Chapter 12: The Third-Level Bonfire

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Before long, the All-Purpose Pickaxe finished upgrading.

【All-Purpose Pickaxe (Black Iron) Lv.6 (Upgrade Requirements: 7 Iron Ore, 7 Magic Crystals)】

【Magic Crystals: 7】

【Spatial Inventory: 6】

【Recipe: Creation Workbench (Includes Campfire Recipe)】

The number of slots in the spatial inventory had increased to six.

Although he happened to have seven magic crystals left, upgrading the All-Purpose Pickaxe had not brought about any significant qualitative change, so he planned to save them for upgrading other things.

The campfire and workbench had never been upgraded before, and he was filled with anticipation toward both items.

He was especially interested in the workbench. Perhaps upgrading it would unlock new recipes.

Just then, the tree-cake mush was ready.

However, he did not collect it. Instead, he took out the All-Purpose Pickaxe and began gathering stone, widening the cave to pass the time.

If the five people outside learned that making tree-cake mush was so easy, they might very well feel unbalanced.

So he could only make them wait a little longer.

Seeing this, Little Blackstone hurriedly stood up and went to the cave entrance to keep watch.

Then she suddenly remembered that men apparently disliked other people seeing their women’s bodies. She quickly tightened her clothes and made sure that, apart from her head and feet, nothing else was exposed before finally relaxing.

Immediately afterward, like a sentry guarding against thieves, she fixed her eyes on the five people twenty meters away. The moment they showed any sign of wrongdoing, she would raise the alarm.

Twenty meters away, the Wu siblings felt extremely uncomfortable under that stare.

“Is she worried that we’ll steal the technique?” the youngest, Wu Yuanxia, muttered. “Even if we wanted to, we don’t have the ability. Didn’t that lord say that making that kind of hot food requires a special ability?”

“Watch what you say,” Wu Yuanming said softly. “When dealing with an ability user, it’s best to be cautious. We don’t need to curry favor with him, but we mustn’t offend him either.”

As he spoke, he also looked curiously toward the cave. The constant sound of knocking came from within, and he immediately assumed that Liu Hen was preparing food.

The process must be quite complicated, he thought.

“I know.”

Wu Yuanxia hurriedly nodded.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and once again looked toward the little girl at the cave entrance.

Isn’t she the little girl who begged people for food outside Red Snail Camp? She actually found herself a powerful patron!

She was somewhat surprised, and a trace of envy suddenly rose in her heart.

Why hadn’t the ability user chosen her?

She also wanted to enter that cave and warm herself by the fire. It must be very warm inside right now, surely.

…

【Iron Ore +1】

A piece of iron ore was suddenly dug out.

Liu Hen froze, then delight flashed through his eyes.

Excellent. He could upgrade the workbench as well.

He immediately continued digging.

Sure enough, over the next while, he obtained at least one piece of iron ore for every ten swings of the All-Purpose Pickaxe, even though most of what he gathered was scrap stone.

Because he still had too few inventory slots, he had no choice but to take out the excess scrap stone, make room, and then continue digging.

Finally, after half an hour, the amount of iron ore reached exactly two hundred pieces, and he stopped.

After taking out the scrap stone once more and freeing up some space, he collected the tree-cake mush and took it out. Then he said to Little Blackstone, “Take the food to our guests.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Little Blackstone hurried over from the cave entrance, picked up the bowl of tree-cake mush with both hands, and carried it outside.

When she reached the cave entrance, she placed the large bowl on the workbench and called out to the Wu siblings in the distance, “Your food is ready.”

The howling wind was loud, so she instinctively raised her voice.

“It’s finally ready?”

“Let’s go.”

The Wu siblings approached eagerly. When they saw the steaming black mush in the large bowl, their eyes lit up, and they all began swallowing hard.

“That’s the smell! There’s so much of it!”

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Wu Yuanxia exclaimed in delight, “It smells wonderful!”

“Lord Liu Hen really didn’t deceive us. With this much, the five of us might actually be able to eat until we’re somewhat full.”

