# CHAPTER 30: THE FRUIT PRESS
While using his new axe-hammer to chop down a tree, Subject 198 happened to recall memories from his previous life through the lens of his current perspective. It felt almost like experiencing those events all over again.
But there was a problem.
*Hey, Noci, where's the rest of that memory? Why is there nothing here?*
It felt as though a section of his memory had simply disappeared.
Noci's voice echoed inside his head, answering Subject 198's question. There was a slightly amused tone in her voice.
*Can't help you there, man. You know, the process of imprinting memories from the soul into it isn't perfect.*
*Right now, you can think of it like this: your memories, the important pieces of knowledge, have already been uploaded. But things like this will gradually seep back in. Umm... and actually, some parts of the knowledge are missing too. Hehe.*
Subject 198 didn't know how, but he somehow felt that Noci was sticking out her tongue at him and going *nya nya*, even though he couldn't see her doing anything.
Returning to the gentle ticking melody and accepting the consequences of the battle, Subject 198 raised his hammer and delivered the final axe strikes into the glass tree.
Because cutting the tree at a 45-degree angle caused it to fall in the opposite direction from the direction of the cut, the process took longer than cutting at a 90-degree angle. In return, however, this method greatly reduced the risk of being crushed by the falling tree.
For a tree like this, whose material was primarily stone-like, being struck by it would mean almost certain death.
After all, the trunk was heavier than the branches.
**Thud.**
**Thud.**
**Thud.**
The tree had already been cut nearly to the point of collapse. While Subject 198 was simultaneously recalling his memories and chopping, the final blows were finally too much for the tree to withstand its own weight.
It began to fall.
The tree gradually tilted farther and farther until the angle became too great, and the trunk began to collapse.
**CRASH!**
Under the weight of the trunk, which weighed thousands of kilograms, dust erupted from the ground and filled the air, rushing straight into Subject 198's airways.
**Cough! Cough!**
It took quite a while before the coughing finally stopped. Only then did Subject 198 use his eight eyes to look at the result of his work.
The tree had fallen under the force of Subject 198's chopping. Instead of sinking into the ground under its own weight, the falling trunk had dragged its branches down with it.
Under the enormous weight, even branches as hard as stone snapped in half, forming a cushion for the glass trunk.
However, only the branches crushed beneath the trunk broke. The branches on the other side remained intact and undamaged.
Subject 198 stepped forward and examined his axe-hammer. Although it was made from the teeth of the monster and had been sharpened to a fine edge, the chopping process had gradually worn it down, no matter how sharp it had originally been.
Looking at the worn axe blade, Subject 198 thought to himself.
*Well, this axe is obviously superior to the one from two generations ago, but it's still getting worn down like this.*
*Judging from this, after I finish processing this tree, it'll probably be completely dull and need to be sharpened again.*
Beginning the process of processing the fallen tree, Subject 198 approached one of the branches of the glass tree. He began swinging the hammer, cutting the branch away from the trunk.
**Thud.**
**Thud.**
**Thud.**
Unlike the hard trunk, the branches were considerably less rigid. After only three strikes, the branch was already close to breaking off.
And somehow, the tree was also leaking something that resembled tree sap.
*Information recorded.*
Subject 198 continued chopping the branches until all of them had been removed.
Actually, the plan needed to be adjusted.
An impulsive desire that had appeared while making the plan had caused the order of operations to become inefficient.
In general, things should be arranged from the easiest to the hardest.
The reason was simple: to optimize opportunity cost. Creating easier things first would allow the benefits of those tools to be obtained sooner, meaning an earlier return compared to making more difficult things.
Although Subject 198 didn't know why he needed to optimize opportunity cost in the first place, he had plenty of free time now and nothing was forcing him to hurry.
Perhaps this was simply Subject 198's habitual way of thinking.
After cutting the branches away from the trunk, Subject 198 decided that the first thing he would make was a **fruit press**.
The reason?
Simply because this thing was much easier than the others. It would be quick to make, and he might even be able to finish it today.
Moving closer to the fallen trunk, Subject 198 began chopping it apart to separate two wooden blocks.
