Chapter 33: Chapter 28: The Temptation of the Spiritual Water

As soon as Flora Bloom entered the foothill forest, she let Vert go out alone to scout the path. She knew Vert had a camouflage ability, allowing it to blend its body color into the environment to evade predators and avoid detection.

Upon receiving the order, Vert’s body flickered and became almost transparent. If not for their mental link, she wouldn’t have been able to spot it at all.

She sensed Vert moving away from her, though it didn’t fly too far. It was scouting nearby, occasionally concealing itself.

Flora Bloom began to walk through the mountainous area alone. The mountain itself was about the size of an 800-meter peak. It wasn’t very large, but because it had been wilderness, the surroundings were like a true jungle.

She also knew that many animals had once been kept here, so she had to advance cautiously.

To her surprise, the deeper she went, the denser the trees and vegetation became, completely obscuring the original path into the mountain.

’This won’t do. If there’s danger hidden in this vegetation, I won’t have time to react.’

So, without a second thought, she decided to summon the large golden cicada from her space.

But to Flora Bloom’s exasperation, when the giant golden cicada heard her summons, it sent back a mental wave of refusal.

When she looked into her space, she saw the cicada’s plump body floating on the surface of the space’s river, drifting with the current. Its mouthparts were frantically sucking up the water.

Flora Bloom forcefully summoned it from her space, supporting its weight in her hands.

The moment the golden cicada appeared, its noticeably larger frame made Flora Bloom pause. ’Jeez, how did both of them get bigger after just one night in my space?’

This was especially true for the plump golden cicada; it had grown by more than just a little. Its abdomen, which looked ready to burst, now had a faint metallic sheen.

Flora Bloom flicked it with her finger, and sure enough, it produced a metallic sound.

The golden cicada twisted its body a few times, trying to break free. Through their mental link, Flora Bloom could clearly sense its desire to get back into her space and drink the water.

’Is the water in my space really that enticing?’ she wondered. ’It’s made this fat bug defy its own master’s command?’

Flora Bloom looked at the golden cicada, now more than twice the size of her own head, and said, "If you want to go back, you’re going to work for it. Otherwise, I’ll toss you to Vert for a snack."

The two giant insects that Flora Bloom had mentally branded knew of each other, and the golden cicada knew Vert was the giant mantis. Its jade-white eyes looked at Flora Bloom with a wronged expression, silently begging for mercy.

"Then scout the path for me! Go on ahead, and if you sense anything strange, let me know. Got it?"

The golden cicada flew up and began scouting about five meters ahead of Flora Bloom.

Scouting, in this case, meant diving into any vegetation blocking the path. If it was safe, it would continue forward. If it sensed danger, it would sound an alarm and fly back.

Just like that, with Vert on guard in the distance and the golden cicada scouting ahead, Flora Bloom advanced for about fifteen minutes before reaching a section of mountain path clear of vegetation.

She found a large tree stump to sit on and pulled out the takeout she hadn’t finished earlier from her space—a hamburger and a bottle of Coke.

The bread and chocolate from that night hadn’t been filling at all. She was pregnant, after all, and needed her nutrients. In the apocalypse, a hamburger and Coke were luxuries. While it couldn’t compare to one of Ethan Monroe’s feasts, she had to make do out here in the wilderness.

After finishing the hamburger, Flora Bloom took a bowl of hot and sour soup from her space and drank it down to the last drop. GULP, GULP. Then she pulled out a banana and began to eat. For some reason, she was ravenous right now; even after eating so much, she still didn’t feel full. So, she took out a portion of egg fried rice and ate that too. Finally, patting her slightly bulging stomach, she stood up, satisfied.

Coke in one hand, she followed the golden cicada and pressed on.

Suddenly, Vert let out an alarm from nearby. A commotion followed, and a few minutes later, Vert reappeared, dragging an animal it had cut down.

The creature looked just like a pheasant, but never this large. Its feathers were brilliant and colorful, far more beautiful than any pheasant she knew. ’Could this be an evolved, mutated pheasant?’

Flora Bloom received the information through their mental link.

Apparently, the bird had been chasing a centipede when Vert, perceiving it as a threat, cut it down with a single strike of its scythe. The centipede had been killed by Vert’s wind vortex, and Vert had already consumed its Crystal Core.

Seeing Vert’s massive body crouching on the ground, pushing the bird toward her as if presenting a treasure—the fawning display was surprisingly human.

Flora Bloom, worried the smell of blood would attract unwanted attention, quickly stored the bird’s body in her space. ’Perfect. When I get out of here, I’ll have Ethan Monroe make me some chicken soup. A pregnant woman needs her nutrients, after all.’

