[Workbench Exclusive Perk — Master Botanist (Julia Maxwell)]
[Host (Chuck) Perk Effect: You can sense all plants of value to you within a 10-meter radius of your location.]
[Companion (Julia Maxwell) Perk Effect: Plants personally planted or transplanted by her have a growth rate increased by 10 times.]
[Note: All unlocked Exclusive Perks are bidirectional. The Host's and Companion's perks are independent and different from each other.]
Exclusive Perk!
And it was a bidirectional perk!
Chuck was utterly shocked by the light screen that appeared before him.
Immediately afterward, a strange, wonderful sensation appeared deep in his mind.
It was as if countless tiny points of light flickered on in his dark consciousness. Chuck instantly felt that several plants within ten meters of him had come alive, transmitting their unique "scent" to him.
A subtle, spicy aroma wafted from the sand beneath his feet. It felt like a ginger-like plant. From the patch of grass on the other side came a cool, refreshing sensation, seemingly a wild medicinal herb.
Chuck closed his eyes, his shock growing.
Being able to sense nearby plants, and even vaguely discern their value...
No, wait, isn't this basically X-ray vision?
Am I turning into a treasure-hunting mouse?!
However, it was clear that the range Chuck could sense was limited, as described by the system, only about ten meters.
Hmm, it's a small peek, not full X-ray.
As for Julia's perk, it was even more heaven-defying.
The growth rate of planted crops is directly increased by ten times?
Doesn't that mean crops that would normally take half a year to mature can be harvested in just over ten days?!
It's like having a speed-adjustment gear.
However, with Julia's accelerated planting speed combined with his talent for sensing plants, they could explore the island and later cultivate vast farmlands and medicinal gardens!
Building a deserted island farm in the future would be incredibly easy!
Thinking of this, Chuck grew even more excited, so much so that his long spear, which had just erupted once, stood erect again.
The foreign woman, nestled in his arms, was still immersed in the sweetness of Chuck's recent words. She let out a soft gasp when she suddenly saw the weapon reappear.
She then looked up at him, her cheeks flushed.
"Darling, your energy is too boundless…"
So, her small mouth opened and enveloped him once more.
The night was long, and so was the lovemaking.
Morning.
"Achoo~"
Chuck, who had planned on sleeping until he naturally woke up for the first time in a proper bed, was awakened by a cute sneeze.
Opening his eyes, he saw Julia, who had instinctively turned away and then slowly turned back, with two slow streams of clear nasal mucus running from her small nose...
She groggily opened her eyes, met Chuck's gaze, and pouted.
"Darling, it's a bit cold…"
The cold morning wind after the rain blew into the shelter. Even Chuck shivered when the wind hit him just after waking up.
Although the ceiling beams were incredibly sturdy—having only lost a few palm leaves from the roof after a day and a night of storm, with the main structure completely undamaged—
A shelter was still just a shelter. It was open on all four sides. Without the warmth of the kiln fire, it was essentially no different from being outside.
The wooden bed had significantly improved their sleep quality. However, the temperature had dropped considerably after the rain completely stopped late at night. Chuck had even woken up once from the cold and had to stoke the fire in the kiln to warm up again.
With this in mind, Chuck's gaze turned to the Tier 3 Upgrade Blueprint for the Sturdy Wooden House in his blueprint list.
Similar to the bed's mechanism, the walls and roof still relied on clever mortise and tenon joints without the need for nails. The required materials hadn't changed, but the quantity was significantly higher: a total of 16 logs and 20 wooden boards.
This made sense. With four walls, plus the two sides of the roof, fully covering six surfaces would naturally require far more materials than building a simple shelter frame.
It looked like the task for today was set.
Cutting down trees—cutting down trees by any means necessary!
There were plenty of trees nearby, but to gather nearly twenty logs, Chuck would probably have to strip the surrounding jungle clean.
But this was actually good. Once the jungle below the stone slope was cleared, it could be used as planting grounds for farmland and a medicinal garden in the future.
Slowly getting up from the wooden bed, Chuck reached out and stroked the small head of Julia, who was curled up in a ball wrapped in a blanket.
