Chapter Bonanza (9/10)

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

After burning three pancakes in a row, Nan Liujing, in a fit of despair, poured the remaining batter into the pan and spread it out into a huge pancake—which, surprisingly, didn’t burn this time.

“……”

Completely baffled, Nan Liujing scooped the perfect, large pancake out of the pan and turned it over and over, examining it closely. The outside was golden brown, the texture was soft, and it actually looked really good.

“Could it be that I’m the type who makes the best food when I’m not trying too hard?” Nan Liujing wondered, half-convinced. He got up, fetched a jar of blueberry jam, dug out a dollop with a fork, and spread it on the pancake.

He gently sliced through the center of the pancake with a table knife; the uncooked, pale yellow batter oozed out, mixing with the blue-purple jam.

“……” Nan Liujing was silent for a second, then nodded. “A runny-centered pancake—just like me.”

In the end, he ate it all anyway—even the three that had turned out mushy.

How to describe the taste? Nan Liujing’s extensive study-abroad experience had taught him this golden rule:

As long as you spread enough jam, you won’t taste the burnt or raw batter.

—Nan “Genius Chef” Elliott Liujing.

After taking a half-hour break from eating, he finished reading today’s newspaper.

Today, the newspaper bird delivered the *Impermanent Sea* newspaper.

Actually, Nan Liujing was considering whether to spend an extra 50 sol every day to subscribe to the newspaper that wouldn’t be delivered, or to spend 100 sol on Sundays to subscribe to both. Spending 400 sol a week would guarantee that he had both the *Heart of the Rising Sun* and the *Impermanent Sea* to read every day, which would offer numerous benefits in terms of gathering information. A weekly expense of 400 sol is not beyond his means at the moment.

Maybe he’ll write a letter to the *Heart of the Rising Sun* editorial office today.

Nan Liujing shook out the newspaper and began searching for valuable information.

Today’s food column featured a recipe for a classic cocktail.

【Making a Bloody Mary is simple—all you need is some vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, and spices…】

【You’ve mastered a new recipe: Bloody Mary.】

【Bloody Mary】

【Category: Cooking · Beverages】

【Ingredients: Vodka x1, Tomato Juice x1, Lemon Juice x1, Spices x1.】

【Optional Ingredients: None.】

【Estimated Price: 380 Sol.】

【Freshness: Fresh】

【Effect: Restores 30 Stamina.】

【A single glass captures the full spectrum of flavors—sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy—and it once earned the reputation of being “tomato juice you can’t get drunk on.”】

The Agriculture and Livestock column introduces a magical creature called the Twilight Hound, which, thanks to its keen sense of smell, is widely used not only for hunting but also for finding truffles and matsutake mushrooms.

This task was traditionally entrusted to pigs, which also possess a keen sense of smell and enjoy rooting for food in the ground —but when pigs find matsutake or truffles, they don’t call their owners; instead, they just dig right in and feast to their heart’s content without a second thought.

In contrast, the disciplined Twilight Hound is perfectly suited for those weak-willed owners who can’t outcompete pigs.

Currently, the largest breeding facility for Twilight Hounds on the Impermanent Sea is Twilight Ranch, which is named after this breed. The article also includes the phone number and address of the Twilight Ranch manager, making it convenient for anyone interested to contact them for more information.

Nan Liujing couldn’t help but suspect that this was an advertisement paid for by Twilight Ranch to promote their hunting dogs.

In contrast, Nan Liujing placed greater importance on the information revealed in this column: the season for matsutake and truffles in the Impermanent Sea is fast approaching.

How soon is “soon”? Where exactly? Do you need to accept a side job to participate? Can you go forage on your own?

Most importantly: How much do truffles from the Impermanent Sea sell for?

Nan Liujing knew the price of matsutake mushrooms; they were considered quite valuable among foraged items. And judging by the fact that the author’s focus in the article was more on truffles, he guessed that truffles would fetch an even higher price than matsutake.

That would be a very lucrative opportunity.

Nan Liujing felt he might be sick—or perhaps driven mad by poverty—from reading too many newspapers and magazines. Otherwise, why would he feel such a strong desire to get his hands on the natives’ currency?

“I’ll ask around when I go to Goldfinch Island.”

