When Tyler arrived with Laxus and twenty other men, they saw a little female with long golden hair squatting on the ground. Her eyes curved into crescents as she chatted with a middle-aged male opposite her.
"Ophelia, do you like this?" Tyler asked, looking at the reddish-brown jar the little female was holding. He knew what it was—a clay pot, similar to a stone pot or a stone bowl. But because it was thin and fragile, most males weren't used to it.
"Yeah. This can be heated over a fire, too. It's lighter than a stone pot and easier to wash. I want to get a few to take home."
"Alright." Tyler agreed without hesitation.
The middle-aged male selling the pottery smiled. "Take your time, little female. Once you've chosen, I'll tie them up for you with vines. I promise they won't break."
Paying with a goat, Ophelia bought all ten pieces of pottery on the stall, including clay pots and bowls.
"I'd like a few water vats made of clay. Can you make those? They need to be thicker, preferably with lids, so I can use them to store rice as well." The rainy season was fast approaching. Relying solely on beast skin bags and bamboo baskets to store rice obviously wouldn't work anymore. These clay vessels would perfectly solve the problem of grain getting damp during the rainy season. As long as they were sealed properly, there shouldn't be any major issues.
"I can do that, no problem. They'll be ready in ten days," the middle-aged male readily agreed.
Having sold all his wares, the middle-aged male packed up the beast skin spread on the ground and limped out of the trading market, favoring his right leg.
"His right leg must be injured. He can only make pottery to exchange for prey now." Laxus sighed as he watched the middle-aged male's hunched back.
Ophelia's nose prickled with sudden emotion. In the Beast World, once a male lost his hunting ability, it was no different from waiting to die.
"Alright, we should get going. It'll be hard to navigate the roads once it gets dark." Seeing his sister's subdued mood, Laxus reached out and rubbed her head.
Tyler gently squeezed her hand. His voice was deep and magnetic. "Don't worry. We can help him if we get the chance later."
Ophelia rubbed her face to snap herself out of it. Now was not the time for sentimentality. Only by becoming strong herself could she have the ability to help others. She only left 100 prey animals in the cave. She had Laxus take the remaining 499 back to the Golden Dragon Clan. Just like last time, she didn't want the meat, only the tanned beast skins.
"I'm really not comfortable leaving this much prey here. How about I stay and guard it tonight?" Standing at the cave entrance, Laxus could already smell the strong scent of the prey. It would be easily discovered.
"Don't worry, Laxus. I've already made an arrangement with some friends. They'll come and take the prey away in a bit. It won't get stolen." This cave was just her transit station anyway. Once everyone left, she would store everything in her spatial dimension. There wouldn't be any thefts.
"Alright then," Laxus said, finally put at ease.
"Out of the 300 prey animals from last time, I gave 100 to the Wizard to practice with. He's successfully figured out a way to preserve meat. By smoking it with pine needles, it can be kept for three months.
"If you ever run out of prey to eat, come find me. Also, Father took what you said about the rainy season to heart. The stone houses on the mountain have already been built. When the rainy season arrives, you should come back to the Golden Dragon Clan. That way, Mother, Father, and I won't have to worry."
Ophelia calculated the time. The rainy season was just over a month away. By then, she should have already severed her mate bond with Loki.
"Okay. Once you take these prey back, have the Wizard process them as well. That way, no matter how heavy or long the rainy season is, we won't have to worry about running out of food."
"Our Ophelia has truly grown up." A trace of a gratified smile touched Laxus's usually serious face.
Ophelia's cheeks flushed crimson. "You're so annoying, Laxus. Hurry up and leave! My friends will be here soon. Don't even think about stealing my rice business."
"Listen to you. Am I that kind of person?" Laxus chuckled. "The beast skins you asked for earlier are ready. Five hundred in total."
"Great. Just deliver them straight to the cave, Laxus."
"Alright, whatever you say." Laxus shook his head fondly. Along with the twenty Golden Dragon Clan males, he shouldered the 499 prey animals and left.
"Ophelia, I'll go wait for you over there." Tyler knew his boundaries. After speaking, he walked about ten meters away.
Ophelia surveyed her surroundings, then turned and ducked into the cave.
A small campfire burned inside, its warm orange glow clearly illuminating the piles of prey and beast skins. Her small, fair hand gently brushed over the pile of skins. All 450 beast skins were neatly stored into her Farm Space.
Her consciousness also entered the Farm Space. The 450 beast skins were exchanged for 45,000 points.
[Farm Space upgrading. Points required to upgrade from Level 4 to Level 5: 40,000. Area expanded to 300 square meters.]
Ophelia felt that no matter how hard she worked, the Farm Space always had a knack for bleeding her dry. But she had no other choice; she could only choose to upgrade.
Farm Space: Level 5. Area: 300 square meters.
Warehouse: Level 2. Capacity: 500. Current Storage: 195 (Rice: 95, Wheat: 100).
Level 5 Farm Space unlocked: [Vegetable Seeds] and [External Item Storage].
Bok Choy Seeds: 30 points. Tier 1. Maturation time: 96 hours (4 days). Footprint: 5 square meters. Yield: 20 pounds of bok choy.
Potato Seeds: 30 points. Tier 1. Maturation time: 96 hours (4 days). Footprint: 5 square meters. Yield: 20 pounds of potatoes.
Green Pepper Seeds: 30 points. Tier 1. Maturation time: 96 hours (4 days). Footprint: 5 square meters. Yield: 20 pounds of green peppers.
Water spinach, mushrooms, and other vegetables followed the same metrics.
She could finally eat vegetables. Ophelia's mouth watered. Stir-fried pork with peppers, hot and sour shredded potatoes, spicy and sour cabbage, scrambled eggs with tomatoes... she wanted to eat them all.
She immediately turned off the auto-planting system and manually planted baby bok choy, green peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes. On the remaining 25 square meters of land, she planted wheat. She planned to grind it into flour later to make steamed buns and noodles to improve her diet. It would also prevent her teeth from loosening in her old age from gnawing on roasted meat every day.
She then glanced at the points required to upgrade the warehouse.
[Warehouse upgrade from Level 2 to Level 3 requires 1,000 points. Capacity: 1,000]
[Warehouse upgrade from Level 3 to Level 4 requires 3,000 points. Capacity: 5,000]
Since her grain reserves would only increase in the future, and she needed to store external prey and other items, she decided to go all out and upgrade the warehouse directly to Level 4.
Warehouse: Level 4. Capacity: 5,000. Current Storage: 195 (Rice: 95, Wheat: 100).
She exchanged her remaining 850 points for seed packs. Her inventory now contained: 10 rice, 10 wheat, 10 millet, 5 lychee, and 5 watermelon seeds. Her points were completely depleted.
After storing the 100 prey animals from the cave into the warehouse, Ophelia turned the auto-planting system back on, prioritizing fruits, vegetables, and crops. Finally, she took another look at the growth progress of her crops. The fruits were eight hours away from ripening, while fresh batches of wheat and rice had just been planted. Just thinking about being able to eat lychees and mandarin oranges soon made Ophelia feel delighted.
Having finished everything, she smoothed out her beast skin skirt and slowly walked out of the cave.