Chapter 205
“Turs, what bottle?”
Little Biscuit flapped his tiny wings, using his small hands to help pull Turs upright. Even the simple act of sitting up left Turs panting for breath. After resting for a moment, he turned his gaze toward the transparent glass bottle in his hand.
Just moments ago, he had suddenly fainted, and in that brief unconsciousness, he saw the vast, deep-blue ocean filled with countless drifting bottles. One of the bottles had floated to his feet.
He had picked it up—and then awakened.
Now, the bottle was in his hand once more, as real as ever, though only he could see it.
Turs could no longer recall when he had last seen the bottle, nor when it had vanished. In the eternal darkness of this underground world, time felt meaningless.
“Let’s go. We need to leave here first,” Turs said.
Struggling to his feet, he ignored the dizziness as best as he could, picked up the basket and the mushrooms from the ground, and carefully placed the glass bottle inside before leaving the room.
Little Biscuit perched on his shoulder.
They went together to check on the children—eleven in total—along with two elderly people, both over eighty years old.
It had been almost five years since Siasa was swallowed by a tide of beasts. In the chaos, they had been forced to flee underground with the help of warriors.
At that time, there had been seven or eight elderly people and more than twenty children. Illness and starvation had claimed many, leaving less than half their original number.
To conserve resources, the children spent most of their time sleeping.
Though they had been restless at first, they quickly learned that any unnecessary movement would only bring trouble and disaster. They’d reluctantly settled into an eerie silence.
The glowing inscriptions carved into the walls provided the only source of light.
Dim. Oppressive. Lifeless.
Living in such an environment for so long had dulled their senses and drained their spirits. Turs often found himself questioning the point of their survival. Could they ever hope to return to the surface? What was the purpose of this struggle?
The only thing keeping him going was the thought of passing on the Siasa tradition of crafting inscriptions. That knowledge must not perish with him.
A boy approached Turs. The oldest of the children, his name was Senri, and he had just turned thirteen this year.
The youngest child was six, meaning they had all spent half a decade in this underground prison.
Turs handed the basket of mushrooms to Senri and patted him lightly on the head before turning to leave.
The room fell silent once more.
Suddenly—
Senri let out a startled yelp and flung one of the mushrooms away.
In mid-air, the mushroom transformed back into a small fairy, laughing mischievously. “Senri, I tricked you again!”
The fairy’s laughter broke the oppressive silence. The children, most of whom had only been pretending to sleep, turned their heads to watch. A glimmer of light returned to their dull, lifeless eyes.
Even Senri’s usually blank, empty face softened into a faint smile.
“Little Biscuit…”
Unused to speaking, his words were slow and deliberate, but his voice was clear and gentle.
“Senri, you’re just too adorable!”
Little Biscuit flew over, patting his cheek with tiny hands. Then, with a playful grin, the fairy announced, “See you tomorrow, and good luck!”
The children watched as Little Biscuit fluttered away, their eyes following him with a rare hint of reluctance.
Meanwhile, the fairy had returned to Turs’s side, following him into the workshop.
This room was noticeably brighter than the others, but the light remained subdued. Excessive brightness risked attracting star beasts, and that was a danger they could not afford.
Turs slumped into a chair, taking a moment to rest before picking up the drifting bottle and removing its cork.
As soon as he did, a young boy’s voice drifted into his ears.
“Turs, hello. I’m so glad you’ve placed your trust in us. We’ve prepared some food for you…”
“We’re very interested in the inscriptions you mentioned…”
“Can you craft spatial items? Something that doesn’t require magic to use…”
Turs listened to the message intently, his body trembling slightly.
The boy spoke in a language Turs had never heard before, but somehow, he understood every word. Could this boy truly exist? Had he really delivered food for them?
“Turs, are you alright?”
Little Biscuit fluttered closer, concern evident on his small face as he watched the odd expression on Turs’s face.
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Turs said softly.
