There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

What a peaceful atmosphere!

……Wait a moment.

When did my ranch get a pond?

Am I having a memory problem or did I go to the wrong ranch?

"Calm down..."

"I must be opening it wrong..."

Just as I was about to close and reopen the door, I felt a kick to my leg. When I looked down, I saw a green creature more than half a meter tall on the ground, bumping its head against my knee.

"Are you there? Please give me a cucumber!"

The green creature made strange noises and kept tapping on my knees. It seemed that the knocking sound wasn't made by its hands, but by its head repeatedly bouncing on the door.

"...Who are you?" I stared at the strange creature in front of me, my small eyes filled with utter bewilderment.

"I am a kappa. Please give me a cucumber," the lush green creature replied confidently.

You're so self-righteous!

What on earth is this?!

Kappa?

I'm a snow woman!

"Don't panic...it's just a technical adjustment..."

I tried again to calm myself down, ignoring the four...kappa pounding my knees, and seriously consider what exactly was wrong.

Finally, in the corner of my field of vision, on the colonist system icon, I saw a notification window flashing blue.

So it really was the colonizer system's doing?

I opened the pop-up notification box, which contained the following message:

"System notification: The wild animal Kappa has been tamed on its own."

“A wild kappa came to the colony and joined us. The colonists can manage the creature and train it in various skills such as following, rescuing, and carrying, depending on its intelligence level.”

I turned my gaze to the lush green creature, and sure enough, an attribute box popped up on it!

Animal name: Kappa.

Faction: Mineral Town Ranch.

Description: Kappa, an aquatic yokai who loves cucumbers, possesses exceptional digging and swimming abilities. As a highly intelligent yokai, it enjoys playing sumo wrestling with children. Its weakness is the concave area on the top of its head.

Accustomed to living in cold environments, it struggles to adapt to tropical climates, and its skin quality is also subpar. (Hint: This kappa appears relatively thinner than its kind.)

Trainability: High.

Movement speed: 4.5

Wildness: 5%

Life expectancy: 18

Biological clock: Daytime

Armor - Weapon: 20%

Armor - Blunt Weapons: 35%

Melee damage per second: 4.37”

……

Is this thing really a kappa?!

Chapter 212 Matryoshka Dolls

"Brother, could you please spare my knees?" I said to the green kappa, trying to keep my tone as gentle as possible.

This kappa is about half a meter tall, and it's pretty much as described in the text. Its skin has all the characteristics of an amphibian, and there are some dark green spots, making it look a bit like an unevenly dyed frog.

Its most distinctive feature is a slight indentation on its skull, which it uses to cover its bald head with a self-woven seaweed hat, revealing a behavioral pattern that is different from ordinary animals and more like that of intelligent beings.

However, I discovered something unusual.

For example, this kappa has a shallow dorsal fin, a structure that seems unique to fish when they swim. At the same time, its prominent bird-like beak contains two rows of somewhat uneven teeth, the sharp tips of which can be seen when it speaks.

Even more strangely, this kappa has protruding, unidentified structures at the elbows and knees, resembling bones that have grown beyond their full size and are now encased in skin. Its hands and feet also conceal tiny, climbing claws within their flesh.

The ancients said that one's appearance reflects one's heart. Using the Ma Yi Divine Physiognomy Analysis Method, I could tell at a glance that this person had a problem...

"Give me a cucumber!"

The lush green kappa kept repeating the same sentence over and over, its tiny, beady eyes fixed intently on me.

I tilted my head and sized up this uninvited guest, feeling that it might also have some intellectual problems.

...Didn't he notice the cane he kept banging his head against?

And from my brief observation...

This doesn't seem to be a kappa...

It's basically a smaller version of the Deepsea!

This creature, which calls itself a kappa, would be a miniature version of a deep-sea diver if you removed its protruding beak and grew out the bone spurs hidden on its body.

The more I look at the dent on my head, the more it seems like I hit it with a tree...

"Brother, where did you come from?" I asked it as patiently as possible.

The lush green kappa-like deep-sea creature looked up at me with bewildered, beady eyes: "Carter sent me."

"Carter?"

"Yes, he said you'll know once you know the name."

Of course I know.

This is clearly Father Carter trying to shift the blame, isn't it?

He led the heavily injured Deep One into the mine and then disappeared from my sight. I had assumed that this priest, as a professional in the town, would be able to handle things properly, so why was he so unreliable?

“Marcus, I heard everything you said.” A lazy voice sounded from behind me, and Father Carter, dressed in a priest’s robe, suddenly appeared behind me with a smile.

