Chapter 442 - 441: Convinced

Chapter 442: Chapter 441: Convinced

Moonlightdrinker tried to hold back, but couldn’t help herself.

[Moonlightdrinker]: If you need gunpowder in the future, feel free to contact me. I’ll trade for Moonlight Powder.

Her message, however, only piqued Seraphina Sinclair’s curiosity.

’She’s already given me a hundred portions of gunpowder, and I still haven’t cleared out her entire stock?’

Seraphina Sinclair thought for a moment but decided not to ask.

It was just gunpowder, after all, not some other rare material.

She only needed the gunpowder for her firework launchers, and this amount was already enough.

Even if Moonlightdrinker truly had a stable supply, it had little to do with her.

Without replying, Seraphina Sinclair closed the chat window, walked over to her workbench, and crafted dozens of firework launchers in one go.

Dazzling fireworks shot into the sky. Deep within the black fog, monsters began to stir once more.

Seraphina Sinclair gripped her Water Dragon Roar and began a full day of monster grinding.

What she didn’t know was that the Fire Seed List updated in real-time.

And so, a strange scene began to unfold.

More than one person noticed that something seemed off about the data for the number one spot on the Fire Seed List.

Everyone else’s score increased about every twenty minutes. But for the person in first place, it changed every few minutes, sometimes every single minute.

At first, no one thought much of it.

’They’re number one, a top player. So what if they kill monsters a little faster?’

But soon, someone noticed something was amiss.

Why the hell was the number one player’s score *always* increasing? The other top players all took breaks. How come the number one’s score never stopped?

"I can’t take it anymore, I really can’t. Look! Just look at Blacktiger’s score! It’s been an hour, and it hasn’t stopped rising for a single minute! What, does the number one player not need to rest?!"

"Maybe... the top player just has better stamina?"

"You call that ’better stamina’? That’s not human, okay?!"

"I just want to point something out. The speed, while fast, isn’t impossible. The problem is—"

"What’s the problem?"

"The problem is that it’s *continuous*. From nine o’clock to ten o’clock, Blacktiger’s score didn’t stop increasing for even a single minute. What does that mean? It means that for an entire hour, monsters came one after another without a single break."

"...Are the monsters lining up for Blacktiger to kill?"

"What kind of divine treatment is that?"

"Use your brain, would you? How could something like that possibly happen?"

[Night Owl]: In any case, number two concedes. Who can possibly catch up to that?

[Heart of Steel]: Number three concedes too, hehe. No way to compete.

[Whitephantom]: If you all concede, then I guess I will too. As expected of Blacktiger Ford. I’ve long heard your name and had my doubts. But after seeing this today, your reputation is truly well-deserved.

The messages in the regional channel were quickly buried, and Seraphina Sinclair remained completely unaware.

She finished off the last monster before her, flicked the blood from her blade, and braced for the next one, only to discover...

There were no more monsters.

She stood at the entrance to her cabin for a moment. The churning black fog was eerily quiet, with no sign of movement.

"Hm?"

Seraphina Sinclair frowned and glanced up at the sky.

The trails from the firework launchers had long since vanished. Logically, all monsters within a five-hundred-meter radius should have been drawn over by now.

’So where are they?’

She waited for two minutes. Still nothing.

After a moment’s thought, Seraphina Sinclair lit another firework launcher.

A dazzling firework exploded above the black fog. She began to wait patiently.

No movement. Still no movement.

’What’s going on?’

’Am I not allowed to kill them anymore? Or has the item stopped working?’

Just as a confused Seraphina Sinclair was about to use another firework launcher, a panel popped up before her eyes.

[All monsters in the current area have been cleared. The firework launcher cannot be used.]

[Recommendation: Move to a new area before using this item again.]

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the line of text for several seconds, her expression growing complex.

’Cleared?’

’I killed every single monster within five hundred meters?’

’That shouldn’t be possible.’

’If clearing an area was a feature, shouldn’t this notification have popped up after I used the first firework launcher?’

’Why is it only appearing now?’

It was the waiter who answered her question.

"My lady... the black fog is in constant motion. The monsters distributed within it are also continuously moving with the fog. When you kill a sufficient number of them, a vacuum is created. Monsters will only reappear once you have moved out of that vacuum."

So that was how it worked.

Seraphina Sinclair accepted the explanation.

She had indeed killed a great number of monsters over the past few days. The fact that the Sunflower’s Growth Rate was already maxed out after feeding it slime was a testament to the sheer quantity she had slain.

In addition, Seraphina Sinclair had also obtained materials from many monsters that she hadn’t acquired before.

She walked over to the workbench and laid out the materials she had harvested today, one by one.

Three Shadowspider silk sacs.

Five Corrupted Monitor scales.

Two Aberration cores.

There were also some odds and ends: the tooth of some monster, the claw of another, and... an unidentifiable body part from yet another creature.

Thanks to her Eye of Identification, she knew exactly what these materials could be used for.

But the problem was also clear: she only knew the general recipes. For the detailed ones, she would have to wait for Little Mushroom to research them. On top of that, she didn’t have enough materials, lacking the components for many of the potential items.

Besides, most of these items were just nice-to-haves; there was no reason for Seraphina Sinclair to wait for days on end for Little Mushroom to research the recipes.

Seraphina Sinclair arranged the items on the table and studied them for a moment before turning her gaze to Luna Jacobs, who was working diligently at the stone table.

She had little use for most of these things, but Luna Jacobs was an Engraving Master and might find them useful.

Moreover, Luna Jacobs had just given her a progress report. The current blueprint was almost fully improved, meaning the final product could be crafted soon.

It was time for Seraphina Sinclair to pick the next blueprint to improve.

She took out all the blueprints in her possession and spread them across the tabletop.

In addition to the ones she started with, she had also acquired a few blueprints from defeating Shatterer and Artemis. However, like the firework launcher blueprint, they all seemed completely useless.

Setting those aside, Seraphina Sinclair focused on choosing from her more valuable blueprints.

Her own blueprints were quite useful, so improving them was essential. All she had to decide was the order.

With the improved Black Fog Lamp blueprint, sunshine was no longer a problem.

To keep moving, however, she needed to manage the Sunflower’s Hunger Level in addition to providing sunshine.

That being the case, she might as well improve the Simple Composter blueprint next.

If it could produce more nutrient liquid, her daily travel distance would increase, allowing her to gather more resources. The upgrade was absolutely essential.

Having made her decision, Seraphina Sinclair pulled that blueprint from the pile and placed it gently on the stone table.

She glanced at Luna Jacobs’s focused face but said nothing to disturb her.

Luna Jacobs would understand what placing the blueprint there meant. As for the materials required for the improvement, she could take whatever she needed; Seraphina Sinclair certainly wouldn’t say a word.