Turning to the fairy, he asked, “You still can’t see this bottle, can you? Or hear the voice coming from it?”
The little fairy shook his head.
Turs nodded and said, “Now, the next step is to prove whether this is just my imagination or reality.”
He tilted the bottle, and the miniature stone cabinet inside tumbled out.
“Wow, Turs, where did you conjure this from?” The little fairy flapped his wings and flew to Turs’s hand, holding onto the tiny stone cabinet, curiously examining it.
“I put it inside the bottle that you can’t see,” Turs explained. “Now, let’s restore it to its original size and see if there are any surprises waiting inside.”
Little Biscuit gave him a strange look but still nodded doubtfully, albeit with a hint of trust.
Together, they placed the miniature stone cabinet on the ground. The little fairy injected magical energy into the restoration inscription on the cabinet.
The miniature cabinet began to glow faintly, gradually returning to its original height of two meters.
Before the cabinet door even opened, Little Biscuit twitched his nose, his voice filled with excitement. “Turs, I smell food!”
Turs smelled it too.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he reached out and opened the cabinet doors.
As the doors swung open, their contents were revealed—two-thirds of the cabinet was packed with food and water, all neatly arranged in front of Turs and the little fairy.
“Where did all this come from?” Little Biscuit flew into the cabinet and began rummaging through the food. “So much flour! Can we make little biscuits? Oh, this smells sweet—it’s sugar! This one is so salty—salt? And this is… hard jerky? Wait, I can sense water-elemental magic crystals!”
The little fairy chattered non-stop as he inventoried the contents, while Turs stood motionless, staring at the cabinet’s interior.
When he finally confirmed that everything in front of him was real, tears welled up in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
“We’re saved… The children are saved…” Turs murmured softly.
“Turs, where did all this come from?” The little fairy finished his inspection of the stone cabinet’s contents and flew back, his voice brimming with excitement.
“It was sent to us by a young man named Tang Yu’an.”
Turs explained everything, and with the physical evidence in front of him, the little fairy finally believed in the existence of the mysterious bottle he couldn’t see.
“This is amazing! With this much food, Senri and the others won’t starve anymore!” the little fairy exclaimed.
Turs smiled and nodded. He looked at the little fairy and said, “Thank you, Little Biscuit.”
For the first time in what felt like forever, a gentle smile appeared on Turs’s face. The little fairy couldn’t help but be stunned—he hadn’t seen Turs smile in so long.
“You’ve brought me luck.”
Hearing this, Little Biscuit puffed up his chest with pride. “I told you I’m useful!”
Looking at the fairy’s adorable demeanor, Turs couldn’t resist reaching out a finger toward him. Before his finger could even touch him, the little fairy eagerly leaned forward and rubbed his head against Turs’s fingertip.
The faint glow of the inscriptions on the walls illuminated the room in soft light, making the scene feel warm and peaceful.
Soon, a pot of water was boiling in the room.
Turs poured some glucose into the boiling water, and the little fairy grabbed a wooden spoon and began stirring enthusiastically.
“Aren’t you going to add some flour or something else?” Little Biscuit asked curiously.
Turs shook his head and explained, “The children have gone too long without a proper meal. They can’t eat too much all at once. Let’s start with some sugar water.”
When the sugar water cooled to a warm temperature, Turs and the little fairy left the room.
The pot floated in midair, following behind them as they walked to where the children were sleeping.
Turs lightly tapped the walls, activating more glowing inscriptions to brighten the space.
“Wake up, it’s time to eat!” Little Biscuit flew through the air, calling out loudly.
“Senri, get everyone up to drink some sugar water,” Turs said to the dazed boy before heading into the adjacent room, carrying two bowls of sugar water with him.
In the adjacent room were two elderly inscription masters, Jackson and Lirna.
Their expertise in inscriptions was no less than Turs’s. While Turs had unparalleled talent, the two elders made up for it with their years of experience.
When the underground supply of magic crystals had nearly run out, they had taken on the task of manually infusing energy into the array.
