Surviving the Apocalypse: All I Want Is to Find a Husband
Chapter 160: Chopping Trees (2)

Chapter 160: Chopping Trees (2)

"They glow in the dark—Bear, no! Don’t eat that!"

Lucian lunged forward, grabbing his black wolf by the scruff before it could snap up a cluster of mushrooms. Bear let out a soft whine, looking up at him with wide, guilty eyes.

Lucian sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "How many times do I have to tell you? Stop eating random things! Just because something looks nice doesn’t mean it’s safe. These mushrooms are poisonous. They might not kill a big guy like you, but trust me, you’re not gonna enjoy what happens next."

Bear let out a low, dramatic huff and lowered its head, sulking.

Meanwhile, Medeia crouched beside the mushrooms, bringing her face closer to their caps. They didn’t have a distinct smell. She had no idea what they tasted like, but something about them told her they had potential—the kind of potential that could come in handy.

"What happens if a person eats one?" she asked, her voice casual.

Lucian gave her a pointed look. "Why? Are you planning something?"

Medeia merely smiled.

Bear looked relieved when Lucian turned his attention away from him and back to Medeia.

"It depends on the person," Lucian said, "Someone with abilities above Grade-A will probably just get a stomachache. But for anyone below that ..." He paused for a second. "They could die."

Medeia’s lips curled into a pleased smile. "Perfect! I can grind them into powder and keep them as my secret weapon."

The moment she reached for one of the mushrooms, Lucian smacked her hand away without hesitation. "No. Don’t touch it. I’ll gather them for you. Just sit over there with Bear and stay put."

With an exaggerated sigh, Medeia let herself drop onto the ground beside Bear, leaning back against the tree trunk. She folded her arms behind her head, watching Lucian do all the work.

With ease, he uprooted massive tree trunks, cutting them into smaller pieces of firewood as if it required no effort at all.

Her only contribution? Scattered applause and playful encouragement. "Good job!" she called out. "You’re amazing, honey!"

Lucian didn’t say anything, but she swore she saw the corners of his lips twitch, just the tiniest bit.

Medeia rested her cheek against her palm, a lazy smirk playing on her lips. Lately, Lucian had been spoiling her a little too much. Not that she minded—if anything, she was thriving. Still, if this kept up, she was going to turn into a full-time slacker.

[Haven’t you always been a slacker, Host?]

Medeia scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, shut up. What’s wrong with taking it easy after thousands of years of running hell? That job was exhausting, you know? No days off, no overtime pay, and definitely no bonus for working late."

Besides that, she also had to constantly deal with the demon lord, who gave her a headache every single day.

Compared to those times, living in an apocalypse actually felt more relaxing—well, at least for someone like her.

As the sun began to set, Lucian finally stopped cutting down trees. By now, he had taken down nearly two hundred of them. Luckily, the forest was so dense that it didn’t look like they had cleared out too much of it.

With that much firewood, they probably wouldn’t need to chop down any more trees for the rest of winter—maybe even for an entire year.

However, there was no way they could load all of it into their truck in one trip. They would have to make multiple trips to the forest to avoid suspicion.

Fortunately, Medeia had already stored most of their belongings in her Space Pocket and transferred everything to their basement. That meant she didn’t have to worry about running out of storage space anytime soon.

[Since each tree is massive, the system will count one tree as two units.]

[Would you like to store the firewood now, Host?]

"Yes," she responded.

In an instant, the enormous pile of firewood—practically a small mountain—vanished without a trace.

[Storage: 386/1,000]

"How much do we have now?" Lucian asked. "Is it enough?"

Medeia did a quick calculation in her head. She subtracted the survival items she had brought with her, then said, "You cut down 173 trees. That’s more than enough. If you keep going, this place will start looking like a wasteland."

Lucian was about to respond, but he stopped when a sudden gust of wind howled past them. They instinctively looked up, only to see thick, dark clouds gathering ominously overhead.

"Looks like a storm is coming," Lucian muttered, scanning their surroundings. "We need to find a cave or some kind of shelter before it hits."

If the storm turned out to be severe, staying in their tent wouldn’t be an option. And Medeia wasn’t keen on wasting her coins to teleport back just yet—besides, returning too soon would raise suspicions.

They spent some time searching for a safe spot until Bear suddenly perked up, sniffing the air before bounding toward a partially snow-covered rock shelter.

Lucian wasted no time clearing out the snow from the entrance before sealing the open side with large stones to block the wind.

The moment he finished, Medeia could hear the wind howling even louder outside. The temperature plummeted within minutes, making the air inside their shelter feel like ice.

"Are you cold?" Lucian moved closer to her, gently brushing the snowflakes off her hair and clothes.

Medeia gritted her teeth, rubbing her hands together in a desperate attempt to generate warmth. "A little. We need to start a fire—now."

She pulled out some firewood, letting Lucian handle the rest. Soon, flames crackled to life, casting a dim glow against the cold stone walls.

The temperature inside the shelter gradually rose, but the chill still clung to her bones, forcing her to keep shifting to stay warm.

"Come here." Lucian tugged her closer, pulling a thick blanket around both of them. His arms caged her in, their combined heat making the cold more bearable. "Better?"

Medeia let out a slow breath, her body instantly relaxing against his warmth. He had subtly adjusted the temperature of the blanket, ensuring she wouldn’t be shivering anymore.

She burrowed deeper into his embrace, her face half-hidden against his chest. "Not bad," she murmured, her voice muffled but content.