Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 417: Mutant Livestock and the Table-Horse

The livestock industry continued to develop steadily, with the animals being well-fed and growing as quickly as inflated balloons.

With a slight touch of the mutation factor, the first month of summer hadn't even passed before the animals had almost fully matured.

The fastest-growing species was the multi-headed horse beast.

This strange-looking creature was barely classified as a "horse," and its temperament somewhat matched the category.

With a broad back and thick hooves, the multi-headed horse beast had no issues carrying loads or transporting people.

It was an omnivore in the truest sense—whether dry, withered, hard, or soft, as long as it was a plant, it could eat it with great relish.

Even a random dried-up, non-mutated grass root that was pulled from the roadside was enough to fill its stomach after some chewing.

In short, it was incredibly easy to raise.

Previously unnoticed, the arrival of the scorching summer revealed yet another advantage of the multi-headed horse beast.

It was completely unaffected by the heat.

Even when the ground was so hot it could practically cook a person, the creature could still stroll leisurely without the slightest discomfort.

And it didn't require constant hydration.

It was like receiving a pillow just when you needed sleep!

As soon as the first batch of multi-headed horse beasts completed training, they were immediately loaned out to the road construction teams.

Whether carrying people or serving as transport animals, they proved incredibly useful.

Of course, they weren't fed solely on roadside weeds—that would be outright cruel.

Instead, they were provided with specially prepared horse feed, which was not difficult to procure.

If the multi-horned horse beast was the middle ground between carrying loads and transporting people, then the Nephila Black Horse and the Whirlwind Mule represented the two extremes.

Kim Haru had seen a fully grown Nephila Black Horse before.

Upon his first encounter, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Did a table with eight seat gain sentience?"

Everyone around him burst into laughter.

"Honestly, when I first saw it, I thought the same thing. If it weren't for the extra head and tail, I would have mistaken it for a table."

"Hahahaha, that's nothing! No one warned me the first time I ran into a sleeping Nephila Black Horse. Its head and tail were tucked beneath its body, and I actually thought someone had abandoned a table in the middle of nowhere. I went up and leaned on it with my elbow!"

Even the person telling the story was laughing so hard they held their forehead.

"The good thing is thr Nephila Black Horse aren't aggressive, or I wouldn't be here to talk about it."

From these conversations, Kim Haru gathered information about the Nephila Black Horse.

This creature indeed resembled a table with eight seat brought to life, with a perfectly flat back that showed no bumps or ridges.

Tapping on it even produced a faint metallic sound.

Supported by eight legs, it appeared bulky, but when it moved, it was surprisingly agile and steady—so steady that a cup of water placed on its back wouldn't spill a drop.

Of course, aside from looking like a table, the Nephila Black Horse also had a head and a tail.

Its long horse-like face suited its name, but its tail was different from a traditional horse's; instead, it resembled a long, thin rope.

Currently, all the livestock on the Biryong Plains—except for the few that initially hatched from owl eggs—had been purchased by Kim Haru from the system's marketplace.

From the moment these animals hatched in Kim Haru's hands, their purchase icons had been unlocked in the system marketplace.

With his current supply of crystal cores, he had no concerns about running out, so he generously bought them in bulk.

To outsiders, the official explanation was that Fuzzball, along with its little animal friends, had caught and brought these creatures back for its "poop-scooping" owner, Kim Haru.

Given how much everyone admired Kim Haru, they easily believed it.

After all, if mutated plants willingly helped Mr. Kim, and animals actively pledged their allegiance to him, wasn't it perfectly reasonable that they'd bring him other creatures as well?

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Of course, Kim Haru kept careful financial records.

Since he had used his own crystal cores to purchase the first batch of livestock for the ranch, they naturally belonged to him.

Any profits generated were his to manage.

However, the Biryong Plains, which handled breeding and labor, also received a share of the earnings.

Their portion was used for further construction, wages, and contributions to the Pyeongseong Safe Zone's public funds.

As for how the shares were divided, how the profits were allocated, and how the money was distributed, Kim Haru stated that he would leave it to the professionals to handle.

He only cared about collecting his share.

Nowadays, in the Pyeongseong Safe Zone, no one would dare touch anything that belonged to Mr. Kim.

Besides, Kim Haru had the farming system calculating the earnings.

Whether it was agricultural products or livestock, with the system in place, who could possibly deceive him?

The livestock produced by the system were incredibly easy to train.

Thus, the Nephila Black Horse were also developed by the caretakers for their most suitable purpose—transporting goods.

Their tabletop-like bodies excelled in both load-bearing capacity and stability, and their durability was outstanding.

A Nephila Black Horse could carry loads dozens or even hundreds of times its own weight.

When overloaded with cargo, its small body would sometimes be completely hidden beneath the pile.

Even under such weight, the creature could still walk leisurely, chewing on food as it moved without any sign of struggle.

If the load exceeded its carrying capacity, it would behave like a real table—completely motionless, with its head tucked away under its belly.

However, so far, no Nephila Black Horse in the plains had ever encountered an overload situation.

Most of the time, it was the humans who worried about the weight on their backs, fearing they would crush the Nephila Black Horse, so they often lightened the load out of caution.