Chapter 9: Now That It Has Come to This

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Now That It Has Come to This

First things first, she needed to use the bathroom.

With a thought, Seraphina Sinclair’s form instantly vanished.

The next moment, she reappeared in the bathroom. The charcoal should have finished burning, and the smoke had mostly dissipated.

She didn’t rush to check on the charcoal. With a monster lurking in her home, she really wasn’t in the mood.

She counted the seconds. Once she felt the black fog had mostly dispersed, she tightened her grip on her military knife and returned to the mobile house.

The moment Seraphina Sinclair returned to the mobile house, her military knife was already held defensively across her chest.

The black fog was slowly receding, and the form of a rotting centipede gradually came into view.

It was a monster nearly two meters long, composed of dozens of decaying segments spliced together. Viscous black liquid oozed from every joint, and venom dripping from its mandibles corroded small holes into the wooden floorboards.

Seraphina Sinclair’s brows furrowed tightly. ’Are you kidding me? The quality of this shoddy floor was bad enough already, and it can actually be corroded by monster venom?’

’I’m bound to encounter plenty of monsters in the future. With all this cumulative damage, am I going to end up dying because the floor suddenly gives way?’

Seraphina Sinclair cast aside her distracting thoughts. ’Now’s not the time for that!’

The centipede had clearly noticed her. Its body arched sharply, its head aimed in Seraphina Sinclair’s direction as it let out a threatening "HISSS."

’The joints are the weak point...’ Seraphina Sinclair’s eyes locked onto the connection between the centipede’s third and fourth segments. The rotting flesh there had already peeled away, exposing fragile, grayish-white cartilage.

She took a deep breath and suddenly feinted with a step to the left. Just as expected, the centipede twisted its body to follow.

The instant it began to move, Seraphina Sinclair abruptly changed direction, her military knife glinting as it plunged straight into the gap between the joints!

CRACK! The Blade sliced precisely into the cartilage, and black blood sprayed out.

The centipede let out a piercing shriek, its rear half thrashing wildly, but its severed front section had already gone limp on the ground.

Seraphina Sinclair raised an arm to block the spray of black blood.

She silently mourned her new clothes for a second before, without pausing, turning and lunging for the centipede’s struggling rear half!

Seraphina Sinclair stomped on the centipede’s fifth segment, bringing her military knife down hard on the connecting joint.

SQUELCH!

Her second strike cleanly severed the centipede’s body.

The two twitching sections of its body eventually dissolved into black mist, leaving behind only a puddle of slime and an F-level Supply Box.

"Smells delicious!" the Sunflower’s cheerful voice rang out.

Seraphina Sinclair wiped the sweat from her face, feeling a strange sense of resignation. ’Is food the only thing this kid thinks about?’

’Didn’t it see I almost died just now?’

’Then again...’ Seraphina Sinclair felt a twinge of guilt. When she’d said she would abandon the Sunflower, she had meant it.

’Alright then, I guess we’re even. Neither of us has room to talk.’

Seraphina Sinclair sighed in relief. She used her military knife to cut off the blood-splattered sleeve of her sweatshirt and used the fabric to scoop up the slime, feeding it to the Sunflower.

Watching the Sunflower contentedly devour the black liquid, her frayed nerves finally began to settle.

Back in the black fog, the centipede had almost crawled onto her foot.

But she was the one who survived in the end, and that was all that mattered.

[Current Sunflower Growth Rate: 30/100]

’Seven more monsters to go.’

There was no rushing it. Seraphina Sinclair moved the Supply Box the centipede had dropped onto the bed and quietly waited for the next wave of black fog.

The last wave was peaceful. The fog rushed in and then quickly receded, leaving only a single Supply Box for Seraphina Sinclair.

And with that, the move was successfully completed.

Seraphina Sinclair looked at the three Supply Boxes before her. After saying a silent prayer for good loot, she reached out and lifted the lids.

[Obtained: Metal Fragments x5, cloth x5, wood x10]

’More materials, and a lot less than last time.’

She frowned and turned to the second box.

[Obtained: 500ml mineral water x2, compressed biscuit x1]

Food.

’At least it’s a restock on supplies.’

Seraphina Sinclair turned to the last box.

[Obtained: Simple Composter Blueprint (F-level) x1]

’Another blueprint!’

Seraphina Sinclair’s hand, which held the yellow leather scroll, trembled slightly. ’My luck is insane!’

’This is the perfect start!’

’What kind of beginner gets two blueprints on the very first day?’

After her excitement subsided, Seraphina Sinclair examined the blueprint’s details:

[Simple Composter Blueprint (F-level)]

[Learning Requirement: Intelligence ≥ 5]

[Materials Required: Metal Fragments x5, wood x5]

[Effect: Converts organic waste into nutrient liquid! (Yields 100ml per 24 hours) (Once the composter is crafted, monster remains will no longer be automatically cleared.)]

The learning requirement for this blueprint was much lower than the other one.

’And...’ Seraphina Sinclair’s eyes lit up. ’I have all the materials needed for this blueprint!’

The crafting process was remarkably simple. After she arranged the materials, several beams of white light pulled them together.

When the light faded, a metal cylinder appeared on the floor, with an input hatch and an output spout on its side.

This was the Simple Composter.

Seraphina Sinclair wanted to try it out immediately, but unfortunately, the monster corpse in the mobile house had already been cleared away. As for any other organic matter...

She couldn’t find any.

The composter would have to wait.

Seraphina Sinclair opened the [Mobile House] menu and chose to enter the bathroom.

She had been in too much of a hurry before. Now that she had a moment to spare, Seraphina Sinclair took the time to properly assess the changes in the bathroom.

The once-clean ceiling was now several shades darker from the smoke, and the floor was a complete mess.

She had anticipated this would happen when she started the fire.

It was completely unavoidable.

’Besides, it’s just a bathroom. To put it bluntly, it’s just a place to take a crap. And most importantly, I still have to find my own water to use it!’

’What a piece of junk!’

So what if it was a little dirty? Seraphina Sinclair didn’t care.

The crude stone kiln had cooled down.

Seraphina Sinclair carefully dismantled the outer layer of stones. The wood inside appeared to have successfully turned into charcoal.

She gently rubbed a piece between her fingers, and black powder instantly coated her fingertips.

A system notification suddenly popped up.

[Usable Material Detected: Low-grade Charcoal x5]

’It worked! The system recognized it!’

A smile touched Seraphina Sinclair’s lips. The past half-day hadn’t been a waste of time after all.

The next thing to worry about was whether this stuff could actually substitute for activated charcoal...

Seraphina Sinclair returned to the mobile house with the charcoal.

Crafting the Simple Water Filter required ten Metal Fragments, five pieces of cloth, and three units of activated charcoal.

She had obtained a total of 20 Metal Fragments. She’d traded 5 for 10 units of Earth and used another 5 to craft the composter, leaving her with exactly 10.

She had the cloth as well.

The last component was the activated charcoal.

With a nervous heart, Seraphina Sinclair placed the charcoal next to the other two materials. Once again, a system notification appeared.

[Current Materials: Low-grade Charcoal x3. Material requirements not met. Forcing creation will result in a Simple Water Filter that does not produce potable water.]

’So, the water from a filter made this way won’t be drinkable?’

’Then what’s the point?’

Seraphina Sinclair’s eyebrow twitched, but then she had a realization—it could be used for non-potable purposes.

’If I’m not mistaken, that rain outside—so black it practically merges with the fog—is probably not something I should be touching.’