Chapter 3: May the Light Be With You, Gathering

Liu Hen stored the magic crystal in his spatial backpack but noticed it did not appear in the single available slot. Instead, it had been converted into data and appeared beneath the “All-Things Pickaxe” data.

This discovery sparked a thought in his mind. Without drawing attention, he retrieved it again.

“I can take it out anytime? Not bad, this way I save a slot,” he mused.

Putting the magic crystal away once more, he suddenly turned to Zong Ni beside him. “Do you have any magic crystals on you?”

One magic crystal was enough to craft a workbench.

But what if other items also required magic crystals after the workbench was made?

Therefore, it was essential to stockpile more magic crystals.

Zong Ni immediately showed a wary expression. “No.”

They were just a temporary team, not yet at the level of sharing resources.

Having run a sand and gravel business for seven or eight years in his past life, Liu Hen’s ability to read people was decent. He immediately sensed that Zong Ni did have a magic crystal on her.

He gently coaxed, “Consider it a loan. I’ll pay you back double later.”

“No,” Zong Ni refused, undeterred. She began stripping clothes off Huang Hu’s corpse, tossing a jacket to Liu Hen. “This is yours. The pyrite was lost while you were holding it; I stopped Huang Hu, so I deserve most of the loot.”

Because the environment was extremely cold, clothing was a vital resource, even more important than food in some ways.

Of course, it depended on one’s needs, but overall, clothes and food were indispensable.

Time in the Night Mist World was divided into Deep Night and Shallow Night.

It was currently Shallow Night, when visibility was somewhat better; ordinary people could see about twenty to thirty meters ahead, and temperatures hovered around minus twenty degrees Celsius.

Deep Night was more terrifying. Even those accustomed to the Night Mist World could only see within ten meters, like in the mine earlier.

In special cases, it might even be pitch black, with no visibility at all.

Temperatures during Deep Night dropped to between minus forty and minus sixty degrees Celsius.

Even though water froze and there was little rain or snow, when the wind blew, the cold would intensify.

Under such conditions, warm clothing became critically important.

The cold drained body heat, indirectly accelerating hunger.

While speaking, Zong Ni continued stripping the corpse, putting the clothes on herself.

Even the pants came off without a flicker of hesitation; she wore them to keep as warm as possible.

“You can keep the clothes. I only want the magic crystal.”

Liu Hen felt his three tattered garments were barely enough to block the chill. As long as he could level up his “Golden Finger” ability, insulation would be manageable.

He threw back the jacket. “I’ll take the magic crystal we just found and the one you have on you.”

“Why do you need so many magic crystals?”

Zong Ni threw the jacket back at him suspiciously. “I only have one. It’s a lifesaving resource; I absolutely won’t give it to you.”

Just as Liu Hen was about to reply, his face suddenly changed. He swiftly turned his head to the left.

Zong Ni also spun around sharply and saw three pairs of eyes emitting a faint green glow approaching from the darkness.

They were three humanoid figures, staring fixedly at them the moment they appeared.

No, more precisely, they were staring at the corpse in front of them.

“They’re Madfolk,” Zong Ni’s expression darkened. “Let’s get out of here.”

Without another word, she quickly left.

Liu Hen hurried after her while searching his mind for any memories about the “Madfolk.”

He soon recalled that the so-called Madfolk were actually insane scavengers.

Some speculated they became Madfolk after starving scavengers resorted to cannibalism, altering the food chain and succumbing to degradation. Their sanity was affected by the Night Mist World, gradually transforming them.

Scavengers were ragged survivors who roamed seeking anything useful.

Although some scavengers resorted to cannibalism, they retained their sanity and were not considered Madfolk.

Madfolk, to some extent, were no longer human—cannibalistic monsters devoid of humanity.

As the two left, the three Madfolk behind suddenly accelerated, lunging at Huang Hu’s corpse on all fours like rabid dogs.

Soon, unnatural snarls, screams, biting sounds, and swallowing echoed from behind, chilling the skin.

