Little Clever Ghost (v1c23)
The sudden sound was not unfamiliar to her. It was a reminder of the golden finger lucky draw. But Ye Sheng did not immediately choose to accept it. She refused.
She wanted to study the F-class energy stone with zero energy that she had found.
She lifted the black stone and examined it closely. It looked exactly the same as before. Nothing had changed.
That was strange.
Ye Sheng had learned from Zhou Lin that energy stones decayed quickly after their energy was used up. They turned into ashes, leaving behind a trace of energy residue. This residue could be used as a natural fertilizer to grow polluting organisms.
It was a good result.
It could speed up the growth of the polluting organisms.
But the energy stone in Ye Sheng's hand did not decay at all. It was still hard and solid, even when she squeezed it. There was no sign of deterioration.
Could it be that there was a difference between Xiaodongxi absorbing the energy stone and an instrument extracting its energy?
That was the only explanation she could think of.
Unfortunately, there was no one around who could answer her question. She had to keep it in her heart for now.
She would wait until she had a chance to find out the answer later.
Of course, she could also ask Old Lin in the Swap Shop, but that would involve revealing the secret of Xiaodongxi. Ye Sheng thought it was better not to take any risks.
She was shocked when she discovered that Xiaodongxi could absorb energy stones. She could only imagine how the native wastelanders would react.
Maybe they would take Xiaodongxi away as a rare experimental subject.
Ye Sheng shuddered at the thought. She didn't care about her curiosity anymore. She just wanted to live a good life with Xiaodongxi in the wasteland world.
But today's rich harvest in the wilderness made her feel more optimistic. She didn't have to worry about food for this month.
She had solved the immediate hunger crisis. Now she felt that she needed to set a bigger goal to motivate herself to work hard and make progress.
For example, buying a house in a safe area.
She hoped that Xiaodongxi would recover soon, but she knew that energy stones were not easy to find. They required a lot of luck.
She couldn't rely on luck alone.
She had to try to find energy stones, but they couldn't be her main focus.
She had another reason to buy a house.
The mitigation zone was too dangerous. There had been no incidents so far, but what if a contaminated creature attacked? The ordinary people had no defense. They would be easy prey for the monsters, unless the mercenary group came to rescue them in time.
A wise person would not stay in a dangerous place.
It was better to plan ahead.
She remembered what Zhou Lin had told her about his encounter with the Green Frog today. She felt a surge of fear in her heart. Even though the mercenary groups cleared the wilderness regularly, some creatures still escaped their notice.
What if a group of Green Frogs attacked the mitigation zone? They might do it one by one, like Zhou Lin had faced.
What would she do then? Would she fight them off with her small hoe?
And there were many other creatures in the wilderness that were more terrifying than the Green Frogs...
Moving into a house in a safe zone would guarantee her safety, at least for a while.
She wouldn't have to be a human shield against the attacks of the polluted creatures.
But houses in the safe zone were too expensive. Even if Ye Sheng could afford one, she would only be able to buy it in District 18 of the outer city, which was the area next to the city wall. And it would cost millions of points.
Right now, her identity card had zero points.
ヽ(.>д<)p
Oh well!
She had to try harder!
Even if she couldn't buy a house soon, she had to save enough points before the blizzard came. Then she could take Xiaodongxi to rent a house in District 18 of the outer city.
Her little shabby shack wouldn't survive the extreme cold of the snowstorm.
Ye Sheng cheered herself up and turned the energy stone over and over. She looked at it for a long time, but found nothing. So she stopped fussing and let the energy stone with zero energy be reclaimed by the lucky draw.
She had thought that she needed to touch Xiaodongxi's body to activate the lucky draw and reclaim the energy stone.
But as soon as she had the idea of recycling the energy stone, it disappeared from her hand. A text reminder appeared in the air in front of her.
[Energy stone is reclaimed and exchanged for 10 points]
They were still points, but the points from the lucky draw were harder to get than the base points.
Only energy stones could be exchanged for points.
But there was a conflict with the Xiaodongxi's healing, so Ye Sheng chose that instead.
If she had an energy stone in her hand, she would let the little pitiful one's injury heal first.
As for the lucky draw, she could use the leftovers for free. After all, zero-energy energy stones could also be exchanged for points.
No waste at all!
She was such a thrifty and clever girl!
ಠᴗಠ
After exchanging the empty energy stones, Ye Sheng rummaged through her bag. She took out a bottle of strawberry-flavored nutrient solution, unscrewed the cap, and approached Xiaodongxi. She poured some of the nutrient solution into her mouth.
But since she had already fed her before setting off in the morning, Ye Sheng only let Xiaodongxi have a taste this time.
"How about it? It tastes good, right? Old Lin said it has a sweet strawberry flavor!"
After letting Xiaodongxi enjoy the sweetness, Ye Sheng put the nutrient solution away.
She hesitated for a moment, then raised her hands and gently held Xiaodongxi's hand. She said sincerely, "When I picked you up, I decided to be responsible for you."
"So, I will work hard to earn points and I will never let you go hungry."
It was the first time that Ye Sheng said these words to anyone.
She felt a little awkward.
But as a friend who shared the joys and sorrows, she felt that she had to be sincere.
She also wanted to comfort Xiaodongxi.
She didn't want to trouble her.
Xiaodongxi was clutching the energy stone tightly, as if she was protecting her food. She probably wanted to return to normal as soon as possible. She didn't want to lie motionless like she was now, and risk being abandoned at any time.
Ye Sheng felt a sharp pain in her heart when she thought of that. She was very sad.
She wanted to tell Xiaodongxi that she would never abandon her.
But words were not enough to convince her. She had to prove it with actions.
Then she remembered something and quickly added, "I will also work hard to find energy stones. And I won't tell anyone about your specialness."
Ye Sheng felt a tickle on her fingers as soon as she finished speaking. She looked down and saw Xiaodongxi touching them gently.
It was like a gesture of gratitude.
Ye Sheng's heart melted.
How could she be so adorable! ! !
She had to get well soon!
Xiaodongxi seemed unchanged after absorbing the energy stone, but there were subtle differences. For instance, if her hand tendon was severed, her fingers wouldn't move. But when Ye Sheng put the energy stone in her hand, it might have healed.
Her fingers could move again, and that's why she could grip the energy stone firmly.
If she kept absorbing energy stones, she would recover even more!
Ye Sheng told Xiaodongxi to rest well, then moved away and took out the vacuum-packed roasted rat meat from her bag.
It was time to try the wasteland world's special barbecue!