Chapter 91: Good News, Bad News
Before the three of them could even react, their bodies were already moving to help.
"Moira, can I ask what these mushrooms are for?" Kai York asked as he picked them.
Hearing this, Moira Lynch explained without looking up, "Extremely Hot Mushrooms. They only grow in extremely hot environments. After eating one, your body will actively generate heat."
After she finished, she immediately added, "I wouldn’t recommend eating them in environments where the average temperature is over eighty-six degrees. There’s a high chance it will burn your internal organs and cause irreversible damage."
"We don’t need them now, but they might be useful later." After a moment of thought, Moira Lynch corrected herself. "Actually, they can be used now—as weapons."
At the current temperature, if you ate one Extremely Hot Mushroom, you’d probably be cooked from the inside out.
Soon, the entire patch of Extremely Hot Mushrooms was picked clean.
After returning home, Moira Lynch changed out of the clothes she had worn that evening. The water was out, so she couldn’t shower, but she still wiped herself down with a clean towel.
As for her hair, ever since she’d switched to the shampoo she got from the Crocodile Beastfolk, one wash could last her for half a month. It didn’t get oily or itchy, which saved her a great deal of time.
Returning to the first floor, she found Shane Rhodes and Kai York meditating.
Kai York had previously been curious about how Moira Lynch never seemed to sleep, so she had told them about using meditation as a cultivation method.
It wasn’t really a secret; anyone could find out with a quick search on a Learning Machine.
It’s just that they had never asked, so she had never mentioned it. Moira had assumed they wanted to focus all their energy on their studies.
Once they found out that meditation could not only improve their ability but also replace sleep, they started learning it immediately. ’Only a fool wouldn’t.’
Meanwhile, Hugh Finch was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, but he wasn’t meditating. His normally grayish-white eyes had turned completely white, and his hands formed strange gestures. His entire being seemed shrouded in a mysterious veil.
Divination.
This was the first time Moira Lynch had seen Hugh Finch use his talent.
Although Kai York had previously mentioned they could ask Hugh Finch to divine minor things, like their luck for the day...
...Moira Lynch knew every divination came at a price, so she had never done so.
Half an hour later, Hugh Finch slowly opened his eyes. He looked as if he had just recovered from a severe illness, drained of more than half his vitality.
His eyes faded from pure white back to their usual grayish-white.
"What were you just divining?" Moira Lynch asked.
’Judging by his state, it must have been something serious.’
Hugh Finch spoke weakly. "I tried to divine how long this disaster will last."
"And what was the result?"
At the same time, Shane Rhodes and Kai York opened their eyes and looked over at the weakened Hugh Finch.
Hugh Finch’s expression was grave. "I have good news and I have bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"The good news first, of course," Kai York said.
"The good news is, the extreme heat won’t last forever. It will end in two months at the earliest, and six months at the latest."
Hearing this, Kai York said happily, "That’s great news! Doesn’t that mean we just have to endure it for a little while longer?"
However, Shane Rhodes and Moira Lynch were not as optimistic as Kai York. ’If this is really good news, why does Hugh Finch look like that?’
"You’ve told us the good news. What’s the bad news?" Moira Lynch asked.
"The bad news is that the end of the extreme heat isn’t the true end. Other disasters are waiting for us, but I couldn’t see what they are."
This piece of bad news was several times worse than the good news had been good.
However, Moira Lynch was already mentally prepared for this.
"After a great drought comes a great flood, and after a great flood comes a great plague."
Hearing Moira Lynch’s words, the expressions of the other three turned grave.
"If that’s really the case, we need to start preparing now."
Both the drought and the flood were natural disasters; they couldn’t be stopped or avoided. A plague, however, could be prevented.
Still, those disasters were months away. They had plenty of time.
But what Moira Lynch was thinking at that moment was: ’Is the speedboat I bought before a little too small?’
She glanced at the builds of Shane Rhodes and the other two. ’They can figure it out for themselves,’ she decided.
’Judging by their past actions, they’re no pushovers. After all, would a pushover be able to kick someone out of the residential complex just because of a disagreement? For people like them, getting a boat shouldn’t be too hard.’
Moira Lynch felt a pang of regret. ’If only I’d bought a yacht.’ But then she reconsidered. ’Even if I had, I probably wouldn’t know how to pilot it.’
’It would just sit in my space as a decoration, and it would have been a waste of money.’
’Money... Speaking of money...’ Moira Lynch remembered the huge pile of cash in her space that she hadn’t spent yet. ’What a waste.’
She made a decision. ’I’ll go out and spend money tomorrow. While cash is still worth something, I should spend what I can.’
Back in her bedroom, Moira Lynch submerged her consciousness into her personal space.
Another batch of fruits and vegetables in her space had ripened today. Previously, she had always just harvested them and put them straight into her warehouse. ’How could I have forgotten? Vegetables can be pickled, and fruits can be canned.’
But a problem quickly presented itself to Moira Lynch: both pickling and canning required containers.
It was too late to order any now.
’Looks like I’ll have to make a small batch first, and then make more as I free up the containers.’
With that thought, Moira Lynch began to organize the items she had brought back from the last "game."
She had been organizing for several days, a little at a time, and was almost finished.
Moira Lynch divided the items into two main categories: for immediate use and for later use.
Things for later use—like the Giant Lapine Beastman’s droppings—were items she didn’t need right now and were stored separately.
As for the things for immediate use, items like the Chimefin scales were placed in the most prominent location.
Right now, these Chimefin scales were the hottest items in her shop, even more in-demand than some of the food.
The second most popular items were, naturally, various foods, especially meat. After that came medicinal herbs that could cure illnesses, like Dragon Tooth Grass.
Moira Lynch looked at the various animal organs, which were packed so tightly in her warehouse they were nearly overflowing.
Even with so many being sold every day, the pile showed no signs of shrinking.
In the morning, Moira Lynch slowly opened her eyes. After washing up in the bathroom, she grabbed a carton of Liangchen Milk. She checked the date—it wouldn’t expire for another half-month. She stuck a straw in and drank it without a care.
When she came down from the second floor, Shane Rhodes and the other two were already studying. ’Their self-discipline is almost scary,’ she thought.
A breakfast sandwich sat on the table, obviously left for her.
After finishing her milk, she unfolded the carton, flattened it, and put it away. Then she picked up her breakfast and polished it off.