Chapter 23: The 1st Night Passes

She knew that one never truly understood the cost of living until they had to manage a household themselves; it was best to save wherever possible.

Lily Rhodes happily retrieved all the arrows and reinstalled them on the Arrow Tower. She then used the Decomposition Technique to process the harvested shark carcasses. Since the sharks had been dead for a while, a portion of the Biological Energy Clusters in their bodies had dissipated, but it was still a substantial haul.

She stored the shark teeth and fins, saved the livers as a bonus meal for the two Orcas, and buried all the remaining scraps around that magical seed.

Perhaps due to the excellent nutrition, or maybe because of the Wood Stone, the seed had already sprouted. It had grown to half a meter in height and was still steadily expanding. Judging from its current appearance, it was likely a climbing plant. This perfectly aligned with her original plan to cultivate it into a defensive perimeter against danger.

After taking care of the first wave of sharks, Lily waited for the second wave of Sea Beasts to arrive. However, she waited a long time, and the attack never came.

"Could there really just be one wave?"

She waited a while longer. Once she was certain no more sharks were coming, she checked the regional channel. Many people were still fighting the creatures. After some thought, she posted a listing in the trading zone offering to exchange food for shark carcasses.

She remembered the System stating when she first arrived in this world that after the novice protection period ended, the elderly and those physically unable to participate in survival would be teleported to their relatives. Since she was all alone, feeding herself meant her entire family was fed. Furthermore, she was about to harvest a massive batch of vegetables, fruits, and sweet potatoes. She planned to trade away almost all the food she had obtained from Treasure Chests, keeping only a small portion for emergencies.

Shark meat was incredibly foul and fishy; she figured no one would be reluctant to part with it for a trade.

After listing the trade, Lily turned and went inside her wooden cabin. The space was not very large, consisting of only two rooms: a kitchen and a bedroom. Though both rooms were small, they were more than enough for her. It was certainly vastly more spacious than a tent.

Although the Owl Tent was a special item capable of eliminating fatigue, that specific ability had actually stopped working for her even before she used the Potential Seed. Now that she had a cabin, she could finally make use of the wooden bed blueprint and various furniture schematics she had acquired earlier, along with her mattress, pillows, and blankets.

Perhaps out of underlying anxiety, Lily did not sleep very deeply. She opened her eyes while the sky was still hazy and pale. A quick glance at the time showed it was barely past five in the morning.

She opened the trading zone and found that the food she had listed yesterday had already sold out. Upon clicking to extract the goods, dozens of shark carcasses instantly appeared before her. And this was just a fraction of the total haul. Although the food she offered wasn’t top-tier, her asking price for the sharks was incredibly low. Since the meat was inedible anyway, people were practically tossing them to her, making them perfect fertilizer.

She processed all the sharks with her Decomposition Technique, storing away the useful parts and piling the useless remains next to Sprout. The plant would feed itself.

After devouring the flesh and blood of over a dozen sharks the day before, Sprout’s height had successfully surpassed one meter, and it had automatically acknowledged her as its master. It was then that Lily realized what the seed’s description meant by "growing into the form she desired." Once it acknowledged a master, it would continuously communicate, asking for specific details, and then shape itself to meet her needs. She had to admit, having a custom-tailored plant was a very considerate feature.

In theory, Sprout could fulfill all of its owner’s requirements, provided it received enough nutrition. Right now, its main evolutionary focus was on growth speed and flexibility. Since she needed it to form a secure defensive line, its primary objective was to grow all the way around Shelly’s perimeter.

Lily walked over to the vegetable patch and saw that quite a few crops were already ripe. The fruit section looked the same. Seeing this, she quickly grabbed a basket and began harvesting the mature produce. Plant growth was vastly accelerated here; if they were ripe now, they might become overgrown and tough in just half an hour.

She harvested all the mature fruits and vegetables, filling an entire Bronze Treasure Chest to the brim. She then listed the produce in the trading zone, limiting purchases to one portion per person and asking only for basic materials in exchange.

Next, Lily opened the regional channel. Although it didn’t display the exact number of people in the area, she could clearly feel that the messages were refreshing at a much slower pace. It was as if a large portion of the population had suddenly vanished.

"I almost died yesterday. Thank god I upgraded my vehicle at the crucial moment."

"I killed a shark and it dropped a Bronze Treasure Chest. I opened it and got a card that enhances arm strength!"

"There are cards like that? Are you selling it? I’ll buy it for a high price."

"Sorry, I already used it."

"Didn’t the System say when we first got here that our families would be teleported over after the novice period ended? Why hasn’t anything happened yet?"

"It looks like the nearby channel is open for chatting now. Everyone, quickly find people close to you and group up! Yesterday’s Sea Beast Frenzy is going to last for several more days."

"That’s great, I’ve finally found a group."

"To the boss who listed vegetables in the trading zone earlier, do you have any more? I haven’t been able to take a crap for days."

Lily scrolled through the regional channel and noticed a clear pattern. The Survivors who had made it through were either those who had upgraded their vehicles to Level 3 early on, or those who had chosen to group up for survival.

After exiting the regional channel, she opened the nearby chat channel. To her surprise, it was completely empty. Not a single person was speaking.

Seeing this, Lily wondered if there was anyone even near her. After all, ever since she entered this world, Shelly had been constantly on the move, leaving her starting area far behind. In contrast, most other people had ordinary vehicles and could only rely on ocean currents or paddles to change locations.

"Whatever. If there’s no one around, so be it."

Lily shrugged indifferently, not bothered in the slightest. Even if there were people nearby, she had no intention of interacting with them. Although her vehicle Level was high, she wasn’t at a point where her absolute safety was guaranteed. More importantly, she was a young woman on her own; people might easily mistake her for a soft target and try to take advantage of her.

The time quickly approached eight o’clock. Watching the fog around her gradually thicken, Lily turned to glance at the Sunshine Doll hanging beneath the cabin’s eaves. It currently indicated that the weather was sunny. She then checked the forecast for the next two days, finding nothing unusual aside from a slight drop in temperature.