Today’s *Impermanent Sea Daily* devoted its largest section to a brazen thief who sneaked into the Court of Judgment yesterday and, using “magical, genius-level techniques,” stole the court’s most sacred treasure, the “Sword of Judgment.” The Court of Judgment was furious and dispatched multiple teams to various regions of the Impermanent Sea to track down the thief.

The newspaper reporter covering the story gave the thief a nickname for ease of reference: “Phantom Thief 39.”

This is because he is the 39th criminal in history to have left the Court of Judgment unscathed.

Incidentally, the previous 38 have all been apprehended one by one—just how long will this Phantom Thief 39 manage to evade capture?

The reporter is eagerly awaiting the outcome.

As for Nan Liujing’s thoughts on the matter: “…What’s this about the ‘Impermanent Sea Phantom Thief’?”

For him, the more noteworthy aspect of this news is actually the fact that the Tribunal has dispatched multiple law enforcement squads. That means players will be much more likely to encounter Tribunal squads in the future, and incidents of lawlessness across the Impermanent Sea will likely decrease.

It’s worth reminding other players to avoid committing misdeeds right under the natives’ noses—otherwise, they’ll likely end up getting hauled away by a Tribunal squad.

Nan Liujing recalled that several players on the forum had shared strategies where they used a nautical chart to randomly sail to an island and then stole the natives’ wallets to buy supplies.

It’s best to hold off on that kind of behavior for now—safety comes first.

A single-use spatial card fell out of the newspaper; it was yesterday’s postcard raffle prize.

As expected, it was an automatic cat teaser.

The long metal rod is extremely flexible; its base is fitted with a suction cup that can be attached to a wall or floor, while the other end is adorned with several colorful feathers.

Nan Liujing secured the cat teaser next to the cat tree, planning to use it to surprise Hei Tang when she returned.

Hei Tang has already gotten a bit bored with the slime balls. During her daily grazing time, she prefers to find a spot to bask in the sun and take a long nap; right now, she’s probably curled up on the roof of the farmhouse.

All the slimes are now under Nian Gao’s care.

There are currently 10 land slimes, 1 ocean slime, 1 beach slime, 1 pure water slime, and 1 mulberry slime on the island, keeping Nian Gao busy from morning till night.

First, he has to go to the animal shed and, together with Hei Tang, herd the cows, sheep, chickens, and rabbits to the grazing area to eat grass. Then he has to rush over to the slime ranch and herd each slime to its respective spot.

The Land subspecies and Beach subspecies are the easiest to manage. These two types of slimes eat dirt and sand and instinctively avoid water, so you just need to let them stay on land or the beach to feed themselves, without worrying about them falling into the sea.

Pure Water Slimes need to drink fresh water. Every morning, Nian Gao herds it to the farmhouse bathroom to eat. Because of it, the little fox cub has even learned to turn on the shower by itself.

The Mulberry Slime is new, and Nian Gao hasn’t dealt with it yet. Only the Ocean Subspecies Slime causes the fox the most trouble. It drinks seawater and easily jumps into the ocean and drifts away, so Nian Gao has to keep a close eye on it at all times to stop it immediately.

Every day, Nan Liujing watched Nian Gao running all over the island and felt that it was getting way too much exercise. The little fox cub was so busy it didn’t even have time to dig holes anymore, and it had been a long time since it had dug up a gift for him.

Last time, Nian Gao brought him a natural pearl worth a whopping 10,000—what if there weren’t any left to use? That won’t do!

Nan Liujing wondered if he should get a few more pets to help Nian Gao with his chores.

There were still two coupons left on the table; it was obvious that the newspaper bird had eaten them as a thank-you gift for the moonlight fish he’d been given.

Nan Liujing picked them up and examined them one by one.

【Free Tasting Coupon】

【Category: Coupon】

【Issued by Daina’s Pastry Shop. Each person may redeem one Black Forest cake with this coupon!】

【20% Off Storewide Coupon】

【Category: Coupon】

【Issued by the Harvest Association. Each person may purchase any one item from the Harvest Association’s product line at a 20% discount with this coupon!】

“Black Forest cake? I haven’t had that in ages—I’ll give it a try.” Nan Liujing immediately decided to use this coupon; as for the Harvest Association’s 20% off storewide coupon, he planned to wait until he found a product worth the discount.

