Ghania gave him another playful punch. "You little rascal, do you have to argue with me about everything?" After punching her son, she walked home while muttering, "There's a time to be tough, but you also need some kindness. That's what makes you a real person. That girl looks promising. She's going to do just fine in the future." When Natalie finished her errand and returned home, the sky was already dark. The heat had dropped just a little compared to the day, but only a little. She adjusted the air conditioner a notch, then slipped with Lucky into her storage space. As usual, Lucky ran straight to the spring for water. Natalie let her be and headed over to her test field to check on the herbs she had ignored for days. Pulling up the photos on her tablet, she carefully compared them and was stunned to find that the echinacea she had planted was already fully grown. "How is this possible?" she muttered. According to the guide she had read, echinacea takes six months to mature. It had only been three months. She checked again, unable to believe it—but yes, they were mature. Could time inside the mansion be different from the outside world, moving faster? She quickly ruled that out. Before planting, she had tested it with apples. Judging by how long they took to oxidize and rot, the flow of time was exactly the same as outside. The only real difference was that the mansion had no seasons. Even though it was already November outside, in here everything stayed green and alive year-round. Since time inside moved at the same speed as outside, there shouldn't have been any reason for the plants to grow faster. Natalie thought about it for a while and decided the cause must be either the soil or the water she was using for irrigation. Maybe the garden's soil was unusually rich, or maybe the spring water she had been drawing in carried something that made plants grow quicker. Natalie dug up one echinacea root to check. The roots were long, thick, and even—far better than what she had expected. Looking closer, she realized that even as a beginner, the echinacea she had grown looked better than what was sold in the market. Of course, she didn't think she was some kind of farming genius. It had to be the storage space itself working its magic. She took a few soil and water samples, planning to ask Harold to run some tests when the time was right. Maybe he could figure it out.Staring at her lush green field, Natalie felt a rush of excitement. She hadn't expected her first attempt at growing herbs to be such a success. Excitedly, she quickly began harvesting. She began by harvesting the leaves. These leaves, called indigo leaves, were also used as an herbal remedy. They could help treat things like jaundice, sore throats, fevers, headaches, and mouth ulcers. Once the leaves were cut, she could harvest the roots—the real echinacea. But just as she finished gathering the leaves, the storage space suddenly threw her out. Since it was still early and not yet bedtime, Natalie lay down on her bed and used her mind to keep working on the roots. Mental energy could be trained just like muscles. When she first started, moving things inside her storage space with her mind left her exhausted after only a few minutes. But now, she could handle farm work quickly and smoothly.She worked for another three hours before finally falling asleep, worn out. The next morning, after a simple breakfast, Natalie skipped her physical training, using her mind to dig up the rest of the echinacea. Two more hours of work passed before she finally finished. She stepped into her storage space, eyes shining with excitement, and touched the results of her labor. Then she carefully laid the echinacea out to dry. In total, she had gathered about 330 pounds of echinacea—a very good yield. With this success under her belt, Natalie decided to expand the test field and open more planting space. She marked out the area and began turning the soil. After half an hour, she stepped back out of the space and switched to using only her mental strength. She never used up all of her daily storage time in one go. Some always had to be set aside for emergencies. After all, that space was the key to her flashing and phasing skills—and her most important lifeline. Working with her mind wore her out mentally, but it also trained her powers. For Natalie, it was worth it. She leaned back on the couch, eyes closed, as her mind plowed the ground inside the mansion's fields. Lucky thought her human was asleep and lay lazily at her side. By the time Natalie finished, it was already noon. Outside, the temperature had risen to 108°F. In only one day, the heat had climbed close to the extreme highs of the world before the apocalypse. The worst part was, it would keep rising. At its peak, it could even reach 140°F. Natalie stood at the window and looked out at the silent streets.Just two days ago, families had begun to enjoy a little bit of normal life again. Now, they were trapped back inside their homes, too afraid to leave home. After all, every household was short on medicine. If someone collapsed from the heat and didn't get treated right away—while the temperature outside kept climbing—it could quickly turn into heatstroke.