Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Ke Li Nuo Grasslands

Now that she had a place to stay, Ling Mo naturally didn’t want to sleep out in the open, especially after learning that wandering beastmen were a real danger.

While they chatted, she asked the crocodile beastman about Ke Li Nuo Grasslands and picked up plenty of useful information. Before long, the topic drifted to living conditions.

Ling Mo didn’t mention Blue Star. She only said the place she lived had suddenly become unbearably hot—so hot she didn’t dare go out in the daytime. With no money, she couldn’t even buy food. So she had no choice but to come out and find work.

The crocodile beastman’s heart softened on the spot.

“Poor child… No wonder you’re working when you’re still so young.”

Then he brightened as if he’d thought of something. “If it’s heat you’re worried about, you should go find the Ding Ding Fish. Their scales naturally cool you down, and they shed them every so often.”

Cooling scales…

In Ling Mo’s mind, it sounded like a weaker version of a Water-Chilling Stone. The Water-Chilling Stone was great, sure, but it worked almost too well—easy to hurt someone by accident if you weren’t careful. Ding Ding Fish scales, on the other hand, likely wouldn’t cause that kind of collateral damage.

“Thank you for telling me all this,” she said, looking genuinely moved. “I don’t have anything to repay you with. How about I help you haul your trash as thanks?”

The crocodile beastman felt his chest ache again. What a good child.

“That’s not necessary. The Ding Ding Fish aren’t some secret.”

“No, no. I insist.”

They pushed back and forth until the crocodile beastman finally relented—then immediately insisted on paying her anyway. Ling Mo had described her situation as so miserable, he couldn’t bear the thought of taking advantage of her. Especially not after she’d helped bathe them.

The last time they’d been this clean was when they were newborns.

Ling Mo accepted without fuss.

With the advance payment in hand, she went to the area where the crocodile beastmen piled their trash. Since they hibernated, they didn’t need to stockpile food for winter, so the “trash” was simply whatever they didn’t feel like dealing with.

Ling Mo stared at the so-called dump. It wasn’t like the interstellar trash she’d seen before. This pile was outdoors, with nothing but a crude roof for cover, surrounded by dead branches and rotten leaves—proper dump atmosphere.

But when she pushed aside the top layer of leaves, what was underneath was surprisingly clean.

The pile was divided into three sections, packed into boxes of different sizes. She popped open the first box.

Toothpaste. A whole box of it.

Qie Man seemed ready to speak, but Ling Mo waved him off. “No need. I can read.”

She scanned the packaging. This was toothpaste produced by the crocodile beastman clan themselves, and it was apparently popular in interstellar. Thinking back to the crocodile teeth she’d received before—every one of them gleaming white—she couldn’t deny the results.

Oral hygiene mattered. Toothaches weren’t fatal, but when they hit, they could make you feel like you were dying.

She checked the date. About half a year left before expiration.

Perfect. Into the Pocket Space it went.

After sweeping up every box of toothpaste, she opened the other two types of crates. Without exception, they were all bath and hair products—shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion—sorted into strong-scented, light-scented, and unscented varieties.

Ling Mo skimmed the claims on the labels. If this had been before the extreme heat, these would have sold like crazy. Even now, demand might be lower, but they’d still move.

When the last box disappeared into her Pocket Space, her mood lifted so much she almost felt like humming.

She checked the time. There were still several hours before dawn.

Ling Mo set up Sweetglow Firefly traps around the area, then swept her gaze over the surroundings. In one corner, she spotted something that looked like a mushroom.

“Qie Man, can this kind of mushroom be eaten?”

“It can’t.”

Ling Mo felt a flicker of disappointment. It looked so much like a regular mushroom—what a waste.

Then Qie Man continued, “It’s a water-storage mushroom. Like a cactus, it stores a large amount of water inside its body.”

A large amount?

Ling Mo eyed the thing. It wasn’t even bigger than her palm. How much water could something that small hold?

Skeptical but curious, she picked one. It felt like a sponge soaked to the core. She squeezed.

A stream of clean water poured out.

Ling Mo’s eyes widened. She hurriedly pulled out a container and caught it, watching the flow continue far longer than it had any right to.

In the end, that tiny mushroom yielded nearly five liters of water.

And it was pristine—clean enough to drink straight.

Even better, the water-storage mushroom could be reused. As long as she didn’t squeeze it completely dry, it would keep producing water.

Ling Mo stared at it, genuinely awed. With these, water shortages were basically a joke.

She silently apologized for dismissing it earlier.

She took a sip from the collected water. It carried a faint mushroom aroma and a subtle sweetness. Not bad at all.

After that, she threw herself into harvesting with the sort of devotion usually reserved for treasure.

Water-storage mushroom were everywhere.

By the time the sky began to pale, Ling Mo had gathered several hundred of them. She even transplanted quite a few into her Pocket Space, though she wasn’t sure they’d survive.

At dawn, she slipped out of the crocodile beastman territory through the back.

It was the fourth day of the game, and she already had four smiley badges. At this pace—one smiley a day—she was actually a day ahead. The pressure eased immediately.

Next target: Ding Ding Fish territory.

Their scales were as good as hers.

She followed the direction the crocodile beastman had given and tore across the grasslands on her electric scooter. She rode until her stomach finally growled hard enough to remind her she was human.

Ling Mo blinked and checked the time.

Almost ten.

She’d left at six.

Only then did she remember—she’d basically skipped breakfast. And she’d spent the entire night harvesting mushrooms.

She couldn’t even blame herself. Water-storage mushrooms were ridiculously addictive. Then morning came, and all she could think about were cooling scales. Food had been the last thing on her mind.

Now that she’d noticed, the hunger slammed into her all at once. Her legs went weak. Her vision dimmed.

Low blood sugar.

Ling Mo didn’t hesitate. She yanked out an energy bar and shoved it into her mouth.

Carrot flavor.

Her expression turned complicated. Energy bars tasted way better than nutrient tonic, but she had never liked carrots.