Chapter 10: Expanding the Space

  It was a new day, and Lan Chi felt his shelter had been completely transformed. The system panel showed the hut's growth progress had reached 34%, one step closer to advancing to Tier 2. He wondered what new functions Tier 2 would bring.

  "Sigh, life isn't easy. Gotta keep working hard." Lan Chi rubbed his face, trying to muster his energy.

  He had the hut open a crack and let the two tool monsters out.

  "No tree cutting today," Lan Chi instructed. "You two scout carefully around the area. Look for any potential dangers or special items. If you find someone else's shelter, remember to keep your distance and don't get discovered. Mark the coordinates and come back to tell me. Whatever you do, don't alert them."

  The two tool monsters blinked their wooden eyes blankly, nodded in unison to show they understood, then left, disappearing one left and one right into the dim, dense forest.

  "What are we doing today?" The hut's tentacle dropped onto Lan Chi's shoulder, the eye at its tip blinking curiously.

  Lan Chi stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and asked, "Little Hut, that 'Mutated Scorpion-Tailed Bee Breeding Chamber' function... can it nurture mutated scorpion-tailed bees now?"

  "Mm-hmm, it can nurture them," the hut replied quickly. "But it needs a whole lot of energy."

  "How much does it need?" Lan Chi pressed.

  The hut extended a few tender tentacles, as if counting on fingers, ticking off numbers in front of Lan Chi: "Umm... two jars of honey for one, or ten Phosphorus Crystals."

  Lan Chi took ten Phosphorus Crystals from the storage room and placed them on the table. "Make one first, let me see."

  The hut quickly curled its tentacles around the crystals and swallowed them.

  Before long, a half-meter tall egg with bark-like texture swelled from the wall in the corner of the living room. Inside the egg, a living creature writhed incessantly.

  Lan Chi moved closer to observe this strange pulse of life, curious. "How long will it take to nurture?"

  A large eye leaned in, its pupil filled with confusion: "I don't know. It's my first time too."

  Lan Chi sighed helplessly. "Alright."

  He turned his head, looking at the now noticeably emptier living room, and asked again, "Little Hut, what does it take to open another folding space?" He planned to create a dedicated growing space, transplant the mutated fruits, and maybe grow some other crops. That way, he'd have a stable source of goods for the trading channel.

  "Ten Phosphorus Crystals per square meter," the hut quoted swiftly.

  Lan Chi did the math in his head and frowned. "I'm a bit short on Phosphorus Crystals..."

  The hut's big eye rolled slyly, and it said with some excitement: "Five jars of honey can open twenty square meters!"

  Lan Chi stared suspiciously at that eye. The ratio was clearly off. He squinted. "...You just want to eat the honey, don't you?"

  The hut fell silent instantly. Its tentacles fidgeted awkwardly in the corner, and its big eye darted around, afraid to meet his gaze.

  "Alright, I get it." Lan Chi shook his head, amused. "Go ahead and eat. Open up a thirty-square-meter room for me. It needs to have enough light, as bright as daytime outside. Also, connect the Rootsucker roots to the ceiling. When I tell you to water, you spray for me."

  "Okay, boss!" The hut cheered excitedly, eagerly extending its tentacles to retrieve five jars of honey from the folding warehouse and stuffing them into the gaping maw on the floor.

  ...........

  Time quickly passed to afternoon. The two tool monsters returned from their scouting mission. They hadn't found any danger, nor had they spotted anyone else's shelter. They came back to report, and also brought back three creatures. They were similar in size to adult wild boars, but looked bizarre and intimidating, each covered with four pairs of eyes.

  "You wiped away the blood trails, right? You didn't leave any traces to follow?" Lan Chi asked cautiously. The two tool monsters waved their tentacles, indicating they had cleaned everything up.

  "Good." Lan Chi took out four Phosphorus Crystals and gave two to each tool monster as a reward for their work today. He noticed that not only could the hut devour Phosphorus Crystals to upgrade, but these two tool monsters could too, though much slower than the hut.

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  Lan Chi butchered one of the creatures, feeding the organs to the hut. He cut out a slab of ribs and started cooking it on the stone slab above the fireplace's heat shield.

  The stone slab came from the workshop. Since he didn't have any iron yet, Lan Chi could only craft basic kitchen utensils through the system. He planned to spend the next few days carefully collecting materials to trade with someone on the channel for some metal.

  The meat quickly fried to a golden brown. Lan Chi couldn't wait any longer. He took the slab off the heat and took a bite, not caring that it was scalding hot.

  "Mmm! So delicious!" Even without any seasoning, the flavor of the meat was extraordinarily satisfying.

  This was Lan Chi's first proper dinner since arriving in this world. Most of the prey he'd caught before had been sold for supplies to upgrade the house. Even when there was some left over, he hadn't dared to try it, afraid of getting sick without being able to ensure it was thoroughly cooked. Today, finally feeling settled, he could eat with confidence.