The array concealed their presence, preventing the star beasts from detecting them. Meanwhile, Turs focused on inscribing protective glyphs in an attempt to give their underground sanctuary some semblance of defense.
However, carving new inscriptions into an active array was an immensely difficult task, so his progress had been painstakingly slow.
“Grandpa Jackson, Grandma Lirna,” Turs greeted warmly as he entered the room. His voice carried a rare note of joy. “We have food!”
The two elders slowly opened their eyes and exchanged glances. Lirna was the first to stop her magical output.
She looked at Turs and asked, “Did you improve the cultivation inscription for the mushrooms?”
Turs shook his head and handed her a bowl of sugar water. “Please drink this first to regain your strength. I’ll explain everything afterward.”
Lirna accepted the bowl and took a small sip. The rich sweetness made her instinctively want to gulp it down, but she restrained herself and drank it slowly instead.
“Grandpa Jackson, please rest for a while as well. Let me take over the magic infusion,” Turs offered as he turned to the elderly man.
However, Lirna quickly set down her bowl and stopped him. “Turs, you are Siasa’s last hope. You can’t afford to take risks.”
At only twenty-one years old, Turs had already advanced to a Two-Star Elementalist, theoretically granting him a lifespan of up to two hundred years. Over the past five years, he had also fully mastered the inscription techniques they had taught him.
He was the pride of Siasa—their greatest hope. He had a mission far more important than anyone else’s survival.
Looking at Lirna and Jackson’s serious expressions, Turs smiled faintly and took out a few water-elemental magic crystals.
“Grandma Lirna, look at this,” he said.
Lirna froze in place. “Water-elemental magic crystals? But didn’t we run out of these?”
“Yes, these are newly acquired,” Turs explained.
Lirna appeared a bit shaken, but Jackson remained steadfast, shaking his head. “Save these crystals. We’ll need them in the future.”
“Just one crystal,” Turs persuaded, “It’s fine. Besides, we’ll surely have more in the future. I’ll need your help later on.”
Under Turs’s insistence, they finally agreed to use one of the magic crystals as an energy source.
With that, Jackson and Lirna were finally able to rest for a while.
After drinking the rich sugar water, both of them let out satisfied sighs, their faces lighting up with happiness.
“This water is so sweet!”
“Turs, where did you get this honey?” Lirna asked.
Turs smiled, then pulled out the miniature stone cabinet he had stored earlier. In front of the two elders, he restored it to its original size once more.
He opened the cabinet to show them its contents. As he watched their expressions shift to astonishment, he also revealed the mysterious bottle that only he could see.
“All of these supplies were sent to us by a young boy from the East.”
Hearing Turs’s explanation, Jackson and Lirna were filled with disbelief. But the sugar water they tasted, the magic crystal used in the array, and the supplies inside the cabinet all stood as undeniable evidence.
What Turs said was true. Through a dream and a mysterious bottle, he had communicated with someone from another continent!
Could this mean that the planet of Aishel hadn’t completely fallen?
Hope began to ignite in their hearts. Perhaps one day, they could bring the legacy of the inscription masters back to the surface and see the sun once more.
Turs then retrieved a bundle of materials from the bottommost compartment of the stone cabinet.
These materials appeared to have been harvested from magical beasts, but their magical energy levels were quite low, indicating that they likely came from low-tier beasts.
Such materials could only be used to inscribe simple inscriptions, so crafting with them wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Grandma Lirna, Grandpa Jackson, I’ll need your help,” Turs said, looking at them earnestly.
“Tell us what you need,” Lirna replied.
“Once everyone has regained their strength, we need to turn these materials into weapons or equipment to showcase our strength and value to our newfound ally,” Turs said gravely.
“Only by doing so can we exchange for more food, water, and magic crystals.”
With a steady supply of resources, the defensive array of this underground sanctuary could be repaired and reinforced more quickly. Then, they could work without holding back, and the children could finally move freely again.
