Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging

These past few days, the three of them had been crashing at Moira Lynch’s place to study the interstellar language and freeload on meals. After all, with the water, power, and gas all out, every little bit they could save counted.

Of course, the three of them brought their own ingredients, and Moira Lynch was just responsible for the cooking. If it weren’t for that, she couldn’t be bothered to feed them.

The three would study for the entire day, and at night, they would all head out to chop down trees.

After several days of hard work, the trees within the residential complex were nearly all gone. Now, everyone was going to the nearby mountain to chop trees.

Ever since the natural gas was shut off, the government had started calling for everyone to go up the mountains and chop down trees. The felled trees would be collected under a unified program.

As soon as this news came out, the once-discouraged people suddenly became motivated. Even some who weren’t short on food started chopping trees. After all, who would say no to more supplies?

While chopping trees, Moira Lynch discovered quite a few Extremely Hot Mushrooms, and in just a few short days, she had already accumulated a good stash.

This one day, Moira Lynch was swinging her axe, THWACK THWACK, chopping a tree when an older woman suddenly walked up behind her. With a friendly-looking face, she said, "All by yourself, dearie?"

Moira Lynch turned to look. It was someone she didn’t recognize, probably not from her residential complex. She replied politely, "No, I came with my brothers."

The woman froze. This was different from what she had heard.

Before coming here, she had already done her homework through various channels. The people living in this complex were all rich before the extreme heat. After it began, they hoarded plenty of supplies. Moreover, there were many players among them, so they didn’t have to worry about food or drink. Their lives were countless times more comfortable than those of the people outside.

Through extensive inquiries, she had learned that there was an orphan girl in this complex. She had money and supplies, wasn’t very old, and most importantly, she was a player. Wasn’t she just a prime piece of meat, ripe for the picking?

And so, the woman planned to introduce her nephew to this young girl. The beautiful-sounding excuse was that it would give the girl a family and someone to rely on in the future.

Of course, after going to so much trouble for her, it would only be natural for them to move into the girl’s home as well.

But before she could even demonstrate the power of her glib tongue, Moira Lynch’s words left all her plans stuck in her throat.

She stammered, her eyes darting left and right. "You have brothers? Where are they? I don’t see them. You’re not trying to fool your auntie, are you?"

Moira Lynch glanced behind her. There was indeed no one there. However, she had her spiritual power, so she knew that Shane Rhodes and the other two were chopping trees not far away and had already noticed what was happening over here.

"They must have gone to chop trees somewhere else," she said. "Auntie, was there anything else? If not, I’ll be on my way."

Seeing this, the woman assumed Moira Lynch was just spouting nonsense to get rid of her. She took a large step forward, blocking her path, and said with painstaking earnestness, "Dearie, you don’t have to lie to your auntie. Auntie knows all about your situation."

Hearing the woman’s words, Moira Lynch thought to herself, ’You know? You don’t know jack squat.’

However, the woman was oblivious to Moira Lynch’s internal monologue and continued to ramble on, "It must be hard for you, all alone during these times. If you ask your auntie, a woman’s best calling is to find a good man and get married. I hear you’re a player, right? Well, Auntie has a nephew at home, and let me tell you, he’s as handsome as they come—dashing and debonair. You absolutely wouldn’t be losing out by marrying him. Plus, he’s older than you, so he knows how to pamper a woman."

"So, what do you think? If you think it’s a good idea, Auntie will arrange for you two to meet right away. You can even move in together tomorrow! Your house is empty, isn’t it? It’s so dangerous for a woman to live alone these days. Let him go and protect you."

Looking at the woman’s self-righteous expression, it was as if the words "preying on the heirless" were written all over her face.

Moira Lynch said, "Auntie, do I look stupid to you?"

The woman was taken aback for a moment before saying, "Of course not! You’re such a smart girl. I can tell you’re blessed with good fortune just by looking at you."

"Since I’m not stupid, why would I invite a bunch of leeches into my life? It’s not like I’m bored and have nothing better to do."

Hearing this, the woman shot her a displeased glare. "You child, what a way to talk!"

’Once this girl is with my nephew,’ she thought to herself, ’I’ll have to make him teach her a good lesson. A woman like her can’t be coddled.’

"Auntie, I can hear the beads on your abacus clicking from the other side of Caelus."

Before the woman could say anything else, the sound of dogs barking suddenly erupted from nearby.

The sound grew closer and closer, and in no time, a dozen or so stray dogs came running in their direction. They bypassed Moira Lynch and lunged straight for the woman.

"AHHH! Help me! The dogs are attacking! Somebody save me!!"

The people nearby who heard the commotion all stood by and watched coldly.

They had all seen the earlier scene and were disgusted by the woman’s behavior.

The reason they didn’t step in to stop it was that they didn’t want to get into trouble, and to some extent, they were also enjoying the show.

As for the neighbors from her own residential complex, they didn’t step forward either. It wasn’t because they were cold-hearted. On the contrary, after the incidents with the near-sneak attack and the property management, their entire community had become quite united.

They didn’t step forward because they knew there was no need. Although Moira Lynch’s talents leaned more toward a support role, no one in the entire complex dared to provoke her.

Besides her good relationship with Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch, Moira Lynch was also always followed by a pack of stray cats and dogs.

And every single one of them was extremely obedient.

This pack of stray cats and dogs wasn’t afraid of the heat; no temperature was too high for them. Now, during the day, the security of the entire complex was handled by these strays patrolling the grounds. The moment anything was amiss, they would immediately make noise as a warning.

Not long ago, Moira Lynch had lied, claiming she had traded half a bottle of Spider Silk Liquid to SoySauceDrunkard for a batch of Chimefin scales.

With a grand wave of her hand, Moira Lynch used these Chimefin scales on the stray cats and dogs.

Shane Rhodes and the other two had initially been against this. The reason was simple: the scales could be stolen.

If anyone found out that these cats and dogs had Chimefin scales on them, many people would likely go after the animals, including people from within the complex.

Moira Lynch had already thought of this. To prevent them from being stolen, she chose to hide the scales beneath their skin.

Compared to being burned to death, this small amount of pain was nothing.

And just like that, Moira Lynch gained a squad of heat-proof animal bodyguards.

Terrified by the pack of dogs, the woman scrambled away, stumbling as she ran.

Moira Lynch didn’t give the matter a second thought and went back to chopping trees while searching for Extremely Hot Mushrooms.

She had learned from the dogs that there was an especially large number of Extremely Hot Mushrooms up ahead.

As for the other people, seeing that the show was over, they all went back to their own work.

By the time Shane Rhodes and the other two found Moira Lynch, she was busy harvesting mushrooms from a tree.

Seeing the three of them approach, Moira Lynch called out without turning her head, "Don’t just stand there. Come and help."