Chapter 11

Su Jing hid behind a small tree, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the handle of the folding shovel, her eyes fixed on the honey fruit tree ten meters away—

The trunk was as thick as an old locust tree, with branches spreading out in all directions. Each branch was laden with round, juicy fruits, their golden shells gleaming faintly in the night. They were larger than watermelons, out of reach of the hand and shovel. The most troublesome thing was the giant bees that occasionally flitted among the branches, their translucent wings flapping and making a soft buzzing sound.

She tried to take two steps forward, and just as she got within fifteen meters, a system notification softly sounded in her mind:

[Danger Warning: Three giant bees (Danger Level 3) have been detected among the branches of the honey fruit tree. The current proximity may trigger an attack. It is recommended to maintain a distance of at least 10 meters.]

Su Jing immediately stopped and took a step back—although bees have a low danger level, being stung is definitely unpleasant, and if the swarm is disturbed, it's hard to say whether she can even leave safely, let alone collect the honey. She looked up at the highest honey fruit, hanging on a thin branch. With just a little force, she could break the branch. But how could she exert force without getting close?

Suddenly, she remembered the scene when she threw stones at the robbers—she could accurately throw the bluestones in the space with her mind and place them in the designated location. Could she use the short-distance object movement function of the space to send heavy objects to the treetops, break the branches, and make the honey fruit fall down?

The moment the thought popped into her head, she immediately scanned the space with her mind—when she was digging for sweet grass roots earlier, she had casually picked up a half-meter square bluestone, weighing about 60 kilograms, with a regular shape, which was just right to be used as a "pole".

She took a deep breath, focused her attention, locked her mind on the blue stone, and then aimed at the branch with the most fruit on the honey fruit tree (there were 5 honey fruits on it), silently reciting in her mind, "Move to the middle of the branch."

The next second, the blue stone in the space appeared out of thin air and landed steadily in the middle of the slender branch. With a crisp "crack", the slender branch could not bear the weight and bent downwards. The five honey fruits on it fell to the ground like ripe watermelons and rolled into the grass not far from the tree trunk.

Su Jing's eyes lit up, and she was about to go forward to pick it up when the system's notification sound suddenly rang out urgently:

[Substance Identification: Fruit of the Honey Fruit Tree (Edible)]

Hazard level: 0 (non-toxic)

Composition: Fructose 25.3%, glucose 15.1%, water 29.8%, trace toxins (can be removed by heating).

Additional notes: This product can temporarily double the user's speed, with effects lasting for 24 hours. Multiple uses can increase the duration (but not the intensity).

Current collected weight: 8 kg per fruit, 40 kg for 5 fruits, total collected weight: 205 kg (100 kg short of the target, exceeding the target by 105 kg).

"205 kilograms!" Su Jing was overjoyed—not only did it far exceed the mission target, but she also gained a speed boost. With the strength boost from the sweet grass roots and the speed boost from the honey fruit, she would have more confidence in the future, whether fighting or running away from danger. Just as she took a step to pick up the honey fruit, she suddenly heard a faint "rustling" sound under her feet, as if something was crawling quickly under the grass.

"What is that?" She tensed instantly, gripped her folding shovel, and whirled around in the direction of the sound—a patch of waist-high grass was suddenly parted, and a bright green praying mantis was rushing toward her. It was at least 3 meters long, with forelegs like two serrated sickles, gleaming with a pale purple light, clearly coated with venom. Its abdominal segments moved rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, it was less than 5 meters away from her!

"A giant praying mantis!" Su Jing's scalp tingled. In her previous life, she had heard stories of how dangerous this insect was; the venom on its forelegs could instantly paralyze a person, and a bite was basically fatal. Without a second thought, she instinctively stepped back, simultaneously raising her folding shovel and aiming it at the mantis's swinging foreleg—"Clang!" A crisp sound rang out as the shovel's blade blocked the mantis's foreleg. Purple venom dripped from the shovel's surface onto the ground, sizzling and corroding small pits.

The power boost from the sweet grass root erupted at this moment, and Su Jing's hand gripped the shovel handle firmly, not being pushed back by the mantis's impact. Taking advantage of the moment when the mantis's forelegs were blocked, she suddenly slid to the left—although the speed boost from the honey fruit hadn't been fully activated yet, she had taken a small bite while picking up the honey fruit, and now her feet were much lighter than usual, easily circling around to the mantis's back.

