Chapter 24: Cabin Upgrade

Bean Village.

Night has fallen.

As he did the previous evening, Chujiu lit a candle, picked up the mirror, and began recording his daily video diary.

The highlight of today was undoubtedly the hot pot dinner. Chujiu described how spicy and fragrant it had been with such vivid enthusiasm that he even found himself wiping the corner of his mouth. As he spoke, he thought of Little Canned Food, who had been so overwhelmed by the spice that its fur stood on end, yet it had stubbornly insisted on toughing it out. At the memory, Chujiu couldn't help but chuckle.

Unfortunately, the system prohibited him from mentioning specific spirit beasts. He could only rest his chin in one hand and smile at the mirror: "My little friends really enjoyed the hot pot, too. They were all eating so happily."

No sooner had the words left his lips than the image on the mirror began to flicker violently.

Eh?

Chujiu was certain he hadn't imagined it this time. He opened his eyes wide, staring at the static-filled lines dancing across the mirror's surface—

Just then, a dull "thud" sounded from behind him, as if something had fallen to the floor. This was followed by a faint, indistinct "meow."

Chujiu felt a jolt of alarm. Without a second thought, he turned and rushed toward the bed.

Behind him, a line of text slowly appeared on the mirror:

[Visitor 001: Is it really that delicious?]

*

Reaching the bed, he found Little Canned Food huddled, soaking wet, at the foot of the mattress, next to an overturned wooden water basin. It seemed the little creature had wanted a drink and accidentally tipped over the basin kept on the nightstand.

Knowing the little one disliked being wet, Chujiu quickly wrapped it in a bedsheet. "What's wrong? Did you try to get a drink and lose your balance?"

Little Canned Food looked up at Chujiu as if just waking from a dream, its expression dazed. Chujiu poured another bowl of water and fed it little by little, gently stroking its back. "Did you have a nightmare? Don't be afraid, it's okay..."

Once the water was finished, Little Canned Food grew sleepy again. Its body slowly curled into a ball, and its eyes gradually closed. Chujiu didn't get up immediately; he waited until the little one's breathing was completely steady before tiptoeing back to the table and picking up the mirror.

Hmm?

Why was the mirror... suddenly pitch black?

Forget the "video recording interface" that had been there before; even its ordinary reflective surface was gone.

As he wondered, a system notification popped up:

[Video recording equipment has malfunctioned. The system will repair it for the host as soon as possible.]

Equipment... malfunctioned?

Chujiu shook the mirror in his hand, his mind drifting back to the flickering lines from earlier. Was it just his imagination, or did those lines seem to be trying to form words?

While Chujiu was lost in thought, a new notification appeared:

[Total rewards for today's video and compensation for equipment damage: 800 Pioneer Points. Please click to collect in the backend.]

800 points?! Such a high reward!

In an instant, his doubts were replaced by joy.

Awesome!

Sharing the soy sauce recipe had earned 600 points; the villagers selling tofu had brought in a 100-point commission; and now, a massive windfall of 800 points!

Combined with the 380 points left over from repairing the fence, he now had a total of 1,880 points—enough to both cultivate the woodland and renovate the cottage!

Chujiu blew out the candle, feeling completely satisfied.

*

Planet Alsa.

Adjutant He was delivering an exhaustive report to Lu Qingyan.

He explained that although they had been unable to pinpoint the source of the broadcast for some time, they had finally made a breakthrough yesterday. It was entirely thanks to the Marshal's inquiry, delivered via spiritual power, which had interacted with the spiritual energy carrying the broadcast, allowing the Monitoring Bureau to trace the source across the vast, boundless expanse of space-time.

Moreover, the Marshal's question had been incredibly clever and perfectly suited to the context, ensuring no suspicion from the enemy! As expected of the Marshal!

In a short while, the Monitoring Bureau would be able to decipher the specific coordinates and uncover the location of the Zerg.

"Sir," Adjutant He said, looking at his superior in the holographic projection, his expression excited, "may I ask if there is a formula or model you used to verify the other party's spiritual channel that we could learn from or promote?"

The Monitoring Bureau’s task force had performed billions of calculations and had never found a channel that could "resonate" with the other party. In truth, "not finding it" was the norm. After all, there were tens of thousands of permutations for spiritual patterns; the odds of deciphering the opponent's pattern, aligning it precisely, and achieving a match were beyond "finding a needle in a haystack."

Lu Qingyan remained calm. "I didn't calculate it deliberately."

The adoration and excitement in Adjutant He's eyes were palpable. "Understood!"

As expected, the Marshal's talent was beyond the reach of any person or intelligent system!

Lu Qingyan: "Once the coordinates are deciphered, do not act rashly. Report all movements to me first."

He: "Yes!"

After hearing the rest of the report, Lu Qingyan switched off the holographic display. He stood up and looked at the real-time projection of space behind him.

