Chapter 32: A Major Upgrade

Sprout’s growth progress had originally surpassed the halfway mark. However, after its recent bout of whining, that progress plummeted, dropping from over fifty percent to less than a third.

While the sand table allowed Lily to constantly monitor the situation on Shelly’s back, her next upgrade offered something far greater.

Lily turned to look at the massive screen behind her. This interface completely freed her hands. She could control and upgrade structures like The Commons Workshop, harvest fruits and vegetables, manage inventory, and handle planting—all without ever leaving the room.

Moreover, whenever Lily wanted to travel further afield, she would no longer need to force Shelly back into her original form.

Naturally, such incredible conveniences weren’t free. Both the sand table and the giant screen required Crystal Cores to maintain their Energy.

The sand table consumed one Crystal Core per day. The screen also required a daily Crystal Core just to boot up, but it demanded additional cores for every single command issued.

"Crystal Cores really are the only hard currency that matters."

Still, the upgrade was entirely worth the cost. It completely automated her daily tasks.

A massive smile spread across Lily’s face, impossible to suppress. She stroked the edge of the sand table as if caressing a priceless treasure.

Beyond managing internal operations, the screen could also monitor the external environment—a feature that cost ten Crystal Cores a day.

Ten Crystal Cores didn’t seem like much at a glance, but the long-term cumulative cost was steep. Fortunately, Lily could afford it. Nothing mattered more than her personal safety.

Once she familiarized herself with the new controls, Lily headed back down to the first floor. Three Advanced Self-Selected Weapon Boxes, three Advanced Self-selected Item Boxes, and a Golden Treasure Box sat waiting for her.

"Advanced boxes certainly live up to their name. They look completely different from the standard Self-selected Treasure Chests."

The surfaces of these new boxes were inlaid with glowing purple crystals, giving them a distinct, premium appearance.

As was her routine, she opened the weapon boxes first and navigated expertly to the armor category.

After browsing the options, she quickly deduced the difference between standard and Advanced Self-Selected Weapon Boxes.

Standard boxes yielded high-quality but otherwise mundane gear. In contrast, weapons from the Advanced boxes came with inherent magical attributes, much like items in a video game.

Lily selected a set of Soft armor similar in style to her old gear, but imbued with a Stealth Effect. Next, she chose Protective Goggles equipped with a Night Vision Ability and daytime UV protection. For her final weapon, she picked an Arm Crossbow that fired inherently toxic bolts and automatically replenished its ammunition.

With these three new items secured, she could finally retire her old Soft armor and Arm Crossbow.

Next up were the Advanced Self-selected Item Boxes.

Unlike the weapon boxes, where she had known exactly what she wanted before even opening them, the item selection proved far more difficult. It boiled down to a single agonizing thought: "I want every single one of them!"

Staring at the dazzling array of tools and items, Lily felt like she needed all of them. Being forced to pick only three was absolute torture.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. She couldn’t afford to be blinded by the shiny, dazzling options in front of her.

Even though she wanted everything on the list, the reality was stark. "I only have three slots," she murmured. "I have to be extremely careful with my choices."

She began filtering the list. First, she immediately dismissed all weapon-type items—except for offensive structures, of which there were sadly none. That left the utility items.

After mulling it over, Lily realized she still craved a greater sense of security. Shelly’s baseline defense was solid, but in this world, there was no such thing as being too durable. While she hadn’t selected a defensive evolutionary branch for her giant turtle earlier, that decision had been geared toward long-term development. Right now, she needed raw protection.

Unfortunately, after scouring the list for ages, she couldn’t find a single item that met her expectations for boosting Shelly’s defenses.

[Light Wing Tree: Absorbs sunlight during the day and emits a gentle glow at night. The ambient light accelerates the growth of surrounding flora and fauna. Naturally shed leaves possess enhanced restorative properties and can be refined into recovery potions.]

"Now this is nice. I’ll take it."

She tapped to confirm. A moment later, a bundle of small saplings with gleaming golden leaves materialized beside her.

"So these are the Light Wing Tree saplings," she noted. "They don’t look all that different from regular plants."

With the ice broken on her first selection, choosing the remaining two items was a breeze. Her second pick was a fully equipped pasture. Better yet, it came with a complimentary pair of breeding stock—one male and one female—for chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, and sheep. With a functional farm, she could finally escape her relentless all-fish diet.

Honestly, just looking at fish these days completely killed her appetite, even if it didn’t quite make her nauseous yet. The pasture wouldn’t yield fresh meat immediately, but it gave her hope for a better menu in the future.

Her final choice was an egg.

The System identified it as a pet egg that would automatically bond with its master upon hatching. The incubation period was a short twelve hours, meaning she could have a new companion by tomorrow if all went well.

While Lily had zero interest in teaming up with other human Survivors, keeping a pet was a completely different story. She silently hoped it would hatch into something cute and fluffy.

Finally, it was time for the Golden Treasure Box.

A brilliant flash of golden light illuminated the room as the heavy lid swung open.

[Congratulations, Survivor Lily Rhodes! You have opened a Golden Treasure Box and obtained: One Set of Custom Whole-House Furniture.]

Lily stared at the notification in deadpan silence.

The System had never given her a flashy announcement when opening Treasure Chests before.

"System, I get the distinct feeling you’re mocking me."

The System ignored her accusation. In the blink of an eye, the entire living room was completely overhauled. The standard overhead lighting was replaced by an elegant crystal chandelier. The new sofa was upholstered in an unidentifiable but incredibly plush material; it practically screamed high-end luxury.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been swindled by this Golden Treasure Box. She reasoned bitterly that one got what they paid for, and freebies were always a trap. Lily let out a helpless sigh and accepted her impeccably furnished fate.

She headed up to the attic to deploy the Light Wing Trees and the pasture.

While the trees came in a bundle, there weren’t actually that many of them. She decided to plant them strategically around her vegetable gardens and near the house to act as natural lighting.

Once the chore was finished, she returned to her bedroom and collapsed onto the soft, massive mattress.

Grudgingly, she had to admit that the new bed was vastly superior to her old one. It felt like sinking into a cloud of cotton, and a heavy wave of exhaustion quickly washed over her.

She slept soundly through the night. When Lily finally opened her eyes the next morning, she felt completely refreshed. Heading toward the bathroom, she habitually pulled up her System panel. The proximity chat remained dead silent, but the regional channel was as rowdy as ever. Survivors were still buzzing about yesterday’s events. Some were even frantically trying to uncover Lily’s identity, offering exorbitant prices to buy her Advanced Self-selected Treasure Chests.

Lily scrolled through the chatter for a moment before dismissing the interface. After washing up, she grabbed a simple bag of bread for breakfast, absolutely refusing to eat another bite of fish.

Since she had traded away a significant portion of her supplies earlier, her non-fish food reserves were running dangerously low. It looked like she would need to hunt down a few more Treasure Chests today.

Stepping out of her room, she spotted a smiling Sunshine Doll hanging by the door.

[Today’s Morning Temperature: 5 Degrees Celsius. Please dress warmly.]