Chapter Thirty-Eight: Ivy's Strategy

Ivy spoke as she reached into the empty air in front of her, then took out two pieces of food that looked suspiciously like bread. However, they appeared extremely dry and hard, and Mu Chen felt just by looking that they would be difficult to swallow.

“Yes, I vaguely remember I still have a bit of food saved in my backpack from before. It should last me a day, maybe two…”

Though her memories of the past were hazy, Ivy was painfully aware of what those struggling to survive in the territory needed most: food, especially something as nutritious as this.

In critical moments, a single drumstick could save a life—it was a chance to keep living!

When the holy light could not save someone, this could.

A strange emotion stirred within Ivy, as if she saw the corpses of the starving fallen beneath the holy light.

It shouldn’t be wasted on herself.

With that, Ivy cradled the two rock-hard pieces of bread in her palms.

“What kind of life did you lead before…” Mu Chen started to speak, then paused halfway, suddenly feeling a pang of sympathy for her.

Nevertheless, Mu Chen’s hands did not falter. He promptly took the two pieces of hard bread, tossed them into his backpack, and, before she could protest, said, “Listen, this isn’t a special exception for you. If you don’t get your strength back, you’ll be a burden to everyone in this team.”

As he spoke, Mu Chen tried to pull her hand to give her a drumstick, but he found he couldn’t move her. He let go silently.

Seeing Ivy about to say something, Mu Chen continued, “Don’t worry, I have plenty of food with me—enough to last a long time.”

“That’s right! Food is scarce, but not so much here,” Mu Jiu’er quickly smoothed things over, pulling a bar of chocolate from her backpack.

“Ivy, try this—it’s my favorite.”

With the encouragement of Mu Chen and his sister, Ivy hesitated. “Really? You might not realize how important food like this is…”

“Trust us.” Mu Chen casually took out more than a dozen drumsticks from his backpack.

This time, Ivy finally believed them and accepted the food they handed over. “May the holy light bless you, Lord Mu Chen, Miss Mu Jiu’er.”

[Gospel Preacher Ivy Victoria’s loyalty to you has increased by 10 points; current loyalty is 60.]

A faint voice echoed in Mu Chen’s ear.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he realized he had discovered the key to Ivy’s loyalty.

“Ivy, try mine first!” Mu Jiu’er fed Ivy a piece of chocolate. The abrupt gesture left Ivy a little unsure, but once the chocolate touched her tongue, she fell silent, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

[Gospel Preacher Ivy Victoria’s loyalty to you has increased by 5 points; current loyalty is 65.]

Mu Chen: “……”

“Ivy, what’s the story with your backpack? Is it magic?”

With expulsion skills and a backpack, Ivy felt to Mu Chen very much like a participant in this era.

“The Void Backpack is standard for every mage. Ivy can’t quite recall how she got it either. It can hold twenty types of items, and similar items can be stacked.”

As he listened, Mu Chen’s curiosity only deepened, but he merely nodded as if he understood.

“Jiu’er, take Ivy to eat something, and then give her a quick overview of the environment. I’ll be waiting over there.”

He pointed to a nearby clearing.

“Alright~”

Mu Jiu’er linked arms with Ivy and led her toward the base.

……

……

Once the two entered the base, Mu Chen turned to look at Numbers 7, 8, and 9.

“You three have done well. The next task for the dwellings is yours. Once they’re finished, that’ll be your residence from now on.”

He selected the dwelling from [Construction], and the building’s phantom outline appeared on the open ground nearby.

“At your command, great master.”

The three servants responded in unison, then eagerly dashed to the outline of the level-one dwelling and began working.

Mu Chen checked the construction timetable.

A single servant would take ten hours to build, but with three, it would be just over three hours—the time depended on the number of workers.

Five hours for four level-one wells, and one dwelling—this speed was already quite fast.

With seventeen people in the territory now, at minimum eight level-one wells would be needed for adequate supply. As for housing, the dwelling’s info indicated it could accommodate four people at once.

The remaining thirteen would need to squeeze three to a room, barely fitting.

It was still inconvenient.

After thinking it through, Mu Chen began organizing his backpack on the spot.

Stone *262, Wood *254, Hemp *288, Iron Ingots *48, Source of Turbidity *12…

Thanks to the eight Sources of Turbidity obtained from dismantling the street punks, he could quickly build two more level-one wells.

He beckoned to Number 2, who was gathering wood in the distance.

Number 2 placed the wood on the ground and bowed. “Honorable master, servant Number 2 reporting to you.”

Mu Chen nodded. After placing the outlines for the two wells, he turned and said,

“You’re in charge of building these two wells. Also, have you seen Sade?”

“Master, Sade went to the mining area with Number 5.”

“The mining area?!” Mu Chen was puzzled, but then he remembered Number 5 had mentioned discovering a stone mine on the eastern clearing of the territory when they encountered the street punks.

“Alright, I understand. Get to work.”

He decided to check the area himself. If there really was a mining zone, it could mean upcoming changes.

He opened the friends channel.

“Jiu’er, Sade and the others found what looks like a mining area to the east. I’m heading over there now. If you need me, go to the eastern side of the territory.”

After sending the message, he took a silenced pistol from his bag and began to examine it. He needed to familiarize himself with all his weapons quickly so he wouldn’t fumble in emergencies.

[Type 67 Silenced Pistol: Effective range 30 meters. Semi-automatic silenced pistol. No manual operation required—after firing and releasing the trigger, squeezing again will fire the next round. Magazine capacity: nine shots.]

On the way, Mu Chen clumsily removed the magazine, studied it, then reloaded it.

“Puff!”

A small pit appeared in the ground he’d aimed at.

“The power is average, but the silencing is impressive. If he wielded this, he was confident he could take out ten ‘little guys’ in one go.”

While he was still studying the silenced pistol, the sound of clanging reached his ears.

Looking up, he saw Sade and the others in the distance.