Chapter 12: Leveled Up 2 Levels in a Row

There was a considerable amount of this Energy—over a thousand clusters. Because she had harvested them the moment the whale died while the carcass was still fresh, barely any of it had dissipated.

[Biological Energy: A highly valuable and scarce resource with multiple uses. Found exclusively in large marine creatures. Dissipates rapidly upon death.]

Initially, she wanted to feed all the Biological Energy to Shelly to raise her Level. However, the phrase "highly valuable" made her hesitate.

"Shelly, roughly how much of this Energy do you need to reach the next Level?" Lily Rhodes asked.

The panel only displayed the required amount of Crystal Cores, which was around five hundred.

Shelly poked her head out of the water. "I need about a hundred Biological Energy clusters."

Hearing this, Lily fell into deep thought.

Upgrading required five hundred Crystal Cores, but only a hundred Biological Energy Clusters. Mathematically, one energy cluster equaled five Crystal Cores, yet the Biological Energy was vastly rarer. The System had explicitly stated it only existed within massive marine beasts and vanished quickly upon death.

She looked down at Shelly and ultimately decided to continue raising her Vehicle Level. Even though Shelly had already reached Level 3 and unlocked a protective shield, Lily still felt a bit insecure. She set a goal to boost her companion straight to Level 5 and stash the remaining Biological Energy Clusters for later.

After all, the System had emphasized how difficult this Energy was to obtain. Keeping a reserve for emergencies was smart. Once the novice protection period ended, she could always upgrade Shelly again if they encountered danger.

Her mind made up, she called out to the turtle and fed her a hundred Biological Energy Clusters.

Instantly, a warm aura of energy enveloped Shelly. Her body rapidly expanded, multiplying several times over in sheer size.

Lily watched with excitement. The turtle’s back stretched out like a vast plain, the edges nearly out of sight. With this much land, she could plant a staggering amount of crops. She would need to gather more seeds in the future; letting all this space go to waste was out of the question.

[Vehicle: Turtle

Type: Special Vehicle

Upgrade Method: Devour Crystal Cores or other Energy

Level: Level 4

Requirements for next Level: 1,000 Crystal Cores or equivalent Energy. Currently ingested 0 Crystal Cores. 1,000 Crystal Cores or equivalent Energy needed.]

Seeing this, Lily decisively pulled out another two hundred Biological Energy Clusters, pushing Shelly to Level 5.

Shelly’s body surged in size once more. Lily could not even guess her exact dimensions now, as the System did not display measurements. All she knew was that the turtle was gargantuan.

She opened the vehicle panel again.

[Vehicle: Turtle

Type: Special Vehicle

Upgrade Method: Devour Crystal Cores or other Energy

Level: Level 5

Requirements for next Level: 2,000 Crystal Cores or equivalent Energy. Currently ingested 0 Crystal Cores. 2,000 Crystal Cores or equivalent Energy needed.]

To upgrade again, she would have to hoard two thousand Crystal Cores or invest another four hundred Biological Energy Clusters.

Right then, a searing heat flared on her wrist. She glanced down and saw that her turtle tattoo had undergone a radical transformation.

The originally cute, cartoonish little turtle now wore heavy armor. Judging by the shape of its head, it looked more like an alligator snapping turtle, giving it a much fiercer appearance.

Furthermore, after the consecutive level-ups, she sensed two new authorities. The first allowed her to temporarily store Shelly inside the wrist space, which would help the turtle rapidly heal if she ever suffered severe injuries. The second ability granted her the power to freely control Shelly’s size. A larger size offered stronger defense, while a smaller size provided faster speed and a tinier target.

Both functions were incredibly practical. The second was especially useful right now. She currently had nothing to plant or build. Shelly’s back was massive, but it was completely barren. Having such a colossal frame severely hindered the turtle’s movement speed while providing no real benefit to her limited activity range. On top of that, if they ran into other Survivors, such a gigantic creature would easily attract greedy eyes. It was better to shrink her down for the time being.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Shelly’s body seemed to deflate. She rapidly shrank, only stopping when her shell was roughly fifty square meters.

This size was just right for Lily. She could easily tend to any plants she managed to grow, and once she needed more agricultural space, she could slowly increase the turtle’s size back to its true form.

Then there was the first authority: storing Shelly in the spatial dimension. Did this imply that, in the future, Survivors would be able to leave their vehicles and explore other areas? This was an ocean, so there were bound to be islands. Also, the fact that the wrist space provided rapid healing meant vehicles could get injured.

Her vehicle was drastically different from everyone else’s. If a wooden raft was damaged, it merely needed enough materials for a quick fix. Shelly, however, was a living creature. A fatal injury would actually kill her.

Because of that, this healing authority was of paramount importance.

Aside from that...

[Dear Survivor, it has been detected that your Vehicle Level has reached Level 4. As the first Survivor globally to upgrade a vehicle to Level 4, you are hereby rewarded: Self-selected Weapon Box x2, Self-selected Prop Box x2. Since your vehicle is a Special Vehicle, would you like to make a world announcement?

Making a world announcement will reward you with one Golden Treasure Box.]

"Level 4?" Lily murmured. She pondered it for only a moment before selecting yes. She had already made a name for herself once, so doing it again wouldn’t hurt. However, she wondered why she hadn’t received such a reward when upgrading to Level 3. Had someone else beaten her to it?

It made sense. She probably wasn’t the only one with a Special Vehicle, otherwise the System wouldn’t have...

Before she could finish the thought, the System chimed again.

[Dear Survivor, it has been detected that your Vehicle Level has reached Level 5. As the first Survivor globally to upgrade a vehicle to Level 5, you are hereby rewarded: Self-selected Weapon Box x3, Self-selected Prop Box x3. Since your vehicle is a Special Vehicle, would you like to make a world announcement?

Making a world announcement will reward you with one Golden Treasure Box.]

"Yes."

The moment Lily agreed, the global channel refreshed with two consecutive, blindingly golden world announcements.

[Congratulations to Survivor Lily Rhodes for leaving all others in the dust and upgrading her vehicle to Level 4! Rewarded: Self-selected Weapon Box x2, Self-selected Prop Box x2, Golden Treasure Box x1.]

[Congratulations to Survivor Lily Rhodes for leaving all others in the dust and upgrading her vehicle to Level 5! Rewarded: Self-selected Weapon Box x3, Self-selected Prop Box x3, Golden Treasure Box x1.]