Meanwhile, Vikram lay casually on his bed, his left foot resting on his right as he crossed his legs.
Looking at the picture Divya had sent, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Hehe, so pretty," Vikram said.
The girl in the picture had a good figure, wearing a simple black short-sleeved T-shirt that perfectly accentuated her slender waist and elegant shoulder lines, with the fabric over her chest slightly bulging from her ample figure.
She wore denim shorts, the edges of which gently brushed her long legs, highlighting her healthy skin tone and smooth leg lines.
Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, creating a stark contrast with her fair skin.
The girl's face was delicate, with exquisite features, and a pair of large, sparkling eyes shone brightly.
Her high nose bridge, paired with her rosy lips, further perfected her facial features.
After a couple more glances, Vikram closed the chat.
He spent the remaining two days quite leisurely.
The acid rain outside seemed to have nothing to do with him.
Not only did he do nothing, but he also ate meat for all three meals a day, occasionally checking messages in the chat channel or feeding the chicken.
During these two days, several plants in his territory also matured.
The two newly planted Thornvines near the entrance finally reached maturity. However, something unexpected happened when they matured. Instead of remaining as separate vines, they gradually merged with the original Thornvine already guarding the entrance.
It wasn't exactly a fusion, but more like a natural merging.
The vines intertwined and expanded, spreading across the entrance area like a living barrier.
Previously, Vikram had calculated that he needed twenty Thornvines to completely seal the entrance. Now, with the three vines merged together, three of those twenty positions were already covered.
Even the system panel had changed.
The three separate Thornvine panels disappeared, replaced by a single combined panel.
[Thornvine Cluster (Blue)]
Status: Mature
Composition: Thornvine ×3 (Merged)
Daily Plant Essence Generation: +30
Capabilities:
• Automatic entanglement of intruding creatures
• Thorn puncture causing continuous bleeding
• Shared vine network improves durability and regeneration speed
At the same time, the Warrior Sprout had also finished maturing and settled near the Treehouse like a silent guard.
[Warrior Sprout (Blue)]
Status: Level 1
Growth Potential: High
Plant Essence Generation: +12 per day
Capabilities:
• Vine-blade melee attacks
• Fast close-combat movement
• Territory-bound regeneration
Not far from the Treehouse, the Aquaheart Root had extended deeper into the soil, anchoring itself firmly underground.
[Aquaheart Root (Blue)]
Status: Mature
Daily Plant Essence Generation: +15
Special Ability:
• Purifies surrounding underground water
• Produces clean water slowly over time
• Improves nearby soil vitality
Above the Treehouse canopy, the Lightfly Vine had quietly wrapped itself around several branches.
Tiny glowing buds lit the surrounding area at night like drifting fireflies.
[Lightfly Vine (Blue)]
Status: Mature
Daily Plant Essence Generation: +13
Special Ability:
• Produces natural illumination around the Treehouse at night
• Reduces the need for fire-based lighting inside the Treehouse
• Slightly improves visibility within the Treehouse
Meanwhile, Vikram's attention was still on the chicken.
It was strange. This chicken had been living in the Treehouse for quite some time, yet he had never seen it lay an egg.
At first, he thought it might be a rooster because its feathers were unusually vibrant and its body was larger than most hens.
However, after confirming that it had no comb and had never crowed, he concluded that it must be a hen.
But a normal hen laid one egg per day, and this one, despite being there for so long, hadn't laid a single egg.
Not even a feather.
Moreover, this chicken wasn't picky about food. Vikram had been feeding it meat almost every day and had even worried that such a diet might cause problems.
Unexpectedly, its feathers had become even brighter, and its relationship with Vikram had grown much closer.
Sometimes, it even jumped onto his bed at night to sleep beside him.
One day, while feeding the chicken as usual, Vikram suddenly became curious.
Just as he was about to call the system to check what kind of creature it actually was—
"Clang!"
A blue-glowing box suddenly appeared out of thin air beneath the chicken.
"???"
"Where did this come from?"
Vikram quickly called up the system to check.
[Exquisite Treasure Chest: Blue, can yield Exquisite-grade items and items of lower grades.]
"That's it?"
Looking at where the box had appeared, Vikram cast a suspicious glance at the chicken.
The chicken couldn't withstand Vikram's gaze. It awkwardly turned its head away, its face seemingly blushing.
"Why are you blushing, you silly thing?"
Vikram was a bit speechless.
He aimed the system at it, and a description appeared.
[Fortune Spirit Chicken: Purple, can be upgraded. By feeding it high-grade food, there is a chance it will drop treasure chests of Purple quality or below.]
"Good heavens, it really was you who dropped it."
