Chapter 486 - 485: The Real Trouble

Chapter 486: Chapter 485: The Real Trouble

After writing on the last sign, Seraphina Sinclair straightened up, suddenly feeling much more at ease. It was like seeing a fridge full of food or finding enough cash in your wallet; knowing what you have is always reassuring.

Seraphina Sinclair opened the mobile cabin’s upgrade page to check the requirements for the next upgrade.

[Current Mobile Cabin Level: Level 1 (Max level for current tier is Level 3!)]

[Current Mobile Cabin Quality: Gold]

[Current Number of Black Fog Incursions per 100 Sunshine: Five! (Next Level’s Number of Black Fog Incursions per 100 Sunshine: Five!)]

[Current Cabin Configuration: 35 square meters, 1x storage cabinet, 1x simple lighting system, 1x reinforced stone wall, 1x simple rest area, 1x two-meter solid wood bed, 1x double-paned glass window, 1x wall-mounted storage rack, 1x small fireplace, 1x simple stove, 1x brick floor, 1x brick walls, 1x Golden Door Plate, 1x small warehouse, 1x power supply unit! (Next Level Cabin Configuration: 40 square meters, 1x full-house water supply system, 1x standard bedroom!)]

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the words "full-house water supply system" and "standard bedroom," her eyes lighting up for a moment before the upgrade requirements pulled her back to reality.

She looked further down:

[Mobile Cabin Upgrade Conditions Not Met!]

[Materials Required for Next Mobile Cabin Upgrade: 400x wood, 300x Stone, 40x expansion essence, 20x Black Fog Essence, 20x Sunlight Essence, 20x Blood Moon Essence, 100x compressed energy block!]

Seraphina Sinclair stared at the long list, her gaze shifting to where she stored these items.

She wasn’t short on wood and Stone at all. In fact, those two materials took up the most space, occupying more than half of her warehouse.

If stacks of wood or Stone couldn’t be combined, the warehouse wouldn’t be able to hold them at all.

As for the last four materials...

Seraphina Sinclair had opened quite a few C-level Supply Boxes over the past few days and had gotten a decent amount of stuff from them.

It wasn’t a huge amount, but she had enough to meet the upgrade requirements.

The only thing she was missing was the expansion essence.

was right. The price of this stuff was sky-high and still climbing. It was even worse than a couple of days ago—it had been driven up to over five thousand Black Fog Coins each.

Luna Jacobs, upon learning of this situation: "..."

’Why couldn’t I have gotten in on this when I was hoarding supplies?’

Right now, most survivors didn’t need expansion essence for their upgrades; they used Expansion Crystals instead. The real reason expansion essence was so expensive on the trade channel was simply due to its low drop rate.

had even specifically mentioned this yesterday.

It was one of the important resources, and its drop rate had been set extremely low, leading to its rarity.

Now that 001 was the guild master, it knew many things it hadn’t known as a Traveling Merchant. But there were some things it didn’t have the authority to change.

Seraphina Sinclair wasn’t in a hurry to upgrade her cabin, either.

She took one last look at the neatly organized supplies in her warehouse, then turned and entered the Basic Training Room.

’Nothing better to do anyway. Might as well go paint some runes.’

「Early Saturday morning」

A notification panel popped up in front of all the survivors.

Seraphina Sinclair wasn’t surprised. There was a dungeon today; it was one of this world’s few "fixed schedules."

She focused her eyes on the panel and saw, as expected, the opening announcement for this dungeon:

[Good morning, survivors.]

[This dungeon’s theme is: Caged Gambit]

[Dungeon Type: Unknown (2-person random matchmaking)]

[Difficulty Level: Purple Gold]

Seraphina Sinclair stared at those two words, clicking her tongue in surprise.

The last dungeon was Dark Gold, which corresponded to C-level. This one was straight-up Purple Gold, which was equivalent to a B-level dungeon.

[Tip: There are two paths to victory within this dungeon: 1. Eliminate your human opponent and win alone. 2. Cooperate with your teammate to kill the B-level Leader and win together. Each side will have one chance to choose. Once made, the choice locks your path and cannot be changed. If one person chooses to fight the other, the path to the dungeon leader’s territory will not open!]

’Eliminate my human teammate and win alone? Or cooperate to kill the B-level Leader and win together?’

Based on her experience from participating in so many dungeons before, Seraphina Sinclair immediately understood that the latter option would yield greater rewards.

But the line in the middle was the most crucial.

"If one person chooses to fight the other, the path to the dungeon leader’s territory will not open."

’What did this mean?’

It meant Seraphina Sinclair had to first control her "good teammate" and make sure they also chose to go kill the B-level Leader.

Meanwhile, on the regional channel:

"Eliminate your human teammate? What the hell? Is this dungeon designed to make us kill each other?"

"Two paths to victory: one is murder, one is cooperation. But did you see the level of the leader we have to kill? This is just forcing us to kill each other! Is the thing that designed this dungeon a psycho?"

"The key is that both people get to choose. Even if you choose cooperation, if the other person chooses murder, you still have to fight to the death."

"Then you just have to kill them. You can’t just stand there and wait to die."

"So this dungeon is just a gamble on your teammate? Betting that they’re a normal person?"

"A normal person wouldn’t choose to go kill a B-level boss..."

"..."

"That’s true."

"Where are the experts? Any experts here? Someone say something! Doesn’t matter if it’s useful or not, just say something."

"What about the Proof of Deposit?! Someone start a Proof of Deposit! I’m willing to donate!"

"Me too!"

"I don’t have much, but I’ve got some Black Fog Coins to contribute."

"..."

Seraphina Sinclair was completely unaware of what was being said on the regional channel. The dungeon would open at nine o’clock, so there was still plenty of time. After putting away the Silver Moon Earrings, her gaze shifted to the Sunflower.

The dungeon prompt this time was exceptionally clear, so that wasn’t a major issue. The real trouble was the big guy in front of her...

The Sunflower was so big; how was Seraphina supposed to fight while holding it?

Seraphina Sinclair frowned and stepped forward, trying to pick up the Sunflower.

It had grown so tall that it was already touching the roof of the mobile cabin. When Seraphina tried to lift it, it was no different from grabbing the Sunflower’s head and bumping it against the ceiling.

The Sunflower’s leaves shot straight up with a RUSTLE, and the whole plant trembled as if in protest. Its flower head tilted to face Seraphina Sinclair, its petals curling slightly. The expression seemed to say, "Be gentle."

Seraphina Sinclair let go, took two steps back, and looked up at the big guy. Before she could figure anything out, the Sunflower’s inner voice rang out again.

"What is the little human trying to do..."

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

’Isn’t it obvious?’

Seraphina Sinclair stared blankly at the Sunflower. "I have to go fight, and I need to take you with me, but you’re too big."

The Sunflower blinked its eyes, clearly not understanding.

Seraphina Sinclair was even more exasperated. She plopped down on the floor, propped her head in her hands, and thought while staring at the Sunflower.