As far as he knew, the Harvest Association’s products consisted mainly of seeds, farm tools, and fertilizer—none of which were particularly expensive. Whether or not he got a 20% discount didn’t really matter, and Nan Liujing felt he’d be wasting the coupon if he used it on something trivial.

After writing a letter requesting a newspaper subscription, Nan Liujing stepped outside, dropped the letter and coupon into the mailbox, and included the subscription fee for the week.

Back at the farmhouse, Nan Liujing sat down on the sofa and pulled out his tablet.

Now it was time to deal with messages from the players.

First, he checked the group chat messages he’d missed that morning.

Nan Liujing had sent his message last night, but no one replied until 6:10 this morning.

6:10.

Zhao He: Mr. Nan, you slept in so late. Take care of yourself.

6:15.

Xu Jia: Thanks for your hard work. That’s crucial information—I’ll add it to the post right away. Also, I can handle sending the transaction details for the mail forwarding. Players trust me a bit more, and if I handle the central distribution, it’ll lighten your workload. @Nan Liujing.

7:40.

Li Shechu: I’m so tired… Are all of you this driven?

Zhao He: If you go to bed early, you naturally wake up early.

Xu Jia: There’s too much work—I have to get up early.

Li Shechu: bowing.jpg You guys really are the big shots—I’m in awe!

8:00 a.m.

Zhang Zihan: Damn it! I overslept again! 

Li Shechu: Kid, you’re finally awake. Hurry up and go scavenge some supplies—the tide’s about to come in.

Reading this, Nan Liujing suddenly realized he’d missed this morning’s loot.

Nan Liujing: “……”

There seem to be four unopened treasure chests left in the warehouse; he’ll open them later.

All in all, the news that the committee would provide typhoon relief to players didn’t cause much of a stir in the group chat. After all, the players in the group were all doing quite well and certainly couldn’t afford to lose their buildings on the island, so this message didn’t really concern them.

But it was a huge help to the lower-tier players who weren’t doing so well—they’d been overwhelmed by the typhoon news, and some had even become so despondent that they’d entertained thoughts of taking their own lives. The information Xu Jia added to the post this morning was nothing short of a timely downpour for them.

Xu Jia’s shipping service had just been added and had already attracted several inquiries by mid-morning.

Nan Liujing scrolled through the group chat to make sure he hadn’t missed any messages, then posted a message in the group.

Nan Liujing: @Xu Jia, great work, thanks a lot.

After that, he shared a video from the Tribunal in the group, reminding everyone to be cautious lately and avoid getting caught by law enforcement.

What happens if you get caught by the Tribunal is still a mystery to the players, but it’s obvious it won’t be anything good—no one wants to be the first to take the plunge.

Every time Nan Liujing appeared, he brought new intelligence, so the group members swarmed in to express their gratitude.

Xu Jia: Got it, I’ll post it right away.

Li Shechu: Holy crap, this game actually has law enforcement! Big Shot J, you’re the real deal! Without you, we’d be like blind people, knowing nothing.

Zhao He: The lives of the natives in the game world are pretty exciting, too.

Zhang Zihan: Thanks.

Huh? Why is he acting so aloof today?

Nan Liujing raised an eyebrow. Before he could type a teasing reply, Li Shechu lost his cool first.

Li Shechu: Zihan, have you decided to go for the aloof master vibe today? 

Zhang Zihan said nothing, just dropped a photo into the group chat.

The photo was terribly blurry—it must’ve been snapped in a hurry. Nan Liujing zoomed in on the full-size image; he couldn’t even make out what was in it.

After scrutinizing it for a while, he could barely make out that the red stuff was probably blood, the glinting object might be a sword, and the dark shadow filling most of the frame was likely some kind of monster.

Looks like this combat-focused player had another thrilling battle on Monster Island.

Seeing this happen so often, Nan Liujing couldn’t help but sigh: Does he never run out of nautical charts?

And how is it possible that he draws a Monster Island every single time? Isn’t that probability a bit too high?

After leaving the group chat, Nan Liujing opened the trading section.

While selling items yesterday, Nan Liujing had put up almost all of his magical materials for sale—only the gilded fruits remained unsold. Of course, this wasn’t because he’d forgotten; rather, it was precisely at that moment that he received a private message in his trade chat.