**Thud.**
**Thud.**
**Thud.**
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Basically, it was the same as before. The only difference was that this time he was cutting straight across at a 90-degree angle, making it easier than before, though it still took a considerable amount of time.
The sound of **thud** after **thud** echoed through the silent forest, while the tentacled monster continued watching Subject 198 with cold eyes, as though it were plotting something.
Time continued to pass.
Especially when he was focused, Subject 198's brain caused unpleasant sensations to disappear, including his perception of time.
Subject 198 directed the eyes at the front of his body toward the piece of wood he had just cut.
He knew he needed to cut at least one more piece to make the fruit press.
Deciding to take a short break, Subject 198 walked over to where he kept his wooden bowls and picked one up.
Then he walked back toward the monster.
Using his current axe-hammer, which was somewhat worn but still sharp enough, Subject 198 raised the axe and brought it down.
**Slash.**
Blood began flowing from the wound.
The armored tentacled monster continued staring at Subject 198. Its eyes had simply become even darker.
Using his wooden bowl—or perhaps a stone bowl would have been better, since the wood had stone-like properties—Subject 198 caught the blood flowing from the wound.
He sat down on the ground, facing away from the monster so that his back rested against its body, waiting for the blood to fill the bowl.
Folding his four pairs of legs beneath himself, he used his two lower hands to embrace his own legs. Subject 198 looked into the eyes of the tentacled monster, then simply ignored it as it turned its gaze elsewhere.
It was a view of the plains.
The sky was still green as usual. The sun had begun climbing higher, and it looked like noon was approaching.
It was a scene Subject 198 had seen many times before, but rarely paid this much attention to.
Using the Silas hand on his abdomen, he reached toward the bowl filled with green fluid from the monster's blood, then used Silas like a straw and began taking small sips.
The tentacled monster also turned its gaze toward the plains.
But rather than simply enjoying the scenery, it seemed as though it was trying to understand what Subject 198 was doing.
After taking another sip of monster blood, wandering thoughts once again surfaced in Subject 198's mind.
*What do I do after this?*
Of course, I already know what I need to do right now.
There was more than enough of it.
Build a house.
Build machines.
Make a vehicle.
Implant things.
Develop.
Explore what lies beyond the forest.
In short, there was a lot.
An enormous amount.
But all of those were things for the near future.
What would Subject 198 do after completing them?
Life wasn't inherently a chain of rapid, stimulating events.
It wasn't even the main act.
It was only a small part.
The main act was the other days.
It wasn't that Subject 198 didn't like living.
Quite the opposite.
Subject 198 felt genuinely different now that his soul had been completed like this.
He experienced many things.
So many things.
Some were enjoyable, some were painful.
Mostly painful, but not like before.
The problem was simply that he didn't know what he was supposed to do after finishing his work.
Would he throw himself into his current work and continue developing himself?
Or fill himself with stimulation?
Or simply experience something new?
It was true that Subject 198 was obsessed with becoming more perfect.
But that wasn't his purpose in life.
His purpose in life was more like the development of his own nature.
In reality, Subject 198 was quite contradictory.
On one hand, he was so obsessed that it had almost reached the point of multiple personalities.
On the other hand, Subject 198 didn't even know what he wanted.
Two states that shouldn't have existed at the same time had somehow appeared together.
Subject 198 didn't know.
It was only idle speculation.
Taking another sip of monster blood, he sat silently, his two hands still wrapped around his legs, quietly watching the midday sun for a little longer.
Then Subject 198 stood up, stretched three hands toward the sky, his back slightly curved.
*Time to get back to work.*
He walked over to the piece of wood he had cut earlier, carried it to one side, and began chopping two more pieces of wood.
The sun continued on its course, gradually sinking as the afternoon approached.
When Subject 198 finished chopping the two additional pieces, he had three pieces of wood in total.
These three pieces would be used to construct the fruit press.
Subject 198 broke another tooth from the tentacled monster and approached the first piece of wood he had cut.
He used the tooth as a chisel.
Placing the tip of the tooth in the center of the wooden block, he held it with one hand and used the other to strike the tooth with the hammer.
