Chapter 116: Chapter 104: A Bumper Harvest

"Cynthia Grant, your hair’s a mess. Hurry up and fix it, then go down and bring Old Lynch up."

Cynthia Grant was still dazed from the goose attack earlier. It was only when she heard Flora Bloom say the name "Sherman Lynch" that she snapped back to reality.

Flora Bloom handed her a bottle of spiritual water, along with some chocolate and candy. She didn’t give her other things like bread or cookies. Considering Sherman Lynch had been missing for over three days, rashly eating something hard to digest would be bad for his elderly body.

The Space Spirit Water could heal ninety-nine percent of his physical injuries, but it couldn’t sate his hunger. The chocolate and candy would replenish his energy, enough for him to hold on until he could climb out of the well.

Not long after Cynthia Grant went down, her calls of "Uncle!" faded into silence. Then, the rope by the well began to shake, and an old man, so thin he was just a bag of bones, poked his head out of the well opening. Seeing the nervous expression on Irvin Holden’s face, Flora Bloom knew this was the legendary Old Lynch, Sherman Lynch.

Cynthia Grant’s head popped out from the well shortly after. She immediately ran to Sherman Lynch’s side, looking up at Flora Bloom with a worried expression.

"Flora Bloom, quick, take a look at my uncle! What’s wrong with him?"

Sherman Lynch was now lying with his head in Irvin Holden’s lap. His emaciated body, nothing but skin and bones, looked too frail to withstand a breeze. He was like a lamp flickering in and out, a perfect picture of a man with a candle in the wind.

Cynthia Grant knelt on the ground beside Sherman Lynch, her face etched with sorrow.

"Uncle, what’s happened to you? Don’t scare me!"

Flora Bloom stepped forward to examine him. She found that although Sherman Lynch didn’t have an ounce of flesh on his bones, his body was completely free of injuries. After drinking a bottle of her undiluted spiritual water, even the most severe of his wounds should have been mostly healed.

However, after being brought up, Sherman Lynch had closed his eyes. It was unclear if he was sleeping deeply or had fallen unconscious.

Furthermore, his forehead was burning hot. Against his abnormally pale old face, the fever flushed his skin bright red.

He was running a fever. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"How is he?" Cynthia Grant asked anxiously.

Flora Bloom shook her head and said lightly, "There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Cynthia Grant lowered her gaze and said in a heavy voice, "The bad news."

"The bad news is, your uncle has a fever. If he can’t pull through, with his body in this state, he won’t live long even if he wakes up."

Flora Bloom’s words were like a stone dropped into calm water, causing Cynthia Grant’s expression to change drastically.

"Doesn’t your water have healing properties? Heal him! You can definitely heal him!" she said, grabbing Flora Bloom’s hands in agitation.

Flora Bloom looked at her calmly and continued, "Aren’t you going to listen to the good news?" Her composed words made Cynthia Grant freeze. She looked at Flora Bloom intently and said, "Tell me. Quickly."

"The good news is, if he gets through this, not only will he recover, but he might also awaken a superpower." Just a moment ago, Flora Bloom had faintly sensed a trace of the Gold Ability forming inside Sherman Lynch’s body.

As for why she only felt a faint trace, it was likely because Sherman Lynch’s body was currently too weak, so weak that it was affecting his superpower awakening.

But as long as he succeeded in awakening, not only would his body recover, but his physical constitution would become even better than before.

Just as Flora Bloom finished speaking, she suddenly felt the Gold Ability emanating from the unconscious Sherman Lynch skyrocket, increasing at an incredible speed.

Flora Bloom was stunned for several seconds, which scared Cynthia Grant so much that she nearly burst into tears. "Just say it! How does he awaken? As long as he awakens, he’ll live, right? He’ll be just like he was before?"

Flora Bloom nodded at Cynthia Grant and suddenly raised her voice, as if she were deliberately speaking to the unconscious Sherman Lynch. "More than just ’like he was before’! After his superpower awakens, your uncle could even take on several zombies by himself. In short, it’ll be much more powerful than your Wood Element Ability."

