Chapter 238: Saving the Oasis 10

Hugh Finch heard Moira Lynch’s laughter from behind her and asked quizzically, "Did you find something good again?"

At that, Moira cleared her throat and said with a straight face, "Not really. I just think teaming up for a mission isn’t half bad." ’As if.’

Hugh Finch studied her for a moment before deciding to accept the explanation.

"We’ve been walking for so long, but we haven’t found anything else besides the Shasha Grass. What happened earlier also proved that we can’t just destroy the oasis plants indiscriminately. I’m starting to think we might be going the wrong way."

"The wrong way?" Moira Lynch asked, looking at Hugh Finch in confusion.

"Speaking of which, I haven’t used my divination for the day yet."

With that, Hugh Finch sat down cross-legged and prepared to perform a divination.

Moira didn’t disturb her. She left the Black Wolf behind to stand guard while she headed off in another direction.

She had just felt a faint ripple of energy from that direction.

Pushing aside the undergrowth, Moira Lynch discovered a clump of small, milky-white plants beneath a tree. Each stalk was about the length of her finger and had two thick, milky-white leaves.

[Bone Straightening Grass: Minor injuries or poor habits during development can lead to bone misalignment, which manifests in various ways, such as uneven leg length, a hunched back, issues from habitual leg-crossing, or poor development from picky eating. After consuming Bone Straightening Grass, misaligned bones will return to their proper positions.]

’Sounds pretty amazing.’

Moira Lynch plucked a stalk of Bone Straightening Grass, popped it in her mouth, and began to chew. A moment later, her face scrunched up in disgust.

"Ugh, so bitter!"

After she finally managed to swallow the grass, the bitter taste still lingered powerfully in her mouth.

But before Moira could get a drink of water to wash the taste away, she heard a series of CRICKING and CRACKING sounds coming from all over her body.

The sounds continued for several minutes before finally subsiding.

Moira Lynch stood up. She didn’t feel any major changes, but her body felt much more comfortable—a pleasant, almost indescribable feeling.

Moira stored the rest of the Bone Straightening Grass in her inventory, selected one stalk to feed into the Pharmacy Box, and added a new Medicine to her list.

As she added the Bone Straightening Grass, Moira keenly sensed another change in the Pharmacy Box.

A quick scan from Patience confirmed that the Pharmacy Box had indeed changed again.

The total number of Medicine vials she could produce hadn’t changed, but she could now designate two different types for production instead of just one.

In other words, Moira could now designate two types of Medicine for simultaneous production—a total of twenty thousand vials. At the same time, the number of randomly generated vials also increased from one thousand to two thousand.

’It seems the Pharmacy Box needs me to keep feeding it a steady stream of new ingredients to evolve,’ she thought. ’And the higher the grade, the better.’

By the time Moira returned, a faint light was emanating from around Hugh Finch.

A moment later, the divination drew to a close.

Hugh Finch slowly opened her eyes. "We’re going to the desert," she said.

"Okay." Moira didn’t object.

She had already had Patience run a scan, which confirmed that the desert’s resources were indeed more valuable than the oasis’s.

The two of them climbed onto the Black Wolf’s back, and ten minutes later, they were in the desert.

Staring out at the endless desert before them, Moira looked over at Hugh. "So, what’s next? Which way?"

’Every direction looks exactly the same,’ she thought.

Just then, a tremor ran through the ground.

The next second, the Black Wolf leaped away, carrying both of them clear of the spot where they had been standing.

A sinkhole formed where they’d been, and a familiar creature burst out from the sand.

Gilded Emperor Scorpion!

Both Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch recognized the attacker at the same time.

At the same time, Moira felt more rumbling from the ground. Then, dozens of cloaked and armed Kessari tribesmen erupted from the sand.

The atmosphere between the two factions was thick with tension.

Watching the scene unfold, Moira and Hugh realized they had stumbled into a battle between two evenly matched sides.

’Would it be wrong to just leave now?’ Moira wondered.

Thinking this, Moira decided to help the Kessari tribesmen. After all, they were basically her employers.

’As an employee, it’s always a good idea to leave a good impression on the boss.’

She pulled out a cold rock and tossed it just before the Gilded Emperor Scorpion could attack.

As the cold rock exploded, a frigid blast of air washed over them.

When the dust settled, everyone saw the Gilded Emperor Scorpion, frozen solid into an ice sculpture.

One of the Kessari tribesmen recognized Moira and Hugh and shouted to them, "Thank you!"

Moira waved a hand. "You’re welcome."

"I’ll add a bonus to your pay when this job is over," the man continued.

Naturally, Moira wasn’t about to refuse.

’That’s what I like to hear.’

Just then, Hugh, having apparently decided on a direction, said simply, "Let’s go."

"Okay." The two of them mounted the Black Wolf and sped off in that direction.

Before long, however, the Black Wolf began to struggle. The overhead sun and the hot sand were rapidly draining its stamina.

Seeing this, Moira didn’t force the issue. She recalled the Black Wolf to her inventory and summoned two camels to take its place.

The camels weren’t as fast as the Black Wolf, but they were more suited to the conditions.

Before long, a patch of green appeared on the horizon.

"Plants!"

Moira urged her camel to speed up, and they soon arrived in front of the plant.

"It looks a lot like a cactus."

Moira remarked, looking at the plant in front of them.

It was green and covered in sharp spines, just like one.

"But it’s much larger than the cacti on Caelus," Hugh Finch added.

’Patience.’

Moira called out in her mind.

[Giant Cactus: Poisonous. Its body and spines secrete a venom. Victims lose all strength and are immediately paralyzed, eventually dying of dehydration.

The fruit of the Giant Cactus is a rare desert delicacy.]

At this, Moira looked up. Sure enough, she saw many fruits, just like Cactus Fruit, growing at the very top of the Giant Cactus.

Each fruit was the size of a watermelon—a vibrant, tempting red.

Hugh Finch piloted the Flying Device up to pick the fruit, while Moira, not wanting to be idle, took out a small knife and made a cut on the Giant Cactus’s surface. A white sap immediately oozed from the wound, emitting a pungent odor.

Just one whiff made Moira feel dizzy.

She quickly put on her mask. ’This stuff is potent,’ she thought. ’If you coated a weapon with this, you wouldn’t need to hit a vital spot. Just breaking the skin would be enough to finish someone off.’