Chapter 241: Oxygen from the Deep Sea |
As for more details, this man didn't know much else.
His status within Blood Script wasn't high. Before the transmigration, he was a salesman at a business management consulting company in Red Cauldron Tower.
Simply put, his job was making phone calls, selling financial insurance.
After transmigrating, he survived the most chaotic period in Red Cauldron Tower, just tagging along with the main group all the way to this current map.
"You've eaten the meat, haven't you?"
The man's eyes darted around, his Adam's apple bobbing. "No," his voice was dry, "that stuff... I never even touched it."
Qin Ziwen didn't speak, his gaze falling on the man's hands. The man instinctively shrank his hands behind his back.
"But I heard people say," Qin Ziwen's tone was flat, "that almost everyone who survived in that building ate it. And I saw it, the limbs hanging in that room. If they only ate it that one time, why are they still air-drying jerky now?"
The man's face turned deathly pale. "They're just talking nonsense. I only had a taste, just that one meal. I was starving, there was no food, if you didn't eat you'd die... I threw up right after eating, really, even bile came up. I didn't know, I..."
Qin Ziwen said calmly, "I'm a man of my word. I said I'd give you a quick end, and I will."
Realizing he was definitely going to die today, the man couldn't help but roar in anger, "So what if I ate a little meat! What's the big deal? Everyone ate it, why are you only coming after me?"
"Thud!"
A flash of crimson.
Qin Ziwen retracted the axe handle.
Expressionless, he looked up at the sky.
The scene he witnessed in the building flashed through his mind.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen dead people before, but seeing people treated like livestock, turned into food, that was the first time he'd witnessed such a thing firsthand.
This kind of act had crossed the bottom line of being human.
"Let's go, Crowned Eagle. We're heading back first." Qin Ziwen glanced back at the Foot of the Mountain, then soared into the sky on the Crowned Eagle.
In the urban village, Yang Long was instructing the people around him to keep a close watch on the surroundings.
The fire at Red Cauldron Tower was too sudden. He felt something was off, so after the fire broke out, he immediately led people to the shipyard.
Looking up, he inadvertently caught sight of the Crowned Eagle in the sky.
And the faint outline of a figure on the eagle's back. He froze for a moment, then suddenly realized something and slapped his thigh hard.
"Something's wrong!"
...
Thinking back to what he personally witnessed this time, Qin Ziwen's expression turned serious.
First, the urban village had an Advanced Building, a shipyard. Fortunately, he already possessed the ghost shipyard. In terms of level, the ghost shipyard was 3 levels higher than their building.
Shipbuilding speed wasn't the most urgent matter at the moment.
What truly made his heart tighten was what he glimpsed in the urban village.
Although it was just a quick glance, he was absolutely certain he hadn't seen wrong. The outline mounted on the wall was unmistakably a Heavy Crossbow.
As someone who possessed a Vehicle-mounted Crossbow, he clearly understood the danger of a Heavy Crossbow.
He just didn't know what level of Heavy Crossbow the other side had produced, such as its range, lethality, and reload speed.
At this stage, neither he nor the Crowned Eagle could easily withstand a direct hit from a Heavy Crossbow.
With such a powerful weapon in their possession, extreme caution was required going forward.
Returning to Home, Qin Ziwen immediately summoned Jia Liangcai and Du Yu and informed them of what he had learned during this trip.
After hearing the account, Du Yu said, "Master! You absolutely must not venture out personally like this again in the future. Reconnaissance matters should be left to your subordinates."
Jia Liangcai also expressed deep agreement, stroking his beard, "Master, you are our backbone, a person of great value. You should not expose yourself to danger. Risky matters should indeed be entrusted to Instructor Du."
Qin Ziwen nodded to show he understood. "I appreciate your concern. However, when there's a need to open a new 'node,' I still have to go."
Because only he could open the nodes.
He paused, his tone turning serious. "Now that it's confirmed the other side possesses dangerous weapons like Heavy Crossbows, from now on, all of us must be highly vigilant, and our action plans must be adjusted accordingly. I don't want anyone to have an accident."
After giving his instructions, Qin Ziwen was about to head to the shipyard to check on the progress when Jia Liangcai spoke up again. "Master, there's one more thing. Teacher Wei Zhaohua recently discovered a type of plant in the coastal reef area. He calls it 'sea grapes.' In my humble opinion, this item might meet your previous requirements for a 'candidate plant.'"
Qin Ziwen thought for a moment and remembered.
When he obtained that "Plant Breakthrough Card" before, he had mentioned to Jia Liangcai that he needed to select an ordinary plant with extremely high fruit yield and a relatively large individual plant size as a candidate for upgrading into a Transcendent Plant.