He truly hadn't calculated it. It would be more accurate to say that, in that instant, his spiritual power had automatically crossed endless time and space to arrive in another world.

It was as if... in that world, something had been calling out to his spiritual power.

*

Another morning.

Gulu was hanging its head dejectedly, the little leaves on its crown drooping. Chujiu was patiently coaxing his child—no, carefully reasoning with his business partner.

"Gulu, look, don't the blueprints for the house require bamboo?"

"We really don't have enough bamboo now; we have to let the Roar-Roar Rabbit farm first—"

"Once it grows lots and lots of bamboo, you'll have enough material for water pipes, windows, stairs..."

"So, it's not that repairing the house isn't important! It's very important! Everyone's work is important!"

When Gulu woke up that morning and heard that Chujiu intended to use his Pioneer Points for "cultivating woodland" rather than "house repairs," the little sapling had nearly withered on the spot. Hearing now that repairing the house required a large amount of bamboo made it feel slightly better, though the leaves on its head remained limp, looking like a little wretch.

The Roar-Roar Rabbit tapped Gulu's leaves with its ears. "Don't worry, I'll grow lots of bamboo very, very quickly, so you can build a beautiful house! Just wait a little longer!"

Little Canned Food, which had been perched on the shelf overlooking them, jumped down to Gulu's side and let out a "meow." "Don't be sad. Chujiu will arrange everything."

Gulu's leaves gradually unfurled, and its bean-like eyes regained their luster. It shook its head. "Mm, I... I'm not in a hurry anymore."

The Roar-Roar Rabbit patted its snowy white chest. "Leave it to me! Roar, roar, roar!"

*

Just like when he cultivated the fields, after Chujiu confirmed "Develop Woodland," the system highlighted several green grids for him.

Chujiu chose a spot not far from the water storage barrel and near the river. In his mind, "bamboo" and "streams" always went together, and bamboo shoots always popped up after the rain. Surely bamboo preferred moist soil?

Once the location was chosen, the high-spirited Roar-Roar Rabbit turned into a rapidly spinning ball of white fluff, clearing trees, weeds, and loosening the soil. As it spun at high speed, it roared:

"Roar, roar, roar! I will definitely plant faster this time!"

"I must grow lots and lots of bamboo for Gulu!"

The enthusiastic Roar-Roar Rabbit worked with astonishing efficiency. Before long, Chujiu received a notification:

[Congratulations to the host for successfully developing the woodland!]

[Regional development progress increased to 3%!]

[Please note: The host has reached the limit for arable land. To unlock more, you must reach level 10 Pioneer.]

Ah... it's capped? No more fields for the time being?

Chujiu was surprised, but then he realized that with the current crop growth speed, the output from one field and one woodland plot was more than enough.

Take this newly planted bamboo grove, for example. Normally, bamboo shoots take 60 days to break through the soil. But here, they would yield shoots in 72 hours and the first batch of bamboo in 96 hours.

Chujiu crouched by the empty, watered, and fertilized plot, reaching out to press the soft soil with delight. "This is great. Just four more days and we'll have bamboo."

The Roar-Roar Rabbit wiped the sweat from its brow. "Roar, roar, roar! It would be even better if we could get bamboo tomorrow!"

Chujiu laughed. "If we want bamboo tomorrow—it would have to rain tonight."

"Back where I'm from, after a good rain, the bamboo shoots all race to break through the soil."

However, Chujiu knew that was for "spring rain" and "spring shoots." It was autumn now, and the fact that the planted shoots could survive was already due to the power of the system's cheat.

So, Chujiu didn't dwell on it. He patted the dirt from his hands and clothes. "Let's go. Let's see how Gulu's doors and windows are coming along."

In his pocket, Little Canned Food—which had been listless and sleeping with its eyes closed all day—tilted its head thoughtfully upon hearing Chujiu's words.

*

Evening.

There was no video to record today. After washing the little ones in a basin, Chujiu went to bed early.

Outside the window, the moon gradually rose to the zenith.

Little Canned Food, sleeping beside Chujiu's pillow, groggily pushed itself up and rubbed its cat face with its tiny paws.

Since last night, it had felt that something was wrong. It couldn't put its finger on what.

It only vaguely remembered a voice coming from somewhere extremely far away—farther than it could ever imagine—reaching into its mind. The moment it heard that voice, it had jumped up uncontrollably, knocking over the things around it.

But whose voice was it? Why could it hear it?

Little Canned Food was confused.

It tucked its paws in and stared blankly at Chujiu, who was lying on the pillow.

This human's sleeping posture was as terrible as ever.

The sheet was kicked to the floor, his pajamas were bunched up to his chest, and his limbs were dangling off the side.

Little Canned Food dropped silently to the floor, grabbed the corner of the sheet in its mouth, jumped back up, and tucked the sheet back over Chujiu.

Chujiu rolled over, kicked the sheet away again, and ended up pinning it beneath him.