Chapter 42

The moment Su Jing's fingertips touched the cool surface of the solar panel, a system notification suddenly sounded in her mind.

Clearer than ever before, with a metallic resonance, it instantly drowned out the beeping of the patrolling robots in the courtyard: [Cyber ​​World Dungeon Settlement Begins! All participant rankings are now locked. Rewards will be distributed according to the final rankings. Please check your accounts!]

A translucent blue panel unfolded before her eyes, larger and brighter than ever before, with the words "Final Ranking of Global Participants" printed in gold lettering at the top.

Her ID, "I am the God of Wealth (China)," was firmly in first place, followed by the eye-catching words "Task Completion 100% (Core Quality Best)," creating a stark contrast with Jack's "50%" in second place. Below the panel, three reward boxes with gold borders popped up one after another, their soft light extremely attractive.

Congratulations on winning the top-ranked reward! The reward list is as follows:

1. Space Upgrade Card x1: After use, the current system space can be expanded from "football field size (approximately 50 cubic meters)" to 100 cubic meters, and the "Planting Area" and "Breeding Area" functions will be unlocked, supporting the cultivation of edible plants and small-scale biological breeding, and including basic effects such as "Soil Optimization" and "Automatic Irrigation".

2. System points × 5000: Automatically transferred to your points account. Current total points: 113500 (originally 108500 + 5000)

3. Technological Proficiency (Passive): Permanently unlocks the "Cyber ​​Equipment Repair/Modification" ability, enabling rapid identification of mechanical faults and optimization of equipment performance. The effectiveness against cyberpunk technological products such as laser guns, flying cars, and generators is doubled, and efficiency is increased by 50% when using related tools.

Su Jing stared at the rewards on the panel, her fingertips unconsciously tightening - what she had been looking forward to the most was the expansion of space. She didn't expect that not only would it be expanded to 100 cubic meters, but the planting and breeding functions would also be unlocked. This means that in the apocalypse, she no longer has to rely entirely on dungeons or online shopping to obtain food. She can cultivate giant wheat, sweet grass roots, and even raise some small livestock to achieve food self-sufficiency.

The unexpected bonus of being proficient in technology is that she used to be able to repair robots by relying on manuals, but now with this ability, she can maintain flying cars and modify laser guns by herself, and no longer has to worry about not having a place to repair equipment after it breaks down.

She raised her hand and clicked the "Confirm Claim" button on the panel. The three reward boxes instantly turned into three streams of light. A golden card landed in her palm, a light green score number jumped and updated on the panel, and finally a light blue halo slowly merged into her fingertips. There was no obvious stinging pain, but she felt a subtle "sensory power" on her fingertips, as if she could see through the metal surface and see the circuitry inside.

Su Jing looked down at the space upgrade card in her palm: the card was about the size of her palm, with smooth gold patterns on the edges and an abstract "land + water droplet" pattern printed in the middle. On the back, it was written in small print: "Activation method: Concentrate your mind to use. After activation, the space will be automatically divided into functional areas, and the size of the areas can be manually adjusted."

She tried stroking the card with her fingertips and could feel the gentle energy contained within it, like holding a warm piece of jade.

"Let's go back to the living room and activate it first, so we don't get interfered with by the robot's scanning light." Su Jing put away the card and turned to walk into the villa. The monitor screen in the living room was still lit up. The screen showed two robots moving around the outside of the trench. The red scanning eyes would pause briefly when they scanned the gasoline cans to confirm that there was nothing unusual before continuing.

The instant coffee cup on the corner of the table remained in the same position as when she left; the water droplets on the cup had long since evaporated, leaving only faint water stains.

She sat on the solid wood chair, placed the space upgrade card in her palm, took a deep breath, and focused her mind—"Activate the space upgrade card."

As soon as she finished speaking, the card in her palm emitted a soft golden light. The light climbed up her fingertips, quickly enveloping her entire palm, and then suddenly transformed into a stream of light, penetrating deep into her consciousness.