"You rest a bit more. I'll go stoke the fire. Don't worry, I'll build the house better today. We'll have a warm home soon."
Hearing Chuck's words, Julia's eyes were full of adoration and love. She nodded without the slightest doubt.
"M-hmm!"
To her now, Chuck was like a Superman who never failed to deliver on his words.
All she could do was try her best to contribute during the day and fully please him with every part of her body at night.
Julia truly loved the feeling of being treated like a woman by him.
After getting dressed and starting their day, the two drank their meat soup as usual and began their new day of work, embracing the morning chill.
This time, Chuck didn't need Julia's help with the house construction. He had her collect firewood nearby, as before, and then boil all the fresh rainwater collected yesterday. Even though rainwater was relatively clean, drinking it directly could still lead to illness.
Chuck, meanwhile, took his flint axe and headed down the stone slope to chop trees.
He also didn't forget to periodically put the four extra logs from yesterday into the workbench to process them into wooden boards.
The rain last night made the forest air exceptionally fresh. The scent of damp earth and faint grass mingled, creating a refreshing, heart-cleansing aroma.
Water droplets still hung on the leaves. With every swing of the axe, a few cool drops splashed up.
Thud, thud, thud—
The axe blade split the wet bark. Wood chips, carrying moisture, scattered and stuck to his hands and sleeves. The heavy thud echoed through the woods.
Chuck's breathing was steady, his movements stable and powerful, like a machine cutting wood.
Julia, returning from the forest with an armful of firewood, slowly approached him. Her blue eyes were involuntarily drawn to him.
His strongly defined forearms gripping the axe, his broad back, and the sudden bursts of power from his buttocks and thighs accompanying his swings—
Julia slowly stopped walking. She stood there, covertly watching him, her cheeks growing flushed, and the area between her legs already overflowing.
Oh my god, he's so strong. I want him so badly.
Right now.
Just as she couldn't resist dropping the firewood and climbing over to rip off Chuck's pants and devour him, Chuck, whose sensory abilities were greatly enhanced, timely stopped his chopping. He turned and looked at the foreign woman with a knowing smirk.
"Don't be so eager. I'll fiercely fill you tonight. But right now, go get to work, or I'll spank your butt."
"Ugh…"
Julia's beautiful legs nervously rubbed against each other at his words. Her exquisite face was flushed, clearly showing her unfulfilled desire, but she could only obediently listen to Chuck. She wiggled her hips and returned to the platform to boil water and work.
Chuck raised his elbow to wipe the sweat from his forehead as he watched her hot, sexy back, and couldn't help but laugh wryly.
He hadn't expected that a bout of intense frying would turn the foreign woman into a potential juice-extractor.
Perhaps this is what they call acquired taste.
The morning coolness after the rain gradually faded as the midday sun rose. The steam rising from the deserted island jungle made the air thick and stifling.
Busy from dawn till late morning, Chuck secured ten logs. He was finally covered in sweat and fatigue as he returned to the shelter in the increasing heat, accepting the cooled tea from Julia for a mid-day break.
From Chuck's perspective, over half of the walls and the roof of the house were still shrouded in the blueprint's white glow, and the progress bar was nowhere near the halfway mark. But to Julia, the wooden house was already beginning to take shape.
The logs, trimmed to similar lengths, were tightly joined by mortise and tenon joints, stacking up solidly. The north and west sides already had complete wooden walls.
Especially the intentionally left window opening on the west wall, which allowed the morning light to stream in, casting a mottled pattern on the ground. This made Julia feel an overwhelming sense of "home."
She knelt beside Chuck, adding firewood to the newly stoked fire while looking at the man next to her with eyes like water. There was no emotion other than adoration and deep affection in her heart.
To transform the original shelter into this in just half a morning—
Is there any other man in the world who could do that?
Even Chuck himself was a bit surprised.
With the cheat system, once he settled into a routine, he hadn't expected his efficiency to reach this level...
At this rate, completing the wooden house upgrade within the day shouldn't be a problem. He might even have time to explore in the afternoon.
Suddenly, Chuck looked up, his gaze fixed on the stone slope outside the shelter.
A familiar sound of footsteps rang out. Chuck naturally recognized who it was.
