead, it returned to defend Chen Yining, rearing its head as if to request a compliment.

"Not bad, you did well." Chen Yining praised it while taking out a small piece of extra-spicy beef jerky and handing it to Green Skin.

Green Skin's nose twitched as it carefully sniffed the of extra-spicy beef jerky. However, the chili scent seemed to sting its nose, and it frowned and sneezed.

Green Skin gulped at that—was its master trying to kill it?

Seeing Green Skin's reaction, Chen Yining threw the extra-spicy beef jerky down his own mouth in irritation.

"It's edible."

Green Skin was left gaping in regret.

Meanwhile, Chen Yining converted both dead gnomes into a total of 15 EXP for Green Skin.

He then asked his little brother, "That gnome knew how to craft a crossbow. Are you going to capture it? It might be smarter than an average gnome."

Chen Jing pondered for a while. Since his first summoned beast was a gnome and the gnome bond bonus only required two of those creatures, should he give it a try?

In the end, Chen Jing walked over to the fainted gnome with the crossbow and captured it.

"Huh!"

Chen Yining then heard his young brother cry out in surprise.

"This gnome has a prefix!"

[Beast Name: Smart Gnome]

[Current Level: 1 (0/100]

[Rank: Normal ⭐]

[Race: Gnome]

[Introduction: A gnome smarter and more thoughtful than the average gnome. Adept at problem-solving, they stand a high chance of evolving into higher-tier gnomes.]

[Race Talent: Machinery crafting speed +1]

[Bond (Gnome):]

[(1) +1 machinery alchemical item crafting effectiveness when there are more than 2 gnomes.]

[(2) +2 machinery alchemical item crafting effectiveness when there are more than 4 gnomes.]

[(3) +3 machinery alchemical item crafting effectiveness when there are more than 8 gnomes.]

[Summary: I am the great gnome, ye filthy inferior races!]

Chen Jing then told Chen Yining about his summoned beast's stats.

It left Chen Yining a little surprised—there was no wonder this gnome could use tools, it was a gifted beast with a prefix!