Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging
Chapter 34: Mocha Forest 5

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Mocha Forest 5

Moira Lynch stayed by the stream until the sky had completely brightened.

The pond inside her space was already full of water. She was still far from having enough Water-cooling Stones, but with several days left, she wasn’t in a hurry.

Just as she was preparing to leave, several figures suddenly appeared ahead.

These people were barefoot, their backs bent, their hands constantly turning over stones in the water, as if they were looking for something.

Moira Lynch guessed they were probably looking for Silvermoon Fish. She reached up, touched the mask on her face, and once she confirmed it was secure, she turned to leave in another direction, her expression unchanging.

However, the few people not far away had already spotted her and were waving at her frantically.

Moira Lynch wanted to pretend she didn’t see them, but one of them had already appeared in front of her.

A Wind Talent.

Moira Lynch recognized the talent before her at a glance. She took a few wary steps back and asked in a raspy voice, "Can I help you?"

The newcomer revealed what he considered a friendly smile and said, "You don’t look very old, little girl. You must have just come of age."

"What’s it to you?" Right now, Moira Lynch was like a little hedgehog covered in spikes.

Seeing this, the man quickly explained, "Don’t misunderstand, I mean no harm. I just saw you were all alone. Want to team up with us for the task? There’s strength in numbers."

Seeing that Moira Lynch didn’t argue, the man continued, "We have someone here who’s awakened a very powerful talent. He can tell which things are ingredients. All we have to do is give him half of what we collect."

"Half might seem like a lot, but it’s completely safe," the man quickly added.

Hearing this, Moira Lynch turned her head to look at the group again. She noticed that while the others were all bent over in the stream, one person was standing on the bank, quietly watching the scene.

Before, she had thought this person was just tired and resting. Now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.

’To be able to tell which things are ingredients... it must be a special awakened talent.’

"Special Talent" was a very broad term. People who awakened such talents fell into two extremes: either incredibly powerful or completely useless.

Talents like Space Talent and Healing Talent were the most popular among the special ones. A Space Talent user, in particular, would definitely become a powerhouse if they developed their ability.

As if sensing her gaze, the gentle-looking young man on the distant bank turned his head and gave her a warm smile.

In that instant, Moira Lynch felt the hair on her body stand on end.

’This man is dangerous!’

The man in front of her was still rambling on. "By the way, what’s your talent? If you join us, you’ll have to tell us."

"No, thank you. I’m used to being alone."

With that, Moira Lynch walked around the man and, ignoring the shouts from behind her, quickly headed into the forest.

What Moira Lynch didn’t know was that shortly after she left, the smile on the man’s face vanished. His expression turned grim as he returned to the gentle-looking man’s side. "Boss, it seems she sensed something."

The gentle-looking man had a faint smile on his face as he spoke slowly, "She was suspicious of you from the very beginning."

Then the man let out a soft "TSK." "A woman’s sixth sense, perhaps?"

"Everyone, come on out. It’s time for us to head to the next spot."

At that, the people turning over stones in the water all stopped what they were doing, stood up, and walked toward the bank.

If Moira Lynch had seen this, she would have been stunned. Their eyes were vacant and their movements stiff. They didn’t look like living people at all, but more like marionettes on strings.

In the forest, Moira Lynch ran into a little trouble of her own.

Looking at the bloody furball that had fallen from the sky into her arms, she glanced up but saw nothing.

The bloody furball stirred in Moira Lynch’s arms, letting out a weak cry. Its fur was matted together, stained red with blood.

’What’s going on?’

’An ingredient falling from the sky?’

Having grown accustomed to the fact that everything in the interstellar era was bigger than on Caelus, seeing such a tiny creature was actually a bit jarring.

Moira Lynch placed the bloody furball from her hands into her basket. After waiting for a moment, there was no reaction at all.

If it were prey, the basket would usually have the player clean it. If it wasn’t an ingredient, there would be a notification.

But this was the first time there had been no reaction at all.

Moira Lynch raised her hand and stored it in her space. ’Since it’s not an ingredient, our meeting must be fate. I’ll see if I can keep it alive.’

’This little thing’s teeth and claws look sharp. Its combat power shouldn’t be weak once it grows up.’

Inside her space, Moira Lynch used her spiritual power to wash the blood off the furball, revealing its true appearance.

It was white!

It looked like a newborn lion cub, its spots not yet completely faded.

But unlike a normal lion cub, this one had a pair of wings on its back.

Moira Lynch gave the little lion a thorough examination. She found that three of its four legs were broken, and its tiny body was covered in wounds.

To have suffered such severe injuries and fallen from a great height... Moira Lynch didn’t know whether to lament the little lion’s cruel fate or marvel at its tenacious Life Energy.

In any case, Moira Lynch set its three broken legs, applied medicine to its wounds, and did everything she could. Whether it could recover was up to it now.

After finishing, Moira Lynch placed the little lion in a quiet spot to recuperate and didn’t bother it further.

Moira Lynch continued searching for ingredients in the forest. When she encountered ingredients with special effects, she would transplant some into her space.

During this time, she ran into several groups of people fighting each other over ingredients. Then she discovered something terrifying: points could actually be stolen.

Moira Lynch hid in the bushes, watching a group of people surround a man. The leader snatched the man’s basket and shoved it into his own.

In just a moment, the points from the first basket transferred to the other one.

The restrained man could only watch this happen with a look of utter despair, unable to do anything.

On top of that, she saw plenty of backstabbing incidents that day, which scared her into quickly getting away.

By afternoon, even though Moira Lynch had found a good number of ingredients, her rank had still dropped from fifth to ninth place.

After today’s events, she now understood why other people’s scores were rising so quickly.

Now, she put her basket directly into her space, only taking it out when she needed to use it.

During this time, she encountered other people. Seeing that she had no basket, was covered in dirt, and had bloodstains on her clothes, they mocked her for a bit before leaving.

This made Moira Lynch breathe a sigh of relief. Their words were nasty, but she didn’t care.

As for her falling rank, she didn’t care about that either. As long as she wasn’t eliminated, it was fine.