A smile ford on Laurel’s lips as she glanced at the screen hovering in front of her. She exhaled, resting her hand on her knees.
[Reward: 1000 points
Coins: 50]
[Total points: 3170
Total coins: 290]
Laurel chuckled in pure joy. This was worth it, now they could easily upgrade their space house and purchase more important things.
"System, it seems like you are getting generous now?" Laurel asked, as she stared at the reward. 1000 points for just planting two herbs.
[Hosts earn more points in accordance with their success rate. Currently hosts’ success rate is 70%]
"Oh okay, I like that rule." She murmured.
[Mission Triggered.
Rare dicinal plants detected.
Current environnt: Extre heat risk
Mission 007: Create a protective growing environnt for Grade C herbs.
Requirents:
{Reduce direct heat exposure}
{Stabilize soil temperature}
{Maintain moisture balance.}
Reward:
Unlock; {Basic Herb Preservation Technique.}
Farming EXP
Failure:
Herb quality will degrade from Grade C to Grade D]
Laurel’s smile faded slightly as she reread the mission. "What do you an? I just used the space water, shouldn’t it solve any problem that would arise from the extre heat?" Laurel creased her brows.
[Replying to host: Space water can solve the problem with the extre heat. These herbs thrive in temperatures between 15 - 27 degrees Celsius, and the current temperature is around 60 degrees Celsius.
That is too much for the plants and they can easily get burnt, so the space water only lasts for 24 hours, however, hosts must make other provisions to better sustain the health and grade of the herbs.
Hosts must water the herbs before that ti period runs out. Dan Shen takes two years to fully mature, and Shi Hu takes 3 - 5 years to fully mature. However, hosts can fully harvest them in 5 - 7 days using space water.
And I must inform you that the space water must not be diluted this ti around.]
The smile on Laurel’s face fell completely. She blinked, as if to confirm she was seeing things.
"I know it was too good to be true for a stingy system to suddenly beco generous." Laurel glanced at the field she had planted the herbs, the joy she felt in completing the mission had turned into a dread that was weighing on her shoulders.
"But space water costs a lot." She grumbled.
[Sadly yes. Good luck to the Hosts on completing this mission.]
With that the system disappeared, leaving the frustrated Laurel to herself.
Laurel facepald her face, before dragging her hand down her face. The status panel on her wrist shimred to life.
[Rare herbs detected.
Dan Shen: Early stage {1% not ready for harvest.}
Shi Hu: Early stage {0.8% not ready for harvest.}
Current health status:
Dan Shen: 79% healthy
Shi Hu: 75% healthy.]
Laurel kept her gaze on the hovering status panel long after the numbers had settled, as though expecting them to change if she looked away too soon. Only when the steady green indicators remained unchanged did she lower her wrist in a slow, controlled motion.
The herbs were still healthy, and that ant she had ti to reduce the direct heat exposure, stabilise soil temperature slightly to maximise the use of the space water, in that way, she didn’t need to use a large quantity of space water.
Her eyes lifted toward the open stretch of land, and it was only then that she allowed herself to truly register the weight of the heat pressing down around her.
The air above the soil trembled faintly, bending the distant view into wavering shapes, while each passing breeze carried nothing but dry warmth that clung stubbornly to her skin.
If the temperature already appeared this oppressive, even though she had taken the space water, she shouldn’t have ignored the danger thinking the space water would resolve the problem.
Drawn by the thought, Laurel walked back toward the planting rows and lowered herself into a crouch. This ti, she did not imdiately touch the ground. Instead, she held her palm just above the surface, allowing herself to feel the temperature, and how effective the diluted space water was.
The heat rising from the earth brushed her fingers in waves almost instantly.
A quiet realization settled in her chest. "I was wrong," she murmured.
Even with the nourishing properties of the space water, relentless surface heat could slowly suffocate the roots, cooking them before they ever had the chance to strengthen. Growth demanded balance, and right now the scales were tipping toward destruction.
She rose to her feet and began scanning the surroundings again.
Shade was the first necessity that ford clearly in her mind.
Direct sunlight devoured moisture faster than anything else, turning fertile ground into cracked dust within hours.
Her gaze traveled toward the half-constructed buildings in the distance and then to the stacks of materials resting beside the warehouse. Tarps were folded over wooden pallets, support poles leaned against the outer wall, and discarded fras lay waiting for purposes no one had yet assigned them.
They had never been intended for farming, but survival rarely granted the luxury of perfect tools.
She sighed in exhaustion. "Why are the missions only getting harder?" she said softly, already stepping toward the materials. "Fine, I’ll find sothing strong enough to outlast this heat."
She carried the tarps, dragging slightly against her arms as she carried them toward the herb rows. It reminded her that preparation was not simply a strategy, it was effort, repetition, and the willingness to act before disaster made action impossible.
Working thodically, she secured the tarps across angled support poles, adjusting their height until the shadow spread wide enough to shield the soil without blocking the sun rays completely.
As the last corner fell into place, the difference beca visible almost at once. The ground beneath the canopy no longer emitted heat, and the oppressive brightness softened into sothing far less hostile.
She sighed, wiping off the sweat trickling down her temples. She sat down under the shades, taking a short rest. With just a thought, a bottle of water appeared in her hand from the system’s space.
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