**Clack.**
The sharp tooth sank deep into the wood.
**Clack! Clack! Clack!**
The sound of carving echoed through the forest.
It wasn't until quite some time later that Subject 198 finally stopped.
The upper surface of the wooden block was now riddled with holes.
He moved the tooth to another spot, then used the blunt edge of his axe-hammer to strike hard against the perforated surface of the wood, causing the central section to expand slightly outward without reaching the outer edge.
Finally, Subject 198 used Silas to chew away the remaining fragments.
The upper surface was now partially hollowed out.
It hadn't been pressed downward.
Rather, part of it had been carved away.
Exactly.
Subject 198 intended to turn this wooden block into something like a container for holding the liquid produced by pressing fruit.
He repeated the process until the wooden block had become a container.
Moving to the other wooden block, Subject 198 repeated the same process to turn it into another container.
He repeated the tedious actions while Noci continued humming a melody inside his head.
Eventually, this wooden block also became a container.
Except this one was special.
Subject 198 used his strength to turn the container made from the trunk upside down.
With the inner core hollowed out, the bottom of the container was exposed.
He took the tooth again and used it to carve six holes.
If examined closely, they looked somewhat like a hexagon.
Subject 198 took out a tendon from the tentacled monster.
Using his knife, he began cutting the monster's tendon into something resembling thread.
Strong and flexible, but extremely thin.
He used the threads cut from the monster's tendon. Although his work was clumsy because it was his first attempt, it was still usable.
He layered the threads over one another, leaving openings between them like a mesh. He placed it over the bottom of the container and secured it with acid, blood-grass residue, and calcium from bone.
This would be used to filter the pulp from the juice pressed from blood grass.
For the final piece of wood, instead of hollowing out the core like the other two pieces, Subject 198 removed the outer layer, making it smaller than the other two.
The upper end of the wooden piece was also carved down to make it shorter, but he left a small rectangular block of wood and drilled a hole through its center.
Subject 198 threaded the tendon through it and tied it into a knot, tightening it as much as possible—the kind of knot commonly used for hanging, with almost no possibility of loosening.
For the next and final component, instead of using the trunk, he used a branch.
Subject 198 cut off a piece and shaped it into a circular disk, then carved it into a wheel with a small groove.
He then drilled another hole through the center.
Finally, there was a short, sturdy wooden rod.
It only needed to be carved until it fit the hole in the center of the wheel.
With all the components of the crude machine completed, Subject 198 began assembling them.
He hung the mechanism from a branch and secured the round wooden rod using acid, blood powder, and calcium powder.
He placed the grooved wheel onto the round wooden rod, creating a movable rotating axle.
Then, to prevent the grooved wheel from slipping, he installed another wooden wheel, this one without a groove.
He fixed it in place instead of allowing it to rotate like the grooved wheel.
Subject 198 grabbed the tendon tied tightly to the wooden block, climbed up, and threaded it through the grooved wheel.
And...
*Ta-da.*
We have a pulley.
Something that reduces the force required to lift an object by half.
Unlike the wooden block whose core had been hollowed out to make a container, this wooden block remained solid.
It weighed around two to three hundred kilograms.
By now, you know what to do.
The container without holes was the liquid container.
The container with holes and mesh was the filter container.
Subject 198 placed the liquid container on the ground and positioned the filter container above it.
He put blood grass into the filter container, then used the wooden block secured with monster tendon and, through the movable pulley, pulled it upward with reduced pulling force.
Then he let it drop.
The wooden block fell, pressing down on the blood grass.
The blood-like liquid flowed out of the blood grass, passed through the six holes, and left the pulp behind.
In theory, with this technology, it was finished.
Time for the practical test.
Subject 198 put blood grass into the filter container.
He pulled the wooden block tied tightly with monster tendon upward using the movable pulley.
Then he let it drop.
**Clack!**
*Damn it... it landed right on the edge of the filter container.*
Subject 198 stared at the filter container after the impact.
*The filter container is chipped.*
*Damn it.*
*Damn it.*
*Damn it.*