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Song Xiaozhu finished an entire serving of "simple meal." Whether it was her imagination or not, the faint, persistent cramps in her stomach had eased considerably. The warm liquid soothed her stomach ulcers, lessening the pain and lifting her spirits.

Not bad!

This "edible simple meal" was much better than wild vegetable mush. For one thing, [Raw material] was everywhere; for another, it was neither bitter nor fishy. Though rather bland, it wasn't unpleasant to drink.

After successfully making an "edible simple meal," Song Xiaozhu unlocked the level-one "Cook" achievement and received 1 Quantum Coin.

The [raw material] required for the other recipes wasn't so easy to collect. With her hunger and thirst satisfied, Song Xiaozhu swung her big hoe, full of energy.

She was very curious about [medicinal raw material] and wanted to synthesize one to see what it was like.

There was actually plenty of medicine on Garbage Mountain. Like the rotting food, it was either expired, contaminated, or made of ingredients she couldn't identify.

Scavengers never collected this sort of "garbage." Even precious antibiotics had lost their value here. If someone actually risked taking them, their toxicity would outweigh their medicinal effects.

Song Xiaozhu's knowledge of medicine was very limited. She only knew a few common household medicines and had seen some injectable drugs when she occasionally went to the hospital for an IV drip. As for other things, such as Chinese medicinal herbs, she had seen those in films and television shows.

Not knowing was fine. She could try.

After using the "Synthesizer" so many times, she had figured out quite a few patterns. Based on what the notification voice said, she could use the "Workbench" as an "appraiser."

-There was no limit on ordinary synthesis attempts anyway.

Even so, finding discarded medicine wasn't easy, mainly because it was too small and fragile. Mixed into the sludge, it took some work to dig out.

Song

Xiaozhu tackled several things at once. With every swing of her hoe, she had to find scrap wood and broken stones while also watching for rotten food, any medicine that might be there, and the plastic bottles, scrap glass, and other things she needed to collect as a scavenger.

As the sun rose in the east and slowly climbed high into the sky, much of the early autumn chill burned away. The blazing sun began baking Garbage Mountain, making its already pungent stench even stronger. Vaguely, there seemed to be green "poison mist" rising into the air.

Song Xiaozhu's nose prickled and itched, and she couldn't help rubbing it again and again. Li Siyuan's perfectly good body had been reduced to a sorry state in her hands.

Song Xiaozhu had originally cared quite a bit about her appearance, but now that she had fallen into these circumstances, how could she spare a thought for how she looked? Staying alive was good enough.

She got more done that morning than she had all day yesterday, successfully accumulating 5 [raw wood material] and 5 [raw stone material]. As for [medicinal raw material]... she had yet to find any materials that could be called medicine.

The simple storage chest required 20 [raw wood material]. Even with Qiu Shuyu supplying wood that evening, she probably wouldn't have enough until tomorrow.

It was very hot at noon, so Song Xiaozhu decided to rest for a while. Getting heatstroke would cost her more than she gained.

With "edible simple meals" and "low-contamination water," Song Xiaozhu's scavenging days were far more comfortable than anyone else's. As she drank her water and ate her "simple meal," savoring its softness in her mouth and the reassuring feeling of a full stomach, she actually found it more delicious than the lavish delicacies in Li Siyuan's memories.

After eating and drinking her fill, Song Xiaozhu looked at the neatly shaped [raw wood material] and [raw stone material], which looked as though they had jumped straight out of a digital world.

The Workbench could only temporarily hold three "blocks," so Song Xiaozhu had no choice but to put the rest on the ground. Neither the [raw wood material] nor the [raw stone material] picked up any sludge. Each retained its original appearance, existing in a highly abstract form as though this world had developed a bug.

She wondered what these "blocks" looked like to other people.

She had accumulated so much [raw wood material] and [raw stone material] that morning, yet she still hadn't synthesized a simple axe or a simple hoe.

There was only one reason: that 60% success rate.

If success had been guaranteed, Song Xiaozhu would have synthesized them without hesitation long ago. The thought of a forty-percent chance of failure pained her. She had worked all morning to accumulate this little bit of [raw material], and one misstep could wipe it all out.

Song Xiaozhu looked at the storage chest recipe she had been longing for... Her gaze strayed, and she spotted the success rate field.

Right. The simple storage chest recipe had a success rate too, and it was also 60%.

Only then did Song Xiaozhu come to her senses. How could she say she was only short 15 [raw wood material]?

That was clearly just the starting price. She needed at least another 15 [raw wood material]. One unlucky attempt would make it 35, and a little more bad luck would make it 55...

Even with Qiu Shuyu supplying wood, it would take her forever to save up enough!

Song Xiaozhu took a deep breath, picked up one [raw wood material] and one [raw stone material], and selected the "simple axe" recipe-she needed an axe. She was going to follow Qiu Shuyu to the logging camp.

The white mist dispersed, and the notification voice sounded:

"Obtained 'simple axe' ×1.

"Evaluation: a barely usable axe.

"Effect: increases logging efficiency by 20%.

"Unlocked level-one 'Logger' achievement. Reward: 1 Quantum Coin."

The effect was different this time. It increased efficiency by 20%, ten percentage points more than the simple hoe and skinning knife-a full doubling.

Could this be the legendary "synthesis critical hit"?

The simple axe did indeed correspond to "Logger."

Song Xiaozhu took the simple axe off the Workbench and examined it in her hands. She couldn't see any difference; it was just a very ordinary stone axe. But she couldn't bear to waste raw material, so she couldn't synthesize another one for comparison.

She put the axe away, placed more [raw material] on the Workbench, and made the simple pickaxe too.

Her luck was bad this time, and she only succeeded on the second attempt:

"Obtained 'simple pickaxe' ×1.

"Evaluation: a barely usable pickaxe.

"Effect: increases mining efficiency by 10%.

"Unlocked level-one 'Miner' achievement. Reward: 1 Quantum Coin."

The simple pickaxe hadn't scored a "critical hit," and its effect only provided a 10% increase. Song Xiaozhu wasn't surprised. If she got another critical hit, she wouldn't have to wear the title of "Unlucky Player" anymore.