Thinking of this, Arya immediately hurried into the storage room and began appraising the treasure chests one by one.
Unfortunately, what greeted her was a deeply disappointing sight.
All of the once-mysterious treasure chests had turned into ordinary wooden boxes. They no longer emitted even the faintest trace of magical fluctuation, and the familiar "storage attribute" was completely gone.
"…Why didn't I think of researching these restricted treasure chests back then?"
Arya muttered under her breath as she ran her hand across the stacked boxes.
The coarse wooden texture beneath her fingertips made her feel as though she had just lost out on a fortune worth hundreds of millions. The feeling was nothing short of heartbreaking.
After all, these chests had been capable of storing items. Even more importantly, they seemed to be linked to stasis, or perhaps some kind of time or spatial attribute.
And the most infuriating part?
They were only E-rank items—common, mass-produced things that could be found practically everywhere. Even if she had dismantled a few for research, it wouldn't have mattered at all.
"Sigh…"
Arya let out a long breath, her gaze lingering on the now-ordinary boxes.
She wasn't even sure whether she truly had the ability to research time- or space-related properties. But regardless of the outcome, the fact that she never even got the chance to try left a knot of regret in her chest.
What made it worse was the realization that these boxes had contained an entire month's worth of emergency rations and medicinal herbs.
The rations were manageable. Most of them could survive outside storage for a while longer.
But the herbs were another matter entirely.
Several of them required immediate drying and processing. If left unattended, their potency would degrade rapidly—or worse, they might rot completely.
Just thinking about having to personally process dozens of jin of herbs made Arya's scalp tingle.
"…Forget it. I'll just spend a whole day dealing with them."
She rubbed her temples and resigned herself to the workload.
While she was at it, she would need to have Roy prepare another batch of herbs as well.
After all, the World Will had already announced that Mana Rifts and Mana Tides would occur once every month from now on. Stockpiling potions was never a bad idea.
As for the upcoming server merger, the only thing Arya could think of that directly concerned her was the expanded terrain. More land meant more environments, and more environments meant a wider variety of medicinal plants.
Aside from potentially gaining more customers, the merger didn't seem to affect her much.
Once the magic broom finished cleaning the first floor and floated upstairs on its own, Arya slowly walked over to the Magic Desk and opened a private communication window.
She sent a message to Roy.
Arya: "I need more herbs."
Roy: "Do you have a specific list?"
Arya: "Not yet. We'll sort out the details later. For now, prepare a batch of herbs used for E-rank red and blue potions. I'll brew them during next week's Mana Rift."
Roy: "How much should I prepare? One hundred jin? And do you want them processed?"
Arya: "Yes. Wash them and sun-dry them lightly. I want them mostly dry, but not completely dehydrated."
Roy: "Got it."
The conversation ended.
Arya was about to close the chat window when another message popped up.
Roy: "Wait—check the world channel. Something interesting is happening."
"…Interesting?"
Arya frowned slightly.
What kind of place was the world channel?
It was a chaotic cesspool where anyone could speak freely, without restraint or moderation. Trying to find useful information there was no different from trying to pan for gold in a desert of sand.
Still, if Roy had specifically pointed it out, it was probably at least entertaining.
With that thought, she switched channels.
The moment she did, her screen was flooded with identical messages, repeated again and again by different names.
Admer. Sarfador. Reid. Piamon. Morikawa Shigeki. Gersons. Chu Yuan. Isabella. Gu Anran.
Some of the names were unfamiliar to her. Others, however, were instantly recognizable.
Most of the ones she recognized had been prominent figures in the former Blue Star Federation—celebrities, educators, council members, and even major internet influencers.
Every one of them was posting the same announcement:
"After consultation, we hereby formally announce the establishment of the Karim Supreme Council. We request all former Blue Star Federation council soldiers and employees to diligently fulfill their duties in their respective regions, protect themselves, and assist Federation citizens in need whenever possible."
Arya stared at the screen, her expression blank.
The Karim Supreme Council?
For a moment, she wore the same expression as an old man squinting at his phone on a crowded subway.
…Wait a second.
You all got transmigrated into another world—and you're still trying to set up something like this?
She raised a hand and lightly scratched her temple, then slowly relaxed as understanding dawned.
People from all walks of life had been thrown into this new world. After an entire month of relative silence, it was only natural that those who craved authority—or longed to reclaim their former power—would start reconnecting.
Whether it was to rally morale, restore order, or simply satisfy personal ambition, the result was the same.
They had chosen to act under the banner of the Federation's former righteousness.
If one wanted to say the news was useful, then the establishment of the Karim Supreme Council did represent the faintest spark of returning civilization—even if its members were still scattered.
If one wanted to say it was useless… well, it was still the establishment of a council.
In short, it was deeply awkward.
Arya had no intention of commenting on it.
After all, she had been expelled from the Federation Hospital long ago. To put it bluntly, she had effectively been stripped of her citizenship. The so-called former Federation had nothing to do with her anymore.
By extension, it had little to do with Sector 666 as well.
After all, no one could seriously expect a region filled with former Federation criminals to contribute anything to the Federation's revival.
Frankly, it would already be impressive if this group of murderers and outcasts could restrain themselves from openly mocking the Karim Supreme Council.
Of course, that was wishful thinking.
After watching the spectacle for a moment, Arya switched to the regional channel instead.
Sure enough, it was already overflowing with sarcasm.
"So scary, the Karim Supreme Council."
"Yeah, what if they come arrest us and lock us up again?"
"I'm trembling so hard I've already lost two strands of hair."
"Haha, I was in prison before. The entire prison block got teleported straight to the Abandoned Coast."
"Suddenly, I feel like there's a reason this place is called the Abandoned Land."
"Isn't this perfect? We don't bother them, and they don't bother us."
"Alright, enough already. It's not like they can march all the way to our Abandoned Land."
"Exactly. Posting here is boring. Why not go to the world channel and see if you can catch the Supreme Council's attention?"
"That won't work. You really think those high-and-mighty council lords would spare criminals like us a glance?"
"I don't care about anything else. If they try to control me again, the weapon in my hand won't be decoration."
"Right. We transmigrated, and they still want to rule over everything? Then what was the point of transmigrating?"
"At this point, it's obvious. Most people in the Abandoned Land just want freedom. So why don't we set up our own organization?"
"That sounds reasonable. No matter how chaotic a place is, it'll stabilize eventually."
"An organization? And who do you think is qualified to manage me? Or do you think I'm qualified to manage you?"
"Let's be honest—you just want power."
"Boda, don't pretend I don't see through you. Anyway, I won't be joining whatever nonsense you're planning."
Arya read through the messages quietly.
She didn't comment.
She didn't mock them.
She simply closed the channel.
The world was changing—whether people wanted it to or not. Councils would rise, factions would form, and power would shift hands again and again.
As for her?
She had herbs to dry, potions to brew, and a tower to defend.
That was more than enough to keep her busy.
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