Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging
Chapter 36: Mocha Forest 7

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Mocha Forest 7

Moira quickly stored the basket in her space, then ran in the opposite direction without looking back.

She had no desire to encounter anyone right now. She didn’t need help from others, nor did she want to help them. Most of all, she didn’t want to be used as a scapegoat or a human shield.

Not long after Moira left, two men emerged from the bushes, followed by five or six people with dazed expressions.

If Moira had been there, she would have recognized them as the people she had encountered by the stream the day before.

"Looks like someone beat us to it," the gentle-looking man said in a low voice, observing the pits of various sizes in the ground.

The other man slammed his fist into a nearby tree and snarled, "If I find out who did this, I’ll make sure they pay!"

A vicious glint flashed in the gentle man’s eyes, but his face remained placid. "Forget it. This place is worthless now. Let’s find somewhere else. The game is already half over, and we can’t afford to waste time."

Ever since it became known that the points in the baskets could be stolen, many players had fallen victim to malicious attacks.

After snatching the basket and transferring the points, the attackers would return it, letting their victims continue to gather ingredients and accrue points. This way, they could rob them repeatedly.

The victims were fully aware of their attackers’ sinister intentions, but they were helpless. If they simply gave up on the game, they would be disqualified entirely.

Moreover, these people clung to the slim hope that if they just went a little farther or hid a little better next time, they wouldn’t be robbed again.

Little did they know, it was this exact mentality that caused them to be harvested like crops, time and time again.

Meanwhile, one of the Macaws that Moira had released earlier returned.

This was the very Macaw that had pleaded with her for help, and also the smartest of the flock.

The Macaw let out a squawk at her before flying off in a specific direction.

Moira followed close behind, entering a part of the forest she had never stepped foot in before.

However, for someone like Moira, who had no forest survival experience, the surroundings all looked pretty much the same.

Previously, because of the Silvermoon Fish, she hadn’t dared to venture too far from the stream, afraid she wouldn’t be able to find her way back.

The Macaw landed on one of the trees. "Here. Food."

Upon hearing this, Moira seemed to have an idea. She stepped forward and knocked on the trunk. Just as she expected, it was hollow.

She recalled seeing in a documentary that squirrels store food for the winter. ’Could it be that the animals in Mocha Forest have the same habit?’

She thought of the fleeting shadow she had glimpsed earlier.

’Well, there’s one way to find out. I just have to make a hole in the trunk.’

Moira took a chainsaw from her space, found a suitable spot on the trunk, and in just a few moments, the hole was cut.

The next second, as if a dam had burst, a torrent of all kinds of nuts poured from the hole, catching Moira completely off guard.

She was genuinely caught unprepared.

Moira scrambled up from the ground, her body aching from the nutty barrage. She rubbed a large lump on her head and stared at the fist-sized Chestnuts and other nuts scattered on the ground, torn between agony and ecstasy.

She got up and stored all the nuts from the ground in her space, then peered into the opening and cleared out the nuts inside as well.

When the Macaw saw that Moira was done, it flapped its wings and squawked, "More." Then it flew off toward another tree.

Moira was smarter this time. After confirming the contents of the tree, she didn’t use her chainsaw. Instead, she used her spiritual power in tandem with her space to pull everything out directly.

After she had emptied a dozen or so trees, the Macaw finally flew back to Moira’s side. It seemed there were no more left.

She rewarded the Macaw with a large Chestnut before recalling it to her space.

Moira scanned her surroundings when a stark white object suddenly caught her attention.

As she drew closer, she saw its surface was as smooth as jade and its shape was similar to a brain.

She took out her Learning Machine to scan it. The results appeared: White Jade Brain. Named for its surface, which is as white as jade, and its brain-like shape. It is a rare type of fungus that grows only in the depths of the Mocha Forest and possesses extremely high medicinal value.

From this description, Moira gleaned two important pieces of information. First, this White Jade Brain was extremely valuable. It was the first time her Learning Machine had described an ingredient as having "medicinal value."

’The Silvermoon Fish and Crystal Fruit could also cure things,’ she mused, ’but their descriptions listed specific effects. This means they were classified as food ingredients, whereas the White Jade Brain is likely classified as medicine.’

The second important piece of information was that she had unknowingly wandered into the depths of the Mocha Forest.

’The deep forest means more danger. I need to leave this place. Right now. Immediately.’

But looking at the White Jade Brain in her hand, she felt reluctant to go.

She had collected plenty of food ingredients since this all began, but this was the first time she had found actual medicine.

Moira tightened the weed cloak around her. ’Fortune favors the bold,’ she thought. ’With my spiritual power, I can detect any disturbance ahead of time. And if worse comes to worst, I can just hide in my space.’

And so, Moira began searching the area for more White Jade Brain, as well as any other ingredient that entered her line of sight. She stuffed everything, no matter what it was, into her space.

When she got hungry, she would take out a pre-made meal box, hastily scarf down a couple of bites, and then carry on. She scoured every place she passed, not even sparing the rocks on the ground.

While moving through the deep forest, Moira didn’t encounter any danger, but she did brush past other players on several occasions.

After collecting most of the White Jade Brain in the area, she checked the time and realized it was getting late, so she started heading toward the forest’s periphery.

Before dark, Moira was unable to find a suitable hiding place. As night fell, her spiritual power began to pick up the movements of other creatures with increasing frequency.

Seeing this, Moira didn’t hesitate and slipped directly into her space.

She first meditated for two hours to restore her spiritual power, after which she got busy.

She had collected a great deal of ingredients today, but instead of putting them in the basket to exchange for points, she had stored them all in her space.

She glanced at the points in her basket; they hadn’t changed much from the previous day. Her rank had vanished, however. ’It seems only players in the top ten can see their ranking,’ she concluded.

To test her theory, she started steadily adding ingredients to the basket.

After an unknown amount of time, the number "10" finally reappeared on the basket.

It was just as she’d suspected: only those in the top ten could see their rank.

At that point, Moira stopped adding ingredients. She only needed to maintain her position within the top ten.

She checked her remaining stock of ingredients and saw that she still had about half left.

With her spiritual power and her space, her gathering speed was easily a match for a team of seven or eight people. After all, she only had to see an ingredient for it to be automatically stored in her space.