Chapter 14
Su Jing turned to walk towards the core area when a system notification suddenly sounded in her mind, accompanied by a clear unlock message:
[Points Statistics Notification: As of now, the host has collected a total of 294 kg of edible plants. Based on 1 kg = 10 points, this equates to 2940 points, meeting the requirements to unlock the system shop. The shop function is now activated.]
She paused, then immediately brought up the system panel—the previously grayed-out "System Shop" button lit up. Clicking it revealed a category called "Tools."
In the "Weapons" and "Auxiliary" categories, the first item in the "Auxiliary" category is "Basic Robot (Mining/Transportation)".
Product Name: Basic Robot (Dual-Function Model)
Redeem points: 500 points/unit
Feature Description: 1. Supports switching between "mining/transporting" dual modes, adaptable to dungeons and apocalyptic scenarios;
2. Equipped with a plant identification system, it can accurately locate edible plants;
3. Battery life is 12 hours, and charging requires 1 kg of coal (can be charged inside the space).
4. Dimensions: 1.2 meters high, 0.6 meters wide, foldable for storage.
Purchase limit notice: You can redeem 2 units at your current level. The purchase limit will increase as you level up.
"Two units are just right!"
Su Jing's eyes lit up—before, digging up sweet grass roots was all done manually, and even with the strength boost from the sweet grass roots, the efficiency was limited. With the help of the robot, the collection speed would definitely double.
Moreover, the robots can mine minerals, so they can be used to find ores and build bases in the future apocalypse. 500 points per robot is a great deal.
Without hesitation, she clicked "Redeem 2 Robots," and 1000 points were instantly deducted from the panel, leaving her with 1940 points. The next second, the system prompted: "Redeem successful! The basic robot has been stored in the 'Tools Area' of your space and can be summoned at any time."
She quickly scanned her surroundings and spotted a semi-enclosed rock crevice not far away. The space inside was large enough to block the view from the outside, so she immediately walked over quickly.
She squeezed into a crevice in the rock and focused her mind: "Summon two rudimentary robots."
Two pale blue lights flashed, and two silver-gray robots appeared before us—1.2 meters tall, with a rectangular body, four omnidirectional wheels at the bottom, and a retractable mechanical arm at the front. The side of the body had a "mining/transporting" switch button printed on it. They looked small but sturdy.
Su Jing reached out and touched the robot's mechanical arm. The cool metallic touch made her subconsciously exert some force, but the mechanical arm did not budge—the material of the body was more solid than she had imagined.
She recalled the scratch on the back of her hand from the grass blades. It had been throbbing slightly, but now it had scabbed over. This was because the small amount of Giant Wheat she had eaten earlier had provided a "double wound healing boost."
"First, test the transport mode, targeting sweet grass roots."
She pressed the "transfer" button on the robot's body, and the robotic arm instantly extended, with the clamp at the front opening precisely.
She pointed to the area where sweet grass roots were growing not far away and gave instructions in her mind: "Locate the sweet grass roots, dig them up and transport them to the rock crevice, pile them up in heaps of 10 kilograms each."
A green light flashed in the robot's "eyes," and its omnidirectional wheels began to turn, silently gliding out of the crevice in the rock.
The "speed boost" from the honey fruit made Su Jing react faster than usual. She followed closely behind and went out, leaning against the rock to keep watch, while also observing the robot's movements.
On the left, the robot stopped in front of a sweet grass root. The mechanical arm clamped precisely at the top of the root and gently pulled, and the entire sweet grass root was pulled out (even the soil was shaken off).
The robot on the right was responsible for piling up the harvested sweet grass roots together, its movements were neat and fast, and Su Jing didn't have to lift a finger.
"Ding! The robot has completed its first transport, collecting 20 kilograms of sweet grass roots in 1 hour."
One hour later, the system notification sounded, and Su Jing walked to the pile of sweet grass roots—20 kilograms of sweet grass roots were neatly piled on the ground, even cleaner than when she dug them up by hand.
She quickly glanced around to make sure no one was approaching, then focused her mind: "Store it in the 'Edible Plants Zone' of the space."
The sweet grass root disappeared instantly, and the cumulative weight on the panel was updated: "294 kg + 20 kg = 314 kg".
"Efficiency has really doubled!"