The next second, her consciousness sank into the system space—the space, originally only the size of a football field, was now expanding at a visible speed, the surrounding gray boundaries slowly receding, and the ground, originally flat concrete, gradually differentiated into different textures:

The left half of the area gradually rises up, turning into a flat area covered with dark brown soil. The soil surface gleams with a moist sheen, and a row of silver irrigation pipes automatically appears next to it. This is the "planting area". The right front area is marked out as an open space covered with dry grass, surrounded by a half-meter-high wooden fence. Next to the fence is a small "automatic feeder". This is the "breeding area".

In the far right corner, the ground slowly sinks, and clear water flows out, quickly forming a small lake. The lake water has a faint blue glow, and the electronic screen next to it displays "Freshwater Lake (Automatic purification, water quality meets standards, can be drunk directly)".

The panel in the center of the space clearly indicates the size of each area: [Planting area: 50 cubic meters, Aquaculture area: 30 cubic meters, Freshwater lake: 20 cubic meters, Total volume: 100 cubic meters. The boundaries of each area can be manually dragged and adjusted].

Su Jing's consciousness floated above the space. Looking at the clearly divided area in front of her, she instantly made a plan in her mind—the planting area should be planted with giant wheat and sweet grass roots. These two plants are not only edible, but can also improve physical strength. Moreover, she had collected a lot of seeds in the giant dungeon before, which would come in handy.

The breeding area will remain empty for now. We will introduce suitable small animals (such as rabbits and chickens) when we find them. Right now, the most important thing is to plant plants to make the food reserves more stable.

She tried using her consciousness to click on the soil in the planting area, and a "Plant Selection" list immediately popped up on the panel. It automatically included the plantable seeds currently in her space—"Giant Wheat Seeds," "Sweet Grass Root Tubers," and "Honey Fruit Seedlings," each labeled with its "Growth Cycle," "Suitable Temperature," and "Estimated Yield." Su Jing selected Giant Wheat and Sweet Grass Root, setting "Giant Wheat to occupy 30 cubic meters of planting area, Sweet Grass Root to occupy 20 cubic meters."

After clicking to confirm, the soil in the planting area automatically splits into two sections. The seeds and tubers are transferred from the "edible plant area" in the space and evenly buried in the soil. The irrigation pipe next to them immediately sprays out a fine mist of water and begins to water automatically. The electronic screen on the soil surface jumps to "Planting, estimated growth cycle of 7 days, automatic irrigation 3 times a day, soil fertility is sufficient".

After finishing with the planting area, Su Jing turned her attention to the breeding area—the automatic feeder next to the fence was still empty. Since she didn't have suitable feed for the time being, she turned on the "automatic cleaning" function of the breeding area and set it to "clean twice a day" to avoid the accumulation of dirt during subsequent use.

Finally, she looked at the freshwater lake. The water was crystal clear. She tried to use her mind to take out a cup. It tasted slightly sweet and was more refreshing than ordinary mineral water. The "water quality monitoring" on the electronic screen kept showing "excellent". It seemed that the "automatic purification" function was indeed working well.

Just as she was about to exit the space, her fingertip suddenly touched the flying car in the space—instantly, a stream of information flooded into her mind, clearly showing the flying car's "current status": "Hovering device normal, energy crystals remaining at 80%, minor circuit contact failure (repairable), laser protective coating optimization recommended."

This was precisely the effect of her technological proficiency! Su Jing immediately used her consciousness to access the repair tools and, following the fault points indicated by her ability, quickly repaired the problem of poor circuit contact. She also added a protective coating to the vehicle body, and the flying car's attribute panel instantly updated: "Defense increased by 10%, low temperature resistance increased to -40℃, suitable for use in extreme weather."

"With this ability, I won't panic when the equipment breaks down anymore." Su Jing exited the space, opened her eyes, and saw that the sunlight outside the window had already risen to the sky, shining on her warmly and reassuringly. She picked up the system panel on the table, looked at the 113,500 points and the words "Technology Proficiency Ability (Activated)," and thought of the giant wheat growing in the space. For the first time, she felt confident that she could "win the apocalypse."