Chapter 16
Su Jing led the robot to a lush meadow. The soil under their feet changed from soft black soil to hard soil mixed with gravel. Twenty meters ahead was the stone wall of the giant tribe. The rough stones were piled up to a height of 5 meters, and dark green vines climbed on the wall, gleaming coldly in the morning light.
She stopped, her fingertips lightly touching the buttons on the robot's body—she only knew before that the robot could mine and transport materials, but now a system notification suddenly sounded in her mind, providing additional information about its functions:
[Tool Tip: The basic robot supports the "Environmental Camouflage and Deformation" function, which can switch to a non-biological form (such as a rock or haystack) based on the shape of surrounding objects. After camouflage, it blends into the environment with 100% accuracy. It cannot be recognized by non-advanced detectors and must be manually triggered.]
"Disguise and transformation? Perfect for this." Su Jing's eyes lit up as she pressed the "disguise" button on the side of the robot's body. A pale blue light flashed around the robot, and its silver-gray body quickly lost its metallic luster, transforming into a grayish-brown stone—the same size as the surrounding pebbles, with a surface that also had the same rough texture as stone. If you didn't look closely, you couldn't tell which was the real stone and which was the robot.
She crouched down and touched the surface of the "stone." The cool touch was indistinguishable from a real stone, which completely reassured her. Then, she adjusted her breathing and focused her mind: "Enter the spatial gap to observe."
The next second, the scenery around her body turned into darkness in the space. She looked out through the "gap"—she could clearly see the environment around the stone wall, but she would not be noticed by the outside world. This was a new way of using space that she had figured out. Each time she stayed for no more than 3 seconds, she could both observe and hide.
Three seconds later, Su Jing exited the spatial gap, and a system notification sounded simultaneously:
[Environmental Alert: 16 giant wheat plants were detected 10 meters east of the stone wall. The wheat stalks are 2 meters tall, the grains are about the size of a fist, and each plant weighs 5 kilograms. It is edible and, after consumption, doubles the speed of wound healing. It is non-toxic. 5 meters directly in front of the stone wall, there are two giant guard dogs, each 3 meters long, covered in black fur, with exposed fangs. Their danger level is 70. They have a keen sense of smell and react extremely strongly to living creatures. They are currently patrolling, circling the stone wall every 10 minutes.]
She re-entered the spatial rift, her gaze locking onto the east side of the stone wall—16 giant wheat stalks grew straight, their stalks gleaming golden, the ears at the top full, each grain the size of a fist, swaying gently in the wind, exactly as described by the system. Two guard dogs stood before the stone wall, heads bowed, sniffing the grass, their muscles taut beneath their black fur. Occasionally, they would raise their heads, their scarlet eyes scanning the surroundings, noticing even the slightest movement of a blade of grass half a meter away.
"A keen sense of smell... I can't get too close." Su Jing retreated from the gap, lay down on the grass, lowered her body, and used the grass to conceal herself. She remembered the cooked food she had stockpiled in her space—more than 100 packs of vacuum-packed jerky she had bought at the wholesale market. The jerky had a rich meaty aroma and could be used to lure the guard dogs away.
She took out a packet of jerky from her spatial storage, tore a small opening, and the rich aroma of meat instantly wafted out—the guard dog in the distance twitched its ears, turned its head in her direction, and let out a low growl. Su Jing quickly resealed the jerky and put it back into her spatial storage, only then did the guard dog lower its head and continue its patrol.
"They really are sensitive to smells." She had a plan in mind and entered the spatial gap again, observing the guard dogs' movements: the first guard dog (the left dog) walked in front, sniffing every 5 meters; the second (the right dog) followed 1 meter behind, its gaze always fixed on the stone wall, paying even less attention to the ground. They circled the stone wall in exactly 10 minutes. When the left dog reached the west side of the stone wall, the right dog would stop on the east side—during this gap, the giant wheat on the east side of the stone wall would be unguarded for 30 seconds.
During the brief moment Su Jing withdrew, she glanced at the "rock" beside her—the robot was still in disguise, and even when the guard dog had come within 10 meters, it hadn't detected anything unusual. She gently touched the robot's "sensing module" with her mind, and the system prompted: "The robot's disguise is normal. It can receive commands at any time and switch to mining mode."
She recalled Ivan, whom she had met before, and the other participants who lacked space—even if they found the Giant Wheat, they couldn't collect it in bulk like she could, let alone bring it out of the instance. Only her space could store this Giant Wheat, which could accelerate wound healing, turning it into "life-saving supplies" in the apocalypse.
Over the next 20 minutes, Su Jing used the spatial gap to observe twice more, confirming that the guard dog's patrol pattern remained unchanged: one lap every 10 minutes, with a 30-second interval on the east side of the stone wall. She took the jerky out of the space and placed it on the grass beside her, then adjusted the robot's position—moving "Stone" 5 meters to the east side of the stone wall, closer to the giant wheat, making it easier to switch modes and harvest later.
"When the left dog moves to the west side next time, throw the jerky to the north side of the stone wall to lure away the two guard dogs, so that the robot can take the opportunity to harvest it." Su Jing clenched the jerky in her hand, her eyes fixed on the guard dogs in front of the stone wall—the left dog had already moved to the south side of the stone wall, with the right dog following behind. In another 5 minutes, it would be the first gap.
She touched the climbing rope on her wrist and checked the amount of jerky in her storage space—100 packets were enough to distract the guard dogs, and even if one attempt failed, she could throw more. The robot had 8 hours of battery life left, which was more than enough time to harvest 16 giant wheat stalks (80 kilograms in total).
A gust of wind blew from the direction of the stone wall, carrying the fishy smell of vines. Su Jing lowered her breath and waited for a break in the air—this was a batch of key supplies in the dungeon. Once she got them, her total collection would increase to another level. More importantly, the "double wound healing bonus" provided by these giant wheat grains would give her an extra layer of safety in the apocalypse.
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