Chapter 53: Another Upgrade, the Two-Story Boat Becomes Three Stories

After the chance encounter with the departing vessel, the lives of the three sisters returned to tranquility.

They still spent a vast amount of time practicing magic and cultivating Spiritual Qi, but they also dedicated much of their time to the Forest Plane to plant the seeds they had gradually acquired.

As time passed, the crops in the Forest Plane began to ripen one by one.

The scope of the Forest Plane was immense. Initially, they had thought it would be like when they first saw the Flammable Grass grassland, where walking outward would lead to a new world. However, they had yet to walk out of this forest. Perhaps there was a new world outside, but it was beyond their reach for now.

Furthermore, since they had now planted various crops, they had no intention of wandering too far. After some discussion, they chose to expand their fields right where they were.

To avoid being raided by the various animals in the forest, they surrounded the perimeter with a large circle of thorns.

Another crop of potatoes had ripened. Including Bai Miao, none of the three were idle, spending a significant amount of time harvesting the potatoes.

As basket after basket of potatoes was moved onto the island, they all felt the joy of a bountiful harvest.

“With so many potatoes, we have enough to eat for a long time,” Bai Xi said, picking up a potato from a basket. “Eldest Sister, can we make fried potato strips today? I’ve been craving them.”

“Is there enough oil?” Bai Yu asked, being the more practical one.

“We haven’t drawn any cooking oil these past few days, but the wild boars we’ve been raising are about ready. They look quite plump. I saw a method for rendering lard in a book before. If we slaughter a pig, we can make lard,” Bai Xi said, recalling what she had read. “The book says lard smells very fragrant.”

“Then go ahead and make the fried potato strips,” Bai Yu agreed once she was sure they wouldn’t run out of fat. “Put some in the transaction area as well to send to the people in the New Plane.”

“Mm, though the things they’re trading over are getting weirder and weirder,” Bai Xi frowned. “Some things are completely useless to us here. For example, that refrigerator; there’s no electricity on the island.”

“When we upgrade the boat next time, we’ll see if that Energy Storage Device from the White Mist Plane can be used. If it works on the boat, maybe it can be used for the refrigerator too.”

“Ah, have we done the Check-in today?” Bai Xi remembered and looked at Bai Miao. “Miao Miao, were you in such a hurry to pee this morning that you forgot to Check-in?”

As the items from the Check-in had gradually become fixed, their interest in it had waned considerably. Aside from Upgrade Cards, most of the items were just food, and basic food at that.

Now that they could grow various foods themselves, they weren’t particularly enthusiastic about the Check-in food.

Bai Miao was digging potatoes nearby. Hearing Bai Xi’s words, she stood up and tilted her head in thought. “Did I forget?”

“Yes, you forgot.”

“I did forget,” Bai Miao remembered. She dropped the potato in her hand and approached with her dirty hands outstretched. “Wash.”

Bai Yu picked up a water skin. “Walk to the side a bit, and water the plants while you’re at it.”

Bai Miao understood her meaning. While rinsing her hands, she walked along the edge. By the time her hands were clean, a circle of crops on the ground had been thoroughly watered.

Then Bai Yu took a clean cloth and helped dry her hands.

Only then did Bai Miao take the Shell out of her bag.

And what she drew this time was exactly the boat Upgrade Card they had been longing for.

Facing an Upgrade Card that hadn’t appeared in a long time, the three of them were excited. After the initial thrill, they took the card to the pier, jumped directly onto the boat, and pressed the Upgrade Card against it.

(Do you wish to upgrade?)

The prompt sounded, and a list of optional materials appeared on the Upgrade Card.

This included the Energy Storage Devices and light bulbs they had specifically saved up, as well as the refrigerator and washing machine they had just acquired.

There were also items they couldn’t name and a map.

They were no longer unfamiliar with most of the items in their possession, especially those from the New Plane. After all, books had clearly stated the names, purposes, and usage methods of these items. The only problem was the lack of a power source on the island, so even if they had the items, they couldn’t use them.

The appearance of the optional list on the Upgrade Card meant that these items would become part of the boat after the upgrade and could be used on board.

This time, Bai Miao didn’t immediately shout “Upgrade.” She waited quietly for her sisters’ opinions. Only after both of them nodded did she shout, “Upgrade!”

(Upgrading in progress…)

They stood on the shore, watching the boat as it was once again shrouded in white mist.

The white mist dissipated, and the shape of the boat gradually revealed itself.

“It got bigger again. Luckily our pier is big enough. No, luckily when we chose the pier’s location, we chose this area with enough space. If we had chosen the other one, the boat wouldn’t fit if it got any larger.”

“It’s a good thing we aren’t inland. Otherwise, with such a huge change, it would be impossible not to be noticed.”

“If we were inland, we would have been discovered long ago,” Bai Xi laughed. “Not just when it became two stories, even when it first grew a size larger, someone would have noticed.”

Bai Yu also smiled. “True. After all, everyone lives on the water and is more than familiar with the state of boats.”

As she spoke, Bai Yu picked up Bai Miao and jumped onto the boat before setting her down.

Bai Xi followed behind and jumped onto the boat as well.

