Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 89

Chapter 89 A Strange Concoction

“Too bad. All the good stuff was probably on the guild leader.”

Riley sighed and started to turn away, when something odd in the corner of the wooden shack caught her eye.

It was a simple wooden workbench. On top sat a black iron pot, a few stone mortars, and some jars for grinding herbs.

The setup looked rough, handmade–but it gave off a faint, steady glow. This wasn’t scrap; it was a functional item.

“What’s this…”

Riley walked over and laid a hand on it.

“Item: Beginner’s Alchemy Bench

“Quality: Common

“Function: Can be used to brew basic potions (e.g., Healing Potions, Frost–Resistance Tonics)

“Description: Crude, but it’s a start. Every alchemist begins somewhere.”

“No way… a crafting station!”

Riley’s eyes widened.

This definitely wasn’t something brought over from Earth. It had to be special furniture, made from a blueprint.

+35 Free Coins

In any survival situation, medicine was just as critical as food, water, and shelter. Back in the dungeons, she’d relied on TartKing’s pastries to patch herself up. She still hadn’t found a way to make her own supplies.

This must be where that priestess woman had cooked up her potions. Riley had found a few basic healing brews on her earlier.

That Weakness Potion she’d seen, though… that was probably too advanced for this setup. This bench was strictly entry–level.

But that didn’t matter right now.

All that mattered was that with this alchemy station, she could finally brew all the Yarrow and Frost Lichen she had collected into proper potions, rather than chewing the raw herbs straight.

“Mine now.”

Riley reached out to store it in her inventory.

“Bzzt-”

A red energy pushed her hand back.

“System Alert: Unable to retrieve.

“Error: Ownership status not refreshed. This item remains a facility of the original camp.”

“Huh?”

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Chapter 89 A Strange Concoction

Riley blinked.

The owner was dead. She’d looted the storage chest just fine. So why couldn’t she take this piece of furniture?

She looked around.

+35 Free Coins

Sure, the squad leader was gone, but his camp was still standing. According to what he’d said, a camp would enter Death Decay after its owner died, slowly losing resources until it finally vanished.

So… did she have to wait until the camp completely despawned before the bench became ownerless?

Who knew how long that would take? By then, the opportunity would be long gone–or someone else might stumble upon it and claim it first.

“Ownership not refreshed…”

Riley rubbed her chin, thinking it over. “So the system still sees this as ‘in use‘ or ‘fixed in place‘?”

If that was the case… maybe…

What if she just used it herself? Maybe that would overwrite the previous owner’s signature and force a refresh.

It was a wild idea, but….

“Worth a shot.”

It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

She pulled out the half–empty Basic Healing Potion she’d taken from the priestess–that could serve as a base. Then she grabbed some Yarrow she’d foraged earlier, plus a handful of random red berries from her pack.

“Alchemy, right? Basically just brewing herbs together.”

Riley felt pretty confident. She wasn’t a specialist, but she could cook. How different could potion–making be?

She poured the potion into the black iron pot, crushed the yarrow and berries between her palms, and tossed them in.

But there was no fire.

Riley glanced over at Neeko.

“You got a light?”

Neeko tilted her head, not really understanding, but obediently shifted into her bear form. She padded outside to the campfire, grabbed a burning stick in her jaws, and carefully shoved it under the alchemy bench.

“Gurgle… gurgle…”

The mixture in the pot began to bubble.

The once–clear red liquid, now mixed with assorted plant matter, started shifting through some very questionable colors.

First it turned murky brown. Then greenish froth bubbled up to the surface.

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M

Chapter 89 A Strange Concoction

+35 Free Coins

A smell filled the small cabin–one that was hard to describe.

It was like… rotten eggs mixed with burnt plastic, with a hint of something sour.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Riley’s eyes watered instantly. She covered her nose and mouth. “God, that’s worse than a landfill.”

Neeko beside her had it even worse.

Her sense of smell was dozens of times sharper than a human’s. To her, this was basically chemical warfare.

“Urgh…”

Neeko pinched her nose, made a disgusted face, and shuffled backward toward the door, ears flopped down. She looked at Riley as if she’d just committed a war crime.

“Don’t run! It’s almost done!”

Riley was tearing up from the fumes but kept stirring madly with a stick. “They say medicine that works tastes terrible! So if it smells awful, it must be powerful!”

“Gurgle-”

With one final sputter, a plume of black smoke rose from the pot.

“System Notice: Brewing complete.”

Riley leaned in, curious and hopeful.

At the bottom of the pot sat a thick, lumpy sludge the color of old bruises.

“Obtained: Strange Concoction (Failed Brew) x1

“Quality: Poor

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