Chapter 88: Strong Girl
The trunk of this tree was covered in Extremely Hot Mushrooms, so densely packed there wasn’t a single gap.
After harvesting all the Extremely Hot Mushrooms, she stored them away carefully.
’To think that Caelus’s current environment could actually give rise to something as good as Extremely Hot Mushrooms.’
After chopping down the tree, Moira Lynch enthusiastically started searching again.
But unfortunately, even after searching the entire residential complex, she couldn’t find a second tree growing Extremely Hot Mushrooms.
’It seems these Extremely Hot Mushrooms are very rare.’
Moira Lynch knew what she had to do from now on. She needed to collect as many of these Extremely Hot Mushrooms as possible.
In the latter half of the night, Moira Lynch finally prepared to go home. Accompanying her were Shane Rhodes and Kai York, as well as one other person.
"His name is Hugh Finch, and his talent is fortune teller," Kai York introduced. "His divinations are very accurate. You can have him do a reading for you, but it only works for small matters."
Hearing this, Moira Lynch looked at Hugh Finch. He wore glasses and had a very scholarly appearance.
It was worth noting that Hugh Finch’s eyes were grayish-white. This was a characteristic trait of fortune tellers, and the lighter the color, the greater the talent.
"We don’t know when the game will start, so we want to master the interstellar language as soon as possible."
"Fine." Moira Lynch shrugged. It didn’t matter to her. ’As long as they pay the tuition fee, I’m good.’
Back home, Moira Lynch gave the three of them the Learning Machine she had used before.
She had already had Patience inspect this Learning Machine to ensure they wouldn’t see anything they weren’t supposed to, like her search history.
The three of them treated the Learning Machine like a priceless treasure after receiving it and immediately started their studies.
However, their learning process was nowhere near as smooth as Moira Lynch’s had been.
After listening from the side for ten minutes, she felt she couldn’t take it anymore.
She secretly asked Patience in her mind, ’Why are they learning so slowly?’
’When I learned the interstellar language, I didn’t think it was difficult at all.’
’Could it be because they’re older?’
’They said they just graduated from college. Logically, they shouldn’t be much older than me.’
"That is because of the Spiritual Talent you have awakened. People who awaken this type of talent are ten or even a hundred times faster at learning things than people who awaken other talents."
Hearing this, Moira Lynch’s eyes widened slightly.
’So, the reason I learned so fast was because I awakened a talent. And here I was thinking it was just because I’m young. Still, this is good news for me.’
Two hours later, three figures were slumped on the sofa, their eyes vacant, looking like ambitionless salted fish.
"Boss, for the first time in my life, I feel so stupid," Kai York said, his expression dazed.
Although the other two didn’t speak, the expressions on their faces said it all.
Back in the day, they had all been top students, each fluent in at least two foreign languages. But now...
After listening for so long, it was still all gibberish to them.
Then, they looked over at Moira Lynch.
’It’s only been a month or two since the extreme heat began, yet she can already speak the interstellar language so fluently.’
Seeing the three of them looking so dejected, Moira Lynch leaned over curiously. She picked up the Learning Machine and swiped her finger across the screen.
A moment later, she placed the Learning Machine back in front of them. "Why don’t you try starting from here?"
’After all, these three paid a hefty tuition fee. What am I going to do if they can’t learn and ask for a refund?’
Moira Lynch had found them a cartoon popular with children in the Stellar Kindergarten, one that taught basic phonetic-like knowledge.
Since the three of them were here, Moira Lynch also let Blackie and Shadow out.
They wore perforated Chimefin scales around their necks, so they showed no signs of discomfort even when they came out.
After telling Blackie and Shadow not to run around or make a ruckus, Moira Lynch began her daily meditation.
The night passed. When her alarm clock went off the next morning, Moira Lynch slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, she remembered that she hadn’t gone back to her room last night, but had stayed in the living room instead.
At a nearby table, Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch were holding pens and notebooks, their expressions serious as they stared at the Learning Machine’s screen.
In the quiet living room, the only sounds were those from the Learning Machine and the SCRITCH-SCRATCH of pens on notebooks.
Moira Lynch first fed Blackie and Shadow their dog food.
It was just that the two had become picky eaters in the pocket dimension, where they could eat meat and gnaw on fruits and vegetables as they pleased. They wouldn’t even glance at the dog food in front of them.
Moira Lynch reached out and vigorously ruffled their heads, telling them this was all they were getting for now and that she’d give them an extra treat at noon.
Sensing the aggrieved feelings coming from Blackie and Shadow, Moira Lynch turned a blind eye. ’What’s wrong with dog food? Plenty of people out there can’t even afford to eat this well.’
Opening the refrigerator, she saw a new pile of ingredients inside. She didn’t need to guess—she knew Shane Rhodes and the others had brought them, and they had included a share for her.
’Since they provided the ingredients, it’s only right that I do the cooking.’
But when she went to heat the pan, Moira Lynch found that she couldn’t get the stove to light.
’Is it broken?’
She took out her phone, and a new notification popped up.
"To conserve energy, the entire city’s water and power supply will now be available for a unified two-hour period each day."
As for natural gas, it had been completely shut off. This was due to several tragic incidents caused by gas explosions the day before.
The causes included the hot weather and aging equipment, so for safety’s sake, the authorities had simply shut it all down.
Anyway, not many people were cooking with an open flame these days. It was hot outside, and hot inside; cooking with a fire would just make things even hotter.
Moira Lynch read for a moment, realizing the decision was final. She glanced to the side; she had already prepped all her ingredients.
THUMP THUMP THUMP, she ran toward the underground garage. When she returned, she was hoisting a gas canister on her shoulder.
’Heh heh, good thing I had the foresight to stock up on these gas canisters.’
’I’ve also got plenty of camp stoves and alcohol burners.’
’But those are too small to be practical for this.’
Shane Rhodes and the others watched as Moira Lynch zipped off to the garage. Before they could even react, they saw her bustling back in with a gas canister on her shoulder.
The three of them watched as she moved without slowing her pace in the slightest, her face showing no sign of strain. It was as if she wasn’t carrying a gas canister on her shoulder, but a weightless balloon.
Soon, the sound of stir-frying filled the air from the kitchen. The three men looked away, then at each other, seeing the pure shock reflected in their eyes.
At the same time, they all made a mental note: ’Never, ever offend Moira Lynch. Without using our talents, the three of us together probably couldn’t even take her in a fight.’