Chapter 21

Clutching her entrenching tool, Su Jing followed behind the robot, her steps light and quick thanks to the speed boost from the honey fruit. Each step landed precisely in the cracks of the gravel path, avoiding any rocks that might make a sound. Just as they stepped out of the wheat field on the outskirts of the tribe, a system notification softly sounded: "The teleportation point is located 600 meters to the northeast, marked by a pale blue orb. There are no giants in the current area. You can collect the remaining sweet grass roots along the way."

She looked up towards the northeast and could vaguely see a pale blue halo in the distance. Then she swept her gaze across the grass beneath her feet—pale yellow roots were faintly visible among the blades of grass. These were the sweet grass roots that she hadn't finished digging up earlier, scattered sparsely along the roadside. Although not dense, they were enough to harvest another batch.

"Switch to mining mode. Prioritize digging up the sweet grass roots that are visible by the roadside. No need to search specifically; just collect them along the way." Su Jing pressed the robot's mode button, and the silver-gray body immediately stopped. The robotic arm unfolded into a digging shovel and slid to the nearest sweet grass root. The shovel precisely inserted into the soil, and with a gentle pry, the sweet grass root with its roots was dug up. The robotic arm quickly shook off the soil and handed it to Su Jing.

She didn't need to reach out; she only needed to concentrate her mind: "Collect into the edible plant area of ​​the space, put it in the sweet grass root pile." The sweet grass roots disappeared instantly, and her fingertips could sense through the space that the original sweet grass root pile had become even thicker. The robot didn't stop; following Su Jing's steps, it automatically dug up and handed out any sweet grass roots it encountered, several times faster than manual labor. In just 20 minutes, it had collected all the scattered sweet grass roots along the roadside.

Along the way, they encountered two other mission participants, a man and a woman, carrying empty backpacks and looking exhausted. They didn't seem to care much for "Stone" (in robot disguise) beside Su Jing—in their eyes, completing the 100-kilogram task was enough; the supplies inside the instance couldn't be taken out, so there was no need to waste effort. Su Jing didn't respond, simply quickening her pace to avoid them—her spatial ability allowed her to carry supplies, a unique advantage she didn't need to reveal.

"System ranking notification: Current real-time rankings for the instance: 1. I am the God of Wealth (Task completion rate 100%+, resource reserves far exceed other participants), 2. Hunter (Task completion rate 100%), 3. Windwalker (Task completion rate 100%). Rankings are stable and unlikely to change." The system notification sounded, and Su Jing breathed a sigh of relief—from the start of the instance until now, her ranking had never dropped below first place. With only one hour left until the end, she was in control.

After walking for another 10 minutes, the pale blue teleportation point finally became clear—it was a ball of light with a diameter of 5 meters, suspended 1 meter above the ground, with tiny specks of light flickering on its surface. Seven or eight mission participants stood around it, all looking down at the system panel, occasionally talking to each other, their topics revolving around "finally completing the mission" and "it's good to be able to get out alive."

Su Jing led the robot to the edge of the teleportation point, then switched it back to its disguise mode, turning it into an inconspicuous stone placed at her feet. She leaned against a nearby stalk of grass and brought up the system panel—it only displayed "Accumulated material reserves of nearly 30,000 jin," without specifying the exact number. However, she could sense through the space that in the edible plant area, giant wheat, sweet grass roots, honey fruit, and giant mushrooms were neatly piled up, taking up some space but far from being full.

"There's still an hour before the teleportation ends. Are you here to wait for it to finish too?" A boy in a black tracksuit struck up a conversation with him. His backpack was empty, obviously he hadn't brought many supplies. "My name is Lin Feng. I only dug up 100 kilograms of sweet grass roots, that's enough for the mission. I can't take any more out. What about you?"

"Almost, just complete the mission." Su Jing replied vaguely, not saying much—she couldn't explain that she could take away nearly 30,000 jin of supplies, let alone that the "stone" at her feet was a robot. Lin Feng didn't press further, but just sighed: "This instance is too dangerous. I saw someone being split in two by a giant, and someone being chased by a giant mantis. It's good enough if they can make it to the teleportation point alive."

Su Jing didn't reply, but her gaze swept around the teleportation point—no one paid attention to her; everyone was focused on the countdown, and occasionally someone would glance up at the ball of light, their eyes full of anticipation. She touched the "stone" at her feet to confirm that the robot was functioning normally, and then checked the supplies in her space—all the giant plants were intact, and the robot's battery life was enough to last until she exited the dungeon, putting her at ease.

As time passed, more and more players gathered around the teleportation point. By the time there were 30 minutes left on the countdown, nearly 20 people had gathered. Everyone consciously kept their distance from the light orb, and no one dared to touch it in advance—the system had warned that entering the teleportation point in advance would be considered a "violation" and would result in the cancellation of rewards.

Su Jing remained leaning against the straw, not communicating with anyone else, only occasionally scanning the space with her mind—the supplies inside were neatly piled up, and the two robots (one in disguise, and one in the space) were intact. Once she exited the instance, she could have the robots properly sort and categorize them.

"10 minutes until the dungeon ends! All participants, please prepare to be teleported. After teleporting, you will return to the initial location before entering the dungeon." The system notification sounded in everyone's minds, and the pale blue light at the teleportation point instantly brightened, flashing even faster.

The surrounding mission participants all stood up straight, looking at the ball of light with expressions of tension and anticipation. Su Jing also stood up, put away the "stone" at her feet (the robot had deactivated its disguise and returned to its silver-gray body, which she had stored in her spatial dimension with her mind), and walked to the edge of the ball of light—she could sense that the supplies in the space were stored stably, without any abnormalities due to the upcoming teleportation.

"Countdown 1 minute!" The system notification sounded again, and the brightness of the orb reached its peak, enveloping the entire teleportation point area. Su Jing closed her eyes, her mind flashing back to all the events in the dungeon—digging mushrooms, fighting ants, collecting wheat stalks, encountering the BOSS. Every step was thrilling yet safe. In the end, she not only completed the mission but also stockpiled nearly 30,000 kilograms of supplies and two robots. This trip was worth it.

"Teleportation initiated!"

As the system notification faded, a pale blue light instantly enveloped Su Jing, and her body felt as if it were being lifted up by a gentle force. The sounds of the wind and the conversations of the other mission participants vanished instantly. She could clearly feel that the supplies and robots in the space were moving with her without any loss.

When she opened her eyes again, a familiar budget hotel room came into view—white walls, a large bed by the window, and a mineral water bottle on the table, exactly the same as before she entered the instance. She looked down at her hands; there were no wounds. Then she scanned the space with her mind—the nearly 30,000-pound giant plants were neatly categorized, two robots were quietly in the tool area, and only about one-third of the space, which was the size of a football field, was being used.