"You usually don't drop anything, but when you do, it's a big one."
Overjoyed, Vikram couldn't help but raise his voice.
Seeing Vikram suddenly speak loudly, the chicken thought it was being scolded. It quickly shrank its neck and prepared to run away.
Seeing how valuable it actually was, Vikram immediately decided that he could no longer neglect it in the future.
Before it could escape, he quickly scooped it into his arms and said softly,
"My treasure, I'm not scolding you. From now on, drop whenever you want. And if you feel like it, drop more, okay?"
The chicken tilted its head and nodded slightly, as if it understood, then slipped out of Vikram's arms.
"A blue box, huh."
Vikram rubbed his hands excitedly and licked his slightly chapped lips.
He carefully opened the box.
Inside were four items:
Steel ×2 (Blue)
Rubber ×4 (Green)
Cabbage Seeds (Green)
Physique Fruit ×1 (Blue)
The box contained the steel Vikram had wanted the most, but that wasn't the most important discovery.
At the very bottom lay an item he had never seen before.
"Physique Fruit?"
Vikram picked up the fruit and examined it carefully.
Its appearance immediately caught his attention. It resembled a smooth, oval fruit, about the size of a small apple. The skin was a deep crimson with faint golden streaks, as if energy were flowing beneath the surface.
The fruit's surface was firm yet slightly warm to the touch, and thin, leaf-like patterns spread across its skin like natural veins.
When he brought it closer, a faint herbal fragrance drifted into his nose—fresh, earthy, and strangely invigorating.
Just smelling it made his mind feel clearer.
[Physique Fruit: Blue. Consumption can slightly increase the consumer's strength and reaction speed.]
"Isn't this just a low-end version of a Primal Evolution Potion?"
While happy, Vikram also felt a bit solemn.
Because this meant everyone had a way to improve their strength.
If he encountered other Survivors in the future, the danger would naturally increase.
Vikram took a deep breath, gently closed his eyes, and slowly brought the fruit to his mouth.
As soon as he bit into it, refreshing juice filled his mouth.
It carried a faint sweetness mixed with a herbal fragrance, instantly stimulating his taste buds.
[Plant Essence +20]
Unlike the unusual taste of the fruit, he barely felt any obvious physical change.
"Plant Essence increased a lot."
"System, is there some kind of character panel so I can see my stats?"
A panel appeared.
Host: Vikram
Strength: 6 + 2
Speed: 6
Stamina: 8
Reaction: 7 + 2
Unknown: Unknown
"Strength and reaction each increased by two points?"
It sounded like only two points, but in reality, based on his original physique, both attributes had increased by nearly one-third.
"By the way, why are my starting values so low? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
[Ding. This panel is designed to allow the Host to more intuitively understand the increase in physical strength. Initial values are calculated on a scale where the maximum baseline is 10 points, and 6 points represents the average adult human level.]
"..."
"It's fine. At least they're all above average. As long as I'm not a weakling, it's acceptable. But what is unknown?"
[You need to find out about that.]
System reply was also not reply. Vikram comforted himself internally.
After five days passed, the last day of the acid rain disaster had arrived.
Over the past two days, he had spent some time adapting to the subtle changes in his body.
Only then did he suddenly remember that he still hadn't tested the hunting bow he had crafted earlier.
Picking up the hunting bow, Vikram's arm muscles tensed, showing lines of strength.
The bowstring was gradually drawn into a perfect arc, and the bow's elasticity was fully unleashed.
Although it looked simple, it took quite an effort to draw, and this was Vikram right after his strength value had increased.
"Barely managed to draw it to full draw."
"The problem now is that I have a bow but no arrows. Arrow-making tools are easy to obtain, but I don't have a blueprint."
He wouldn't know how to make them himself if he couldn't use the Survival Platform's built-in crafting function.
Perhaps some might say making arrows wasn't difficult, just tie an arrowhead and fletching to a stick.
But how could he guarantee that the arrows he made would work? Even minor flaws, like an arrowhead that wasn't sharp enough, a shaft that wasn't straight enough, or fletching that wasn't symmetrical, were enough to make an arrow fly erratically.
Arrows that went wildly off course within a few meters were worse than going in with a sword himself.
He thought about checking the Trading Market to see if anyone was selling a blueprint.
After searching for a long time and finding it too slow, he directly posted a trade offer for an Arrow Blueprint in exchange for stone on the Trading Market.
Even though the acid rain was almost over, there were still many people trading materials for stone on the market.
Among so many trades for stone, an offer to trade stone for another material stood out significantly.
"This is much faster, indeed."
Suddenly, over a dozen friend requests flooded his friend list…