Just as a smile was about to curl on his lips, he looked up at the sky outside.
It was clearly still morning, so why was the bitch here so early today?
But when Gu Yitong's figure appeared, Chuck's gaze froze.
"Chuck!"
The expression on the beautiful face of the female CEO mother, who had repeatedly lost her dignity and was gradually awakening her inner self before Chuck, was one Chuck had never seen before.
Even during the escalating, boundary-breaking humiliations inflicted by Chuck, she had never shown this look.
It was sheer, unadulterated terror.
In front of her, a pair of slender arms were draped, and on her back was another small, familiar figure.
"Please, I beg you, save Momo!"
Chuck's face instantly darkened at the sight.
He shot up from his seat and hurried forward.
Julia, her face pale, frowned and followed closely behind.
Reaching Gu Yitong, Chuck saw that her face was already covered in tear tracks. Gu Momo, clinging to her back, had her eyes tightly shut, her lips pale, and her forehead covered in fine sweat.
Chuck didn't need to ask. A single glance was enough to know what had happened.
A wave of intense guilt suddenly rose in his heart. He immediately took Gu Momo from her mother's back. He returned to the shelter, placed the feverish and unconscious girl on the bed, and covered her with a blanket.
Gu Yitong's emotions completely collapsed at this point. Her legs gave way, and she slumped to the ground. She then crawled over to Chuck's legs on her hands and knees. Without needing any command from Chuck, she immediately grabbed his thigh and began kowtowing.
"Please… I beg you, save Momo. I cannot lose her, I truly cannot lose her…"
In this moment, where was the slightest trace of the arrogant, formidable businesswoman?
The dignity that countless acts of extreme humiliation had failed to completely strip away had now effortlessly shattered into dust.
Chuck leaned down and supported her shoulders.
"Calm down first. I will handle this."
While he enjoyed the process of humiliating Gu Yitong, Chuck was not an idiot. He knew the gravity of the situation. A human life was at stake, and everything else had to be put aside, especially for Gu Momo, the obedient and sensible girl he genuinely liked.
But even with Chuck's comfort, the tear-streaked Gu Yitong still desperately clutched his thigh, wailing with utter despair.
"As long as you save Momo, I will do anything you ask, anything!"
"I said, calm down!"
Chuck's angry roar instantly stunned Gu Yitong into silence and submission.
He then turned to Julia. Just as he was about to speak, he saw that she had already moved, pulling out two somewhat dried medicinal herbs from her collection of belongings.
"Darling, this is wild chrysanthemum, and this is sea purslane. Both have properties for clearing heat and detoxifying, but I'm worried…"
Julia's voice trailed off as she looked at the pale-faced Gu Momo, her eyes trembling.
Herbs were just herbs. They were worlds apart from the anti-biotics, the culmination of modern medicine.
It was hard to say if they would be effective immediately against such a high and rapid fever.
Chuck's mind raced, and for a moment, he couldn't think of a solution. He could only place his hope in his cheat system—the Workbench.
Since it can synthesize everything, even magical potions—
Can it synthesize fever reducers?!
He didn't dare hesitate, immediately throwing the two herbs he held onto the Workbench's Alchemy Table.
Fortunately, the synthesis prompt that appeared instantly made Chuck breathe a huge sigh of relief.
[Synthesis Prompt: Sea Purslane and Wild Chrysanthemum both have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. Brewing them into tea can calm the mind and relieve heat. If you wish to refine a more potent potion, perhaps try pairing them with Snake Bile]
Snake Bile!
The moment he saw those two words, Chuck knew exactly what he needed to do next.
"I'm taking these two herbs. You try to stabilize her condition. I'll be back soon."
With those words, before Julia could ask any questions, Chuck stood up, grabbed his Tusk Spear from the corner, and quickly headed up the slope.
Had he not intentionally made Gu Momo stay alone in the rain-drenched shack for so long yesterday, she might not have fallen so severely ill now.
Although, objectively, it wasn't his direct responsibility, Chuck felt that he could not shirk his blame and would not look for excuses.
Given that, there was no other choice but to solve the problem at all costs.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be much of a man.