Chapter 148 - 146: Rusty Stays Up Late Making Brackets

Although it cost eighty thousand points to buy these insulated sandwich panels, Sev didn’t feel a pinch of regret this time.

These would serve as the four walls of her vegetable greenhouse. As a fine youth of The Hearthland, with these in place, why should she worry about not being able to grow more fresh and tender vegetables?

Her only regret was that District Nine didn’t have a land contracting system. Otherwise, she definitely would have leased a plot of land for large-scale farming.

Boss Jacobs personally delivered the goods Sev had ordered to her home. Hayden Hanson helped unload them, while Rusty was so excited that his little face flushed red.

His mother trusted him enough to buy him all this scrap metal. He was determined to make the planting boxes she wanted.

However, when he looked at the fifty-square-meter clearing in their yard, he noted that more than half of it was already taken up by the ring of wild vegetables his sister had planted along the base of the wall. Factoring in the woodshed and the massive pile of newly unloaded scrap metal, there was practically no extra space left aside from a narrow walkway to get in and out.

He had to finish the metal boxes his mother had requested as soon as possible. Better yet, he should make some kind of shelving to stack the boxes, maximizing the use of their limited space.

Night fell, and Sev went to bed early. She had arranged to go scavenging in the wilderness with Hayden tomorrow. Above all, she needed to bring back a sufficient amount of fertile dirt. Farming couldn’t rely solely on the soil in the yard. It required the rich, fertile soil found only in the wild—a natural blend of countless fallen leaves and beast manure.

After his mother fell asleep, Rusty quietly slipped into a corner of the yard by himself. He began controlling his Ability hands to mold the frames for the planting boxes.

He had seen shelves before when he followed his mother to the supermarket in The Gilded Ward. Those shelves were made of hollow metal pipes connected by special, short joints. He didn’t know those joints were called T-connectors, but he firmly committed their shape to memory.

He had possessed a natural sensitivity to mechanical objects since he was little. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to teach himself how to repair a mechanical alarm clock scavenged from the junkyard. At this moment, drawing from his memory, he began molding T-connectors. Once those were done, he shaped several hollow metal pipes.

At first, the pipes he shaped were uneven, and the T-connectors didn’t fit the pipes properly. But after several repeated attempts, he successfully molded a matching set and assembled the first small frame.

With his initial success, the process became progressively smoother. Eventually, he didn’t even need his Ability hands to do the shaping; he could accomplish it in one go using only his mind. It was only then that he realized his control over metal didn’t require the use of Ability hands at all. The only reason he had materialized a pair of Ability hands in the beginning was because it was a concrete manifestation of his will.

As the pale light of dawn broke across the sky, he finally succeeded in making a massive shelf that took up nearly an entire side of the wall. Since it was meant to hold the planting boxes, he based the dimensions of the shelf’s compartments on the largest wooden box they had at home.

1.2 meters long and 60 centimeters wide. If the size wasn’t right, the worst he’d have to do was dismantle it and start over. After all, using his Ability didn’t cost a dime. Besides, according to Mr. Quinn, an Ability had to be exercised frequently to Level up.

The only downside was that using his Ability made him hungry rather quickly. Fortunately, there was no longer a shortage of food at home, and their mother was very generous now, ensuring they ate their fill every day.

After Sev woke up and finished washing, she was surprised to find that her good eldest son hadn’t waited in the kitchen beforehand to help her today. She felt a little worried, wondering if Rusty had fallen ill. She couldn’t be blamed for overthinking things. Her eldest son was simply too mature; every day, he would wait in the kitchen before she even got out of bed.

Sev walked softly into the second bedroom and found Rusty sleeping soundly, though he had distinctly dark circles under his eyes.

She wondered if this was the result of staying up all night. This was the wasteland. There were no video games to play, nor was there any television to watch. She didn’t understand why a child under eight years old would stay up late.

When she opened the back door and caught sight of the towering shelf standing against the yard wall, she instantly understood.

Rusty had actually stayed up all night making this! She didn’t know whether to praise his diligence or scold him for being silly.

Just as she was about to start a fire to boil some milk, she saw Zephyr walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Why are you up so early?" Sev asked.

"Actually, I wake up at the same time as my older brother every day. While he goes to the kitchen to help, I use the free time to weave cushions.

"My hands are nimbler than his. Half of those simple cushions he makes are actually woven by me," Zephyr said.

Sev’s heart ached at his words. How could these little brats be so sensible?