"Father? How come you appear and disappear so mysteriously?"

I stared at him, sensing something was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Suddenly, an idea struck me, and I tossed my cane aside, finding myself still standing perfectly still…

“Did you notice? That’s right, it was me in your dream.” Father Carter looked at me with a smile, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary.

It's impossible to discover easily, absolutely impossible in this lifetime. A dreamer wouldn't be surprised even if they saw cows flying in the sky, because those are projections of the subconscious. Only when one sees something subjectively deemed impossible will they glimpse a flaw in their dream.

The discovery of such a flaw often means that the dream is about to end.

But you thieves who intrude into other people's dreams, can you please tone it down a bit? You're all used to spying on other people's thoughts.

For example, this Father Carter treated my inner thoughts as if they were speaking, engaging in a dialogue with my own ideas. Even if I'm slow to react, I knew there was something wrong!

"Hehe, so this is where the flaw appeared. It seems my skills are not good enough. I need to practice more."

Practice? If I remember correctly, I've seen you twice in my dreams in these 12 hours!

Carter! You still say you don't know martial arts?!

“Father, shouldn’t you explain why this guy who calls himself a kappa is on my ranch?” I looked at the priest with ill intent, hoping he would give me a reasonable explanation.

Father Carter smiled as always, his expression unchanged: "The Kappa is not what you think. The part belonging to the Deep Ones has been purified by me, leaving only the soul of a living being. You don't need to worry about it destroying your ranch."

Hmm? So this creature in front of us really is the Deep One that Doranco has transformed into...

Can I just leave it to Gotz and let him take care of his own father?

“It’s not like that,” Father Carter shook his head. “When I took control of Doranco’s soul, it was completely devoured by the Deep One’s soul and could never be restored. After all, it’s lucky that someone with this level of bloodline manifestation didn’t completely fall into chaos.”

"The part that remains after my purification is the animal form in front of you, and has nothing to do with Doranco."

Is there really no hope?

I thought with some regret, then looked at the kappa, unsure of what this unscrupulous priest was saying, "Why not give it to Gots?"

“No, although he has been purified by my ritual, he is still a Deep One bloodline modified. Placing him near Gots will stimulate him to deepen the manifestation of his bloodline. This characteristic is caused by the Deep One race, and no one can do anything about it.” Father Carter continued to shake his head, firmly telling me that this was definitely my fault.

But I'm not a burden, so how could I obediently comply?

“Father, I think it would be better to leave this kappa at the church. You're professionals, aren't you?”

Father Carter actually walked up to me, put his arm around my shoulder, and said affectionately, "You've reminded me. If I remember correctly, you also have the last meme mark on you, right? Why don't you come with me to the church? I'll ask the Vatican how to deal with you, this Twisted One."

“…I think that since you, Father, have given me this task, you must have your reasons. Although I didn’t understand it at first, I should deepen my understanding through practice, take the initiative to comprehend it, and not cause trouble for the church!” I immediately said with a serious and righteous expression, as if the person who had just tried to resist had nothing to do with me.

“That’s more like it.” Father Carter’s expression was still all smiles. “Look, you yourself are a Twisted Being, and the Kappa is a Twisted Being too. Putting you two together is killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it?”

As he spoke, Father Carter's "I'm a professional, please believe me" expression gradually faded, replaced by a sleepy look.

Why do I feel like this person can fall asleep in their dreams? A dream within a dream?

So here's the question: if he really fell asleep, did he dream about me, or did I dream about him? Did he dream about my dream, or did I dream about his dream...?

No nesting dolls!

“Phew… I’m a little sleepy… Do you know how troublesome those old men at the Vatican are? If they find out about this big incident in Mineral Town, they’ll definitely send more people, and they might even make me go back to the Holy City for a report. How am I supposed to live then?” Father Carter yawned. “Don’t worry, just look after the Kappa for me. If anything happens at the Old Ones’ Twisted Points, you can always come to me…”

So you're just lazy, right?

Chapter 213 Pond Diggers

Just after I agreed to take on this beginner-level task, Father Carter vanished, and I immediately woke up from my dream, realizing that I had actually been dozing off against the door frame, and the green kappa in front of me was also asleep with its eyes closed.

"Kappa?"

I called out to wake the mysterious creature from its slumber.

But the first thing the kappa said after waking up was still, "Give me a cucumber!"

...The kappa is essentially a repeating machine, I've remembered that.