Just then, Vert looked at her pleadingly, as if craving something. Flora Bloom communicated with it briefly. ’Jeez, another one begging me for the water from the river in my space.’

Flora Bloom gathered some space water in her palm for Vert to drink. After drinking the water, a satisfied Vert shook its wings and flew off into the distance again.

This started Flora Bloom thinking.

The golden cicada was so obsessed with the water from the river in her space that it would even defy her commands to stay and drink. Vert, too, seemed to crave it desperately.

Coupled with the physical changes in the two creatures after their last visit, Flora Bloom couldn’t help but wonder if the water in her space was what caused them to change so drastically in such a short time.

Evolved creatures are highly intelligent, and they need Spiritual Energy to evolve. This led Flora Bloom to a bold hypothesis.

’Could this little river in my space actually be a Spirit River? The changes in Vert and the golden cicada are a form of evolution, and it’s definitely because they drank so much of the space water.’

’If that’s the case, couldn’t Vert and the golden cicada evolve rapidly in my space? In the future, won’t I have two powerful bodyguards?’

"CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP."

It was late autumn, and the mountain ground was covered in a thick blanket of fallen leaves. Each step felt like treading on something soft. And who knew what unseen dangers lurked beneath the dead leaves.

A meter away from Flora Bloom, the golden cicada began chirping from the base of a giant tree, signaling her.

The cicada’s call was steady and rhythmic—not a warning of danger, but a signal of discovery.

Flora Bloom walked over curiously and looked down.

There, under the giant tree, nestled in an unusually thick pile of dead leaves, she could just make out several snow-white eggs.

’Eggs?’

Flora Bloom crouched down and brushed the dead leaves aside. Beneath them was a nest woven from dry twigs. And in the nest lay five palm-sized eggs. The eggs were snow-white and translucent as jade. She couldn’t imagine what kind of creature could have laid them.

Flora Bloom grinned mischievously, quickly storing the five eggs in her space and placing them in the courtyard of her little farmhouse.

Using her control over the space, she found that each of the five eggs contained a small, indistinct creature—they were all viable. But the tiny lifeforms inside were twitching unnaturally, their life signatures extremely faint.

’No wonder there was no mother guarding the nest. The eggs were probably too weak and had been abandoned.’

It was survival of the fittest. Mother animals can sense the strength of the life force within their eggs. Many will keep the strong ones close, while the weak are either eaten for energy or simply abandoned.

Flora Bloom quickly placed the five eggs in the river in her space to soak. It was a long shot, but she had to try. ’This water can heal wounds and help evolved creatures advance,’ she thought, ’so healing a few underdeveloped little ones shouldn’t be too hard, right?’

Sure enough, less than five minutes later, Flora Bloom checked on the eggs again through her space.

The five tiny creatures, each barely larger than a fingernail, had already changed in that short time.

Their blood-red bodies, which had been twitching erratically, had now stopped. Moreover, some kind of substance from the river water seemed to be seeping through the eggshells.

The five little things were now opening their still-forming mouths, frantically absorbing this substance.

Seeing this, Flora Bloom could finally relax. She let the five eggs soak in the river for a little while longer before scooping them out and placing them on the bank.

’It looked like five new lives would soon be born in her space.’

Just then, the golden cicada’s chirping brought Flora Bloom back to her senses.

Seeing the golden cicada circling her head with that fawning look, Flora Bloom knew exactly what it wanted.

So, a ball of space water flew from her hand. The golden cicada caught it perfectly, plunging its head into the floating globule and drinking greedily.

Flora Bloom felt a bit exasperated. ’Is the water in my space really that irresistible?’

But what happened next convinced her.

Vert, with its massive body, was weaving through the trees nearby. Not fifteen minutes later, it dragged over another pheasant. Judging by the wound, this one had also been killed with a single strike.

Flora Bloom stored the pheasant’s body in her space. ’Can’t let it go to waste,’ she thought. ’The meat of some mutated, evolved creatures is not only tastier than normal chicken, but it also contains dense energy that can strengthen a superpower user’s constitution.’

Watching Vert, its face full of flattery, lower its massive scythes and nuzzle against her like a dog, Flora Bloom didn’t know what to feel. She could only reward it with some space water.

Having received its reward, Vert excitedly flew off again in search of prey.

Indeed. The message she received from its mental link made her not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Prey, prey, spiritual water, spiritual water."

As Flora Bloom followed the scouting cicada, the trees grew noticeably taller. With the passing of time, the sun began to rise, and the surrounding flowers and plants suddenly burst with bright, vivid color.