Chapter 34: Farming Is Addictive

When their private messages went ignored, and with no way to determine her location, the agitators took to the world channel. They demanded she immediately stop selling the air moisture collectors, threatening her with severe consequences if she refused.

Lily Rhodes ignored the threats. Instead of replying in the world channel, she simply listed another hundred air moisture collectors.

A hundred units was not her limit, but rather the trading zone’s maximum capacity per person. Fortunately, since she had already sold out of all her other inventory, she had the full quota available to her.

These hundred air moisture collectors sold out in seconds, and Lily immediately listed another batch.

She needed to harvest as many Crystal Cores as possible before other Survivors realized they could sell their own freshwater-producing items.

Although she hated to admit it, the air moisture collectors were highly inefficient. It took dozens of them working simultaneously to secure true freshwater freedom for herself. A single unit provided barely enough water to keep a person from dying of thirst. Once better alternatives hit the market, her devices would lose all competitive edge.

Because of this, she ignored the fact that Shelly had already reached their destination. She focused entirely on the harvest, watching the pile of Crystal Cores beside her grow larger and larger.

By the time other Survivors finally caught on and began listing their own items, Lily had already made an absolute fortune off countless batches of air moisture collectors.

New freshwater tools began appearing in the trading zone—water purifiers, seawater separators, and the like. Every single one outperformed her air moisture collectors, yet their prices were significantly lower.

Seeing this, Lily knew it was time to fold her hand.

Even after she ceased her sales, the crusade against her in the chat channel raged on. Several Survivors who possessed top-tier equipment like Water Control Devices and seawater separators had also purchased her air moisture collectors. They immediately posted comparison photos to drag her name through the mud.

"You all got scammed by this person," one user wrote. "That air moisture collector is a useless piece of trash that only looks good. It can’t even compare to my water purifier, yet they had the nerve to charge twenty Crystal Cores for it. What an absolute profiteer."

"Exactly! He’s a dirty merchant! We need to boycott the air moisture collectors together!"

"Make him give our Crystal Cores back!"

A mob of agitators tried to rally the crowd, but they forgot that this was reality, not some cheap fiction where the masses brainlessly followed a few loud complaints. The vast majority of people saw right through their act.

"If the air moisture collector is so terrible, why didn’t you bring out your water purifiers and seawater separators earlier?"

"Yeah, if it wasn’t for that big shot stepping up, you hoarders probably still wouldn’t have been willing to sell your purifiers."

The chat channel descended into absolute chaos as insults and arguments flew back and forth.

Lily did not bother to read any of it. She couldn’t care less, and more importantly, she had bigger fish to fry.

During her massive sale of the air moisture collectors, many buyers had already spent their Crystal Cores elsewhere. To make up for the shortfall, they had bartered with other items. Among these goods were a significant number of crop seeds—rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, potatoes, mung beans, red beans, sugarcane, and cotton.

"It seems quite a few people managed to unpack seeds," Lily murmured.

She planted the new seeds right next to the batch she had sown the day before, which were already beginning to sprout. Previously, she had assumed that seeds were a rare drop. Now, she realized that plenty of Survivors possessed them but were hoarding them, likely hoping to cultivate crops themselves.

"With all of this, I won’t ever have to worry about staple foods. Plus, with the soybeans, I can make vegetable oil, vinegar, and soy sauce. Oh, right, and sugar!"

Lily bounced on her toes excitedly along the dirt ridge.

"Maybe I should start selling the small planter boxes."

If she provided the planter boxes, other Survivors could start cultivating their own crops. Once their harvests matured, she could list more items in the trading zone to barter for any new seed varieties she didn’t currently own.

She had considered this idea before but had hesitated since her supply of small planter boxes was limited to what she had crafted back on the island. Crafting more required soil, and since she absolutely refused to strip dirt off Shelly’s back, she had to rely on the soil harvested from the island.

With that in mind, Lily headed to the warehouse to check her inventory. She remembered crafting quite a few back on the island, as the process took hardly any effort at all.

"Two thousand, one hundred and thirty-two."

That was significantly more than she had anticipated; she had assumed she had fewer than a thousand. After a moment of thought, Lily decided to keep two hundred in reserve for emergencies and trade away the remaining nineteen hundred.

She set the price at twenty Crystal Cores per box. Buyers could pay with either pure Crystal Cores or barter with seeds and fruit tree saplings. To prevent anyone from exploiting loopholes, she set a restriction prohibiting the same person from trading the exact same type of seed twice.

The moment the small planter boxes hit the market, a massive chunk of them sold instantly. In return, a diverse influx of seeds poured into Lily’s hands—some duplicates of what she already had, and several entirely new varieties.

She returned to an empty plot of land and began sowing her new haul.

Although she used to complain about the physical exhaustion of farming and lacked any real experience, she had to admit that agriculture was incredibly addictive. There was something intensely satisfying about watching the seeds she scattered sprout, grow, and eventually bear fruit with her own eyes.

Thanks to the Wood Stone accelerating the growth process, Lily could literally watch the plants sprout in real time, no time-lapse cameras necessary.

Once she finished planting, Lily finally pulled out her golden fishing rod and reeled in the underwater Treasure Chest. Unsurprisingly, it was a Bronze Treasure Chest.

She popped the lid open to reveal a full crate of French bread rolls.

That works, she thought. Aside from fish, her food reserves were actually running quite low. She was entirely sick of eating fish and coconut crabs lately.

"Ah, coconuts!"

Lily suddenly remembered the massive batch of coconuts she had harvested from the island. She still hadn’t processed them. Aside from the ones she saved for seeds, the rest were all fresh green coconuts.

She pulled one out and sliced it open with her dagger. The blade glided through the tough husk so effortlessly that she was genuinely shocked by her own smooth movement.

"This dagger is incredibly sharp. My physical strength must have increased, too."

Lily took a sip of the coconut water. The refreshing, subtly sweet flavor instantly won her over.

"This would make an amazing coconut chicken stew. What a shame I need to keep my chickens alive for their eggs."

Lily sighed. She snapped two photos of the coconuts and sent them to the Advanced Goods Trading Group.

Mr. Rhodes: "Fresh coconuts. Any takers?"

Mr. Grant: "Coconuts? Good stuff. Did you discover an island?"

Mr. Vaughn: "How many do you have? I’ve got a lot of mouths to feed, so I’d like to buy in bulk."

Mr. Mercer: "Do you have any vegetables or other fruits on hand?"

Mr. Sharpe: "Any cigarettes or alcohol?"