Chapter 121: Planting Vegetables
Glancing at the 99+ private messages, Moira Lynch felt no desire to open them. She could guess what these people wanted without even looking.
That evening, Moira Lynch entered her space as usual. She undressed and submerged herself in the Body Building Aloe Vera liquid.
The pain washed over her again. Even though she was mentally prepared, Moira Lynch still writhed in the tub.
「On the third day」, their luggage was delivered, along with Moira Lynch’s cats and dogs.
Thanks to the Chimefin scales, they were in good condition after the journey. As soon as they were out of the vehicle, they eagerly greeted Moira Lynch.
"These dogs and cats of yours are amazing. They aren’t afraid of the heat at all. Is there a secret to it?" one of the staff members asked casually.
Moira Lynch counted the cats and dogs as she replied, "What secret could there be? They just adapted to the weather on their own."
Moira Lynch tasked the cats and dogs with guarding the house, forbidding them from going anywhere else without permission.
This wasn’t their old neighborhood. The cats were one thing—small and agile—but the dogs had been raised to be fat and sturdy. If they wandered around outside, they were guaranteed to attract unwanted attention.
Someone might snatch them up to be slaughtered for meat.
Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch built a canopy in the yard to give the cats and dogs some shade. It wasn’t very effective, but it was better than nothing.
The game system had announced that the next round would begin in a month, so Moira Lynch fell into a strict routine for the time being.
She spent her days training or studying, and her nights meditating after her soak in the Body Building Aloe Vera solution.
Aside from going out once on the first day, Moira Lynch didn’t leave the house again for the next several days.
She simply had no desire to go out; staying indoors was better.
In fact, it wasn’t just them. Most people living in Sector A didn’t like to go out.
Moira Lynch looked around the empty living room, feeling like something was missing.
’Right, plants.’
’It would be a shame not to grow something in such a big house.’
Her plans to start a garden at the old house had been derailed by the arrival of Shane Rhodes and the others, but maybe this time she could make it happen.
Besides, they were quickly eating through their vegetable stockpile.
Moira Lynch hadn’t stockpiled much food before the great heat. And while Shane Rhodes and the others had hoarded plenty of supplies, they didn’t have many vegetables.
Deciding to act, Moira Lynch immediately shared her idea with the other three.
"Actually, I’ve been meaning to bring this up," Hugh Finch said. "Our vegetable supply is almost gone. If we don’t find more, we’ll be stuck eating Soldier Food Rattan."
While Soldier Food Rattan was filling, its taste was nothing short of awful.
They had tried cooking it in various ways, but the results were always underwhelming.
"But aren’t all the seeds on Caelus contaminated now? How are we supposed to grow anything?" Kai York asked.
Shane Rhodes said, "That’s not a problem. I just checked, and the System Mall sells seeds. Plus, I saw that the base has a place that sells potting soil, which means other people must be growing vegetables too."
"We have to buy soil? Isn’t that stuff everywhere?" Kai York said, surprised.
"I think it’s because of the extreme heat. The soil has lost too much moisture, and it’s full of substances that are bad for plant growth. The recommendation is for anyone who can afford it to buy specialized soil for planting vegetables."
Moira Lynch recalled some news she had seen on her phone recently.
According to Patience’s analysis, this soil had been modified with Water Wood Stone, making it genuinely better for growing plants.
However, the nutrients in the soil were only enough for a single harvest. To plant again, you’d have to replace the soil completely.
Even so, it was far better than the soil they could dig up from outside.
They got right to it.
That same day, Shane Rhodes and Kai York bought a large amount of soil and containers from the base.
Aside from the areas they were currently using, the house had many vacant rooms. Since they were just sitting empty, they might as well fill them all with vegetables.
After some discussion, in addition to high-yield crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes, they decided to plant mostly fast-growing vegetables like bok choy and lettuce.
During the planting process, Moira Lynch secretly added a few pieces of Water Wood Stone to the soil.
After trading Water Wood Stones with Redlight that one time, Moira Lynch had never sold them again. As a result, very few people knew about their existence.
Just one day after the seeds were planted, they had already sprouted. The sight of the lush, vibrant green shoots was enough to make anyone happy.
Kai York’s eyes widened in astonishment. "Holy crap! This soil is amazing! I can’t believe they’re growing this fast."
Shane Rhodes and Hugh Finch were equally shocked, but more than that, they were delighted.
"Excellent. It looks like we’ll be eating fresh vegetables in just a few days."
Hugh Finch glanced at the flourishing vegetables, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
His talent was divination, and even when he wasn’t actively using his ability, his intuition was incredibly sharp.
Seeing the vegetables thriving in their containers, his intuition told him something was off. The soil from the base, no matter how good, couldn’t possibly be *this* good.
This was impossible even before the great heat.
At this thought, Hugh Finch’s gaze drifted involuntarily toward the second floor.
There were only four people in the house.
He knew what Shane Rhodes and Kai York were capable of, so the anomaly had to be connected to Moira Lynch.
Hugh Finch’s first thought was that Moira Lynch had lied to them about her talent.
’But why?’
Though he was puzzled, Hugh Finch had no intention of confronting Moira Lynch directly.
Don’t ask why—his intuition told him it was best to leave it alone. In any case, it seemed this situation was only beneficial to them, with no apparent downside.
Meanwhile, in her bedroom on the second floor, Moira Lynch slowly opened her eyes. She had already sensed Hugh Finch’s unusual reaction.
She looked up at the ceiling and sighed. ’So I’m under suspicion after all.’
’I just don’t know what exactly he’s suspicious about.’
Still, Moira Lynch had no regrets. Given the chance to do it over, she would still have used the Water Wood Stones.
She opened the game panel, went to the back-end interface, and clicked on her private messages.
She went through the messages one by one, blocking anyone who tried to guilt-trip, threaten, or bribe her.
Then, she replied to the remaining messages individually.
Of course, Moira Lynch ignored messages from people playing pitiful to try and get a free handout, though she didn’t bother blocking them.
’We’re all players. Are they really any more pitiful than the ordinary people out there?’