Chapter 87 - 86: The Girl is Really Lucky

Sev dug even more carefully. She didn’t even dare to use the three-toothed rake, instead resorting to her bare hands. Gently brushing away the dirt clinging to the potatoes, she took out her dagger to slice them from the main root system.

Suspecting they were poisonous, she made a point of setting them aside in a separate pile.

After digging out eighteen dark coffee-colored potatoes in a row and reaching a depth of about a meter, Sev finally unearthed a normal-colored one.

It was about the size of a watermelon. After carefully cutting it from the roots, Sev picked it up to weigh it in her hands.

"Good heavens! It weighs at least thirty pounds!" she thought. "If I can get a few more like this, I’ll be rich!"

Sev observed it closely and noticed that the skin of the Mutated potatoes was actually quite thick. If she used an ordinary shovel, the skin wouldn’t break as long as she didn’t dig too forcefully. However, ordinary shovels moved dirt slowly, and given the high danger index of this place, there simply wasn’t enough time to dig at a leisurely pace.

From then on, all the potatoes Sev dug up were of a normal color, each one larger than the last. The biggest one was the size of a washbasin, weighing over fifty pounds—about as heavy as a sack of rice!

Sev’s heart raced with excitement. "If I can successfully grow Mutated potatoes in my own yard, I’ll never have to worry about food or clothing again!" she thought.

Following Hayden Hanson’s example, Sev stacked the intact potatoes around her small flag. From this largest plant alone, she had harvested a total of 105 potatoes. Excluding the eighteen suspected poisonous ones, there were eighty-seven normal-colored potatoes left. By her rough estimate, they weighed around a ton.

This result vastly exceeded her expectations. Feeling a little sheepish about her massive haul, she grabbed her three-toothed rake and trotted over to Hayden Hanson. She found him squatting on the ground, digging through the dirt with his bare hands.

Around his flag sat a pile of over forty potatoes of varying sizes. Six of them had scratched skins, but they were all relatively small. The largest among them was only the size of a watermelon. It seemed he hadn’t yet unearthed any washbasin-sized behemoths.

"Hanson, do you want to try this homemade tool of mine?" Sev asked, demonstrating the motion before handing him the three-toothed rake.

After trying it a few times, Hayden Hanson’s eyes lit up.

"This is great. You’re really clever!" he praised sincerely.

"It’s a pity I only made one. I didn’t think I’d actually get to use it," Sev replied.

"I’ve got a good idea. Why don’t we cooperate?" Hayden Hanson suggested. "I’ll be responsible for digging up the surface soil, and you can use this tool to dig out the potatoes. We’ll be much more efficient this way."

Sev’s eyes sparkled at his words. Compared to Hayden Hanson, her physical stamina was definitely much lower. Digging through the topmost layer of soil was actually the most exhausting part, whereas the process of unearthing the potatoes didn’t require much strength at all.

"Okay!" Sev nodded decisively. She took back the three-toothed rake and began unearthing potatoes.

Meanwhile, Hayden Hanson picked up his shovel, walked over to her area, and bent down to start digging.

Under the sunlight, the beads of sweat on his forehead glistened, giving him a sense of powerful aesthetic appeal. Sev couldn’t help but secretly give him a thumbs-up.

"What a pity for this man!" she thought. "He has a good character and a strong Ability, yet he’s not long for this world."

For the remainder of the time, Hayden Hanson dug up the surface soil while Sev unearthed the potatoes. The two worked together in perfect sync. It only took Hayden Hanson a little over two hours to clear the surface soil for both of their designated areas. However, Sev’s pace at unearthing the potatoes was much slower. She had only managed to clear seven plants.

After all, it was slow, meticulous work.

Once Hayden Hanson finished his part, he strolled around the vicinity and chopped off a few branches. Using his dagger, he quickly fashioned another three-toothed rake and began unearthing potatoes using her technique.

Sev couldn’t help but blush. They had agreed to cooperate, but now she was essentially taking advantage of him. Come to think of it, simple agricultural tools like the three-toothed rake were very easy to make—especially for someone as handy as Hayden Hanson. If he could build a wheelbarrow, a mere three-toothed rake was obviously a piece of cake for him.

