Chapter 48: Sea Storm

Finn Lynch did not hide this; he revealed the fact that he had bought Refined Steel from Lily Rhodes.

Unsurprisingly, Lily went viral.

She watched her private message interface refresh at a blistering pace. Everyone was begging to buy Refined Steel.

At this point, Lily completely abandoned her previous idea of hoarding it. If all the Refined Steel in her hands were concentrated on a single person, that person could indeed surpass her. However, if it was scattered across many, it posed absolutely no threat.

Before listing the Refined Steel Ore on The Supreme Shop, Lily scrolled through her private messages. Sure enough, she found one from Jane Yates and traded fifty pieces of Refined Steel for a special architectural corridor. This item could automatically generate interconnecting corridors based on the layout of the buildings on her vehicle.

Lily couldn’t wait to use it. Soon, a long corridor appeared outside. The overall look was a bit mismatched, but who cared?

"As long as I’m happy," she muttered.

Lily withdrew her hand and listed her remaining Refined Steel Ore for one hundred Crystal Cores each. There were 532 pieces in total. Selling them all would net her 53,200 Crystal Cores. After all, Finn Lynch and Jane Yates had exchanged two special buildings for just fifty pieces. If she set the price too low, those two would definitely be upset and might even curse her as a profiteer.

Most importantly, for the time being, the Refined Steel Ore in her hands was an absolute monopoly. It was only 532 pieces; she didn’t have to worry about them not selling.

Sure enough, shortly after she listed them, the stock didn’t instantly vanish, but the numbers plummeted rapidly. In no time at all, they were sold out.

She had successfully acquired 53,200 Crystal Cores.

Now that she had Absolute Defense, she could put the city wall project on hold. It wouldn’t be too late to build it once she secured a sustainable source of Crystal Cores. With so much wealth on hand, she could easily give Shelly a massive upgrade. Upgrading straight to Level 10 wouldn’t be a problem.

However, she didn’t rush. The vehicle rankings were determined by an overall score, not just the vehicle’s Level. Furthermore, her vehicle’s score was more than double that of the next highest ranker, so she was in no hurry. She only needed to ensure she stayed in first place to keep collecting rewards.

Lily stored all the acquired Crystal Cores in her warehouse. Right at that moment, Absolute Defense triggered suddenly.

She looked outside through the window.

The sky was pitch black, devoid of both stars and the moon. The dark night looked like a ferocious beast with its jaws wide open, threatening to swallow her whole.

Seeing this, Lily reached to open the regional chat channel to figure out what was happening. Just then, a massive bolt of purple lightning tore through the darkness, instantly illuminating the entire sky. The deafening thunder sounded like the arrival of the apocalypse as seawater continuously battered the protective shield of Absolute Defense.

She opened the regional channel. Many people were complaining, wailing, and crying for help.

"Help! The wind is so strong! My house got blown away! Can any kind soul save me?"

"Does anyone have spare materials? Mine all blew away! I feel like my vehicle is going to fall apart! I don’t want to die!"

"Whatever happens, happens. I’m already prepared to die."

There was actually a gale blowing outside. Lily opened the window, but she couldn’t feel a thing. There wasn’t even the slightest sway. This was all thanks to Absolute Defense. Otherwise, given the wind force that could blow away a wooden cabin, the vegetables and fruits in her fields would have definitely been destroyed.

With this in mind, she found the man who had bought the Pirate Ghost Ship that morning and sent him a large resource gift pack.

"Ms. Rhodes, did you send this by mistake?" the man asked cautiously.

"No mistake. This is for you," Lily replied. "You earned it, so take it."

On the other end, the man looked at Lily’s message in bewilderment, then turned back to glance at his wife and daughter inside the cabin. Compared to earlier in the day, there was now a little boy, seemingly five or six years old, with them. If one looked closely, they would notice the little boy’s body was translucent. He wasn’t human.

Despite facing the same violent storm, the Pirate Ghost Ship was rocking heavily, but that was the extent of it. In fact, with the help of that little Ghost Ship spirit, the man had obtained several Treasure Chests in just one day. His Level was even on the verge of reaching Level 2.

"Ms. Rhodes really is a saint!"

Meanwhile, Lily stepped outside. She glanced at the Sunshine Doll hanging by the door and thought to herself that this item was completely useless. She had clearly checked earlier, and it wasn’t supposed to rain for the next few days. Moreover, the current situation could no longer be described as mere rain; it was a full-blown sea storm.

However, Lily also knew that the weather at sea could change in the blink of an eye. She couldn’t possibly keep her eyes glued to the Sunshine Doll all day.

[Today’s Weather: Sea storm in progress. Estimated duration: 12 hours.]

"It really is a sea storm," she murmured.

Lily walked to the edge of the fence, where she could clearly see the raindrops viciously smashing against the protective shield of Absolute Defense. A massive wave crashed toward her position like a giant hand. Even though she knew she was perfectly safe, she couldn’t help but flinch.

"Shelly, are you okay?" Lily asked. "Do you want to revert to your true form?"

Shelly’s true form was enormous. In the face of such a sea storm, a larger size meant a stabler center of gravity, making it far less likely to capsize.

"No need," Shelly replied. "Being that large consumes a massive amount of Energy."

"All right then."

Lily watched outside for a while before turning around and heading back to her room. This sea storm would last for twelve hours. There was no telling how many more people would be eliminated.

With that thought, she went up to the attic. After tweaking a few settings, she transferred the crafting permissions for wooden rafts to The Commons Workshop. Then, she set up a "use now, pay later" option. She figured she would save whoever she could; after all, she wasn’t short on wood.

As long as these people wanted to keep buying things from her Supreme Shop, they would have to pay off their debts. It was just a few pieces of wood anyway, so no one would likely try to default on such a small amount.

After finishing all this, Lily returned to the second floor and went to sleep.

Perhaps because of the rain, she slept exceptionally well. She didn’t wake up until ten o’clock the next morning. The sea storm outside had yet to stop, but it had weakened significantly.

Not feeling hungry, she simply lay in bed, opened the regional chat channel, and began to lurk.