Chapter 20
Su Jing followed behind the robot, walking along the gravel path on the outskirts of the tribe. Her entrenching tool was tucked into her waistband, and her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the touchscreen on the robot. After walking only 50 meters, the robot suddenly stopped. Its "eyes" flashed yellow detection lights, and a system prompt sounded simultaneously: "Detected a dense cluster of giant mushrooms (about 50 plants) 15 meters ahead. Each plant weighs 15 kilograms. They are edible and will double your physical strength after consumption. The effect lasts for 24 hours."
She strode forward and parted the waist-high grass—on the ground, giant gray-white mushroom caps spread out in patches, each about 5 meters in diameter, with thick stems like barrels and roots embedded in the soft black soil. They were more densely packed than the ones she had dug in the grass before, making them perfect for the robot to excavate in batches.
"Switch to mining mode, set the robotic arm to 'wide-width digging,' pile 10 mushrooms together, and shake off the soil from the roots." Su Jing pressed the robot's mode button, and the robotic arm unfolded with a "click," widening the digging shovel at the front to 30 centimeters. It was aimed at the outer side of the root of the first mushroom and gently inserted into the soil—the shovel precisely avoided the main root, circled around the stem, and then lifted up, completely digging out the mushroom along with its stem and cap. The robotic arm vibrated rapidly, and the soil fell away, leaving only the clean mushroom body.
In less than 10 minutes, all 50 giant mushrooms were dug up and piled into 5 heaps, each weighing 150 kilograms. Su Jing stood beside the heaps without bending over, and with a thought, she said, "Put them into the edible plant section of my space and categorize them separately as 'giant mushrooms'." The mushrooms disappeared instantly, and the system panel updated: "3950 kilograms".
She touched her pocket, took out a small piece of dried mushroom that she had left over, and chewed it. The slightly chewy texture had a hint of freshness. After a while, she felt a warm current rise in her chest. The "body strength boost" took effect, and the slight soreness when she was holding the spatula disappeared instantly. Even her breathing became more stable.
"Continue towards the edge of the core area, prioritizing the harvesting of unharvested giant wheat." Su Jing gave the robot navigation instructions, and the universal wheels on the bottom of the robot began to slide again, moving northeast along the gaps in the grass blades—that was the previously marked "unharvested giant wheat area," where the system estimated that there were still more than 3,000 kilograms of wheat remaining.
Upon arriving at their destination, they saw vast fields of golden wheat stalks swaying in the wind, the ears of wheat even fuller than those in the core area. The robot immediately slid into the wheat field, switching back to "intensive harvesting mode." The robotic arm's clamps could cut 15 stalks per minute, and in less than an hour, it had piled up 8 heaps, totaling 200 kilograms of wheat stalks. Su Jing stood on the periphery, mentally collecting the stalks in bulk, the numbers on the panel constantly changing: "3950 kg → 4150 kg → 4350 kg..."
Midway through, the system issued two warnings about a "giant patrol approaching." Su Jing had the robot pause and switch to "stone camouflage"—the robot's body blended into the pile of rubble next to the wheat field, even its grayish-yellow texture matching the stones. The giant, carrying a stone axe, walked by without noticing anything amiss. Once the giant was far away, the robot immediately resumed its work, its efficiency unaffected in the slightest.
At 2 PM, the robot's battery level dropped to 20%. Su Jing took out 2 kilograms of coal from her storage space and stuffed it into the charging port in two batches—the coal was instantly sucked in, the battery level "whooshed" to full, and the robot's temperature returned to normal. She rested against the mushroom stem for 10 minutes, chewed on a compressed biscuit, and then took a bite of Giant Wheat Granules—her forearm, which had been scratched by grass blades yesterday, was now completely healed, and the "double wound healing bonus" was still in effect, leaving no scar.
At 6 PM, the countdown to the dungeon ended with "3 hours remaining," and the total weight on the system panel stopped at "6664 kilograms"—750 kilograms of giant mushrooms and 2714 kilograms of newly added giant wheat. Su Jing had the robot pause the harvesting and activated her spatial awareness—in the edible plant area, the small mountain of giant wheat occupied nearly a third of the space, while the giant mushrooms and sweet grass roots were neatly piled up next to it. There were still gaps in the 7140 square meters of space, but it was enough for her to consume in the early stages of the apocalypse.
Just as she was about to switch the robot to "follow evacuation mode," the system suddenly emitted a sharp warning sound, and the red alarm light flashed wildly on the virtual panel: "High-risk warning! A BOSS-level giant leader (15 meters tall) has appeared 30 meters directly ahead, wielding a giant stone hammer. Danger level 180, attack power 300, defense power 200. It is moving towards the current location and will arrive in 1 minute!"
Su Jing's heart clenched. Looking up, she saw the grass in the distance being forcefully pushed aside—the 15-meter-tall giant leader was half a head taller than an ordinary first-tier giant. His skin was dark brown and covered with raised, rock-like patterns. He held a giant stone hammer three times the size of a stone axe in both hands. The hammer surface was stained with dark blood. With each step he took, the ground trembled violently, and pebbles bounced under his feet.
"Robot, activate defense mode, fire electric needles to attract attention, move to the northwest!" she roared in her mind, giving the order while taking two steps back and concentrating all her energy to silently recite "enter the space"—the scene in front of her instantly switched to the darkness of the space, and she looked out through the "gap," her palms covered in cold sweat.
The robot's mechanical arm extended an electric needle, which "sizzled" as it fired at the giant leader's calf—the needle struck the rock-like skin, leaving only a tiny spark, but successfully attracting the leader's attention. It roared and swung its stone hammer at the robot. The robot quickly slid northwest, and the hammer slammed into the ground with a "thud," creating a half-meter-deep crater, sending debris flying.
Su Jing held her breath in the space, watching the giant leader chase the robot away, the vibrations gradually weakening. Only when the system prompted "BOSS leader is 100 meters away, move away" did she dare to exit the space, quickly run to the spot where the robot had just stopped, and press the "emergency recall" button—the silver-gray body quickly slid back, with a shallow dent on the side, but it did not affect its operation.
"Evacuate immediately, head towards the edge of the dungeon!" Su Jing touched the impact mark on the robot, feeling a lingering fear—if she had been a second slower, she would have been the one hit by the stone hammer. She gripped her entrenching tool tightly and followed behind the robot, walking quickly away from the tribe. The dungeon's countdown timer was still decreasing second by second.
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