With Hayden Hanson’s help, the speed of unearthing potatoes increased dramatically. By a little past two in the afternoon, both of their areas were completely finished. Hayden Hanson stood up and went to the shade on the outskirts of the potato field to call over Sean Stark, who was in charge of inspections.

Sean Stark walked over to Sev’s flag. Seeing the mountain of potatoes, he exclaimed in amazement, "Whoa! You’ve got some real good luck, lass. What a massive harvest!"

He even slightly suspected that Hayden Hanson had given her a portion of his own harvest.

Sean Stark carried a high-capacity Space Button with him. He tapped his watch, found Sev Steele’s name, and began to tally the count. The Space Button had a built-in function to identify the Level and weight of the potatoes. A few minutes later, an automated voice announced:

"The current batch yields 423 Mutated potatoes. Non-toxic. Low radiation. Average radiation value: 25.

"Grade A: 6 units, weighing 126 kilograms. Grade B: 105 units, weighing 1,105 kilograms. Grade C: 312 units, weighing 924 kilograms."

After recording her harvest, Sean Stark said with a delighted expression, "You really reaped a massive harvest this time, lass. After the split, you’ll get 862 kilograms. Moreover, for the portion you hand over, you’ll be rewarded 50 points per kilogram for Grade A and 10 points per kilogram for Grade B. You’ll receive an additional 10,410 points."

Hearing that she would receive over a thousand pounds of potatoes, countless delicious potato recipes instantly flashed through Sev’s mind.

Hayden Hanson was also quite thrilled to hear this. He was genuinely happy for Sev. At the very least, she and the children wouldn’t go hungry this winter.

Hayden Hanson’s harvest was comparatively smaller. After the split, he would receive 633 kilograms. He only had two Grade A units and eighty-six Grade B units, meaning his additional reward would only be 7,007 points.

Compared to that, her luck really was outstanding.

After finishing the inspection, Sean Stark left.

The dark coffee-colored potatoes indeed turned out to be poisonous. The Mercenary Guild would collect all of them for free at the very end. Sev, however, felt a bit indignant. She had painstakingly dug these out, after all. Even if they were inedible, the Energy contained within them was quite high. If she took them home, she might be able to use them to create Poison Powder.

Seeing that she wanted them, Hayden Hanson volunteered his Tactical Backpack. Sev took out several vacuum-seal bags, packaged all the Poison Potatoes they had both dug up, and stuffed them into the backpack. There were over three hundred potatoes in total, completely stuffing Hayden Hanson’s backpack to the brim.

The two rested where they were. After eating a simple late lunch, Sev said, "Hanson, it’s only three-thirty right now. We still have an hour and a half before work ends. Why don’t we wander around the vicinity? We might find something else."

"Alright. I’ve been here before. I’ll take you to a relatively safe area to forage," Hayden Hanson said.

Thanks to the three-toothed rake Sev had invented today, he had saved a lot of effort. He planned to give her all of their upcoming harvest as repayment.

Sev followed Hayden Hanson down a small path. Overgrown branches from both sides blocked the way ahead. If Hayden Hanson hadn’t been clearing the path, she would have doubted there was a road here at all. After walking for about twenty minutes, the path seemed to come to a dead end.

What greeted their eyes were thousands upon thousands of purple flower vines cascading down from the high mountain walls. They looked like a gorgeous tapestry, so beautiful that it took her breath away.

Sev stood frozen in place, momentarily forgetting that she was in the wasteland wilderness. Fortunately, she quickly snapped back to reality. Knowing Hayden Hanson, he definitely hadn’t brought her here just to admire the flowers.

Sure enough, she watched as Hayden Hanson pulled his shovel from his backpack and ruthlessly pushed the flower vines aside without a shred of sentimental hesitation. A cave entrance, wide enough for two people to pass through, was revealed. A single glance into its pitch-black depths was slightly terrifying.

Hayden Hanson took the lead and stepped into the cave, simultaneously pulling out a solar-powered flashlight to illuminate the path at their feet. Sev followed closely behind. After passing through a narrow tunnel that was over a dozen meters long, an entirely different scene appeared before her eyes!