【Would you like to spend 20 points to convert this room into an independent space?】

Being able to make the dissection room an independent area was definitely a good thing.

Lin Chu currently had 755 points left. Of those, 175 had to be saved, leaving her with 580 points she could use.

“How many points does it take to upgrade the front yard?”

Busy exploring the newly upgraded shelter, she hadn’t had the chance to look into the front yard upgrade. Now that the system prompted her to spend points, it was the first thing she needed to address.

【Host, upgrading the front yard to level 2 requires 150 points.】

Since upgrading the shelter had cost 200 points earlier, Lin Chu was mentally prepared for this.

150 points wasn’t a small amount, but considering the incredible value of the 200-point upgrade, she was willing to accept it.

After setting aside 150 points for the front yard, she still had plenty left to spend. So, Lin Chu readily handed over 20 points to convert the dissection room into a separate room.

As soon as the points were submitted, she felt a gentle force push her backward.

Her vision blurred for a moment, and when it cleared, the small doorway that connected the bathroom to the dissection room had been replaced with a wall.

【Please select the door location for this room.】

A floor plan of the shelter appeared before her again.

The dissection room had originally been a long, narrow space—3 meters long and 1 meter wide—separated from the activity room by only a wall.

Now, possibly due to the expansion of the activity room, the dissection room had also grown. Its length had increased to 4 meters, though the width remained the same.

Lin Chu placed the door at the innermost corner of the dissection room, adjacent to the activity room.

This way, she wouldn’t need to enter the dissection room through the bathroom anymore. She could go directly from the activity room, making things far more convenient.

Since she was no longer in the zombie world, the dissection function wasn’t currently needed. With 4 square meters of space just sitting idle, Lin Chu decided to repurpose the room.

She pulled out the last two storage shelves from her inventory and lined them up, placing non-perishable, non-urgent supplies onto them.

Thus, the dissection room was temporarily turned into a storage room.

After leaving the storage room, Lin Chu opened the bedroom door, only to find that the upgrade hadn’t affected the bedroom at all.

Its size hadn’t changed.

But considering the addition of the kitchen and the significantly expanded activity room and bathroom, she was more than satisfied.

Those 200 points were definitely well spent.

Opening the system panel, Lin Chu was pleased to see that the shelter’s level had risen to Level 3.

Beneath the shelter level, a new line of text appeared:

【Shelter Relocation Function has been activated.】

【Function: Shelter Position Reset

Description: By submitting 100 points, the shelter’s location can be reset once in the mission world.

Note: This function cannot be used if the current world does not grant shelter placement permissions.】

“So, if you fail to set up the shelter during the initial placement window, you can’t use this function later?”

Her question was confirmed by the system.

She committed the rule to memory and eagerly submitted 150 points to upgrade the front yard.

Once the familiar fog cleared, Lin Chu opened the front door—and her eyes lit up.

The previously cramped front yard, which had been just 1.5 by 2 meters, had now expanded into a 3 by 4 meter courtyard.

Though the length and width had only doubled, the area had increased from 3 square meters to 12—four times as much space.

The once-cramped yard now felt spacious.

The tomatoes and lettuce she had planted were still in their original spots. The newly added ground extended around them—left, right, and in front.

Xiao Er ran up to her excitedly, waving its arms and recounting what had just happened:

“Master, the white mist wrapped around me, and when I came out, everything was this big!”

Though Lin Chu couldn’t see Xiao Er’s expression, she could feel its excitement through its movements.

That enthusiasm was contagious.

She sectioned off a roughly 1-square-meter area in the left corner near the entrance, planning to turn it into a chicken coop once her chicks hatched.

She also had Xiao Er move the black fish’s tub to the right side of the yard.

Under Xiao Er’s care, the little black fish had been slowly recovering over the past few days. However, the tail fin it had bitten off itself remained tattered.

Lin Chu planned to build a proper fishpond with bricks, cement, and waterproof materials once she had the resources.

For now, the big basin would have to suffice.

After planning out the layout of the front yard, she pulled out the seed packet Yu Hongfei had given her.

She selected bok choy, chives, spinach, and green garlic and handed them to Xiao Er.

“Turn over the new soil first, then plant these according to the guide in that booklet I gave you.”

With a new task in hand, Xiao Er gleefully grabbed a shovel and got to work.

With Xiao Er taking care of the fieldwork, Lin Chu could rest easy.

The lettuce in the garden had already reached its third harvest.

After collecting the fresh leaves, she went into the kitchen.

She had collected quite a few pots and pans from the residential district.

Lin Chu found a rusty iron wok and used her “Trash to Treasure” skill on it.

【Item: Master Chef’s Iron Wok

Rarity: D

Description: This iron wok can tell you whether the food cooked in it is delicious.】

Lin Chu stared at the item description and rarity, unsure what to think.

That function…

Was pretty useless, honestly.

Still, she didn’t need a fancy wok—just a functional one.

So she ignored the gimmick.

She pulled out two packs of bland instant noodles. Once the water in the wok boiled, she threw in the noodles, then added chunks of canned meat.

When the noodles were ready, the wooden handle of the wok lit up with a red light.

Apparently, that was the wok’s way of telling her the food wasn’t tasty.

But Lin Chu figured the system’s definition of “delicious” might not match her own.

After all, she’d eaten this particular brand of instant noodles multiple times, and it had always tasted fine.

So she completely ignored the red light.

While waiting for the noodles to cook, she grabbed the leftover ground meat from making dumplings earlier. Once the noodles were done, she poured out the water, reheated the wok, added oil, and made a big pot of meat sauce.

She portioned the excess meat sauce into meal-sized servings and stored them in her inventory. She also blanched a pot of lettuce.

When the lettuce was done, she spooned the meat sauce over the noodles, grabbed her food, and left the kitchen.

Throughout the day she spent waiting for deployment, Lin Chu stayed busy in the kitchen.

Using the ingredients she’d salvaged from the residential buildings, she whipped up several of the hot stir-fried dishes she’d been craving.

For each one, she made five to ten servings—depending on what she had available—and packed them while still hot for storage.

Only 30 minutes remained before deployment.

Lin Chu placed several weapons in the most accessible part of her inventory and slung on a backpack.

To prepare for any possible situation, she wore a short, flexible down jacket on the outside.

The system had given her a fireplace with this shelter upgrade, which gave her some clues about the upcoming mission world.

That was also why she carried a backpack.

If she was wrong, she could quickly remove the jacket and stash it in her inventory without hindering her movement.

At exactly 12:00, Lin Chu’s figure vanished from the shelter.

Sensing something, Xiao Er—busy in the yard—ran into the house to search. When it couldn’t find her, it obediently returned outside to continue working.

From time to time, it glanced up at the courtyard gate.

This time, Lin Chu’s consciousness remained in a daze for quite a while.