Clara used the Cloth she had just traded for to craft 10 blankets.
“Heh heh, I can churn out another batch.”
She murmured and listed them.
MerchantItemTradeStock🧵 Blanket x1Cloth x1010
Sure enough, demand was high. They sold out in an instant.
“Great. I’ll make more to sell and trade for more resources.”
She crafted 21 more blankets and listed them. After finishing all that, Clara leaned back in her chair with satisfaction, ready to rest for a while. Then an anonymous buyer sent her a private message.
Private Chat💬Anonymous Player-I don’t have any Cloth. Can I trade 10 Iron Ingots for one?-
After the trade, a blanket appeared out of thin air in Derek’s car.
“She’s got quite the resources. But that’s fine. This way I can get a piece of the action too.”
He got out of the car to gather dry firewood. Meanwhile, Clara, still in her car, received a message from Cute Bunny.
Private Chat💬Cute Bunny-I’ve got a blueprint here. Can I trade it to you for some food and a blanket?-
Appraisal📐High-Power Flashlight BlueprintMaterials: ¦ LED x3, Resin x2,Iron Ingot x5, Glass x11,000 to 9,000 lumens, fourbrightness levels plus strobe.Includes a Type-C fast chargingcable.
A lighting device?
On second thought, even though it wasn’t very useful, it would still come in handy in places with poor lighting. Plus, at night it could shine farther and help spot danger ahead of time.
Private Chat💬Cute Bunny-Two blankets, 2 bottles of water, and 4 loaves of bread. Is that okay?-
“Sure,” Clara agreed without hesitation.
A big blueprint customer was worth keeping happy. Next time she might get other good blueprints. After receiving the blueprint, she crafted it immediately. The materials were basic and easy to find. Resin could be obtained by chopping down trees. Once it was built, Clara got out of the car to test it. The brightness was solid, lighting up about forty feet, and that was only on the first setting.
“Pretty good. Works well.”
Seeing Derek return from the wilderness, Clara went back into the car without looking back.
Night fell. After dinner, she was getting ready to rest when someone knocked on the car window. Clara rolled it down and saw Derek’s expressionless face.
“What do you want?” she snapped.
“Night watch,” Derek said, brief as ever.
“Night watch?” Clara blinked.
“Starting tonight, we take turns on night watch.” He looked at her, tone flat. “I’ll take the first half. You take the second. Any problem with that?”
Clara sneered inwardly.
Sounded nice, but he just wants to keep tabs on this girl.
Huh?
Why did I just think “this girl”?
But out loud she said, “Fine. But I snore, grind my teeth, and fart in my sleep. Don’t blame me if it keeps you up.”
Derek’s lips twitched, as if he wanted to laugh but held it back. He only said mildly, “Likewise.”
With that, he turned and went back to his car, scanning the darkness around them warily. Clara locked the car doors, pulled the blanket over herself, and gradually fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, a few mournful wolf howls cut through the dead silent sky. Clara jolted awake and grabbed the Bloodthirst Longsword beside her. Outside the window, Derek had already taken a fighting stance, his entrenching tool held across his chest, eyes locked on the darkness not far away.
“Can you see how many wolves there are?” Clara got out and asked in a low voice.
By moonlight, she saw pairs of ghostly green eyes in the dark wilderness, closing in from every direction.
“Get in the car,” Clara said at once. “We’re safer inside.”
“It’s too late,” Derek said, shaking his head. “They already know we’re here. If we get in now, they’ll start attacking the car, and then we’ll be sitting ducks. Get ready to fight.”
Clara gritted her teeth. She knew getting in the car and trying to drive out was out of the question now. In the darkness, the shapes of the wolf pack gradually became clear. The wolves were a size bigger than normal wolves, with gray-black fur, drool dripping from their jaws, sharp teeth bared. Behind the pack, a huge wolf shape loomed in and out of view, standing motionless in the middle of the highway.
“I’ll take point, you cover me,” Derek said, brief as ever. “Use your crossbow. Take out the fastest ones coming from the left and right first.”
The words barely left his mouth when a mutant wolf attacked, a black lightning bolt lunging straight at Derek’s face. He didn’t retreat. He stepped in, dropped his body slightly, and swung his entrenching tool upward from below.
Shhk.
The sharp edge sliced cleanly through the mutant wolf’s throat. Blood sprayed, and the wolf didn’t even get a chance to scream before it went limp and collapsed. At the same time, the wolves to the left and right attacked. Clara’s eyes narrowed, and the Repeating Crossbow in her hands fired.
Several crossbow bolts shot out, but only one hit a wolf. The pack was too fast, their movement erratic, making it extremely difficult for her to aim. In less than a minute, she used up all ten bolts and only managed to kill three wolves. A mutant wolf seized the moment while she was reloading and lunged at her from the side.
Clara’s heart jumped. She dropped the crossbow and raised the Bloodthirst Longsword to block. The wolf’s claws clashed with the blade, and the impact forced her back several steps.
So strong.
She cursed inwardly, her grip numb from the shock. This body’s strength was still too weak. One-on-one she might have a chance, but this was a chaotic melee. The mutant wolf missed its strike, let out a low growl, and lunged again, its foul breath washing over her face.
Clara gritted her teeth and counterattacked instead of retreating, thrusting the Bloodthirst Longsword straight at the mutant wolf’s eye. She knew very well that if she didn’t kill the wolf in front of her quickly and let the others rush in, it would be trouble. The wolf seemed to sense the danger and dodged the fatal blow, but the blade still left a deep gash on its cheek, exposing bone.
Awooo!
The searing pain triggered its savagery. It opened its bloody maw and bit viciously at Clara’s sword arm.
Fuck. No time.
Clara activated Enchanting Gaze. This time she was facing a beast consumed by rage, and the mind control effect was greatly reduced. It only held the wolf for a single second. But one second was enough.
She swung the Bloodthirst Longsword hard and killed the wolf in front of her. Two more had already flanked her from different directions. She could control one, but there was no time for the other, and she didn’t even have time to reload the crossbow.
I’m done for.