“Whether we can escape the fate of extinction depends entirely on this moment!”
Hearing Turs’s words, the two elders grew solemn, fully understanding the importance of this task.
If possible, of course, they wanted to save all the children. Among the children, there were also a few who showed promising talent for inscriptions.
And naturally, they themselves wished to survive as well.
“It’s been a long time since we last worked on inscriptions,” Jackson said with a smile. “Leave this task to us.”
Lirna nodded in agreement.
Seeing their eagerness, Turs thought for a moment before saying, “We still have time. Please don’t use any life-shortening methods to complete the inscriptions.”
Jackson shot him a disgruntled look. “Low-level inscriptions are as simple as eating and drinking. Who would sacrifice their lifespan just for that?”
Hearing this, Turs chose to drop the subject.
He then retrieved some flour and salt from the stone cabinet to prepare noodle soup. After all, drinking sugar water alone wasn’t enough to satisfy hunger.
Once everyone regained their strength, Jackson and Lirna began processing the materials, and they even asked Turs to bring the children over.
This was a perfect opportunity to introduce the children to the basics of inscriptions. For these children, who had already lost everything, this experience was incredibly precious.
The children crowded around Jackson and Lirna, watching closely as the two elders processed the materials and inscribed them, occasionally helping out where they could.
For these children, who had been confined to the underground for five long years, this day was extraordinary.
Not only did they eat their fill for the first time, but they were also allowed to leave their sleeping quarters. Even if it was just to observe the crafting of inscription equipment, it was enough to spark a light in their eyes.
After delegating the crafting of basic equipment and weapons to the two elders, Turs hurried back to his workshop.
He had his own project to work on—how to create a storage bag that didn’t require magic and could be used even by ordinary people.
He had taken the young boy’s request very seriously—especially the description of a bag that allowed one to reach inside and retrieve items.
Unfortunately, Turs lacked spatial affinity. Spatial magic was an exceptionally rare ability, one that didn’t even fall under the framework of elemental magic.
So how could he fulfill this request?
As Turs pondered, his gaze fell on Little Biscuit, who was fluttering around, leaving behind specks of glowing light as he flew.
He opened his notebook and turned to a page in the middle. On it was a design for an inscription he had envisioned—”Fairy World.”
This was an inscription inspired by the little fairy. It was meant to create a world where any living being that entered would shrink in proportion, becoming the same size as Little Biscuit.
If such a world could be realized, they would need far less food and water, and they wouldn’t have to fear star beasts anymore.
Although he currently lacked the ability to bring this inscription to life, could the concept perhaps be applied to the storage bag?
What if the objects placed inside the bag shrank proportionally and then returned to their original size upon being removed?
“Isn’t this essentially achieving the functionality of a spatial storage bag?” Turs thought to himself. He had already cracked the problem of shrinking non-living objects.
Now, the only challenge left was how to shrink items entering the bag while keeping the bag’s exterior volume unchanged.
Turs shared his idea with Little Biscuit, the fairy who had also become a skilled inscription master under his guidance. Instantly, an animated discussion erupted between them, with the two debating the feasibility of this concept.
The dream realm’s floating bottle sat on the desk, reflecting the silhouettes of one tall and one small figure. It seemed to bear witness to the unfolding of this remarkable collaboration…
*
Lakeside Grassland, Shop No. 6
After weeks of effort, a wind-driven water wheel now stood proudly by the lakeshore. It channeled water into a network of ditches, allowing water to flow to an irrigation system extending over 500 to 600 meters.
The land surrounding Shop No. 6 was gradually transforming into a thriving grassland. From the lakeside outward toward the shop, a network of ditches and channels—approximately 500 to 600 meters long and 100 to 200 meters wide—was bringing life to the soil.
The crisscrossing trenches and strategically placed water pits ensured the lake water could nourish the ground continuously. Seedlings, whose roots were immediately stimulated to grow after being watered with special stimulants, burst forth with vigorous vitality. Their roots dug deeply into the soil, drawing up water and nutrients.