The mantis reacted quickly; seeing its attack miss, it immediately turned and swung its other foreleg towards Su Jing's back. Su Jing could feel the wind behind her, so she quickly bent down and took out a climbing rope she had prepared earlier (which she had stored in her space while digging for sweet grass roots; it could bear a weight of 500 kilograms). She quickly wrapped the rope into a loop with both hands and, taking advantage of the mantis's turn, swung it out with a sudden jerk—the climbing rope looped perfectly around the mantis's neck, at the narrow waist where its head and abdomen connected.

"Break!" Su Jing gritted her teeth, gripped the rope end tightly with both hands, and pulled back with all her might. The added strength from the sweet grass roots gave her arms incredible power, instantly straightening the climbing rope and embedding it deeply into the praying mantis's exoskeleton. The praying mantis struggled violently, its forelegs flailing wildly on the ground, snapping several grass stalks, but with its neck constricted by the rope, it couldn't turn around at all and could only hiss menacingly.

Su Jing dared not let go, knowing that if it broke free, she would be no match for it. She took two steps back, wrapped the rope around the trunk of a small tree next to her, and then pulled hard on the rope, wrapping it around twice and tying a knot—this way, she wouldn't have to keep pulling with her hands, and the tension of the rope could continue to act on the mantis's neck.

After about a minute, the mantis's struggles gradually weakened, its forelimbs moved more and more slowly, the pale purple venom stopped being secreted, and the segmented limbs on its abdomen ceased alternating. Su Jing cautiously stepped forward and poked the mantis's forelimbs with her folding shovel—no response. She then poked its abdomen, still no response; it was clearly dead.

She breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against a small tree, panting. Her back was already soaked with cold sweat. The attack had been too sudden; if she had reacted any slower and been scratched by the mantis's forelegs, the consequences would have been unimaginable. She glanced at the mantis's corpse on the ground, then at the five honey fruits rolling in the grass a short distance away. The lingering fear in her heart gradually gave way to excitement—not only had she collected the honey fruits, but she had also successfully fought back against the giant mantis, further enhancing her survivability in the dungeon.

Su Jing walked over to the honey fruit, bent down and picked one up—it was heavy, weighing at least 8 kilograms, with a smooth shell and a faint floral fragrance. She used a folding spatula to make a small cut in the shell, revealing the orange-yellow flesh inside, and couldn't resist taking a bite—it was cloyingly sweet, with a honey aroma, much better than the sweet grass root she had eaten before.

She had barely swallowed it when she felt a warm current flow down her throat, and her legs instantly became lighter. The soreness from fighting the mantis earlier also disappeared—the speed boost from the honey fruit was working! She tried running forward a couple of steps, and her speed was twice as fast as usual. Her steps were as light as if she were walking on cotton, and she couldn't even feel the resistance of the grass.

"Great!" Su Jing carefully stored the five honey fruits in the "Edible Plants Area" of her space, separating them from the sweet grass roots and giant mushrooms. She scanned the space with her mind—the 205 kilograms of edible plants were piled up completely, with enough room for any other supplies she might collect later. She glanced at the time on the system panel—the dungeon was in its 20th hour, with 52 hours remaining. This gave her enough time to collect more honey fruits and perhaps even find an opportunity to stockpile other supplies.

Su Jing didn't leave immediately. Instead, she walked to the giant mantis's corpse and poked its exoskeleton with a folding shovel—it was as hard as metal, and might come in handy later. She tried to store the mantis's corpse in her spatial storage with her mind, and to her surprise, she succeeded—an extra mantis corpse appeared in the "miscellaneous items area" of her space, and the system even thoughtfully labeled it "Giant Mantis Corpse (Forelimbs contain venom, exoskeleton can be processed into weapon material)".

She put away her folding shovel, gripped the climbing rope (it was a little worn from strangling the praying mantis, she needed to check it later), and turned her gaze to another honey fruit tree—there were still a dozen or so honey fruits there, and perhaps she could collect some more while it was dark and the bees were less active. She adjusted her breathing, and using the same method as before, once again focused her mind on the bluestone in the space, aiming at another branch hanging with honey fruits.