Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Mo Ka Forest

Ling Mo continued upstream, and a new concern struck her.

One pond wouldn’t be enough.

Water-chilling stone was the sort of thing you could never have too much of. She could already imagine how wildly popular it would be back on Blue Star.

Until now, her shop had sold mostly food, aside from the Interstellar machines—and her biggest customers were ordinary people.

Ordinary people didn’t have much money. If she wanted to make real profits, she needed buyers with deep pockets.

So she decided to dig several more ponds—bigger ones—and set up additional nets in other locations.

She kept working until the first pond was filled with water-chilling stone to about a third of its capacity. Only then did she climb out of the stream and take a breather on the bank.

She used her learning machine to search the silver fish.

“Silver Moon Fish: prefers extremely cold water, especially areas with water-chilling stone. Hides in stone crevices during the day, active only at night. Difficult to catch. Flesh is tender and has effects that calm mental power and accelerate healing. Signature dish at Mo Ka Restaurant.”

Now Ling Mo understood why they were so expensive.

With these fish as her safety net, a huge portion of her pressure vanished.

She spread her mental power through the forest. Since breaking through level 2, her range had expanded to roughly a hundred meters.

With Silver Moon Fish securing her point totals, Ling Mo could afford to focus elsewhere. She needed energy rawstone, and she went back to multitasking.

She searched for the faint fluctuations underground while sweeping up every waterwood stone she passed, pulling them into her pocket space.

Waterwood stone was too valuable to ignore—healthy plants, half the growth time, regardless of environment.

And unlike water-chilling stone, waterwood stone was everywhere. With a quick glance, she could spot clusters of it easily.

In daylight, though, it looked like nothing more than ordinary pebbles covered in moss.

On top of that, Ling Mo still had to watch for ingredients along the way.

She’d learned something important: hunting large prey wasn’t always worth it.

That rabbit had earned her points, sure, but it had cost her hours. With that time, she might have found several termite mushroom if her luck held.

And the blood smell from butchering drew attention she didn’t want.

Besides, some plants were worth more than animals.

By late morning, Ling Mo finally sensed a different fluctuation rising from underground.

She hurried to the source—and found a massive boulder dominating her view. The fluctuation was coming from deep beneath it.

Without hesitation, Ling Mo raised a hand and pulled the boulder into her pocket space, then took out a heavy iron shovel and began to dig.

Half an hour later, she still hadn’t found energy rawstone. Instead, she unearthed a pile of red fruit that looked a lot like Blue Star sweet potatoes.

She tossed one intact piece into the vegetable basket. Her points increased by one.

After a brief pause, she decided to store the rest in her pocket space as well.

As the pit deepened, the fluctuation grew stronger.

Finally, tiny blue-green stones appeared in her sight.

They were so small she would have missed them completely if she hadn’t been feeling for their energy.

She kept digging until the fluctuation vanished entirely. Then she counted her haul.

Five thumb-sized stones, crystal-clear, glowing a soft blue-green in her palm.

Energy rawstone.

Good. Half the requirement, all at once.

But the relief lasted only a moment. Another problem became obvious: the fluctuations were too weak.

She’d only found them because five pieces together barely registered.

Ling Mo let out a slow breath. There was no clever workaround. She’d have to search more carefully, inch by inch.

Based on the depth where she’d found these stones, she pushed her mental power deeper underground.

Aboveground, the forest felt quiet. Belowground, it was anything but.

Insects tunneled through the soil in every direction, producing faint, constant movement. Normally, she’d never hear it. Under the blanket of mental power, the tiny sounds were unnervingly clear.

Then, about a hundred meters ahead, she sensed something unusual—movement, impact. Other players.

Ling Mo considered turning away, but a familiar fluctuation pulsed from beneath that area.

Stronger than before.

If she was lucky, she could finish paying off the system’s demand today.

She didn’t rush in. The sounds suggested the others were already fighting. Better to disguise herself first.

She pulled out a sickle and slashed through nearby grass and brush.

Half an hour later, she’d wrapped herself from head to toe in a crude camouflage, leaving only her eyes exposed. It was tight, neat, and didn’t restrict her movement.

Satisfied, Ling Mo slipped into the grass and vanished. As long as she stayed silent, no one would know where she was.

At the destination, she carefully parted the vegetation.

A massive plant dominated the clearing, its vines lashing through the air.

Seven or eight players surrounded it, hands flashing with multicolored light as they attacked.

Ling Mo focused and confirmed it: the energy rawstone fluctuation was coming from beneath the plant.

And the plant was terrifying. Even while being ganged up on, it wasn’t losing ground. Its vines were studded with dense spikes, each swing brutal enough to make the air whistle.

Ling Mo couldn’t understand why they weren’t gathering ingredients. Why pick a fight with something like this unless it promised a reward?

Still, judging by the scene, their chances of winning were slim.

Helping them was pointless. The real question was how to take the energy rawstone.

A thought struck her. If her mental power could collect stones aboveground, why wouldn’t it work underground too?

First, she needed the exact position.

While the others fought, she eased her mental power downward, slowly, carefully.

Five minutes later, she finally pinpointed it.