Though disgusted, Liu Hen’s hunger was intensified by the sound of swallowing, as if a real fire burned in his stomach.

He felt dizzy, his vision darkening, on the verge of fainting from hunger.

“I must eat something soon…”

His immediate thought was to go to the Red Snail Camp to exchange for food.

But it was over thirty kilometers away.

Traveling in the Night Mist World required constant vigilance and slow pace. Normally, it took a full day to cover that distance.

In his current state, he feared starving to death on the way.

Ordinary scavengers could keep moving despite extreme hunger, as long as they didn’t die of starvation. They rarely fainted from hunger due to their evolved mental resilience adapted to the harsh world.

But he was a transmigrant; his soul was fresh. Though he had the original host’s memories and was mentally tougher than in his past life, he lacked that kind of hard-earned endurance.

Thinking this, he braced himself and asked Zong Ni, “Do you have any food?”

Though asking a woman—a young girl—for food was slightly shameful, under such circumstances, he cared little for pride.

Survival in such a famine-ridden world meant letting go of pride first.

Zong Ni frowned. “We ate just two days ago… You got hurt just now?”

Liu Hen was speechless.

“Two days ago we ate?” Normal people starve after one missed meal. Liu Hen felt like he might die of hunger any moment.

“I have some tree cakes…” Zong Ni dug out a blackened piece from her filthy clothes, hesitated, then broke it evenly into two parts.

She threw one piece to Liu Hen, about the size of a thumb. “This is the end of our cooperation. May the light be with you.”

“I’ll pay you back double later,” Liu Hen accepted the tree cake as if it were a treasure, but his expression soon shifted. “You’re leaving? Don’t you want to form a real team? That way we can watch out for each other. We’ve been through hardship together; I should be trustworthy, right?”

“I’m used to working alone. But if there’s a chance next time, maybe I’ll consider it.”

Zong Ni showed no hesitation and strode into the darkness. Her small frame belied her fearless courage.

Because useful resources were scarce and had to be divided among many, and because cannibalism was common in the Night Mist World, few dared to form real teams unless with absolute trust.

Typically, teams formed during Shallow Night and disbanded at Deep Night, each finding a place to survive the darkness alone.

Their team was of this kind.

“Well… may light illuminate your path, courage be with you, and fearlessness guide your steps.”

Liu Hen could only offer this blessing—the common farewell among scavengers.

After that, he hurried to find a sheltered spot and quickly ate the tree cake.

The so-called tree cake was made by pulverizing a non-toxic tree into powder, mixed with a tiny amount of red snail meat.

This food was traded at the Red Snail Camp; a one-pound ration ticket could be exchanged for one pound of tree cake.

The taste was utterly terrible, with minimal calories, and it hardened in cold environments.

Only scavengers’ guts could digest it; the pampered camp dwellers refused to eat such food.

But Liu Hen had no right to be picky now; he forced himself to eat it.

Finally, after swallowing a small piece, although the burning sensation in his stomach intensified, the dizziness vanished.

“I must upgrade my Golden Finger quickly; I can’t wait any longer.”

Now that no one else was around, he could act freely.

Liu Hen took out his black-iron grade All-Things Pickaxe, glanced cautiously around to ensure no threats were near, then began swinging the pickaxe to mine.

Crafting a workbench required one hundred pieces of iron ore. The stone mountain area was rich in ordinary iron ore; there was no need to enter the mine.

“Crack!”

The pickaxe struck, and fine cracks spread across the stone’s surface. The crisp sound echoed far in the dead silence.

[Stone Debris +1]

A piece of stone appeared in the single slot of his spatial backpack.

Liu Hen carefully retrieved the stone debris and found it was a fist-sized, perfectly square ordinary stone.

“Neat. It looks as if it was cut.”

Since he had only one slot, materials could only be considered successfully gathered if they appeared in the backpack.

He had no choice but to discard the stone and continue mining.

“Clink…”

[Stone Debris +1]

Discard.

[Stone Debris +1]

Discard.

After repeating this more than ten times, finally—

[Iron Ore +1]