Su Jing was overjoyed—she could only dig 10 kilograms per hour by hand, even with the power boost, while the robot could dig 20 kilograms per hour. If both robots were used together, they could dig 40 kilograms per hour.
Wait, wasn't it just that both machines were digging together for 1 hour and 20 kilograms? She quickly checked the robot's status and realized that it was "1 machine digging + 1 machine stacking" just now. Now she would try switching to "dual digging mode".
She walked over to the robot, pressed the "dual digging mode" button, and gave the instruction: "Both machines dig sweet grass roots at the same time, pile them up every 30 minutes, and pile them up in front of the rock crevice."
The robots' "eyes" flashed red, and they immediately split up to work—the robot on the left dug up the sweet grass roots on the east side, and the robot on the right dug up the ones on the west side. The robotic arms swung faster than before, and in less than 30 minutes, each robot dragged back 10 kilograms of sweet grass roots, piling them into two heaps, totaling 20 kilograms.
"20 kilograms in 30 minutes, that's 40 kilograms in an hour!"
Su Jing was completely relieved—this was the efficiency she wanted.
She leaned against the rock, eating honey fruit to replenish her energy (to maintain her speed bonus) while keeping an eye on her surroundings. Occasionally, she would chew on a small piece of giant wheat (to maintain her wound healing bonus). She didn't feel tired even after standing for a long time (the giant mushroom's body strength bonus was still active).
During this time, the sound of giant footsteps could be heard twice in the distance. The system issued an early warning: "A Tier 1 giant has been detected 600 meters to the northeast, moving away from the host." Su Jing instructed the robot to temporarily stop in place, hide in a crevice in the rocks, and wait for the giant to move away before continuing.
When the robot pauses, it automatically enters "stealth mode," becoming almost invisible even to her, so there's no need to worry about being discovered.
Before we knew it, four hours had passed. The system then displayed: "The robot has been working continuously for four hours, collecting a total of 160 kilograms of sweet grass roots. The total collected weight is 474 kilograms. The robot has 8 hours of battery life remaining."
Su Jing walked to the newly piled sweet grass roots and used her mind to store them into her space—the "edible plant area" in the space was getting fuller and fuller, but the 7,140 square meters of space was still spacious enough to hold at least several tons of supplies.
She touched the robot's body; it wasn't too hot, and it still had 8 hours of battery life left, enough to keep digging for a while longer.
"Keep digging, prioritize digging for sweet grass roots near the rock crevices, and don't head towards the core area."
She gave the command again, and the robot started moving once more, its omnidirectional wheels gliding silently across the grass.
Su Jing sat on the rock and brought up the system panel—she had 1940 points left, and the shop still had "basic laser gun" and "coal reserves." She would exchange them for coal to recharge the robot when its battery was almost depleted.
Another hour and 45 minutes later, the system prompted: "Robot has 6 hours and 15 minutes of battery life remaining. It has collected a total of 230 kilograms of sweet grass roots. Current total weight: 524 kilograms."
Su Jing stretched her arms, and the strength boost from the sweet grass roots made her feel no soreness at all. She got up and walked to the robots to check the sweet grass roots they had dug up—they were all intact, without any broken roots, and the quality was even better than those dug by hand.
"After digging another 20 kilograms, we'll rest for 10 minutes to recharge the robot."
She adjusted the instructions, and the robot continued working. Ten minutes later, it dug out another 20 kilograms, bringing the total weight to 544 kilograms.
Su Jing put the sweet grass root into her space, took out 1 kilogram of coal (previously stockpiled doomsday supplies) from the space, and placed it in the robot's charging port—the coal was instantly sucked in, and the battery life quickly returned to full 12 hours.
She leaned against the rock, took a sip of mineral water, and glanced at the distant core area—Giant Wheat was still waiting, but now that she had the robot, the efficiency of collecting Sweet Grass Roots had doubled, so she might as well stock up on more Sweet Grass Roots first (the strength boost was too useful) before going to the core area to find Giant Wheat. Besides, the robot could withstand some risks, and even if they encountered giant beetles, it could help block them.
"Let's stockpile 1,000 kilograms of sweet grass roots first."
Su Jing made up her mind that after the 10-minute break, she would immediately give the robot a new instruction: "Expand the digging area, avoid the giant's activity area, and continue collecting sweet grass roots."
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