Chapter 321: Mosasaur Attack |
Thinking of this, Qin Ziwen's expression turned serious. "Crowned Eagle!"
Qin Ziwen called out twice.
There was no response for a long time.
"Where did the Crowned Eagle go?" Qin Ziwen frowned. With the sensitivity of the Crowned Eagle's ears, it was impossible for it not to hear his voice.
"Lord Crowned Eagle should be outside right now," the warehouse keeper suddenly said.
Qin Ziwen looked at him, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes.
Noticing Qin Ziwen's gaze, the warehouse keeper quickly said, "Everyone in the alliance knows that Lord Crowned Eagle sometimes goes out for a stroll during the day. Recently, it's been catching quite a few sharks from the sea."
Qin Ziwen sized up the keeper. "You look a bit familiar."
The warehouse keeper promptly replied, "Master, I was recruited together with Foreman Liu San before."
Qin Ziwen remembered now. Back at the Salt Well, besides Liu San and Dazhuang, two other workers had been recruited.
It's just that he was very skinny back then, with dry, yellowish hair, looking rather unremarkable.
Recently, perhaps because he's been eating well, his complexion has become much rosier, and he's put on some flesh. His face looked honest and simple, a decent fellow.
No wonder he was placed in this position.
For units he recruited himself, their loyalty was naturally guaranteed.
"What's your name?" Qin Ziwen casually asked.
"Reporting to the Master, this humble one's surname is Cai. Because my old mother was right by the well when she gave birth to me, my given name is a single character, Jing (well)."
"Cai Jing..." Qin Ziwen gave him a deep look. "Have you studied?"
Qin Ziwen noticed his speech didn't sound like someone who was uneducated.
"I studied at a private school for two years before. Later, something happened at home, so I stopped," Cai Jing said with an embarrassed smile.
"You can go read more books in the Book Tower when you have the chance." Qin Ziwen was relatively lenient with the units he recruited. They could go read books in the tower for free.
"Yes! This humble one will definitely study more!" Cai Jing was extremely grateful.
Leaving the warehouse, he came outside and went up to the rooftop of Building 8.
On the rooftop, dried fish were hung everywhere to dry. The air was filled with a strong fishy smell. The tops of the dried fish were covered with a layer of plastic film, and an old man holding a long pole was shooing away wild birds.
"Be careful, don't knock the dried fish over." The old man was a bit nearsighted. He pushed his reading glasses up and warned Qin Ziwen not to move around recklessly.
Qin Ziwen smiled. "I'm just coming up to take a look."
After saying that, he looked up at the sky. After searching for a while, he soon spotted the Crowned Eagle in the western sky.
It seemed to have just spotted a target. It dove down, then pulled something out of the sea.
As it flew back, the Crowned Eagle saw Qin Ziwen on the rooftop.
"Screech—"
Even from far away, Qin Ziwen could hear the joy in the Crowned Eagle's cry.
It spread its wings and accelerated. The airflow at the edges of its wings even formed a visible cyan-colored rainbow.
"Ouch, why is this bird here again." The old man noticed the commotion. As soon as he finished speaking, the Crowned Eagle had already landed on the rooftop.
"Thud—"
A sailfish over three meters long, shaped like a spindle, lay on the ground, constantly flopping.
This sailfish had a blue dorsal fin on its back that looked like a sail. Its head was sharp, as if a long spear was stuck into it.
Qin Ziwen took a couple more looks. He had only heard of this thing, never eaten it.
He wondered if it tasted good.
After putting down the sailfish, the Crowned Eagle happily walked up to Qin Ziwen, spread its large wings, and wrapped Qin Ziwen in its embrace.
After some affectionate moments, Qin Ziwen pushed the Crowned Eagle away. "Alright, alright. The reason I came looking for you this time is that I have a task to assign you."
The Crowned Eagle let out a curious "screech" from its mouth.
