Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging
Chapter 8: Serene Ranch 4

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Serene Ranch 4

With her first successful experience behind her, Moira Lynch quickly adapted to her current work.

Gradually, she even began to find some enjoyment in it.

’I have to say, this is way more fun than picking up cow dung yesterday. And I don’t even have to walk around.’

She looked down at the small pail below her. It hadn’t filled up this whole time; whenever it was about to be full, the milk inside would vanish in an instant.

Just like the cart from yesterday, it used Space Technology.

’Wait, does that mean there are things like a storage space in the interstellar age? Like a Space Button, for instance.’

’But even if something like that existed, it would never be thrown out like trash... Then again, maybe it’s not impossible. After all, everything wears down. And even if it doesn’t, newer models come out. The obsolete ones are likely disposed of.’

’Still, this is a farm. There probably won’t be a large number of discarded Space Buttons here.’

’I should just focus on milking.’

After finishing with one cow, Moira Lynch immediately moved on to the next. Because her touch was so gentle, the cows were all very cooperative.

During this time, she saw a few other players who had also come to milk cows. But they either used the wrong technique and couldn’t get any milk out, or they were so rough they hurt the cows and got sent flying by a swift kick.

Moira Lynch watched as the person landed hard on the ground before their body dissolved into starlight and vanished. She couldn’t help but gulp. ’Did that person just die? Or did they fail the game and get sent back to the real world?’

’This game hasn’t seemed dangerous up to this point. Even if you fail, you probably don’t get erased... but I can’t rule out the possibility that he was literally kicked to death.’

After witnessing the cows’ power, the other players couldn’t help but become more gentle with their own movements.

It was fine if they couldn’t get any milk. What mattered was not getting themselves kicked into next week.

As her technique became more and more practiced, Moira Lynch worked while scanning her surroundings. ’For a ranch this big, can there really be only one garbage disposal plant?’

’The last one was great, and trash is produced daily, but I wouldn’t mind checking out a few more.’

Soon, Moira Lynch noticed that besides the players, the only other inhabitants of the entire farm were the gray birds that issued their tasks and some robots.

She couldn’t understand what the robots were saying—it was probably the interstellar language—but she could tell from their movements that they seemed incredibly busy.

The gray bird didn’t appear again until evening. Moira Lynch knew her work for the day was about to end.

Sure enough, when she took the card, the message was much the same as before. It praised Moira Lynch for being an excellent employee who had brilliantly completed her assigned task, then assigned her a new one for tomorrow: shearing sheep.

Following the instructions, Moira Lynch delivered the milk she had collected to a dairy processing room.

After dropping off the pail of milk, Moira Lynch wasted no time in dashing toward her beloved garbage disposal plant.

This time, there was much less trash than yesterday, but on the bright side, it was fresh.

All sorts of scraps, cowhides, and sheepskins—all from animals freshly slaughtered today—were hers for the taking.

Serene Ranch truly lived up to its name as the largest ranch; it produced this much unwanted trash every single day.

And there were tons of dairy products, practically being given away.

With yesterday’s experience, she worked much faster this time, clearing out everything inside in just two or three hours.

Just then, a robot suddenly appeared behind Moira Lynch, startling her.

’Oh no, did this robot see what I was just doing? Does it think I’m a thief?’

’Even though I’m just taking trash, if it insists I’m a thief, I don’t think I can argue. After all, this is its territory.’

Just as Moira Lynch was miserably wondering if she was about to violate interstellar law for stealing trash, the robot suddenly turned and started walking away.

After walking a short distance, it noticed Moira Lynch hadn’t followed. The robot glanced back at her and said something she couldn’t understand.

But Moira Lynch seemed to grasp its meaning—it wanted her to follow. ’Is it taking me to see the mysterious ranch owner? For him to sentence me personally?’

’Fine, I’ll follow. Better put on a good attitude and hope for lenient treatment.’

However, the robot didn’t take her to see the ranch owner. Instead, it led her to an even larger garbage disposal plant.

The robot then spoke another long string of words she couldn’t understand. Judging by the tone, it seemed to be giving her some kind of instructions.

Moira Lynch blinked, thinking she really ought to consider learning the interstellar language. Otherwise, communication in future games would be a huge obstacle. Just look at the situation now—a person and a robot, completely unable to communicate.

’I’m still young, just graduated high school, and my brain is at its peak. Learning the interstellar language has to be a priority.’

’If for no other reason, it would help me get clues from NPCs when I’m trying to clear a game.’

As a veteran novel enthusiast who had read countless stories, Moira Lynch dearly hoped that the Caelus of the future would one day connect with the rest of the interstellar community.

’Getting sidetracked, getting sidetracked. For now, I should focus on finding a way to get my hands on some interstellar language textbooks.’

But first, she needed to clean out the garbage in the disposal plant right in front of her.

She couldn’t understand the robot’s words, but she could piece together the meaning from context. It was probably something along the lines of, ’The trash here is your responsibility now, too.’

"Looks like it’s going to be another sleepless night."

Moira Lynch said, pulling out a coffee she had prepared earlier and taking a long, hard sip.

She strode in, full of fighting spirit. Moira Lynch spread her hands, and everything she touched was instantly absorbed into her space.

Thankfully, her storage space was large enough to let her pack things in to her heart’s content.

"There’s so much milk and milk powder that’s close to expiring or already expired. And there’s milk candy, too? Does this stuff even go bad?"

Moira Lynch picked up a piece of milk candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. An incomparably rich, milky flavor instantly filled her senses.

One word: Delicious!

Two words: So delicious!

’There’s so much more! I’ll take it all. Leaving even one piece of this milk candy behind would be a tragic loss.’

"There’s even cheese? Isn’t this a fermented food? The longer it ages, the better it gets. This stuff expires, too?"

Moira Lynch stared at the object before her, which looked like a giant tire. If not for the rich, milky aroma it gave off, she would have suspected it was a piece of white stone.

The surfaces of these tire-like wheels of cheese were stamped with a bright red seal.

She still couldn’t read the words on it, but that didn’t stop Moira Lynch from guessing what they meant.

’If I’m not mistaken, this red stamp most likely means ’Rejected.’’

Based on her observations so far, Serene Ranch seemed to have extremely strict quality control over its food products.

That would explain why these cheeses that failed to meet quality standards ended up here.

Moira Lynch shook her head, though her hands never stopped moving. ’What a terrible waste. It’s a good thing I’m here, or all this good stuff would have gone to ruin.’