Wu Yuanming no longer cared about appearances. He picked up the large bowl and said, “I’ll have some first. There’s enough for everyone.”

Worried that the food might grow cold, he hurriedly raised the bowl to his lips and gulped it down.

“This… this is hot food? It’s delicious!”

As the steaming food entered his stomach, he was so happy he nearly wept. He was indescribably satisfied.

In truth, tree-cake mush had almost no flavor and was exceedingly bland. But in such a frigid environment, hot food itself could make up for countless flavors.

“Big brother, don’t drink so fast…”

“Leave some for us…”

The others grew anxious at once, afraid Wu Yuanming would finish it all by himself.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. There’s enough for everyone. I’ll only eat one-fifth.”

Wu Yuanming hurriedly explained, preventing discord among his subordinates.

Across from the workbench, Little Blackstone watched the five people fighting over the food, and a powerful sense of superiority and pride rose within her.

She did not need to fight anyone for food. Kind-hearted Lord Liu Hen would save some for her.

The one-tenth of the tree-cake mush Liu Hen had left behind earlier had weighed two or three ounces, which had nearly filled her stomach.

After all, in her current condition, she could not hold very much.

Thus, her longing for food was no longer particularly strong. She did not swallow repeatedly or display any other signs of greed. She remained completely calm, unwilling to embarrass her lord.

If I hadn’t found the courage to take that step back then, wouldn’t I still be starving and freezing there now?

If that had happened, these five people would still have been objects of her envy, and she would not even have been qualified to speak with them.

But now, after following Lord Liu Hen, she could look down upon all five of them. It was practically a single step from the depths to the heavens.

She secretly congratulated herself. Fortunately, she had been brave enough at the time.

Before long, the Wu siblings had divided the food among themselves, and it was finally the youngest, Wu Yuanxia’s, turn.

After eating hot food, everyone wore satisfied expressions and felt that the trip had been worthwhile.

When Wu Yuanxia finished drinking the last of the tree-cake mush, the spotless white bowl suddenly vanished.

She cried out in surprise, her face tightening with panic, thinking that she had damaged it.

The other members of the Wu family also changed expressions slightly.

After all, that clean white bowl clearly looked expensive.

“Don’t be nervous. That bowl is a manifestation created by my lord’s ability. Its only purpose is to hold food,” Little Blackstone explained, putting what she had learned into practice. “Now that you’ve finished the food, it no longer has any purpose, so naturally it disappeared.”

When she said “my lord,” she unconsciously emphasized the words, and another deep sense of pride welled up inside her.

Inside the cave, Liu Hen heard the pride in Little Blackstone’s voice and could not help smiling.

“That… that’s amazing!”

“No wonder he’s an ability user!”

“The purpose of its existence? I don’t understand it, but it sounds incredibly powerful.”

The Wu siblings were once again awed. At the same time, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At least they did not have to pay for the bowl.

Having once again witnessed the wondrous methods of an ability user, they felt that ability users all possessed mysterious powers and were absolutely not people they could afford to provoke.

At that moment, all five were still unsatisfied. Although each of them had managed to eat until they were somewhat full, they all wanted more.

Hot food was truly wonderful. Once it entered their stomachs, warmth spread through their bellies, then through their entire bodies. It was indescribably comfortable.

But they restrained themselves. Even they would not dare waste such food.

“Then we’ll take our leave. We’ll come trouble you again tomorrow. Lord Liu Hen, please rest early.”

Wu Yuanming bowed toward Liu Hen inside the cave, then turned around with his four subordinates and strode into the night fog.

So they mean to come back for another meal tomorrow? No wonder the Wu siblings are one of the more successful scavenging teams.

Ordinary scavengers needed several days to afford one meal, and even then they could not eat their fill.

Yet the Wu siblings could afford an expensive hot meal every day. The difference was enormous.

Liu Hen marveled inwardly and was also somewhat tempted.