"Your older brother stayed up late last night. When your sister wakes up later, remember to tell her not to disturb him," Sev instructed.

"Don’t worry. We definitely won’t speak loudly," Zephyr said, instinctively lowering his voice.

Since Sev was heading into the wilderness today, she prepared a breakfast that was easy to carry.

She took the mashed potatoes she had prepared the night before, mixed in crushed Nutrition Block crumbs, and kneaded them into a dough. She julienned and blanched some carrots, tore dandelion leaves into pieces and blanched them as well, then scooped them out and finely chopped everything. After adding a small amount of pork cracklings and just enough refined salt, she mixed it all together to create a filling. Taking a piece of the mashed potato dough, she flattened it, added the filling, and pinched the edges closed to roll it into a round ball, much like making a steamed bun.

Once the water boiled, she steamed them in the pot for ten minutes. Soon, two bamboo steamers full of vegetable-stuffed potato balls were ready. Sev steamed a total of six tiers across three batches, yielding ninety potato balls in total.

She hurriedly ate two of them, drank a small bowl of milk, packed eight into a vacuum-sealed bag and stuffed them into her old backpack, then headed out the door pulling her handcart.

Their dangerous encounter last time had convinced her not to take Rusty out for the time being. Naturally, Zephyr and Rose were completely out of the question. Hayden’s injuries had fully healed, making him a much more reliable partner.

When she walked out, Hayden was already waiting there. The two exchanged a smile and a nod before tacitly heading toward the settlement gates.

Sev’s main goal today was to gather fertile soil. Hayden, having traversed almost the entire perimeter of The Murkwood during his time as a mercenary, led her straight down a branching path. The path was flanked by wildly overgrown branches, a clear sign that very few people came this way.

"The place I’m taking you is completely covered in fertile Black Soil. A massive grove of Purple Lime Wood grows there.

"Rumor has it that before their mutation, they reached an average height of twenty-five meters, with the trunks of old trees measuring about a meter in diameter.

"After mutating, however, their height dropped to around five meters. The main trunks, which originally had very few offshoots, sprouted numerous umbrella-like lateral branches.

"If it weren’t for the fact that their flower shape and scent remained unchanged, not even the experts would have dared to confirm they were Purple Lime Wood.

"The mutated Purple Lime Flowers secrete an enormous amount of Purple Lime Honey with an extremely high sugar content. Every year, from late June to early August when the flowers are in full bloom, massive swarms of wild mutant bees are drawn in to gather the nectar.

"According to the experts, the mutated Purple Lime Honey contains an incredibly high amount of Energy. As a result, the wild mutant bees that feed on it also increase their Level—they average at the Second Tier, with some even reaching the Third Tier.

"My old mercenary troop took on missions to harvest Purple Lime Honey many times.

"During every mission, teammates would inevitably get injured. We only managed to harvest it successfully by relying on sheer numbers and flawless teamwork.

"Since the honey sells for such an exorbitant price, we could never bear to eat it ourselves. We sold every last drop.

"But it’s mid-October right now, so it’s perfectly safe. You won’t see a single wild mutant bee.

"Still, because there have been many tragedies where Scavengers were stung to death by the bees, the safe zone’s higher-ups declared the area restricted and put up a barbed-wire fence all around it.

"However, the wire fence occasionally gets chewed open by Mutant Beasts that wander into it by mistake. All we have to do is slip in through one of those holes, and we’ll be able to collect all the fertile Black Soil we need," Hayden explained.

Sev had some impression of Purple Lime Honey. Once, when she went home to visit her grandfather during summer vacation and wanted to buy some nutritional supplements for him, the shop clerk had recommended it to her. She remembered it was priced at 120 yuan a catty. It was truly expensive.

She had bought two catties of it but hadn’t been able to bear tasting a single drop herself, even lying to her grandfather that she was on a diet and wasn’t eating sweets.

Thinking about such a precious commodity, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity. Even if the harvesting season arrived next year, an ordinary person like her could only gaze at it from afar in despair.

She could forget about the mutated Purple Lime Honey, but digging up plenty of the fertile soil from beneath the Purple Lime Wood wouldn’t be a loss. With that thought in mind, a sudden surge of adrenaline pumped through her, and she began walking with brisk, vigorous strides.

Hayden didn’t know why she had suddenly become so energized. But during the few times he had gone out with her, she was always brimming with vibrant Vitality, making him instinctively perk up in response.