In addition to grass, shrubs had begun to grow around the channels and water pits. Animals no longer needed to risk their lives competing for water at the lake. Now, they could drink from any of the ditches. While predators still roamed the area, the animals’ dispersal across the grassland had given them more opportunities to survive.
This grassland, covering more than 100 acres, was slowly transitioning into an oasis. Everything appeared vibrant and full of promise.
Even the local hunters, led by Old Ping, were astonished at the transformation of the land. They marveled at what they believed to be divine craftsmanship from the God of Commerce.
Out of reverence and fear, they dared not approach the ditches to take water, nor did they dare to hunt the animals on the grassland. They feared incurring the wrath of the divine.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi didn’t bother with the hunters for now. When working outside, they always wore masks anyway.
Most tasks no longer required their direct involvement. Even the water wheel was built by construction robots after the duo had drawn up the blueprints and prepared the materials.
Now that they had increased their fleet of construction robots to five units, the speed of work had improved significantly. They estimated the second water wheel would be finished soon.
“The water wheel’s up. Is it time to start raising sheep?” Tang Yu’an asked as he gazed at the lush, green grassland, feeling immensely satisfied.
“Let’s wait until the grass grows thicker,” Zhou Qi suggested.
He’d heard that sheep eat grass down to the roots, and the current grassland ecosystem was still fragile. It needed more time to establish itself.
“Alright,” Tang Yu’an nodded.
After playing with the wolf pack for a bit, they prepared to return to the Desolate city to continue clearing the road with their RV. However, just then—
System Notification:
[Employee activity contributes to your growth.]
[EXP +1]
[EXP bar full. Merchant Level +1]
[Congratulations! Merchant Level upgraded to Lv21.]
Rewards for reaching Level 21:
New exchange items in the wholesale market: Sichuan peppercorns, compressed biscuits, canned rabbit meat, bottled mineral water, and desk lamps.
+1 Storage Slot (Total: 25 slots)
Remote Retrieval Skill upgraded to Lv19. Range and efficiency doubled.
+1 Forum Alias. “Nearby” Channel unlocked on Message Board.
RV upgrade: Overall performance improved by 100%.
“Wow!” Tang Yu’an exclaimed, delighted. “Brother Qi, I leveled up again!”
After more than half a month, he had finally reached the next level—thanks to the hard work of their employees. If it were just the two of them, it would have taken much longer.
Tang Yu’an reviewed the rewards and found them quite useful.
The “Remote Retrieval” skill had leveled up again, doubling its range and efficiency. “Hehe, and another forum alias to play around with!”
“What’s this? A ‘Nearby Channel’?” He opened the message board rules and read up on it.
The “Nearby” channel allowed employees within the same region to communicate. He could define what constituted a “region,” with the maximum distance being 10 kilometers.
For safety reasons, Tang Yu’an set it to the maximum distance.
“RV performance improved by 100%?” Zhou Qi’s interest was piqued. “Let’s head back and check it out!”
“Okay!”
They used the teleportation array to return to their base, eager to test the upgraded RV and see how the enhanced performance would manifest.
*
MR168845, StA
Tang Sheng drove down an empty street, gripping the steering wheel tightly. In the passenger seat, his wife, Tang Xueyun, sat with a hollow gaze and a face full of exhaustion.
“Dad, there’s a monster chasing us!” His young daughter, Tang Yuxin, called out from the back seat.
“Hold tight! Watch how dad shakes them off!” Tang Sheng responded, determination hardening his voice.
He stepped on the gas, pushing the car to its limit. The mutated creatures trailing them quickly fell behind as he maneuvered the car into a corner of the city that was both slightly open and concealed.
“Dad, I’m hungry…” Yuxin whispered.
Tang Sheng reached into his backpack and rummaged around for a while, only to pull out a single sausage.
It was the last of their supplies.
Ahhhh finally!!
I feel so emotional ??