Chapter 306: Pink spotted leopard.

For over an hour, Zyra went on a virtual shopping spree, tossing everything that was free or most important into her system cart. Like Sky arks, which were basically massive carriers for transporting beasts. To her, they were upgraded planes, that could carry over one hundred people and one hundred beasts. She bought more beast pockets to sell to the grand elder and send to the black market. Beauty creams and all kinds of health serums.

Vitality restoration serums, hormone balancing serums, bone strength serums, memory enhancement serums, nerve calming serums, wound healing serums, even lung strengthening serums.

Keeping in mind that the governments were the biggest advocates of childbirth on new earth, she purchased many children’s toys. But she divided them into classes. What the high-born children could play with was not what the low borns could play with, simply because of price differences.

Her biggest purchases were the Sky arks and two ripper guns that were capable of unleashing 100 rounds per minute or even thirty seconds in overdrive mode.

[Everything you have chosen is practically free!] Beauty announced, her voice dripping with sheer disappointment. [Do you even plan on spending more than twenty thousand energy stones today?]

Zyra chuckled softly, tapping her nose. "Of course not. Beauty. I no longer spend my hard-earned money easily."

Beauty pouted her little lips, muttering something about cheap hosts under her breath.

Just then, a completely new tab caught Zyra’s eye: Plant Beast Supplies.

Curious, she clicked it open. The inventory inside was insane. High-Grade Fertilizer, Life-Healing Dew, Divine Soil and actual seeds! Real, authentic seeds from the old world that Zyra had only ever heard about.

Apples of different colors and varieties. Berries, melons, sweet potatoes.

"Whoa!" Zyra breathed out, her eyes wide as saucers.

Beauty puffed out her chest, making a proud sound as if to say, you haven’t seen anything yet!

Below the that was an entire row of medicinal seeds. Even those capable of growing rare herbs.

Zyra was downright ecstatic. A lump formed in her throat from pure joy. "Beauty_ I honestly don’t even know what to say."

[I do,] Beauty said, folding her arms with a smug little grin. [You can finally start planting your own food, Host. Too much canned food is not healthy.]

Zyra nodded aggressively, her eyes shining. "Seeds are so rare in our world! The Sanctum spent the last few centuries creating seedless fruits just to keep a monopoly on agriculture and control the populations. This changes everything." Half of the seeds were marked as free for one hour. She shopped quickly, before the hour could run out. Zyra could see her dream of becoming the wealthiest woman in the the world coming true so easily. "You have truly been generous today."

Beauty cleared her throat, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed. [Well, all this unlocked inventory is partly because you bonded with the Warden trees. And because you destroyed that corrupt beast territory. But mostly because you actually care about the beasts. Do not get cocky just because I said that last part! It is just an evaluation!]

Zyra burst out laughing, clapping a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t wake Hunter. "Okay, okay! Whatever you say, Beauty."

She swiped back to the Dye section, picked a dark raven-black color, and hit buy.

The fur dye and pair of scissors materialized out of thin air, plopping straight into her waiting hands.

She didn’t waste a single second. Zyra settled before the mirror, gripped the scissors and began hacking away at her long locks, sending clumps of green hair tumbling down to the floor until she was left with a sharp, chin-length bob. Going out into the world to search for her mother was practically a march into war she did not understand. The last thing she needed was long hair getting yanked in the middle of a battle.

She leaned toward the polished bronze mirror of the bathroom, tilting her head left and right. The freshly cut bangs swept neatly across her brow, completely hiding the glowing red mark stamped on her forehead.

"Not bad," she muttered.

Then her eyes landed back on the fur dye package. She tore the top open, squeezing the thick contents into a small wooden bowl. Out came a thick, pasty lump of white cream.

Zyra stared at it, her brow furrowing into deep grooves. Wait a second.

"Beauty?" Zyra called out in her mind. "I thought this stuff was supposed to be black?"

[Use your eyes and read, host.] Beauty said lazily.

Zyra glared at the shiny pouch. "There’s nothing to read! It just says Beast Fur Dye!" Shrugging it off, Zyra decided to go ahead anyway. She poured the clear activating liquid in the package over the white paste, mixed them together thoroughly, and slapped the concoction onto her head. She wrapped her skull tight in a sheet of metallic foil cap, sitting cross-legged on the toilet to count down the seconds.

Twenty minutes. Not a second more, not a second less. She followed the instructions to the absolute tee.

She stood up, grabbed the edge of the foil cap, and ripped it off.

Zyra looked in the mirror. Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes nearly popped right out of their sockets.

Her hair wasn’t black. It wasn’t even brown. It was a blinding, screaming, hot pink_ and not even a full head of it! It was scattered in jagged, irregular splotches, making her head look like a mutated pink leopard’s skin.

She aggressively ruffled her hair with both hands, praying to every ancestor that it was just a trick of the light. Nothing changed.

"No, no, no! Beauty, what the hell is this?!" Zyra shrieked, her voice cracking.

On the virtual screen, Beauty bit her lower lip, her shoulders trembling violently as she tried and miserably failed to hold it in. Finally, the snake avatar exploded into a fit of unrefined, belly-aching laughter, pointing a glowing finger at Zyra’s reflection.

[Pfft_ hahaha! What in the name of the Heavenly system did you do to your head? You look like a pink spotted leopard!]

"It’s not funny!" Zyra fumed, her blood pressure spiking so high she felt like her veins were about to burst. If this useless system had a physical body, she would have choked her out right then and there.

She sprinted over to the washbasin, dunking her head into the cold water and scrubbing her scalp like a madwoman, hoping to wash the color away. Water splashed everywhere, soaking her clothes, but when she slicked her hair back and looked up, the pink patches burned even brighter!