Chapter 90: Temporary Team

With that, Lily Rhodes stood up and shot her a wary glance.

Realizing her slip of the tongue, the woman quickly waved her hands. "Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean any harm. I’m Claire Lancester from the Mutual Aid Guild. Our whole motto is about supporting each other. Your Talent has to do with plants, right? We really need someone with your abilities, which is why I’d love to invite you to join us."

Saying that, Claire flashed what she thought was a highly welcoming smile.

"Thanks for the invitation," Lily replied. "But I don’t plan on joining any Guilds right now. I prefer flying solo."

Claire’s eyes flickered slightly at the rejection, though her expression remained perfectly pleasant.

She was a lone wolf.

Lone wolves were a rare breed in this new world. Typically, they fell into one of two categories. The first were the weak, rejected by established factions, though these types usually scrambled desperately to find any backer who would take them. The second were the truly powerful—those strong enough to thrive without relying on a Guild.

Although the stranger’s face was entirely concealed save for her eyes, Claire could tell she enjoyed a high quality of life. The glossy, pitch-black hair spilling from beneath her hat was proof enough; ordinary Survivors couldn’t maintain such excellent health and hygiene out here.

It was best not to make an enemy out of someone like that.

With that thought in mind, Claire’s expression softened further.

"It’s fine if you don’t join, but I have a presumptuous request. Could you teach us a bit about medicinal herbs? We could recognize the plants on the previous islands just fine, but this current island doesn’t have a single fruit tree.

"Just now, one of our Guild members mistakenly ate a mushroom that looked exactly like a hazel mushroom. She was immediately poisoned and fell into a coma, and we had to buy a Healing Potion from The Supreme Shop just to cure her.

"Rest assured, we won’t let you work for free. We’ll pay you for your trouble once everything is done."

Lily carefully considered the proposition. The island was massive, yet the influx of new arrivals was steadily increasing. If she worked entirely on her own, exploring the whole landmass would take an eternity, and the competition for resources was only going to get fiercer.

She was just one person. Right now, with a low population density and plenty of resources to go around, everyone still tacitly observed the unspoken rules of civility. But once those numbers swelled, all bets would be off.

Under these circumstances, teaming up with a temporary squad wasn’t a bad idea.

"Alright," Lily nodded. "But I have one condition. Your group will need to help me harvest medicinal herbs. I won’t take everything—just half of whatever you gather. Consider it tuition."

Claire agreed without a second of hesitation.

If there was one thing everyone lacked the most right now, it was definitely medicine.

Currently, aside from items purchased in The Supreme Shop or crafted by individuals with specialized Talents, Survivors had virtually no way to obtain medicine. In the early stages, Treasure Chests occasionally dropped medical supplies, but since the protection period ended, those drops had vanished entirely. Anyone who fell ill or got injured either had to cough up the funds for Healing Water from The Supreme Shop or simply tough it out.

While wild medicinal herbs grew across the island, utilizing them was a massive risk. Unlike standard Western pharmaceuticals where a misdosage might just cause minor side effects, improperly using raw, traditional herbal remedies could literally kill a person. Furthermore, few people had the expertise to properly identify them, let alone perform the complex processing required to make them safe for consumption.

"No problem," Claire agreed readily.

To her, this was an absolute steal. Even if they only managed to learn the most basic, surface-level knowledge of herbalism, it would be more than enough to save their Guild a massive amount of Crystal Cores.

"By the way, what’s your name?" Claire asked.

"I’m Wendy Lancester," Lily said, casually fabricating a name on the spot.

"Wendy Lancester? I don’t think I’ve seen you active in the regional chat channel before."

Of course she hadn’t. Lily had likely crossed regional zones a long time ago.

"That’s normal," Lily replied smoothly. "I never speak in the chat channels."

Hearing the explanation, Claire didn’t press the issue. It was common knowledge that those who opted for the lone-wolf lifestyle were more than a little eccentric. That was just the nature of true experts.

Claire led Lily back to their campsite.

Besides her, there were three other girls waiting at the camp.

"Claire, who is this?" one of the short-haired girls asked.

"Her name is Wendy Lancester," Claire introduced her excitedly. "I ran into her just up ahead. Her Talent is related to plants, and she can identify medicinal herbs!"

"Identify herbs? Seriously?" another girl with slightly curly hair asked in surprise. "Are you looking to join our Mutual Aid Guild?"

"Hold on, listen to me. Wendy isn’t here to join us. However, she promised to teach us some knowledge about herbs. All we have to do is give her half of the medicinal plants we collect."

Hearing this, the remaining three girls’ eyes lit up in unison.

"Are you really willing to teach us?"

Someone like Lily—who practically wanted for nothing—might not fully grasp the weight of the offer, but for ordinary players, having a stockpile of medicine was the ultimate source of security. In critical moments, it was the literal difference between life and death.

After a brief Introduction, Lily learned that these girls were close friends who had shared the same university dorm room. After being transported to this world, they had managed to find one another relatively quickly. By relying on each other through the grueling novice period, they had survived up to this point.

Lily didn’t waste any time with idle chatter and immediately commenced the lesson.

The teaching method was straightforward: Claire and the others scoured the area for unrecognizable plants and brought them back. Lily would then state the plant’s name, verify if it was a medicinal herb, and explain its properties, leaving the others to diligently record the information.

"Having extra hands around really does work wonders," Lily thought. In less than half an hour, her haul already rivaled everything she had gathered the entire day before.

Terrified of accidentally tossing aside something valuable, Claire and her friends quite literally uprooted every unknown piece of flora in sight, hauling huge piles back for Lily to identify.

"This is Sage Leaf. You can boil it in water to drink; it’s great for soothing the throat."

"This is Golden Thorn Grass. Be careful not to get pricked by its thorns, it’s... poisonous."

Lily looked down at the short-haired girl—Vivian York—who had just collapsed straight onto the ground. "...But it’s not fatal," she finished slowly. "Just rest a bit and you’ll be fine."

The other three girls scrambled in a flurry of panicked limbs to drag Vivian over to the side to rest.

To prevent a repeat performance, Lily advised, "Do you have gloves? It’s highly recommended that you wear them. We got lucky this time because the toxin in the Golden Thorn Grass isn’t lethal, but you might not be so lucky next time."

The three of them exchanged terrified, lingering looks of dread. Without missing a beat, they opened their interfaces, accessed The Supreme Shop, and immediately ordered protective gloves.

"I wonder when The Supreme Shop is going to release skincare products," one of them muttered. "I feel like my face can still be saved."