Growing another size larger, the two-story boat had become a three-story vessel. Above the deck, there were now two solid floors. Not only did each floor have two rooms, but the rooms even came with their own beds and cabinets.

“It actually has beds already. I almost want to sleep here,” Bai Xi said as she looked around. “A boat like this would definitely be comfortable to sleep in.”

“But it will still be rocky sleeping here,” Bai Yu dashed her thoughts. “Besides, we live on the island right here; there’s no need to go through the trouble.”

As she spoke, she saw Bai Miao climbing upward inside the cabin and stepped forward to steady her. “Slow down.”

Bai Xi hurried over. “I want to go up and see too.”

Bai Yu stepped aside to let Bai Xi go up the stairs, cautioning her as she went, “Watch Miao Miao.”

“Okay,” Bai Xi replied, moving faster. She reached the top almost at the same time as Bai Miao. Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps came from above, followed by shouting from outside the cabin.

Bai Yu walked out of the cabin and looked up to see the two of them, one big and one small, leaning out of the window.

“Eldest Sister, there’s only one room upstairs!” Bai Xi waved at her. “And the refrigerator and washing machine used during the upgrade are all here. Can we sleep on the boat tonight?”

“Are you sure?” Bai Yu asked.

Bai Xi nodded repeatedly. “Mm-hmm, this room is so big. I’ve never slept in such a large room before.”

Bai Yu didn’t speak immediately. She walked back into the cabin and headed upstairs. Upon reaching the second floor, she understood what Bai Xi meant by “big.”

Moreover, the room wasn’t just large; the environment inside was very similar to the houses in the New Plane. The room had electric lights, a refrigerator, and a washing machine, and there was even a place to bathe and a toilet.

If she didn’t know she was on a boat, she would have thought they were in a house in the New Plane.

Not just Bai Xi, even Bai Yu wanted to stay here for a night.

“Even though there aren’t any quilts here, there is a bed,” Bai Xi said, sitting on the bed. “We don’t need to go back for quilts either. We can just bring over the quilt Miao Miao usually uses for her naps in the Magic Plane, and that’ll do for the night.”

Saying this, she lay down. Seeing the light above her head, she suddenly sat up again. “Miao Miao, try turning on the light.”

Bai Miao looked around and quickly found the switch hanging on the wall. She ran over, stood on her tiptoes, and pressed it. The room, which hadn’t been very dark to begin with, instantly became much brighter.

Bai Xi looked at the ceiling with excitement. “Eldest Sister, with this light here, can we sit and read at night? Can I also make clothes?”

Bai Yu also looked up. “If we have extra materials later, how about we upgrade the house on the island?”

Bai Xi nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes!”

Even though they had known from the start that electric lights could shine, washing machines could wash clothes, and refrigerators could make things cold, seeing these things actually appear before their eyes still made them quite enthusiastic.

Although they said they didn’t need to move things, Bai Xi still made a special trip to bring over clothes that weren’t even dirty, insisting on using the washing machine to wash them.

As for the refrigerator, they put in some food that was already shelf-stable.

However, it wasn’t a complete waste of energy.

Bai Miao and Bai Xi held a book and followed its instructions, mixing fresh water and white sugar together before putting it into the freezer, planning to make sugar popsicles.

Bai Yu didn’t stop them from playing, but she remarked quietly from behind them, “Even if you freeze that, it’ll just be a bowl of ice. There are no sticks.”

Bai Xi and Bai Miao turned around at the same time. “Popsicles need sticks?”

Bai Yu asked with a smile, “Doesn’t it say so in the book?”

Bai Yu also crouched down to join the discussion about the popsicles.

Bai Miao thought for a moment and said, “The ones without sticks seem to be called ice cream, but ice cream has milk in it.”

Bai Xi said, “We can’t find any milk here.”

Bai Yu added, “Without milk, we can only make popsicles. But with such a large bowl, once it’s frozen solid and taken out, the bowl itself will be covered in ice. How will we eat it?”

Bai Xi said, “Popsicles seem to come in individual pieces, not one big bowl.”

The three of them crouched in front of the refrigerator and discussed it for a long time. In the end, they decided to just leave it as it was. Whether it was popsicles or ice cream, their current conditions weren’t quite enough, and the only containers they could use were still just bowls.

After putting the bowl of sugar water into the freezer, all three of them couldn’t help but laugh.

Bai Xi laughed out loud. “It’s still the same. Why did we talk for so long just now?”

“At least we know the difference between popsicles and ice cream now,” Bai Yu said. “When we have the chance to find milk and other containers in the future, we can freeze our own ice cream to eat. I wonder what frozen ice cream tastes like.”

“The book says it’s fragrant and sweet,” Bai Miao said, looking up at her two sisters. “What does milk taste like?”

The two of them froze for a moment.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ve never had it either.”

Bai Miao smiled. “Then this time, we’re all in the same boat having never tried it.”

Bai Xi said, “But I know that milk is squeezed from cows.”

Bai Yu added, “And we know milk is milky white.”

Bai Miao raised her hand. “Also, milk is fragrant and sweet, and very delicious!”