Tree-cake mush counted as hot food. It was made to order and sold immediately. Since the buyer supplied the tree cakes, the price he charged was indeed extremely reasonable. Many scavenging teams should be able to afford it.

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If conditions allowed, perhaps I could open a restaurant. In that case, the upgrade speed of my golden finger would certainly increase dramatically… But I’ll have to see how things develop.

Thinking this, he had already reached the cave entrance.

“My lord.” Little Blackstone hurriedly bowed and stepped aside.

Liu Hen nodded. With a wave of his hand, he stored away the workbench. He was about to upgrade it when he discovered that the upgrade had to be performed outside.

He had no choice but to walk a few steps forward and leave the cave.

The howling cold wind struck him in the face, making him instinctively draw in his neck.

Good grief, this temperature must be close to minus forty degrees Celsius.

Having suddenly returned from the warm cave to the frigid world outside, he found himself somewhat unaccustomed to it.

The inside and outside of the cave were practically two different worlds.

After adapting for several seconds, he took out the workbench again and selected the upgrade option.

In the next moment, all two hundred pieces of iron ore in his spatial inventory vanished. Two magic crystals disappeared along with them.

At the same time, the data above the workbench blurred and changed into a one-hour countdown.

One hour? That isn’t too long. I hope the upgrade really does unlock new recipes.

Thinking this, Liu Hen said to Little Blackstone, “Come with me and keep watch.”

He strode toward a tree illuminated by the firelight and began gathering.

“Yes, my lord.”

Little Blackstone hurried after him, instinctively circling around Liu Hen as she walked, her eyes fixed on the surroundings.

It did not take long for Liu Hen to gather two hundred logs.

Although there was still room in his inventory, he did not continue gathering. Instead, he took Little Blackstone back into the cave and upgraded the campfire.

The two hundred freshly gathered logs vanished at the same time, and another two magic crystals were consumed, leaving only three.

The campfire’s upgrade countdown was one minute, extremely fast.

However, he did not wait idly. He once again took Little Blackstone outside and resumed gathering.

“Boom!”

Before long, the short, twisted tree before them suddenly exploded into fragments, turning to dust that was blown away by the cold wind.

A huge pit appeared before them. Even the tree roots had vanished.

Little Blackstone was startled once again, but she remembered her duty and did not allow herself to become distracted. She continued keeping watch.

Liu Hen continued gathering.

At last, after completely harvesting another tree and obtaining a total of four hundred logs and one hundred pieces of bark, he took Little Blackstone back into the cave once more.

By then, the campfire had already finished upgrading. Nothing else had changed, but its monster-repelling radius had increased to two meters.

Without hesitation, Liu Hen spent three hundred logs and his remaining three magic crystals to upgrade the campfire again.

This upgrade also took one minute.

Since all the trees within reach of the firelight had already been harvested, he did not go outside again. Instead, he used the time to open the free-construction function and build a defensive stone wall at the cave entrance.

One minute later, the campfire reached level three.

【Campfire Lv.3: … Upgrade Requirements (400 Logs, 4 Magic Crystals); the higher the level, the greater the area in which monsters are repelled. Current repelling radius: 3 meters.】

A radius of three meters… That means a diameter of six meters. Does that mean no monsters will appear anywhere within this area?

Liu Hen was curious.

Is it an absolute characteristic on a conceptual level, or is it subject to level restrictions?

He was uncertain, and he could not conduct an experiment for the time being.

Still, such a large repelling range was enough to protect them. It could encompass the entire area inside the cave.

Moreover, though he was not sure whether it was merely his imagination, he felt that the range reached by the campfire’s light had also increased as its level rose.

The area outside the cave illuminated by the firelight seemed somewhat brighter.

Strangely, however, the firelight itself had not changed at all. Its brightness was not harsh on the eyes.

He added the remaining one hundred logs to the campfire’s fuel chamber, increasing its burning time by one thousand minutes.

Finally, the hour ended, and the workbench successfully completed its upgrade.

Liu Hen eagerly opened the workbench’s data interface, wanting to see whether new recipes had truly appeared.

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