Chapter 30: It Likes You

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: It Likes You

The black fog had not yet faded, but Seraphina Sinclair precisely located the beetle’s position. She visualized the monster’s form in her mind, easily determining the location of its weak point.

The next moment, her military knife precisely pierced the rotten beetle’s abdomen!

The beetle let out a piercing screech, struggled a few times, then melted into a puddle of ooze, leaving behind an F-level Supply Box.

"It smells so good!" The Sunflower’s excited voice rang in Seraphina Sinclair’s mind.

’That’s good.’

Seraphina Sinclair skillfully collected the ooze and fed it to the Sunflower, watching as it contentedly devoured the black liquid.

’Good plant.’

[Current Sunflower Growth Rate: 90/100]

"Just 10 more points to go."

Seraphina Sinclair smiled. ’It’s finally going to evolve.’

When the black fog surged in for the fourth time, Seraphina Sinclair was sitting on her bed, inspecting her military knife.

The blade glinted coldly under the blue light of the glowing fish swim bladder. She gently wiped the blade with her finger, ensuring no monster ooze remained.

It was quiet within the fog. When it withdrew, it left an F-level treasure chest for Seraphina Sinclair.

’Materials. More materials.’

Seraphina Sinclair sighed, praying internally that the next time the black fog brought something in, it would be a monster!

’The Sunflower needs to evolve.’

She could hardly wait.

The black fog seemed to have heard her prayer. When it surged in for the fifth time, it really did bring a Rotting Corpse with it!

Seraphina Sinclair dispatched the monster with ease. Without even looking at the dropped Supply Box, she hurriedly scooped up the ooze and fed it to the Sunflower.

"The last portion... the very last one! For you!"

Seraphina Sinclair placed the ooze into the flowerpot, and the Sunflower immediately began to devour it.

The black ooze was absorbed by the Sunflower at a speed visible to the naked eye, and a panel popped up in front of Seraphina Sinclair.

[Current Sunflower Growth Rate: 100/100]

[Evolution conditions met.]

[Sunflower is evolving...]

The Sunflower suddenly erupted in a dazzling golden light, so bright that Seraphina Sinclair had to close her eyes.

She felt a thrill of excitement again. ’With such a grand display, will its appearance change too? Just like those Pocket Monsters? With different forms?’

Seraphina Sinclair was filled with anticipation. The moment the light dimmed even slightly, she lowered the arm shielding her eyes.

The Sunflower...

’Huh... there’s no change?’

Seraphina Sinclair used Insight.

[Micro-light Sunflower (F+ Level)]

[Level: 2]

[Current Sunflower Growth Rate: 0/1000]

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze froze. ’What’s the meaning of just tacking on a zero?’

’Just to make it easy? What shoddy design!’

[Hunger Level: 200/200 (Each point of sunshine generated consumes one point of Hunger Level.)]

’The Hunger Level actually increased, and it’s full again.’

’I can move again today!’

Seraphina Sinclair cheered up a bit and continued reading down.

[Description: A magical plant that has evolved once. It likes you, but don’t expect it to admit it.]

’It likes...’

’Huh?’

Before Seraphina Sinclair could even process what she had seen, a smile unconsciously spread across her face. ’What a sweet child.’

The last wave of black fog brought an F-level Supply Box. Seraphina Sinclair opened it to find two packs of bad-tasting food, the same as what was in the Supply Box dropped by the Rotting Corpse.

After the black fog had completely receded, a system prompt suddenly popped up:

[You have arrived at a special area!]

[Please note: Time limit in the special area is 1 hour! There may be danger within the special area, please be vigilant! Enter now?]

’There might be danger?’

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze swept around the mobile cabin for a moment. After realizing she had all her important things on her person, she took a deep breath and clicked "Yes."

The next moment, the door to the mobile cabin suddenly swung open on its own. The black fog outside receded like a tide, revealing an unfamiliar scene.

A dilapidated stone building stood on the barren land. One could vaguely make out its former grandeur, but now its supporting pillars had collapsed, the roof had a gaping hole in it, and rotten wooden crates and rusted metal tools were scattered about. It had clearly been abandoned for a long time.

As Seraphina Sinclair stared, she was only worried about how dangerous the building looked.

’It won’t suddenly collapse the moment I go inside, will it?’

’That would feel a bit targeted.’

’The system probably wouldn’t pull something so ridiculous,’ Seraphina Sinclair thought, as she stepped out of the mobile cabin.

As she got closer, Seraphina Sinclair saw a rickety wooden sign hanging at the building’s entrance. The words "Rune Workshop" were painted on it in a dark red.

"It’s actually Chinese characters..."

Seraphina Sinclair admitted her point of focus was a bit strange, but it was something truly hard to ignore.

She tightened her grip on her military knife and walked forward cautiously. The ground beneath her feet was dry and cracked, and the faint smell of sulfur filled the air.

The workshop’s main door was half-open, revealing a pitch-black interior that looked like a giant mouth waiting for prey to walk right in.

’It’s a pretty terrifying sight.’

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t enter rashly. Instead, she first circled the building, and only after confirming there were no other entrances or dangers did she return to the main door.

’I have to go in and take a look.’

Having made up her mind, she stepped over the threshold.

The moment she entered the building, a stale, rotten smell assaulted her nostrils.

The glowing fish swim bladder still worked well here. The area around Seraphina Sinclair was illuminated, and she turned her head to observe her surroundings.

It was a spacious but cluttered stone chamber. The walls were covered with torn scrolls and yellow rune paper, and the floor was littered with shattered inkstones and dried-up ink bottles.

It was clearly a place for rune painting, but now it was dilapidated beyond recognition.

Seraphina Sinclair turned her head and was suddenly met by a pair of hollow eyes.

She was startled but reacted instantly, taking several steps back to create distance. She held her military knife defensively in front of her, her gaze fixed on the desiccated corpse leaning in the corner.

After a moment of standoff, the desiccated corpse showed no signs of movement.

Seraphina Sinclair frowned, took two steps forward, and only upon getting closer did she see the dust on the corpse.

’Probably not a monster.’

Seraphina Sinclair breathed a sigh of relief and continued to observe her surroundings.

In the center of the stone chamber was a long table. Strangely, on the table was a Stone Tablet, and next to it rested a completely dried-out calligraphy brush.

’Is this all there is?’

Seraphina Sinclair circled the long table once but found nothing useful.

’Don’t tell me... there’s not even a single Supply Box?’

Seraphina Sinclair frowned, her fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the long table.

’This place looks completely dilapidated, but the Guiding Grass’s description was clear: whether the reward is good or bad depends on my luck. There’s no way there’s no reward at all!’

She crouched down, carefully checking under the table and in the cracks of the floor. She even used the hilt of her military knife to tap on a few floor tiles, trying to find a hidden compartment.

Unfortunately, aside from the stirred-up dust that made her cough, she found nothing.

"Strange..."

Seraphina Sinclair straightened up, her gaze once again falling on the long table.

On the table, there was just a Stone Tablet and a calligraphy brush.

The Stone Tablet looked no different from the ones paving the floor.

The calligraphy brush was completely dried out, its bristles frozen together. It was clearly unusable.

’It’s absurd... but it’s the only possibility.’

’These two items...’

’They’re the reward, aren’t they?’