Chapter 9
Chapter 9: White Forest Fruit
He walked deep into the forest along the path.
Along the way, he remained alert to any dangers that might appear at any moment.
But fortunately, nothing happened.
At the end of the path, deep within this grayish-White Forest, fruit trees laden with white fruit appeared before his eyes.
Could the items to collect for this Platform be these fruits?
Walking over to a fruit tree, he used his dagger to cut the stem, plucked a fruit, and held it to his nose to sniff it.
A sweet yet slightly bitter aroma wafted over. This fruit was of a type he had never seen in his previous world.
*Gulp.*
Looking at the fruit in front of him, Ye Qiyan swallowed hard.
“It smells so good.”
For some inexplicable reason, Ye Qiyan felt a strong urge to devour these fruits.
Just as he was about to take a bite, an intense sense of danger instantly snapped him out of it, and he quickly threw the fruit away.
“!!”
“Huff, huff… What the hell?”
[Stamina: 93][Mental Power: 72]
Ye Qiyan broke out in a cold sweat from the scare.
His Mental Power had just been full, yet in the span of just a few seconds after picking up that fruit, it had depleted by this much.
He currently had no shortage of food and water, so why was he so eager to eat a fruit whose toxicity he hadn’t even figured out yet?
Furthermore, this rate of Mental Power depletion was simply too terrifying; even during Sublimation, it hadn’t been this fast.
There’s something wrong with this fruit!
Ye Qiyan took a few steps back, frowning as he looked at the grayish-white fruit before him.
The fact that the Train System’s appraisal function could only be used after returning to the Train was still too inconvenient.
But these fruits were clearly the collection items for this station. Ye Qiyan even felt that the danger of this station lay in the fruits themselves.
“Did I experience that hallucination just now because I smelled the fruit? If I don’t smell it…”
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to bring these fruits back. At the very least, he would use the Train’s appraisal function to see what they actually were before making a decision.
*Rip—*
He used his dagger to cut a piece of cloth from his clothes and tied it around his face. Although he didn’t know if it would help, it was at least some form of protection.
He opened his backpack; aside from water and food, there was still plenty of empty space.
Humans die for wealth just as birds die for food; even when facing hallucinogenic fruits that could threaten his life, Ye Qiyan really couldn’t bring himself to give up on them.
The forest remained as quiet as ever, only now there was a hardworking fruit farmer harvesting his crop.
After filling his backpack, Ye Qiyan wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Fortunately, I have this dagger, otherwise this wouldn’t have been easy.”
Carrying the backpack, he returned to the Train and eagerly took out a fruit, heading to the control system for appraisal.
[White Forest Fruit] (Grade 3)
[A fruit unique to the White Forest. If unprocessed, it releases a hallucinogenic aroma that reduces Mental Power. Consumption will permanently decrease the maximum Mental Power limit.]
[Consuming it after processing can rapidly restore Mental Power and slightly increase resistance to hallucinations.]
[Processing method: Soak in cold water for five minutes]
“So that’s how it is. No wonder I wanted to eat it so badly earlier; it really was because of the smell. Thank goodness I reacted in time.”
Ye Qiyan patted his chest, letting out a sigh of relief as if he had just survived a disaster.
Alarm bells rang in his mind. He had thought he was cautious enough, but it was still not enough.
He eagerly threw the entire batch of harvested fruits into the water. After waiting patiently for five minutes and watching them transform from grayish-white to pure white, he eagerly picked up a White Forest Fruit and took a bite. The incredibly sweet juice burst forth in his mouth.
“Delicious! I’ve never eaten such delicious fruit before!”
Ye Qiyan’s eyes were full of excitement. Compared to the White Forest Fruit, the taste of things like bread and biscuits was simply hard to swallow.
It was hard to imagine that the growing environment for this kind of fruit would be so gloomy.
Emptying the remaining items from his backpack, Ye Qiyan set off again, carrying his two guns and the dagger.
A round trip took about twenty minutes, but to fill an entire backpack took about half an hour.
With a four-hour layover, he could only make four round trips at most. He couldn’t waste any time.
Stepping out of the Train, Ye Qiyan suddenly thought of something and looked in the direction of the carriages.
The Waste Recycling Device he had installed there was currently at work.
“So that’s what waste recycling means.”
A block-shaped mini-robot, only about half a shin tall, was traveling back and forth between the White Forest and the Train.
From time to time, it brought back things like leaves and placed them into the recycling station.
“I get the feeling this is kind of useless?”
Ye Qiyan sighed. Since it was already built anyway, whatever.
In the White Forest Orchard, Ye Qiyan kept swinging his dagger, gathering fruit after fruit from the trees into his bag.
After several round trips, the Train’s layover time was finally drawing to a close.
[0:32:16]
“What a pity. I wonder if I’ll ever get to eat such delicious fruit again in the future.”
In nearly three and a half hours, he had harvested over a hundred catties of White Forest Fruit.
Ignoring any potential rotting, it was enough to last him for quite a few days.
He didn’t set off again; after all, departure time was near, and he didn’t want to miss the Train out of greed.
Ye Qiyan began sorting through the supplies he currently had on hand.
Aside from the White Forest Fruit, there were also seventy-nine packs of compressed biscuits and twenty-one bottles of purchased purified water.
This food was enough to keep him from worrying about survival for a while.
Leaning back in his chair, Ye Qiyan ate some fruit and opened the Chat Room.
By this time, everyone except him should have already left the second Platform.
The moment he opened the Chat Room, his gaze was instantly drawn to a line of numbers.
[8721/10000]
Over a thousand people had vanished forever.
And this was only the second station.
And the number was still decreasing.
Why?
[“Who has medicine? I only drank a mouthful of lake water, why does my stomach hurt so much?!”]
[“Serves you right. You dare to drink unboiled water? Do you really think you’re Superman?”]
[“Damn it, those wild bulls punctured my lungs. Brothers, I don’t think I’ll live much longer. If anyone sees my wife, remember to tell her that her husband killed a bull.”]
[“Go in peace, brother. I, Cao, shall look after your wife on your behalf.”]
[“Sob… the bleeding part hurts so much… Does any big shot have medicine? I remember someone got Golden Sore Ointment before, please save me.”]
[“So hungry, the bread and water from the novice gift pack aren’t enough to eat at all.”]
In modern society, humans would receive excellent treatment when injured. As long as they didn’t leave it unattended, there was always a chance to recover from even the most severe injuries.
But now, it was different.
Even if they summoned the Courage to get off the Train and explore, the slightest carelessness could lead to a crisis.
Even if they were lucky enough to escape, they could easily end up injured. If it was slightly serious and they couldn’t get treatment, wouldn’t they just be left to wait for death?
Not to mention that many people still had no food or water, and the pressure of survival was suffocating them.
