Natural Disasters Strikes: I stockpiled like crazy!-Chapter 157: Improving Control

Nanzhi dusted off her hands and stood, her gaze sweeping over the abandoned cottage. She had expected little—just a forgotten shelter, left behind by someone long gone. The interior was simple, worn by time, yet still sturdy.

Most of the furniture remained—a wooden table, a few chairs, a long bench along the wall, and a stone hearth. No signs of food or personal belongings, only silence and dust. Whoever had lived here must have left in a hurry or abandoned it long ago.

Her attention drifted to the dried bog bricks stacked near the fireplace. There were more than she had first noticed, all neatly piled. The fact that so many had been gathered suggested they had been used regularly.

She moved deeper into the cottage, her fingers brushing over the ancient tools scattered across the room. These were no delicate glassware, but heavy, well-worn implements for practical work—chisels, hammers, sickles, and metal clamps. Some were rusted, but others remained surprisingly intact.

One the side of the bed, there was a chest. She opened it and found glass vials inside. Nanzhi collected them.

By the bed, a closed window caught her eye. Upon opening it, she glimpsed a small, withered garden outside, its broken fence encircling it.

What could possibly be planted here?

Nanzhi didn’t stay in the cottage any longer.

She grabbed the bucket of honey and began her journey back.

On the way, she spotted a cow, but this cow was unusually swift. At the slightest rustle, it darted away before she could think of a plan to capture it.

She marked the spot and resolved to return later.

As if compensating for the cow’s escape, the dungeon rewarded her with a rooster.

Its feathers were a glossy black, resembling polished obsidian, reflecting hints of blue and purple when the torchlight caught them.

She returned and threw the rooster near the coops.

The rooster was extremely disobedient, causing a ruckus and flinging firewood all over the yard.

"Mac! Mac! Give me back my freedom!" it seemed to cry.

Nanzhi rolled up her sleeves, tied its feet to the coop, and washed her hands before eating a whole fried chicken in front of it. Sensing it’s gaze, she offered, "Want some?"

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

"Mac! Mac!" The rooster shook its head before dashing to the coop.

The other chickens stared at the new arrival with pity before returning to peck at their food.

Before returning to the game lobby, Nanzhi decided to taste the mist gold honey. After all, if it was poisonous, the dungeon’s settings would allow her to recover.

It was slightly sweet, with a cool aftertaste, like winter plum nectar—far different from the syrupy richness of regular honey.

Deeming there was no poison prompt, she began concocting in the game lobby.

This time, instead of firewood, she opted to try the bog bricks. She was curious about the prompt.

Nanzhi placed the dried bog bricks into the Frostforge furnace’s chamber.

"It says burn with mental energy. Does that mean I need to ignite it with my mental energy?"

[Yes.]

She attempted to coat the bog bricks with her mental energy, just as she did with her weapons.

FWOOSH.

The moment her mental energy touched the bog bricks, the fire erupted into life, blazing with an intense blue flame that drained her mental energy.

Too strong!

She immediately halted, and the fire in the furnace’s chamber died out.

She examined the bog bricks. They had hardly burned at all, with only the edges showing slight scorch marks, despite the strength of the fire moments ago.

At this rate, every serum would fail.

However, Nanzhi was not one to give up easily.

If her mental energy could ignite the fire, surely she could control it.

Testing this theory, she tried again. This time, she carefully controlled her mental energy, using only a single thread of it.

It wasn’t easy, as she had never attempted such precision before.

But it wasn’t impossible.

After two minutes, she succeeded. She sent the strand of energy carefully to the bog bricks, and the flames danced around it, though with far less intensity than before.

This was enough heat for concocting the serum.

The next challenge was maintaining the mental energy while also focusing on timing the addition of the ingredients.

Meanwhile, in the underground bunker, despite Zhang Heng’s efforts to relocate the livestock, there were still infected animals. Their bodies burned up as the pathogen took hold.

Zhang Heng addressed the issue and collaborated with the research team.

Coincidentally, Xuan Yi had also awakened. Initially, he should have woken the day after being admitted, but he had been among the fevered patients.

Had he awakened later, Weihao would have sought Feng Ran’s kissing service to rouse Xuan Yi from his sleep.

Just as before, Xuan Yi had awakened his light manipulation ability.

If the stabilizer worked on humans in the late mutation phase, it might prevent animals from mutating entirely. Collaborating with Xuan Yi and the research team, Zhang Heng began adapting the stabilizer into a vaccine for animals.

The stabilizer found in the grilled mushroom was insufficient. Upon further study, they discovered the spores contained a far more aggressive stabilizer, but it also carried a portion of the pathogen, aggravating the animals’ mutations.

They needed to extract the stabilizer first.

After countless tests, they finally perfected the formula and dosage. Infected animals treated with the stabilizer early on did not mutate, and their fevers broke within hours.

Meanwhile, Nanzhi continued to work. In another ten minutes, she managed to craft a successful Frostbane Serum using the mist gold honey, and was surprised by its new effects.

[1.5 Star - Frostbane Serum]

[Effects: Strengthens cold resistance, prevent frostbite and improves physical endurance in low-temperature environments for a week]

An increased in star evaluation and a full week!

But this was not the only surprise.

[Mental Power: 145/162]

Her mental power had increased by one point too!

Overjoyed by this discovery, Nanzhi resumed concocting. This time, she prioritized using the dungeon’s time before the game lobby’s reset.

With 16 hours at her disposal, she worked tirelessly, alternating between firewood and bog when her mental energy is drained.

By the end of the game lobby session, she had crafted 128 more Frostbane Serums and her Mental Power increased by another 6 points!

She cleaned and sterilized the glass vials found in the cottage, using them as containers.

When she returned to her bedroom, Lin Weihao had successfully advanced to Tier 2.

Standing near him now felt like being close to a live wire—the air around him crackled with energy.

"Congratulations." Nanzhi prepared herself for her own advancement.