Chapter 16: A Full Sense of Security

Lily Rhodes traded all her remaining basic supplies for these two types. After all, Shelly would continue to grow larger after upgrading.

Just like that, she worked from morning until night, finally finishing two-thirds of the work. She could complete the remaining third tomorrow.

Sitting inside the Owl Tent, Lily took stock of her daily haul. First were the treasure chests. She had five Wooden Treasure Boxes and seven Bronze Treasure Chests. Added to yesterday’s haul, that made ten Wooden Treasure Boxes and fifteen Bronze Treasure Chests in total.

"The number of Treasure Chests seems to have increased," Lily murmured, resting her chin on her hand.

She didn’t know if the System deliberately spawned more chests to improve Survivors’ chances as the novice protection period neared its end, or if it was simply due to this specific sea area. After all, most other people used rafts as vehicles, while hers was a turtle that could carry her scurrying around everywhere.

She stored the chests away, planning to save up a bit more before opening them all at once.

Aside from the chests, she also had countless basic materials. It was more than enough to craft the remaining fences for tomorrow, with plenty to spare.

Then there were the Skill Books and blueprints.

She had two Skill Books in total. Both recorded skills that lacked offensive power and even seemed somewhat useless.

[Noise Reduction: Upon activation, filters out irrelevant environmental noises such as wind, insect chirps, and running water, retaining only the desired sounds. Requires frequent focus during use.]

This skill was highly useful for both tracking people and escaping. After all, even if a person remained absolutely still, their heart would still beat.

[Breath Regulation: (Passive Skill) Lacks any offensive or other special capabilities. Upon learning, it solely stabilizes the user’s breathing. Maintains an even breathing rhythm regardless of running, injury, or intense emotional fluctuations.]

"This one actually seems pretty useless. It only makes my breathing even. But it is a passive skill, so I’ll learn it."

Lily learned it without hesitation. No matter what the skills did, it was best to just learn them first.

Next were the blueprints.

"This Iron Thorns blueprint is great. Why would anyone bear to trade it away?"

Lily looked at the blueprint in her hand. When she read its details, she immediately understood. Although the Iron Thorns were formidable, they couldn’t be used independently. Like ivy, they required a supporting structure to cling to.

Reading this, she glanced at the nearby fences. It seemed she had just added another chore to her list.

The remaining blueprints were for everyday items: a bathtub, a vanity table, and a storage rack. She learned them all, knowing they would definitely come in handy later. After finishing all this, she finally closed her eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The sixth day of the novice protection period.

Less than two days remained until the novice protection period ended. After a hurried bite of breakfast, Lily habitually opened the regional chat channel. Quite a few people were looking for her, wanting her to sell grilled fish again. They offered to trade basic materials for it.

Seeing this, she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile. It seemed her cooking skills were quite popular.

"Sorry about that. Though I really want to earn those basic materials, I genuinely don’t have the time."

With that, Lily swiftly stuffed the rest of her bread into her mouth and started her day’s work. Her first task was to install the remaining one-third of the fences.

Perhaps due to her constant physical exertion over the past two days, she clearly felt her body grow stronger than the day before. This was all thanks to the Potential Seed. In the past, she would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. Yet here she was, carrying seven or eight fence panels in her arms while striding forward as swiftly as if she were flying.

While installing the fences, she went to check on the sweet potatoes, vegetables, and fruits she planted earlier. The sweet potatoes grew well and should be ready for harvest in another two days. The rest of the crops also thrived. She believed she would soon achieve complete freedom in eating all the fresh produce she wanted.

Although she didn’t lack food these past few days, her inability to consume enough greens made her clearly feel that using the bathroom became more difficult. At least she had canned goods to make do with. Many people in the regional channel had already started complaining about severe constipation.

"Time to get to work."

Lily took a deep breath and plunged back into her tasks. The most direct manifestation of her improved physical fitness was that her fence installation speed increased significantly, and it kept getting faster. Her original plan was to finish installing the rest of the fences before noon, but she ended up completing it an hour ahead of schedule.

With the fences done, next came the Iron Thorns. This was far easier than installing the wooden panels. It didn’t require her to produce them from The Commons Workshop and haul them piece by piece to designated spots.

Installing the Iron Thorns only required sufficient materials—namely, iron ingots. Then, with a mere thought, she directly clicked to craft them.

The next second, an iron ingot flew out from her wrist and landed on the fence. Instantly, a layer of spiked metal thorns appeared over the originally wooden surface.

"Getting pricked by this thing would definitely hurt," Lily noted, a satisfied expression appearing on her face as she looked at the Iron Thorns.

Next, she ran a full lap around Shelly’s back, finally installing all the Iron Thorns.

"This won’t do. It seems I need to find a proper vehicle in the future," she said, coming to a halt.

Shelly was simply too massive. Relying solely on her own two legs to get around would eventually exhaust her to death. Even though her breathing remained even, that was entirely to the credit of her passive skill. In reality, she felt completely drained.

However, the physical training effect was exceptionally obvious. With her current speed and endurance, she could effortlessly run a marathon without any issues.

Looking at the Zara and Iron Thorns surrounding her, Lily felt an overwhelming sense of security. Seeing that it was still early, she first went into the tent to change into a clean set of clothes, as her previous outfit was soaked with sweat. Then, she took out the barbecue grill and began listing grilled fish and whale meat in the trading area.

Her previous batch of vegetable seeds included green onions. Although they were still quite small, she couldn’t resist pulling up two stalks to eat with the grilled fish. The moment the green onion entered her mouth, that crisp texture tasted ten thousand times better than eating the grilled fish plain.

"What a pity there’s no garlic," Lily lamented. As the saying went, eating meat without garlic cut the flavor in half.

Her grilled fish and whale meat became wildly popular the moment they hit the market, all because she sprinkled salt on them. The seasoning production workshop didn’t sit idle these past few days either, continuously producing refined salt for her. Sprinkled with this refined salt, the flavor profile of the grilled fish and whale meat instantly gained rich, complex layers.

It wasn’t until nightfall, just as she prepared for bed, that she suddenly received a private message.

"Do you have any Healing Medicine on hand?"