Chapter 234: Saving the Oasis 6

Just then, Moira Lynch suddenly noticed the back of her right hand felt a little hot.

Raising her hand, she saw the number 498 displayed there.

Seeing this, Moira Lynch immediately showed the number on the back of her hand to Hugh Finch.

"Quick, look at your hand."

Hearing this, Hugh Finch also raised his right hand, which displayed a string of numbers: 284.

It was almost half of Moira Lynch’s number.

"This should be the number of trees we each planted today," Hugh Finch said.

Moira Lynch looked at the number on the back of her hand. "Doesn’t that mean I only need to plant two more trees tomorrow to complete the task?"

"But we were planting trees together. Why is there such a big difference between our numbers? How on earth does this game system calculate it?"

Moira Lynch carefully recalled the day’s events. She and Hugh Finch had been working together the whole time, just with a division of labor. One buried the roots, the other watered them. ’Could that be the reason?’

Hugh Finch looked at the saplings they had left over from the day and seemed to guess something. "It probably counts the saplings based on whose supply they came from when we planted them."

"Is that how it works?"

Moira Lynch blinked in confusion. Thinking it over, she realized it seemed to be true.

The Kessari Tribe had given them each a thousand saplings. At first, they had used the ones Moira Lynch took from her Space Button.

Moira Lynch had taken out five bundles, which was half her supply—exactly five hundred trees. But two of them had damaged roots and were discarded.

That’s why the number on the back of her hand showed 498.

The ones they used later came from Hugh Finch’s Space Button.

"It seems the survival rate for these trees is quite high," Hugh Finch remarked.

They had planted over seven hundred trees in total, and surprisingly, every single one survived.

When the game began, the requirement was to plant five hundred *living* trees, so he had assumed the sapling survival rate would be low. It seemed he was mistaken.

"Tomorrow, we’ll finish your task first, then mine," Hugh Finch said.

Moira Lynch nodded. "Okay."

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Hugh Finch took the first watch while Moira Lynch went back to the tent to sleep. They would switch in the latter half of the night.

Perhaps because the day’s events had made other players wary, no one dared to disturb them the entire night.

However, on the other side of the oasis, several skirmishes of varying sizes broke out, all of which were detected by Moira Lynch’s spiritual power.

The attackers didn’t kill their opponents. Instead, they confiscated their items and forced them to dig tree pits for them.

In the latter half of the night, the desert temperature had already dropped to zero degrees.

Moira Lynch came out of the tent, ready to switch places with Hugh Finch.

Then, both of them were stunned by the other’s appearance.

"Moira, you..."

"Hugh Finch, you..."

Their voices rose and fell at the same time.

"Did you also eat that white chestnut?" Hugh Finch asked.

Moira Lynch nodded. "You ate it too?"

Hugh Finch nodded. "I divined that eating that Snow Chestnut would be beneficial for me, so I ate it. By the way, I looked up the name in the game system; it’s called a Snow Chestnut."

"I was also after the Snow Sprite’s blessing."

"So, did you receive the Snow Sprite’s blessing?" Hugh Finch asked.

Moira Lynch tilted her head up, a proud look on her face. "Of course I did."

Then, Moira Lynch gave Hugh Finch a live demonstration of what Ice Formation meant.

"Besides that, I got a few other blessings: Whisper of Ice and Snow, Melting Snow, Blizzard, Ice and Snow Body, and Aurora Curtain."

"What about you?" Moira Lynch asked, turning to Hugh Finch after listing her own.

’Since his divination said it would be beneficial, Hugh should have received a blessing too.’

Hearing Moira Lynch rattle off a whole series of blessings she’d received, Hugh Finch couldn’t help but feel the corner of his mouth twitch.

’If I remember correctly, the probability of getting a Blessing Stone from a Snow Chestnut is one in a thousand. Just how many did she eat to get so many blessings?’

Hugh Finch suppressed his shock and said, "One of my Blessing Stones allows me to control the temperature in a specific area, but I can only lower it, not raise it. Besides that, I also have Whisper of Ice and Snow and Aurora Curtain."

’He got several fewer than me, but compared to other people, getting three blessings means his luck is far from ordinary.’

"Alright, you go get some rest. I’ll take it from here," Moira Lynch said.

"Okay." Hugh Finch nodded. "By the way, can the side effects be canceled out?"

"Not as far as I know. But weren’t you dyed by a Dye-Bug before? Did that help?"

Hugh Finch didn’t answer. Obviously, it hadn’t.

Still, thanks to those Dye-Bugs, his last game round had gone very smoothly. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he’d coasted to victory.

In the latter half of the night, sandstorms suddenly began to blow through the desert.

Because she had eaten an eyelash fruit and was wearing goggles, Moira Lynch wasn’t really affected.

Vaguely, she noticed fleeting figures in the desert. Things like lanterns appeared in the sand, only to vanish just as quickly.

’Are those Gilded Emperor Scorpions?’

’No, the tails of the Gilded Emperor Scorpions don’t look like that.’

Moira Lynch tried to investigate with her spiritual power.

However, the creatures were extremely sharp and moved quickly. Before she could get a clear idea of what was happening, they were already gone.

Moira Lynch scanned the entire area with her spiritual power but found no trace of movement. It seemed they had already left.

The next day, Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch woke up early.

Breakfast was large steamed buns that Moira Lynch had prepared before the game. The dough was exceptionally fluffy, and they were filled with eggplant and meat.

Since they were for her own consumption, Moira Lynch had been very generous with the ingredients, even using many of the seasonings she had brought from the Mocha Forest.

After eating, they first planted Moira Lynch’s remaining two trees. Next up was helping Hugh Finch complete his task.

Five hundred minus two hundred eighty-four equals two hundred sixteen trees.

Moira Lynch directed the Black Wolf and the pack of dogs to dig pits, while she and Hugh Finch planted the trees. Just as they were working, she noticed a slight movement under the ground.

Moira Lynch walked over to where the sound was coming from, stomped her foot lightly twice, and said, "Come out. I’ve already found you."

A moment later, a small Kessari person emerged from the ground. They wore a small cloak made of sand, and their little face was yellowish and covered in sand, with a pair of large, watery eyes.

It looked just like a doll made of sand.

Seeing it was just a child, Moira Lynch didn’t shoo it away. She bent down and asked in a gentle tone, "Little one, is there something you need?"

The little Kessari shook its head, blinking its big eyes as it stared straight at Moira Lynch.

Suddenly, he pulled a brightly colored red flower from behind his back. "For you."