Two

Willow disguised herself quickly, becoming inconspicuous in a crowd. She carried a heavy canvas backpack and went straight to a century-old herbal apothecary nestled in the capital's historic district.

"Hello, what can I help you find today?"

Even though Willow's casual attire didn't scream wealth, the shop assistant didn't look down on her, maintaining a polite and professional attitude.

Willow stepped up to the counter and asked softly, "Excuse me, do you guys buy rare, wild medicinal roots?"

The shop assistant was momentarily stunned. Then, Willow unzipped her backpack just enough to reveal a fresh, wild reishi mushroom casually wrapped in a paper towel.

The clerk's eyes went wide with absolute shock.

This…This is sacrilege!

A reishi specimen of this pristine quality was just tossed in a backpack like a gym towel?

"Please wait a moment, let me get our manager."

The assistant possessed a decent baseline knowledge of herbs and knew that specimens of this caliber were practically extinct in the wild nowadays let alone a five-hundred-year-old master-grade specimen. Judging by its vibrant aura, it had to be completely wild.

Fortunately, the shop was empty. Willow gave a brief nod, and the assistant hurried into the back room.

A short while later, an older, sharp-eyed manager followed the assistant out. Upon seeing the reishi in Willow’s hand, he was instantly overjoyed.

"How much are you hoping to get for this, Miss?"

Willow didn't waste time playing games. "Manager, what do you think is a fair price? I risked my neck out in the backcountry to track this down, so naturally, I expect it to reflect its true value."

"How about five million dollars? Will you sell?"

Willow paused for a fraction of a second, then nodded. "You strike me as a straightforward businessman, so I won't haggle. It's a deal."

She added with a faint smirk, "I grew up off the grid in the mountains, though. If I can track down one reishi like this, I can certainly find a second."

The manager concealed the flash of greed in his eyes and smiled smoothly. "Of course. Honesty is the foundation of good business. I certainly hope you'll bring your future harvests to our apothecary first."

Without a second hesitation, the manager initiated a direct wire transfer to Willow's account. Pocketing the confirmation, Willow left the shop without looking back.

"Boss, should we check up on her?" the assistant murmured nervously once she was gone.

The manager shook his head. "That girl is no ordinary civilian."

Even though she dressed like a rugged backcountry hiker, her posture and composure were entirely different from an average mountain local.

Furthermore, she didn't react with the chaotic excitement of a normal person suddenly coming into millions of dollars. It was clearly a deliberate, understated disguise; her backing was far too deep to mess with.

Wisely choosing caution, the manager abandoned any thoughts of following her.

Willow, completely unaware that she had just bypassed a shady criminal encounter, hurried straight to a popular downtown smokehouse and grill.

As soon as she sat down in a booth, she ordered half the menu.

After eating and drinking her fill, Willow was so stuffed she could barely stand yet more than half the food was still sitting across the table.

"Hey, your brisket and mac and cheese are incredible, totally authentic," Willow flagged down the server. "Can I get this packed to go?"

"Sure thing," the server replied, bringing over a stack of takeaway containers.

"No, wait," Willow corrected. "I want to place an order for 500 portions of everything on your smokehouse menu. Can you vacuum-pack the barbecue and sides?"

"Five hundred portions?"

The server blinked, completely bewildered.

"Yeah, it's for a massive corporate team-building event. Your food is the best in the city, so I want to stock up for the whole company."

It would take a fool to turn down a cash-heavy bulk order. Even though the server thought the request was bizarre, management happily agreed.

Since the kitchen didn't have that volume of meat prepped on the spot, Willow instructed them to start prepping the batches for pickup over the next few days. She slapped down a $30,000 cash deposit to seal the deal.

Leaving the smokehouse, Willow surveyed the bustling city streets, organized her modern logistics notes, and headed straight to a commercial vehicle rental agency.

She rented a heavy-duty box truck for $20,000, making cargo transport a breeze. Of course, she didn't forget to lease a secure, climate-controlled commercial storage warehouse for two months through a local real estate agent, bringing her total layout close to $100,000.

"Modern fiat currency is remarkably useful when you know how to leverage it," Willow muttered, signing the paperwork.

Next, she stopped by a trendy artisan boba and coffee bar. Taking a sip of her iced milk tea, she fell instantly in love with the sweet, chewy treat.

She promptly ordered 100 bulk batches from every tea house along the commercial strip, totaling tens of thousands of drinks and running up a $200,000 bill.

Willow didn't flinch for a second. Stockpiling elite comfort foods was the ultimate insurance policy against the bleak future ahead. She refused to end up starving and desperate like her unfortunate descendant.

Strolling down a vibrant evening street lined with food trucks and local vendors, the air was thick with the scent of caramelized sugar, roasted garlic, and frying dough.

Even though she'd finished lunch barely two hours ago, her accelerated metabolism couldn't resist.

Rubbing her slightly bloated stomach, Willow slipped her hand into her pocket and discretely popped an alchemical tablet from her spatial storage, the magical equivalent of an advanced fast-acting digestive enzyme.

Within seconds, the heavy fullness melted away, replaced by a clean, empty appetite.

She dove right into the food stalls.

Gourmet wood-fired smash burgers? Incredible! Give me 200 portions.

Loaded curly fries with garlic aioli? Phenomenal! 200 servings, please.

Artisanal deep-fried cheese curds? Perfect! 200 boxes.

Spicy pulled-pork sliders, street tacos, funnel cakes, and loaded pretzels... she refused to miss out on a single culinary masterpiece.

To the street vendors, Willow looked like a literal guardian angel dropping thousands of dollars at every single cart.

Another hundred grand vanished in a flash.

Driving her packed box truck to a secluded corner near her rented storage unit, Willow made sure nobody was watching before sweeping the entire inventory straight into the Sanctum's warehouse zone.

Echo the spirit-moth, having sampled the boba and barbecue, immediately fell head-over-heels in love with modern cuisine and began enthusiastically bugging Willow to buy ten times more.

With Echo handling the internal organization, Willow let out a breath of relief, hopped back into her car, and drove back to her descendant's apartment complex.

Using the keys from her memory, she unlocked the front door. Just as she stepped inside, a young girl looked up from the couch, blinking in surprise.

"Willow? Where on earth did you get the cash to rent a commercial box truck?”