High yield meant that even if the individual effect was weak, quantity could make up for it.
Large individual size usually meant stronger vitality and adaptability in nature.
Although he was hearing this name for the first time, the term "sea grapes" sounded like an aquatic plant. If it could successfully advance into a Transcendent Plant, the abilities it derived would likely be related to water or the ocean.
Its value on the current map might be even higher.
"Take me to see it," Qin Ziwen said.
Following Jia Liangcai to Wei Zhaohua's house, Qin Ziwen thought he would see the sea grapes, but was told they were still in the sea...
Wei Zhaohua explained somewhat apologetically, "Guild Leader, those sea grapes... are still growing in the sea. They're a bit large, and being a marine plant, it wasn't convenient for me to bring them back."
"Grapes that live in the sea?" Qin Ziwen was curious.
Wei Zhaohua explained, "Guild Leader, its full name isn't sea grapes. 'Sea grapes' is just the common name. The professional name is Caulerpa lentillifera. It's just because its air sacs look very much like grapes that it's called 'sea grapes.' Actually, it's an edible type of algae. All parts of the entire plant can be eaten."
Just as Qin Ziwen was preparing to go to the seaside for an on-site inspection, Wei Zhaohua somewhat hesitantly called him back, retrieving a pale yellow, uniformly textured square object from inside the house.
Wei Zhaohua said apologetically, "Guild Leader, there's one more thing I'd like to ask of you. Could you take a look at this and see if it's acceptable?"
Qin Ziwen took it. It felt slightly hard to the touch, and he smelled a faint, fresh grassy fragrance.
"Soap? You made this yourself?"
"Yes," Wei Zhaohua nodded. "I saw that people over at the residential complex 'Alliance' have already started trading similar daily necessities. The production principle isn't complicated; it's just using animal fat and wood ash to undergo saponification. With hunting yields being decent now, the fat cost is bearable, so I tried making some. I just don't know if there would be a market for this."
Qin Ziwen hefted the homemade soap in his hand. The fragrance was simple and natural, the craftsmanship already solid.
"Contact Jia Liangcai. As I recall, we have a few laundries that have opened here. You can try discussing cooperation with them."
Returning the soap to Wei Zhaohua, Qin Ziwen thought matters like soap were minor issues. He couldn't possibly manage every single thing, big or small.
For a group to become vibrant, all benefits couldn't be held in one person's hands. Some interests needed to be distributed to gain greater value from others.
Hearing this, Wei Zhaohua's eyes lit up slightly, and he solemnly put the soap away.
Without further ado, Qin Ziwen and Wei Zhaohua headed to the North Side of the residential complex. Besides the complex, the Teaching Building had also transmigrated along with it. Behind the Teaching Building, in the center of a shallow bay surrounded by reefs.
Qin Ziwen saw the sea grapes Wei Zhaohua had spoken of.
The shallow bay wasn't large, but it perfectly enclosed the algae colony. On the clear water surface floated vast stretches of algae, jade-green and lustrous like emerald.
Sunlight filtered through the seawater, refracting into fine, flowing spots of light on these "grape clusters."
A rough glance suggested it covered an area of at least seven or eight square meters.
"Does this thing have to survive in the sea?"
Qin Ziwen pondered. He thought of the special effect of his own Field, Bountiful: All crop yields from this building are increased. Simultaneously, this area requires no fertilization or soil nourishment, will remain perpetually fertile, and will ignore special planting requirements for some plants.
Did a marine environment count as a special planting condition?
If so, then could the Field grow sea grapes?
The first prerequisite was to move it back.
Wei Zhaohua working alone would be too tiring, so Qin Ziwen subsequently called a group of people to help.
After everyone's busy work, they finally managed to completely transplant the sea grapes onto the Field after a long struggle.
The vine roots that originally grew near the reefs and gravel perfectly integrated into the Field.
Although the sea grapes growing flush against the Field looked somewhat odd.
They had indeed taken root in the field, successfully survived, and their condition looked quite good.
Qin Ziwen planned to observe them for one night. If there were still no problems the next day.
Then he would use the Plant Breakthrough Card on the sea grapes.
The next day, early in the morning, the first thing Qin Ziwen did upon waking was observe the sea grapes.
It was worth mentioning that the sea grapes had actually been perfectly transplanted. After one night, the air sacs on the grapes hadn't shrunk; instead, they had become plumper.
It seemed that in the Field, their growth condition was even better than when they were in the sea.
Taking out the Plant Breakthrough Card.
The card transformed into a dark golden light that submerged into the sea grapes in the Field.
Instantly, the sea grapes were enveloped in a curtain of white light.
