Chapter 359 - 349: Raising Chickens and Ducks

As they say, practice is the only way to find the truth. We’d find out if mushrooms would grow simply by trying.

Moira Lynch immediately scattered the rest of the mycelium all over the Elf Tree House.

She sprinkled it all over, from top to bottom.

"The instructions say to keep it moist after scattering the mycelium, and we should see results by tomorrow."

After Moira spoke, Kai York felt the air and said, "It’s a little dry. Should we use a humidifier? I got a super humidifier from one of those blind boxes I opened before."

Kai York had been obsessed with opening blind boxes, getting all kinds of things from them, and he never grew tired of it.

Most of it, however, was useless and just ended up piled in the warehouse.

Kai had no intention of selling any of it, his excuse being, ’What if I need it one day?’

Moira remembered the humidifier he was talking about. It wasn’t a home version at all, but a commercial-grade one designed for places like greenhouses or flower shops.

But that made it perfect for the job.

They hauled the humidifier out of the warehouse and set it up right in the middle.

When they switched it on, a fine mist began to billow out.

"Alright, now we just wait for the results tomorrow. By the way, all of you should try to stay inside today. I don’t want you to accidentally step on the mushrooms."

Back in her room, Moira suddenly realized the backyard was still empty. She’d forgotten about it while scattering the mycelium.

That was mainly because it was where they kept leftover firewood and some tools.

It was too much trouble to put things in the warehouse only to have to dig them out again, so they just kept them in the backyard for convenience.

Seeing Moira staring toward the backyard, Shane Rhodes said, "What else are you thinking of doing? Just tell us. We’ll help however we can."

"Yeah, we’re just sitting around anyway," Kai York added. "We’ll back you up completely."

Moira said, "The Elf Tree House keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer. I’m thinking we could sell off some of the firewood, just keeping a bit in reserve for emergencies. Then we could clear out the backyard and build a chicken coop, a duck pen, that sort of thing."

"We’re already growing vegetables in the yard, so the chickens and ducks will have plenty to eat. Plus, we’ll have fresh chicken and duck eggs every day."

"That’s a good idea, but where are we going to find chicks and ducklings? The base might have some, but they might not sell them to us," Hugh Finch said.

Moira opened the System Mall to see if it had what she wanted. ’If not, I’ll just have to sneak some out of my personal space. It’ll just be a hassle, and I’ll need to come up with an excuse.’

Sure enough, after a quick search of the System Mall, Moira found exactly what she was looking for.

"What do you guys think of these Treasure Chickens and Snow Ducks?"

[Treasure Chicken: Its feathers shimmer with a pearlescent luster like a treasure, making it seem like a work of art. No two Treasure Chickens in the world are exactly alike, just as no two snowflakes are ever the same.

Treasure Chickens have a fast growth cycle. They can lay eggs fifteen days after hatching, and their meat is best at three months of age.

The eggs they produce are extremely nutritious and are suitable for children and the elderly.]

[Snow Duck: True to its name, this duck is as white as snow.

Snow Ducks love freedom. If their freedom is restricted, they will have a stress reaction and stop laying eggs. Free-range raising is recommended.

Snow Ducks are fierce, territorial, and have the ability to guard the home. It is recommended to raise them from a young age to form a bond.]

She checked the price. It wasn’t expensive—both the Treasure Chickens and the Snow Ducks cost five silver coins each.

Moira first had Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch build the chicken coop.

Since the Snow Ducks needed to be free-range, there was no need to build a duck pen.

An hour later, a brand-new chicken coop was finished.

Hugh Finch had even thoughtfully dug several holes in the ground and lined them with straw to serve as nesting spots for the Treasure Chickens.

With that done, Moira placed her order.

Because the backyard was big enough, Moira bought twenty Treasure Chickens and ten Snow Ducks all at once.

The arrival of the Treasure Chickens and Snow Ducks instantly filled the once-quiet backyard with activity.

Being in a new environment, the Treasure Chickens and Snow Ducks were both very timid. Moira had already prepared food for them: fresh Soldier Food Vines.

The humans didn’t like the taste of Soldier Food Rattan, but the Treasure Chickens and Snow Ducks absolutely loved it.

The moment they saw the Soldier Food Rattan, they forgot to be afraid and rushed forward, pecking at it ravenously as if they were starving.

Because the Snow Ducks needed to bond with their owners, Moira and the others decided to take turns feeding them so the ducks could get used to their scents.

With the Soldier Food Rattan available, the Snow Ducks completely ignored the vegetables in the yard. Moira breathed a sigh of relief.

She had actually been mentally prepared for them to ruin the vegetables in the yard.

Kai York watched the Snow Ducks frolicking outside and said, "Didn’t you just say we shouldn’t step on the mycelium you scattered? Won’t they affect the number of mushrooms we get tomorrow?"

"Probably not. These Snow Ducks are tiny. It shouldn’t be a problem," Moira said.

And just like that, the small courtyard, once home to only four people, gradually grew more lively.

Meanwhile, inside a house at the base, a middle-aged couple took out a bottle of red Medicine.

The woman asked, "Are you sure this stuff works?"

The man said confidently, "Of course it does. I paid a fortune for this Medicine. The scalper charged me triple the price."

"That’s great," the woman said, her face ecstatic. "With this Medicine, we can become the parents of anyone we want."

Hearing this, the man lifted his head proudly. "That’s for sure. But our first choice must be someone from Sector A. We need to find out their situation, get a lock of their hair. Preferably an orphan."

The woman completely agreed with the man. With this Medicine, they would definitely go to Sector A to live the good life.

She didn’t hold out much hope of finding an orphan, though.

’After all, how could a real orphan be living in Sector A?’

"There’s a snow-clearing event tomorrow. I accepted a task in Sector A, so I’ll go and gather some information then."

"Okay. Make sure you investigate carefully. Our future happiness depends on you."

Meanwhile, Moira also heard that the Pharmacy Box had made a mistake and produced a bottle of bloodline Medicine with no Attributes.

Bloodline Medicine could alter a person’s genes, and an attributeless one meant that whatever genes were added to it would be acquired by the person who drank it.

’It’s just one bottle of bloodline Medicine without Attributes. It shouldn’t cause any big problems... right?’

Soon enough, Moira put the matter out of her mind.