  After eating and drinking his fill, Lan Chi didn't rest. Taking advantage of the afternoon sun before it completely set, he went out with the two tool monsters to dig soil. He found some fertile humus nearby, dug it up, and loaded it into wooden buckets to transport back to the newly opened folding space.

  After several trips back and forth carrying the soil, Lan Chi had the hut generate three roughly one-meter-wide troughs in the room. Each trough was filled with about half a meter of humus. On the ceiling, he neatly arranged the Firefly Eyes and Rootsucker Roots.

  "Finally starting to look like a real growing room." Lan Chi wiped the sweat from his forehead, pleased. He planned to sell the remaining two prey and exchange them for some seeds to start planting. That way, he could both secure his own food supply and have a steady source of resources.

  That evening after washing up, Lan Chi leaned back against his soft pillow and opened the trading channel. The pale blue screen light illuminated his face, revealing a hint of fatigue. He hadn't checked it all day, and messages were still flying by rapidly. His private message inbox was once again filled with a "99+" notification.

  "These people really don't give up..." Lan Chi frowned as he looked at the long list of private messages requesting honey. "Is this honey really some kind of rare treasure? Why is everyone targeting me specifically?"

  The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He decided to open his chat with A Dai and sent his confusion over.

  "Huh? You don't even know that?" A Dai's reply came quickly, disbelief evident between the lines. "What about your boss? Didn't he tell you? How did you guys even sneak into the Gods' Trial?"

  Seeing this rapid-fire series of questions, Lan Chi's heart sank. A Dai was clearly getting suspicious.

  His eyes darted around, his mind racing. Drawing on years of web novel reading, he immediately started spinning a story: "Sigh, big bro, you don't know the half of it. It's a long story. Originally, it wasn't even my boss's turn to participate in this trial. He's just an illegitimate son who's not favored in the family.

  The candidate was supposed to be his older brother, but his older brother was ambushed by rivals right before departure. To save the family's spot and not let all the resources they'd invested go to waste, they had to temporarily push my boss forward as a replacement. The family had begged and borrowed just to buy a spot from some high-ranking noble.

  I've been my boss's servant since childhood, so I got the chance to follow him in and see the world."

  A Dai seemed momentarily stunned by this tale of family intrigue. After a moment, he replied: "So that's how it is. That explains things. Which region did you come from?"

  Lan Chi's heart tightened again. This A Dai was asking way too many details! How was he supposed to know what regions this damn place had?

  He gritted his teeth and, steeling himself, made up a name that sounded plausible: "...The Merchant Confederation?"

  "Oh! That explains it!" A Dai sounded as if everything had suddenly clicked. "I was wondering. The trial spots from the other divine alliances are earned through strength. There's no way someone could just spend a bit of money and sneak in. Only you capitalist types from the Merchant Confederation would do something like that. But seriously, your luck really sucks.

  From the looks of it, you guys don't know any of the rules. I can give you a crash course if you want. Two jars of honey. Fair deal, right?"

  "Deal! Thanks for looking out for me, big bro. Sending the honey now." Lan Chi replied without hesitation. Compared to two jars of honey, information was his lifeline right now.

  After receiving the honey, A Dai was indeed straightforward. He sent a long stream of valuable information:

  First, this world was a new plane recently marked by several major organizations and had been completely transformed into the "Gods' Trial Ground."

  Second, the trial participants had two tasks: one was to eliminate the natives and "spread glory" for the gods; the other was to claim territory. Whoever claimed more land would have that place become their race's private backyard in the future.

  The third point was the most critical. The trial had just begun, and everyone was short on food and supplies. The kind of top-tier ingredients Lan Chi had been selling, which could both restore physical strength and directly enhance mental energy, were absolute treasures for survival!

  Looking at that last line, Lan Chi's palms were covered in cold sweat. In their eyes, he was basically a walking treasure chest.

  Another message from A Dai popped up: "You and your boss seem pretty sharp. Want to become my subordinates? At least I can guarantee you won't die."

  Lan Chi saw the message and tentatively asked, "Big bro, we don't even know where we are right now. How would we find you?"

  "Huh? Don't you have the light screens sent by the gods? Can't you check the map?" A Dai asked, somewhat surprised.

  Lan Chi was speechless. It seemed his "pirated system" was indeed different from the "genuine article" the natives had, missing many core functions. He could only vaguely respond, "Uh, first time using this thing. Not really familiar with it. I only know we're currently at the border region between the Elves and the Bloodstained Inquisition."

  "Tsk, the Bloodstained Inquisition, huh. Then you're on your own. If you really get a chance to escape, come find me then." With that, A Dai ended the communication.

  A Dai's words sent a strong sense of crisis surging through Lan Chi. "Little Hut, we need to prepare to run. When will the scorpion-tailed bee be ready?"

  "Tomorrow morning," the hut replied honestly.

  "Tomorrow morning..." Lan Chi paced anxiously inside the room, thinking about countermeasures. "Can you spray some mucus now to remove our scent from the surrounding area?"

  "Yes."

  "Then remove the scent first." Lan Chi issued the command. This feeling of having a knife at his back made him dare not delay for a single moment.