Not far away, the Sky-Touching Fruit tree swayed slightly, as if expressing welcome.
When the white light faded and the Field returned to calm, the sea grapes planted in the Field had completely transformed.
They still retained their grape-cluster-like appearance, but each "grape" had become crystal clear like top-grade jadeite, with a gentle, rhythmic pulsing glow inside, as if breathing autonomously.
The entire plant had grown several times larger. Viewed from a distance, it looked like a green waterfall rooted in the Field.
Qin Ziwen walked over and covered a small patch of sea grapes with his hand. He discovered that in the dark environment, the evolved "sea grapes" actually emitted a faint, glowing white light.
Using Insight.
[Deep Sea Oxygen (Transcendent): ① Deep Sea Oxygen will continuously purify the quality of nearby water environments. ② Consuming an Oxygen Sac grants temporary underwater breathing ability. Multiple Oxygen Sacs can be consumed to stack effects, with a maximum of 3 effects stacked simultaneously.]
Qin Ziwen looked at the second effect.
Consuming an Oxygen Sac grants temporary underwater breathing ability. If he wasn't mistaken, this fingernail-sized emerald green bubble seemed to be the Oxygen Sac.
He counted. This one Deep Sea Oxygen plant seemed to have over a thousand Oxygen Sacs.
This quantity...
He just didn't know how effective they were.
"Teacher Wei," Qin Ziwen spoke up, "you will be responsible for taking care of and recording data for this 'Deep Sea Oxygen' plant. Note down the storage time after its fruits are picked, including the time needed for new Oxygen Sacs to grow."
Wei Zhaohua had already been stunned by the earlier evolution scene. Hearing this now, he quickly suppressed his excitement. "Yes, Guild Leader! I will record everything carefully!"
Qin Ziwen plucked one Oxygen Sac. It felt slightly cool to the touch, like jelly, with some elasticity.
Placing it in his mouth, the Oxygen Sac melted instantly upon contact, a clear, refreshing sensation like a mountain spring stream sliding down his throat.
He went straight to his own fish pond, took out his phone to start the timer, took off his clothes, and jumped into the pond.
He wanted to test just how effective this Oxygen Sac was. Nothing was clearer than personal experimentation.
No matter how others described it, there was always a layer of separation.
After entering the pond, Qin Ziwen had a strange feeling. It was as if he didn't need to breathe at all; inside his body, there was a continuous, abundant supply of air supporting him.
He swam around the pond bottom, surrounded by fish.
The light from the pond surface was broken up by the water ripples, spots of light dancing on the back of his hand.
Reaching out, he felt the fish school passing through his fingertips.
He tried paddling. The effect of his movements was no different from before.
The water resistance was still there, and his swimming style didn't become smoother or faster.
It seemed the Oxygen Sac didn't improve the user's swimming ability. If someone was a landlubber, after consuming it, they would still be a landlubber, just temporarily unable to drown.
He stayed underwater. His body temperature began to drop. Qin Ziwen thought to himself, it seems the Oxygen Sac doesn't have a warming effect.
Body heat would still be lost.
This was also a problem.
If going into the water, one still needed to wear insulating clothing.
When the feeling of oxygen supply in his chest cavity began to fade, Qin Ziwen started counting silently in his heart. He continued until that feeling completely disappeared, then surfaced and climbed onto the bank.
The time he had counted silently was about 120 counts, roughly two minutes.
When the oxygen supply time from the Oxygen Sac was down to the last two minutes, a reminder would be received. This was probably to prevent being in deep water for too long and not having time to return to the surface.
However, after the oxygen provided by the Oxygen Sac ended, the oxygen stored in the human body itself still existed, able to provide a little extra time.
Having already climbed ashore, he pressed stop on the timer, then took the towel his Younger Brother handed him, wiped off the water, and put on his clothes.
Looking at the time: 60 minutes, 08 seconds.
Subtracting the time delayed by the intermediate steps, it should be 60 minutes, exactly one hour.
One Oxygen Sac could provide one hour of underwater breathing time. Effects could be stacked up to 3, meaning three hours.
Consuming one would probably support a short-term underwater battle.
Consuming three would allow for a longer underwater hunting activity lasting three hours.
This level was pretty much sufficient.
Qin Ziwen pondered. However, the current yield of Deep Sea Oxygen was limited. Although a thousand seemed like a lot, if many people used them frequently, they could be used up quickly.
So, at this stage, it could only be treated as a premium resource.
The number of people could be refined to around 20-30.
It wasn't advisable to go too far from the island reefs. On one hand, to be cautious of undersea behemoths, on the other hand, also for convenience during training.
Of course, while training, they could also hunt underwater and collect resources from the seabed near the island reefs.
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