Chapter 82: Crino Prairie 26
Getting soaked didn’t upset Moira Lynch; in fact, she was thrilled.
The Nomadic Beastkin had an extremely keen sense of smell. Even though they had fled ahead of time, once the Beastkin locked onto their trail, they could follow the scent right to them.
But now, with this downpour, the heavy rain would wash away any scent they had left behind on their path.
Moira Lynch had been planning to drop a few clumps of dung they’d collected in the Mocha Forest along their trail, but now, thanks to the rain, she wouldn’t have to go to the trouble.
The three of them found a cave to take shelter from the rain.
Moira Lynch took out dry towels for Shane Rhodes and Kai York, telling them to dry off. Then, she took out a towel for herself and wiped away the rainwater.
’There’s only one day left until the game ends. What if we get sick?’
Just then, the badges on their chests chimed in unison, and a twelve-hour countdown timer appeared on them.
"What’s going on? Why twelve hours? Wasn’t it supposed to be a full day?" Moira Lynch’s eyes widened in shock.
After a moment, Shane Rhodes explained, "This round of the game didn’t start at midnight. It started during the day, which is why we only have half a day left."
Fortunately, their mission was already complete. Even with only half a day left, it was enough time for them to gather more supplies.
"Let’s keep gathering supplies after the rain stops," Shane Rhodes said. "After a heavy downpour, a lot of plants will start growing like crazy."
Moira Lynch glanced at a patch of unassuming plants outside the cave. "Maybe we don’t have to wait for the rain to stop," she said. "We can start right now."
As she spoke, she put on a raincoat, grabbed a shovel, and headed toward the patch of plants outside.
Thanks to the rain, the soil had become soft and was easy to dig.
In just a few moments, she had dug up a snow-white tuber.
"What is this?" Kai York asked, curiously examining it after she handed it to him.
Both men knew Moira Lynch wouldn’t dig something up for no reason; these white tubers had to have some unexpected use.
"It’s White Ginger. You can eat it raw or boil it in water to make a drink. It helps prevent colds."
After hearing Moira Lynch’s explanation, Kai York looked at the White Ginger in his hand. "This is just like the ginger we have on Caelus."
Moira Lynch paused her digging. "They’re not the same. White Ginger is sweet. Plus, throughout the galaxy, it’s known as a medicinal cure-all. Almost any ailment can be alleviated with it."
Stunned expressions appeared on Shane Rhodes’s and Kai York’s faces.
Skeptical, Kai York took a bite of the White Ginger. It was, indeed, sweet—nothing like the ginger he remembered.
What’s more, once he swallowed the White Ginger, a warmth quickly spread through his body.
"This stuff is amazing!"
Ignoring the downpour outside, the two men quickly joined in on the digging.
By the time they had dug up all the White Ginger in the area, a small mountain of it, weighing roughly sixty pounds, was piled up inside the cave.
Seeing that the rain showed no signs of stopping, Moira Lynch used the downpour to wash the White Ginger clean before storing it in her space.
Shane Rhodes and Kai York helped as well.
The three of them split the White Ginger evenly. Since Moira Lynch was the only one with a Space Button, both Shane Rhodes and Kai York gave her a portion of their shares as payment for storage. They had divided all the supplies they’d previously collected in the same way.
Moira Lynch stored her share in her Space Button—or rather, she actually moved it into her personal space to use as seeds.
She then stored the other two’s shares.
After fleeing for so long, getting soaked by the rain, and then digging up all that White Ginger, the three of them were exhausted and starving. Moira Lynch took out a generous amount of food.
Shane Rhodes and Kai York didn’t hesitate to dig in.
The Space Button had limited capacity, so every little bit of room they could free up now would help.
The rain didn’t let up until just before dawn. As the sky began to lighten, the three of them emerged from the cave.
The three Stag-Horses had run off somewhere during the storm, but that was fine. The group hadn’t planned on going far anyway and just began searching the immediate area.
In addition to the patch they’d already found, there was plenty more White Ginger growing all around them.
This was all precious, rare medicinal material, and Shane Rhodes and Kai York dug with gusto.
Moira Lynch appeared to be digging alongside them, but she was actually extending her spiritual power, exploring deep into the ground beneath them, inch by inch.
’There’s a limit to how much White Ginger the three of us can dig up manually. The rest will be all mine.’
As they were digging, a piercing cry suddenly echoed from overhead.
[Wailing Tern: A black-feathered bird whose cry resembles that of a Beastkin infant. It is highly intelligent and enjoys collecting shiny objects.
Throughout the galaxy, the Wailing Tern is known as a "blind box treasure." Due to its penchant for collecting shiny things, unexpected treasures can occasionally be found in its nest.]
’Look at my luck,’ she thought. ’I’ve even run into a living blind box.’
She looked up at the Wailing Tern and saw that it was, in fact, carrying something shiny in its beak.
Its eyes were fixed warily on Moira Lynch and the others, and it showed no signs of leaving.
’Wailing Terns are smart. It’s probably worried that if it leaves now, I’ll find its nest.’
’Still, the fact that it appeared here and decided to stay means its nest can’t be far. It might even be right here in the immediate vicinity.’
She withdrew her spiritual power from the ground and redirected it upward, probing the high branches.
Before long, a massive bird’s nest appeared within her spiritual senses.
It was in the crown of a tree not far from where they stood.
She froze for a second. She glanced up at the wary Wailing Tern, then back to the image of the nest in her mind, carefully assessing its size. ’Is the size discrepancy a bit too large? How could such a small bird live in such a massive nest?’
The tree the Wailing Tern had chosen only looked normal on the surface; in reality, the entire crown had been converted into a nest. Moira Lynch even began to wonder if she’d made a mistake.
But there were no other nests in the vicinity.
Operating on the principle of "better safe than sorry," Moira Lynch pulled the entire nest into her space.
At the same time, Shane Rhodes and Kai York finished up their digging, and the three of them prepared to leave.
"Moira, how much space do you have left?"
Moira Lynch checked and said, "About two square meters left. But there are still a lot of small gaps between the things I’ve already put in. We can look for smaller items like Water Storage Mushrooms and Dragon Tooth Grass to fill in the cracks."
Shane Rhodes nodded, then glanced down at the timer. Four hours remaining.
The rain had delayed them quite a bit, and digging up the White Ginger had also taken a significant amount of time. Still, with four hours left, filling a two-square-meter Space Button and then stuffing the gaps shouldn’t be a problem.
「Half an hour later.」
The three of them pushed aside a thicket of grass, and a shimmering, sparkling lake appeared before them.