It was only after seeing that message that Nan Liujing decided on the spot to keep that batch of gilded fruits. However, he hadn’t had a chance to deal with it yesterday, so he didn’t open the message again until now.

The sender was, at best, an acquaintance—she had previously traded with Nan Liujing. Nan Liujing remembered her vividly because all the items she had offered for trade were potions.

Cat Island – Xu Ning: Hello, I saw that you listed some gilded fruits in the trading section. Would you be open to discussing a deal? 

Cat Island – Xu Ning: I’m a witch’s apprentice with the ability to craft potions using magical ingredients. These gilded fruits are the ingredients I need most right now. If you’re willing to part with them, I can trade you these potions in exchange. Are you interested?

Cat Island – Xu Ning: 【Stamina Potion (Small)】 【Madness Potion (Small)】 【Agility Potion (Small)】 【Strength Potion (Small) 】

【Madness Potion (Small)】

【Category: Potion】

【A witch’s apprentice’s practice run—most of the potency was wasted, and the side effects have doubled. Drinking this immediately induces a state of near-madness, forcibly reducing Sanity to -1 and Health to 1 (where it remains). The drinker loses their mind and frantically attacks everything around them for 10 minutes.】【 Suggested Price: 80 Sol.】

【Agility Potion (Small)】

【Category: Potions】【A witch’s apprentice’s practice run—most of the potency was wasted. Drinking it increases Agility by 10% for 2 minutes.】

【Suggested Price: 100 Sol.】

The description for the Strength Potion is almost identical to that of the Agility Potion.

Of the four potions Xu Ning offered, all except the Stamina Potion were useless—completely unworthy of exchange.

But Nan Liujing still saw potential in her. Barring any surprises, Xu Ning should be the first player he’s encountered who has completed the class change quest—and as a Witch Apprentice at that—a powerful class with very promising prospects.

In Nan Liujing’s view, trading this batch of gilded fruits for a connection to a future witch was well worth it.

After all, even if he sold them to Victor, these 43 units of gilded fruits would only fetch 8,600 Sol. With hundreds of thousands in his possession, Nan Liujing no longer needed to worry about such a small amount of money.

However, he couldn’t just give them to her for free; even though Nan Liujing had a huge sum of money, he wasn’t that generous.

Besides, Nan Liujing didn’t want her to think he was trying to curry favor with her—a fair trade was best.

Unknown Island—Nan Liujing: Is that all you have? 

The other party was probably using a tablet at that moment, so the reply came back very quickly.

Cat Island—Xu Ning: …That’s all I have right now. But if I get those gilded fruits, I’ll be able to try making a Life Potion!

Unknown Island—Nan Liujing: Try? So there’s a chance it might fail, right?

Cat Island—Xu Ning: …

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: Sorry, but I don’t accept empty promises here. Please show some sincerity.

Cat Island – Xu Ning: What potion do you want?

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: A plant growth potion.

Cat Island.

In the pitch-black cellar, the air was thick with the earthy scent of soil and the peculiar odor characteristic of potions.

On a long wooden table, several crucibles were lined up in a row, bubbling away as they simmered various ingredients.

The young girl, sitting with her legs curled up in a high-backed chair, froze for a moment, her face betraying a look of disbelief: “They actually want a plant growth potion?”

After thinking it over, Xu Ning slowly stood up from the chair. Beneath her black robe, one of the girl’s legs was human, while the other resembled a bird’s claw, covered in snow-white feathers, with a blackish-gray talon bearing three sharp, long claws.

She walked through the cellar on these unusual legs, moving slowly but without stumbling. It was clear she was just a bit unaccustomed to them; once she got used to them, she should be able to run as fast as the wind.

Arriving at a tall medicine cabinet, Xu Ning hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and pulled out a small drawer. Inside lay three vials of glowing green potion.

It was indeed a plant growth potion.

This potion was actually useless to her; she didn’t yet own a witch’s herb garden, so she had no use for plant growth potions.

But she’d obtained them from the island where she’d earned her status as a witch’s apprentice—potions brewed by real witches. By studying these potions, she could deepen the mastery of her skills.

If she were to give them away…

Should she give the plant growth potions, or the gilded fruit?

