Chapter 35: Acceleration Torch, Dark Matter

At that shout, the burly man froze with his hand raised in mid-air, glancing first at Rem and then at Chen Fan.

"Master?"

He realized the situation instantly; even a fool would have understood by now. He swallowed hard, then dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. "Boss Chen Fan, I truly had no idea it was you."

Those who had been speaking moments ago lowered their heads, hoping Chen Fan hadn't noticed them. The people waiting in line whispered among themselves:

"Is this the legendary Chen Fan? He looks pretty ordinary, doesn't he?"
"Say, why does his girlfriend call him 'Master'? Does he have some kind of kink?"
"Who knows? Maybe Boss Chen Fan likes shameful roleplay."
"What a beast!"
"It's infuriating how people compare to one another. Why can someone as average-looking as Chen Fan land such a beautiful girlfriend..."

Listening to the gossip, Chen Fan’s face darkened. "Shameful roleplay"? What kind of person did they think he was? However, once the crowd realized it was indeed Chen Fan, they immediately quieted down. After all, this was his establishment; he could do as he pleased, and no matter how bold they were, they dared not cross him.

Walking through the crowd, Chen Fan handed the cat-ear headband and wool sweater he had purchased to Rem. He then checked on the status of the shop. According to Rem's report, business had been excellent that morning, resulting in two large extra crates of logs and nine hundred gold coins. Since they had acquired stone swords, they had managed to slay quite a few monsters over the past two days, and they had purchased iron equipment to be distributed to the team leaders for safekeeping. Seeing the shop running smoothly, Chen Fan felt confident enough to focus on other tasks to accumulate gold for land expansion.

At that moment, Rem placed the cat-ear headband on her head, tilted it slightly, and looked at him with a hint of expectation. She asked softly, "Master, does it look good?"

The blue cat ears swayed playfully against her blue hair, accentuating her innocent features and adding an extra touch of cuteness and charm.

"It looks great," Chen Fan said, giving her a thumbs-up. This gesture, however, made the onlookers grit their teeth, feeling as though they had just been force-fed a mouthful of "dog food."

After a brief chat, Chen Fan left the store. On his way back to his room, he felt like something was missing. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "A bathroom."

With that thought, he began to ponder improvements. Once he had a plan in mind, he decided to renovate the second floor. He planned to partition off a four-by-four space specifically for bathing, along with two separate rooms.

Half an hour later, he headed down the mining shaft to find Yang Keli. Chen Fan walked deep into the familiar tunnel, the stones beneath his feet echoing softly. He hadn't gone far before he heard Yang Keli humming a little tune while mining, punctuated by the crisp sound of ore breaking loose. Once he found her, the two resumed their grand mining endeavor.

During their work, he mentioned partitioning a bathroom on the second floor. Yang Keli was thrilled, and she began working even harder.

Above ground, while they no longer had to worry about food, a new problem had emerged.

"The hydration level is dropping way too fast. What do we do?"
"Exactly. Just now, I was eating bread and noticed my thirst meter plummeted."
"Eating apples helps with hydration, but I’m full after just a few bites."
"I know, right? Even though there's a river nearby, the relief doesn't last long."
"Have you noticed? The more river water you drink, the thirstier you get."

A few people sat together, discussing how to solve the issue. Suddenly, a man suggested, "Why don't we ask Boss Chen Fan? Maybe he has a way."

At these words, their eyes lit up. Several of them ran to the shop and asked Rem respectfully, "Sister-in-law, could you tell us if Boss Chen Fan is at the cabin?"

Rem was momentarily stunned. The term "sister-in-law" was foreign to her; she had no idea what it meant, but she still replied with a smile: "Master is not in the cabin right now. He may have gone down into the mine."

Hearing this, the group immediately opened the regional channel and began frantically tagging Chen Fan.

Chen Fan, who was happily mining, found the sudden influx of notifications annoying. Upon checking them, he saw they were all questions about the hydration problem. Chen Fan pondered for a moment. To better accumulate wealth—or rather, to better sell his goods—he decided to craft some copper pots that evening. After all, with a river nearby, drinking for an afternoon wouldn't kill anyone.

With his plan set, he continued mining until nightfall. He didn't find any lava, but he did manage to find some diamonds and emeralds. When the pair returned to the cabin, they noticed the sky had darkened. Chen Fan planted a few cherry blossom saplings near the house and used bone meal to accelerate their growth. The trees matured instantly, their pink petals scattering in the breeze.

Seeing this, Yang Keli exclaimed, "Wow! Chen Fan, where did you get those saplings?"

"Heh heh!" Chen Fan said, looking quite pleased with himself. "Traded for them at the small market this morning. Not bad, right?"

Looking at the cherry blossom trees, Chen Fan thought they could be used to create a nice leisure area. He gathered some materials and, together with Yang Keli, built a small gazebo next to the trees, complete with a table and chairs. It would be a wonderful place to enjoy dinner. Besides, the area was surrounded by torches, so there was no need to worry about monsters spawning and disturbing them.

After dinner, Chen Fan harvested his crops, obtaining 25 potatoes, 42 wheat stalks, and 10 carrots. Since carrots had a longer growth cycle than other crops, he planted wheat seeds in half of the empty plots.

Once everything was handled, he returned to the cabin, intending to craft speed torches to collect food faster. He took out the necessary materials, crafted four clocks, laid them out according to the requirements, and finally added the torches.

Something magical happened... it didn't work!

Chen Fan’s forehead creased with lines of confusion. "What the hell? Why won't it work?"

Seeing his frustration, Rem asked, "Master, are you trying to craft speed torches?"

"Yeah, I followed the recipe, but it won't let me make them."

Rem smiled faintly; it was rare to find something her master didn't know. "Master, speed torches require more than just clocks and torches. They need one other important material."

"What material?" Chen Fan asked, puzzled.

"Dark matter."

Chen Fan knew what dark matter was, but what did that have to do with speed torches? To confirm his suspicion, he asked Rem, "Rem, does that mean I have to craft the Philosopher's Stone first, and then synthesize eight Eternal Fuels before I can make them?"

"Yes, Master. Although, there is another way: killing a boss of Elite rank or higher gives you a chance for it to drop."

"..."

With no other choice, Chen Fan had to give up on the speed torches for now and focus on the copper pots. He considered his current needs and resources, and realized that solving the hydration issue was relatively simpler. Furthermore, the crafting method for copper pots was identical to that of iron cooking pots, both requiring seven copper ingots.

Without much effort, he crafted ten copper pots. He listed five on the trading platform for 180 gold coins each and left the rest for Rem to sell.