"Your ability, manipulating airflow, you need to train it more frequently recently, you know? Even when there's no hunting, you should try it often. It's best to increase the proficiency of this ability. You can find time to go to the Blood Sand Gladiator Arena for life-and-death combat. I've heard that progress is faster during battle."
The Crowned Eagle slowly released its wings, then lifted them to cover its ears.
"Alright, I'm done. I'll take this sailfish back to see what it tastes like."
After saying that, Qin Ziwen grabbed the sailfish from the ground with one hand.
Once this sailfish came ashore, its life countdown had already begun. Its body structure meant that when it stopped swimming, it would have difficulty breathing.
The sailfish Qin Ziwen picked up was still struggling, its tail thrashing wildly. Qin Ziwen, holding it with one hand, gave a slight shake of his arm, and the sailfish instantly fainted.
At this moment, the old man on the rooftop looked at the Crowned Eagle, then at Qin Ziwen. He finally recognized that this person seemed to be the Guild Leader of their Qin Alliance.
"Guild Leader."
"Seeing is sharing. I'll let you have a taste later." Qin Ziwen waved the sailfish in his hand.
Hearing this, the old man replied, "Great! I've never tasted this fish before."
Returning home, Qin Ziwen brought the sailfish to the kitchen.
He was stumped on how to prepare it.
He had never cooked sailfish before and didn't know how to make it taste good.
But it didn't matter that he didn't know. Someone in the Qin Alliance did.
Wang Yun came upon hearing the news. "This fish meat is very firm. The meat on its back is like beef, good for grilling or smoking. The meat on its belly is more elastic. Fresh sailfish can be made into sashimi or seared."
"Stop talking and start cooking." Qin Ziwen was already salivating from the description.
A few minutes later, a plate of sliced fresh sailfish sashimi was served.
One bite, and it was rich, flavorful, and melted in his mouth. He felt as if he had swallowed the sea in one gulp.
Wang Yun watched Qin Ziwen's expression. "You see, the parts you can't finish can be grilled again."
"I think the taste is quite good." Qin Ziwen picked up another piece with his chopsticks.
After eating four or five pieces in a row, Qin Ziwen's pace with the chopsticks slowed down.
Seeing this, Wang Yun smiled slightly. "Although the belly tastes good, it's high in fat. Eating too much can easily become cloying."
Taking back the plate, Wang Yun went to the other side where the iron plate he had prepared was already hot.
"Is this iron plate something you guys made?"
Qin Ziwen stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the "teppanyaki" set up in the kitchen: bricks stacked to form a base, filled with firewood at the bottom, with an iron plate placed on top.
Wang Yun laughed. "Xiao Wu made it. He said sometimes we can pan-fry or grill a few things to eat."
"That kid, sometimes he just likes to mess around with these things." Mentioning Qin Ziwu, a trace of a smile appeared on Qin Ziwen's face.
Wang Yun placed the fish slices from the plate onto the iron plate.
Soon, they sizzled with oil.
The kitchen was filled with the fragrant aroma of roasting fat.
As Wang Yun used tongs to flip the fish on the iron plate, he said, "I think these past few days have been quite relaxing. If we didn't have to consider being confined to the residential complex, I'd feel almost like I'm on vacation."
As soon as the words left his mouth.
Hurried footsteps and an anxious voice came from outside the door.
"Guild Leader! It's bad! Just now, a fishing boat was attacked by a mosasaur. The hull was holed, and the boat is sinking right now."
Qin Ziwen: "Next time, don't say you're relaxed."
Putting down the plate in his hand, Qin Ziwen wiped his hands with a nearby cloth.
He turned to look at Jiang Shan. "Where's the boat?"
Jiang Shan instinctively said, "The boat is at sea."
Qin Ziwen, "......"
He glanced back in the direction of the Crowned Eagle and shouted, "Crowned Eagle, come out for work. Old Wang, you go find Luoen and Mogu. Have the fish-man warriors mobilize."