Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging

Moira Lynch: ...

Looking at the crowd, Moira Lynch thought, ’The main entrance is out of the question. Good thing I have a side door.’

Once she was safely inside her territory, Moira Lynch began to survey the surroundings.

The barrier over her territory prevented prying eyes, so Moira Lynch wasn’t worried about anyone outside seeing what was inside.

Moira Lynch observed the changes around her, unable to suppress a smile. ’Excellent, this is exactly the effect I was going for.’

Just as Moira Lynch was about to inspect the rest of her territory, a white dove suddenly passed through the barrier and appeared before her.

[Message Spirit Dove]

Grade: Special Item

Function: Delivers messages

Description: Can ignore any obstacle to deliver a message to its target.

Attack Power: None

Moira Lynch opened the attached envelope. Inside, she was surprised to find what appeared to be a very formal contract.

After a quick glance at the contract’s contents and signature, Moira Lynch was lost in thought.

The sender was the president of the Royal Guild.

Moira Lynch knew a bit about the Royal Guild. It was one of the most powerful guilds in "Divine Soul."

The leadership of the Royal Guild was composed entirely of members of The Royals.

It was said that within the Royal Guild, even the most ordinary member was related to The Royals in some way.

The contract stated that if Moira Lynch was willing to hand over her method for creating or obtaining Special Items, the King would grant her the real-world title of Prince, allowing her to enjoy a life second only to the King himself.

To be honest, the terms of the contract were so generous that even Moira Lynch couldn’t help but feel tempted.

But...

She wasn’t about to be dazzled by their grand promises.

The Royals’ reputation on the Astranet wasn’t good. A quick search brought up story after story of them bullying the weak and looking down on commoners.

These incidents might have been minor to them, but Moira Lynch could see their true attitude toward commoners in the way they were handled.

Perhaps Moira Lynch really would be granted the title of Prince.

’But even with a title, could I truly fit in with them? Unlikely.’

Moira Lynch had no desire to wear herself out trying to join a group she could never truly be a part of.

Besides, while the contract’s terms were very tempting and its tone was ostensibly sincere, she could read an underlying arrogance between the lines that made her extremely uncomfortable.

’So, I’d better just forget it.’

Moira Lynch ignored the contract. She retrieved a branch from a Golden Beauty Tree in the southern forest and headed for the valley.

Now, with the Blizzard Bird family of five living there, the valley’s environment had become almost identical to the Northlands.

Upon entering the valley, Moira Lynch immediately transformed into the Snow Maiden. She first worked on the branch in her hand, then applied an Enchantment. The entire process was smooth and fluid.

Before applying the Enchantment, Moira Lynch had specifically checked the game forums. As she expected, the Healing Ring was still the most popular item.

So this time, Moira Lynch enchanted all her newly-crafted rings, turning them into Healing Rings.

After finishing her work, Moira Lynch logged out of the game for a bit, mainly because she felt hungry.

’That’s strange. I’m in a gaming pod, so how can I be hungry?’

After getting out of the gaming pod, she checked and found that the nutrient liquid had run out at some point.

"It ran out that fast?"

Moira Lynch didn’t dwell on it. Since she was already out, she checked the time and decided to eat a proper meal before going back in.

「Meanwhile...」

After the base completed the planet handover procedures with Patience, they immediately arranged an exploration of the new world.

Thanks to the information Patience had provided, they were well-prepared.

After a brief survey of the world, everyone agreed that the planet was incredibly valuable—though still no match for Veridian Prime, of course.

They decided to utilize every resource the planet had to offer, not even letting the volcanic gases go to waste.

Tests showed that the gases erupting from underground reached temperatures of over a thousand degrees—hot enough to cook a person on the spot.

Such high-temperature gases couldn’t be wasted.

So, someone proposed laying pipes under the base, just like installing underfloor heating. They would channel the hot gas from the new planet back to Caelus, using it to raise the surface temperature and melt the snow.

The moment this plan was proposed, it received unanimous support.

However, implementing this plan required an extremely heat-resistant material.

As luck would have it, the very materials they needed could be found on the new planet.

Having been baked for hundreds or thousands of years, what could possibly be more heat-resistant than the planet’s native ore?

Now, they just needed to worry about cold resistance.

Additionally, some of the hot spring water could be piped back as well.

They got to work at once.

True to their reputation as masters of construction, the decision made in the morning led to a finalized plan an hour later, and work began that very afternoon.

However, due to the weather, the ground was frozen solid. It had to be thawed before they could start digging.

The base also issued a notice: anyone willing to work would be provided with one meal per day.

Even though it was only one meal, it was enough to give many people hope for survival.

Instantly, the entire base was mobilized. Everyone scrambled to sign up.

Ever since the apocalypse began, a continuous stream of refugees had sought shelter at the base. The original site couldn’t accommodate so many people, so the current base was the result of several expansions.

This meant the scale of the project was enormous.

The base chose not to start with Sector A. After all, its residents weren’t short on money; nearly every family there lived in an Elf Tree House.

In contrast, the people in Sector C were the ones who needed the warmth most.

And so, nearly all of Cathaya’s bases sprang into action.

With the promise of that meal dangling before them, everyone worked with feverish energy.

But after only an hour, some people were already starting to falter.

This was understandable. Everyone had started on an empty stomach, and after an hour of hard labor, they were famished.

When people get hungry, their tempers shorten, and their patience wears thin.

For the people of Cathaya, food is of the utmost importance.

Whether it was "eating, drinking, playing, and having fun," or "eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling," eating always came first.

Fortunately, the base had taken this into account.

Vats of thick rice porridge were wheeled out.

At the scent of food, everyone instantly fell silent, their mouths watering uncontrollably.

In addition to the rice porridge, there were steamed buns and stir-fried vegetables.

After a period of development on Veridian Prime, the first crops were ready for harvest.

Aside from what was needed to feed the colonists there, all the remaining food was shipped back to Caelus.

This gave people a glimmer of hope. To ensure the underground pipeline project succeeded, the leadership decided to distribute these newly harvested rations. On top of that, embracing an "out with the old, in with the new" mentality, they even released all the previously stored grain.

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