Chapter 101: Julian Bishop’s Purpose

"I wonder if the Heavenly Stone was a reward for first place, or if other Survivors have it too."

Either way, Lily wanted to try her luck.

With that in mind, she opened The Supreme Shop’s interface and began drafting a new listing in the background.

Soon, a new exchange item went live.

The large planter box could accelerate plant growth and allow crops planted inside to mature rapidly. The exchange condition remained the same: Wood Stones or other attribute stones. However, she added a new accepted item this time—the Heavenly Stone (Pseudo).

Additionally, she posted a message specifically targeting Survivors who had occupied islands and transitioned into City Lords. She offered to construct custom defensive walls for their territories. The asking price was also Wood Stones, other attribute stones, or the Heavenly Stone (Pseudo).

These two announcements sent immediate shockwaves through the Survivor community.

Of course, Lily causing an uproar was nothing new. What truly caught their attention was the Wood Stone. This wasn’t her first time publicly collecting Wood Stones and other attribute stones, but the Heavenly Stone (Pseudo) was a new addition. Even with the "Pseudo" tag, it was still a Heavenly Stone.

In the chat channel, many asked what these attribute stones were, yet no one stepped forward to claim they had any. After all, most of the people who used to flaunt their wealth in the chat were already dead. Everyone else had learned the hard way that hiding one’s treasures was the key to survival.

Five minutes later.

The first stone was traded over. It was cyan, covered in black, vein-like patterns.

After the successful transaction, Lily instinctively reached out to inspect it. The moment her hand drew near, a gash sliced across her finger. Blood gushed instantly. Had she not pulled back in the blink of an eye, her entire finger might have been severed.

Simultaneously, the stone’s information appeared before her.

[Severing Wind Stone: Shreds anything that comes near it.]

This was the first time Lily had encountered an attribute stone with such violent offensive capabilities.

She immediately stored the stone inside a chest and banished it to the deepest corner of her warehouse. Until she gathered enough to form a complete Wind Spirit Pearl, she had no intention of taking it out again.

Next came a Warm Light Stone. It emanated a cozy heat, making whoever held it feel as though they were basking in sunlight.

Now, she possessed two Light Stones, two Dark Stones, and two Wind Stones. Thunder Stones and Ice Stones had yet to make an appearance.

An Ice Stone went without saying—if anyone actually obtained one, it would be a god-tier artifact in this scorching weather. As for the Thunder Stone...

"Is that it?"

Lily stared at The Supreme Shop, which had gone entirely quiet.

She had listed five large planter boxes in total. Aside from the two that sold initially, the remaining three sat untouched. There was absolutely no news regarding the Heavenly Stone, either.

Were they dissatisfied with the price?

Lily opened her private messages. Sure enough, her inbox was flooded with unread texts. The most recent one had arrived just moments ago, and the sender was none other than Julian Bishop.

Julian: "Silas Jennings only took first place because of you, didn’t he."

Seeing this, Lily blinked and quickly typed a reply.

Lily: "I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you want to trade, go to The Supreme Shop. My DMs aren’t a chatroom. Skill issue. Practice more."

After hitting send, she scoffed.

He lost the competition and came running to her to assign blame. He really thought highly of himself. If he kept it up, she would just block him.

Julian: "I have what you want. Wood Stones, Heavenly Stones—I have them all. But those large planter boxes you’re offering aren’t enough of a bargaining chip."

Lily’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected the final Wood Stone to be in his hands.

However, she didn’t feel elated. She could smell a conspiracy brewing in his words.

Lily: "What do you want in exchange?"

Julian: "You don’t need to do much. I can even give you both stones for free. You just need to do me one favor."

Her guard instantly went up.

Lily: "Let’s hear it."

Julian: "I want Silas’s location. Tell me where he is, and both stones are yours."

Lily: "You’re mistaken. I don’t know Silas, and even if you want his location, I have no clue where he is."

The first half was a lie, but the second half was the truth. She genuinely didn’t know his coordinates.

Besides, Silas was currently her free laborer. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t tell. As long as he was around, she had an endless supply of Golden Fish and Special Fish.

Right now, her stock of these fish was relatively low, and she only had one School of Golden Fish and one School of Moonfish.

The abilities of the Golden Fish leaned toward support, capable of triggering plant mutations. The Moonfish, on the other hand, looked stunning, but beautiful things were often the deadliest.

She had seen the Moonfish battle an Orca with her own eyes. Although the fish ultimately lost, its sheer ferocity left a lasting impression on her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean.

Julian read Lily’s reply and smashed the cup beside him in a fit of rage.

If Felicia Snow had been present, she would have noticed that while Julian’s vehicle was just a standard wooden raft, the plants growing on it were absurdly massive. The apples were the size of washbasins, and the bananas were as large as small boats.

Yet under the scorching sun, these crops had long lost their original luster. The fruits, in particular, were already emitting a faint stench of rot.

A woman walked out from the cabin and approached the furious man to soothe him. "Julian, this isn’t the time to be angry. Didn’t you say you were going to negotiate with Lily? How did it go?"

"It fell through. She refuses to reveal Silas’s whereabouts. That first-place reward is crucial to me—it was supposed to be mine! If I can just find him, we might be able to change our current situation instead of relying on The Supreme Shop to survive."

Seeing her husband’s despondent state, the woman’s heart ached. "Julian, finding Silas is a problem for the future," she comforted softly. "As long as he’s alive, we’ll track him down eventually. What matters most is right now. The plant fibers have grown so thick that they’re completely inedible. During the previous event, you used so many of them as chum for fishing.

"I’m not blaming you, of course. I just mean that we can’t keep going on like this. We have to make a change, and that large planter box might just be our chance."