Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging
Chapter 20: The End of Happy Farm

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: The End of Happy Farm

Tucker Farms was enormous. As the only farm that could rival Serene Ranch, the amount of trash it produced daily was immense. Naturally, it couldn’t have just a few garbage disposal plants.

And because their garbage disposal plants were damaged, all this trash piled up. Although the machines for processing the trash were broken, the internal temperature was very low. So while it didn’t quite reek, the smell wasn’t pleasant, either.

Moira Lynch wasn’t picky about it. Whatever was edible, she took; whatever wasn’t, she used to feed her fish.

Although she now had a full day, which seemed like ample time, it was actually very tight. She didn’t know if the next game would have such a lucky break, so she had to collect as much as she possibly could.

Just like that, Moira Lynch worked tirelessly from evening until the next afternoon.

After she cleared out yet another garbage disposal plant, the expression on the robot’s face could no longer be described as mere shock. At the same time, a boundless pity for her welled up inside it.

’What a poor little thing. So efficient, yet she can’t even afford to go to school and can barely speak properly. You can just imagine how her family has dragged her down. Thank goodness I’m a robot.’

Moira Lynch walked out of the garbage disposal plant, waiting for the robot to take her to the next one. There were about two hours left before the game ended. If she hurried, she could probably clear one more.

However...

"This was the last one."

Moira Lynch’s eyes instantly widened, a look of disappointment flashing within them.

"This... is your payment."

The robot’s chest slowly opened, revealing a storage space. A palm-sized fanny pack lay quietly inside.

Moira Lynch took the fanny pack and tested its weight with her hand. It was very light.

She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. After all, the fanny pack looked like it would struggle to even hold a cell phone.

’But then again, this is the interstellar era. You can’t judge things here by normal standards.’

Opening the fanny pack, what she saw inside made her eyes light up instantly.

Inside were all sorts of vials. There were advanced Recovery Agents like the ones she had drunk before to restore stamina and spiritual power, as well as D-rank and C-rank Spirit Relief Liquids.

But these only took up a small portion of the space. The majority was a pale green liquid. Moira Lynch recognized the characters on the label: nutrient liquid. This was a type of vial not available in the System Mall.

And there was quite a lot of this nutrient liquid, too.

Watching Moira Lynch stare intently at a bottle of the green nutrient liquid, a flicker of guilt flashed in the robot’s eyes.

’Those were all bought by the farm owner, who couldn’t finish them and just piled them up in the warehouse.’

’Not long ago, the owner bought a new batch and told me to dispose of the old ones from the warehouse. But I completely forgot about it, right up until I went to get Moira Lynch’s reward.’

’To keep my mistake from being discovered, I decided to just go all in and include the nutrient liquid that was supposed to be disposed of as part of the payment. It was going to be thrown out anyway.’

’I even had to throw in a Space Button for it.’

’Still, compared to being fired for a work error, one Space Button is nothing. I just hope this employee in front of me doesn’t notice anything’s wrong.’

Did Moira Lynch notice? Of course, she did.

This was probably the robot’s first time doing something bad; "I am so guilty" was written all over its face.

However, Moira Lynch didn’t call it out. Because aside from the nutrient liquid, advanced Recovery Agents, and Spirit Relief Liquids, the biggest prize was the fanny pack itself.

She had just scanned its interior with her spiritual power and found it had a capacity of twenty cubic meters.

And even though it was filled with so many things, you couldn’t tell at all from the outside, and it had no weight.

’With this, my own space has another layer of cover.’

"Thank you."

She transferred the items from the fanny pack into her space, then strapped the pack to her waist. A quick tug down on her clothes, and it was perfectly hidden.

The robot told Moira Lynch that since the job was finished, she was free to do as she pleased for the remaining time.

Even though there was no more trash for her to collect, Moira Lynch had no intention of wasting time.

Remembering a stunning glimpse she’d caught while collecting trash earlier, Moira Lynch sprinted toward a corner.

In a damp corner, Moira Lynch found the piece of rotting wood that had caught her eye.

The rotting log was about as long as she was tall, but its width was greater than two of her put together.

But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that the log was covered in black wood ear fungus. Each one was bigger than her face, with very thick flesh.

To be safe, Moira Lynch took out her Learning Machine to scan it. Only after confirming it was just ordinary interstellar wood ear fungus did she begin to harvest it with confidence.

But it wasn’t long before Moira Lynch suddenly slapped her own forehead. ’I’m so stupid.’

’I should just take the whole rotten log. It’s faster that way, and I’ll have plenty of time to pick the fungus slowly after the game is over.’

’Besides, as long as I have the rotting log, it might even continue to grow more fungus later.’

With a thought, Moira Lynch moved the rotting log in front of her into her space, placing it in a cool, shady corner.

There were quite a few more rotting logs like that one nearby.

Whenever she came across unfamiliar mushrooms growing on the logs, regardless of their appearance, Moira Lynch would scan them with the Learning Machine. If they were edible, she took them. If they weren’t... she took them anyway.

’They might come in handy someday.’

Right up until the sound of the game ending rang in her ears, Moira Lynch managed to grab the two closest rotting logs in the final second before she was teleported out of the game.

[Congratulations, player, on clearing the second round of the game.]

[Friendly reminder: The first three rounds of this game are in easy mode for the novice protection period. Subsequent rounds will become progressively harder.]

[Due to numerous players complaining that the game is too easy, the difficulty of the third round will be increased. Please look forward to it.]

The first time, she had been teleported into the System Space first before returning to Caelus. This time, however, Moira Lynch was sent directly back to Caelus.

The moment she opened her eyes, she heard the news about the increased game difficulty. Moira Lynch clicked her tongue.

’Especially when she saw the reason,’ Moira Lynch wanted to grab those people by the ears, hold a megaphone right next to them, and scream, "You complained it was too easy! Are you satisfied now?!"

’The internet must be in an uproar right now.’ Moira Lynch couldn’t be bothered to watch people’s flame wars. She glanced at the time; only five minutes had passed since she entered the game.

But she had barely rested inside the game. Even with the advanced Recovery Agents and Spirit Relief Liquids, she was now incredibly sleepy and just wanted to get some good sleep.

But before that, she had to take a shower. She hadn’t bathed in three days. Besides the sticky feeling of sweat, she was also tainted with the faint smell of blood and filth.

The stench was utterly overwhelming.