"Moreover, I can feel that your uncle is awakening the Gold Ability. Do you know what the Gold Ability is? It’s a superpower that’s strong in both offense and defense. Even better, the Gold Ability can be used to enhance ordinary weapons, making them sharper and more durable. It gives a huge advantage when fighting zombies. Tell me, isn’t that amazing?"

Cynthia Grant was a bit dazed by Flora Bloom’s explanation. "Amazing... of course it’s amazing! If Uncle could awaken the Gold Ability, he would be so happy! But... how can we help him get through this and wake up?"

As Cynthia Grant fretted, she didn’t notice that Flora Bloom was raising her voice with every sentence, all while sneaking glances at Sherman Lynch out of the corner of her eye.

’Well, I’ll be. This Sherman Lynch is really something.’ After her little speech, not only did the Gold Ability in his body skyrocket, but his eyelids and fingers even started to twitch.

Flora Bloom took out another bottle of water and handed it to Cynthia Grant. "Have your uncle drink this. It will help him recover faster."

Although Flora Bloom’s spiritual water could rapidly heal any physical wound, it wasn’t a panacea. It worked wonders on injuries but couldn’t extend a life that was naturally ending. This was why she had to tell Cynthia Grant the bad news.

After all, she couldn’t guarantee the spiritual water could restore all of Sherman Lynch’s bodily functions when he was technically uninjured. He was an old man on his last legs, and he had been starving in a cold, damp well for over three days. Just saving him was a feat in itself.

Flora Bloom had Caleb leave the big white goose to watch over the three people by the well. Although it was unlikely there was any danger nearby, taking precautions was a must in the apocalypse.

She then took Caleb by the hand and headed toward the chicken coops in the village.

’This satellite positioning system from Edwin Warren is really useful. I can see the details of buildings clearly from a distance. It saves me the trouble of searching row by row for farm buildings like chicken coops and pigsties.’

Along the way, the duo—one adult, one child—not only found the five big roosters but also discovered a sheep pen and a pigsty in the village.

The sheep pen held a single ram. The pigsty contained a white sow with piglets. Flora Bloom swept them all into her space in one go. The sow was placed in the pigsty that already held three pigs, and the ram was put into an empty enclosure.

Inside her space, Flora Bloom had placed the five big roosters into the pen with the five hens. The fifteen big white geese were swimming and playing freely in the Spatial Spirit River, looking utterly content. Flora Bloom then placed the eggs she and Irvin Holden were carrying into a pile of wheat by the river. This way, if the geese came ashore, they could incubate the eggs there, and the plump, fragrant grains of wheat could serve as their food.

Looking at the clutch of jade-white eggs by the river, Flora Bloom moved them all into the chicken coop, placing them in the straw nests of the five hens. These were the eggs that Golden Cicada had found in the mountains near the horse farm. They had been in her space for a while, and she wondered if they would hatch more easily with hens incubating them.

Flora Bloom had initially kept Caleb close, afraid there might be other creatures in the village like the goose leader. But after they had turned the village upside down and found no other living things, Flora Bloom finally led Caleb back to the well.

Sherman Lynch had been found. Though he hadn’t woken up yet, Flora Bloom knew his will to live wouldn’t let him die so easily. She had gathered a good amount of supplies, but most importantly, the biggest prize from this trip was the huge chickens and geese. Although the ram and the sow with her piglets hadn’t evolved, Flora Bloom knew that in the near future, these creatures would provide her with a valuable source of meat.

Mindful of the lesson learned at Janton University—when they were swarmed by zombies after acquiring Vert and Golden Cicada—Flora Bloom urged everyone to hurry back to base as soon as they were done collecting everything.

She believed the village was zombie-free likely because of the presence of the formidable flock of white geese. Now, the goose leader was nestled affectionately beside Caleb, and all the other creatures were in her space. It was very possible that the zombies, no longer sensing a threatening presence, would return.

On the way back to the base, Flora Bloom sped along in the driver’s seat, a smile gracing her lips the entire time. It was a great haul, one that made her happier than any before.

’Chicken stewed with mushrooms, beer-can goose... and soon, there’ll be fresh pork to eat. It’s just a shame there was only one ram in the village. A male can’t provide a self-sustaining source of mutton for my space. Looks like I’ll have to pay more attention to sheep on future supply runs and find a ewe to bring back.’