Xu Ning gazed at the three potions and pursed her lips.

Finally, she took out two of them, closed the cabinet, and returned to her chair.

Cat Cat Island – Xu Ning: 【Plant Growth Potion】 I have two of these. How many gilded fruits can I trade them for?

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: If you throw in four Stamina Potions as well, I can give you all my gilded fruits.

Cat Island – Xu Ning: Four bottles is too many. I’m not that skilled yet—I’ll only give two.

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: Then two bottles it is.

“He’s actually pretty easy to deal with,” Xu Ning muttered to herself, but she also breathed a sigh of relief.

If the other person had asked for an exorbitant price, she really wouldn’t have known what to do.

The transaction was completed quickly. Xu Ning couldn’t wait to take out one unit of gilded fruit—ten gleaming, round fruits piled in the girl’s palm, radiating a gentle warmth.

She dropped the fruits into a crucible and stirred them with a slender wand; the originally deep purple liquid instantly transformed into a pale blue at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, on Unknown Island, Nan Liujing poured both bottles of plant growth potion onto the apple sapling. The sapling’s growth countdown decreased by more than 11 years, and the sapling itself shot up another segment; now, it was only 78 years away from blooming and bearing fruit.

Nan Liujing patted the sapling’s trunk and muttered, “I hope you don’t let my investment go to waste.”

An apple tree that takes a hundred years to bear fruit must be something special! That was exactly the thought driving Nan Liujing to work so hard.

He hoped his hunch was correct. They say it’s easy to go up a mountain but hard to come down—and it turns out the same goes for survival games.

As much fun as looting on Resource Island was, sorting through the loot was just as painful.

For the entire afternoon that followed, Nan Liujing spent scrubbing barrels.

If the remaining mulberry wine in the barrels isn’t rinsed out quickly, bacteria will start multiplying inside, multiplying rapidly, and the barrel will become unusable.

To ensure these barrels were spotless and ready for his use, Nan Liujing had to rush to scrub them all clean. Besides the wine barrels, the other wooden barrels and crates Nan Liujing had brought back from Mulberry Village were also covered in dust and needed scrubbing.

Nan Liujing scrubbed from morning till night, too exhausted to even think about a meal; he just nibbled on a European-style bun and went to sleep.

But when he woke up, he had to keep scrubbing the barrels.

The next day was Thursday, Day 18 of his survival journey—peaceful, but…That day’s harvest was sun grass and white radishes.

Nan Liujing got up very early to go to the fields and gather his sun grass.

He was so curious to see what this magical plant would look like when fully grown. In the fields, in the row where the sun grass was planted, the sun grass leaves had grown as lush as weeds, and overnight, they had burst into bloom with small daisy-like flowers. The petals and stamens were all golden, shimmering with a wondrous luster in the sunlight, just like molten gold. Cut the flowers off at the base to harvest 1 sun grass.

【Sun Grass ★★★】

【Category: Magical Plant】

【A golden-hued magical plant; its golden flowers are the parts richest in magic. It is the primary ingredient for crafting Stamina Potions.】

【Suggested Price: 23 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh】

Sun grass is inexpensive per unit, but the yield per plant is a staggering 50. Nan Liujing harvested a total of 250 sun grasses. He recalled that the suggested retail price for sun grass seeds was 300 Sol, so the profit margin from growing them was decent.

But Nan Liujing wouldn’t be planting any more of them for now; he needed to make the most of the time before the typhoon hit to grow food crops.

After pulling the remaining sun grass leaves out of the ground and adding them to the compost bin, he went back to harvesting white radishes.

He was growing white radishes, which mature in just 5 days—a relatively fast growth rate.

The tops of the mature white radishes had poked through the soil. Nan Liujing grabbed their green tops and pulled upward with all his might. Amid the muffled sounds of countless roots snapping, he pulled the large radish out by the roots.

This particular white radish was even a bit longer than his forearm—plump and white, and it felt heavy in his hand.

Nan Liujing wiped the dirt off the radish and smiled with satisfaction.

【White Radish★】

【Category: Ingredient】

【A plump, white radish, juicy and incredibly crisp! It has just a hint of spiciness. Eating it restores 15 Stamina points.】

【Suggested Price: 246 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh】