Chapter 341: Going to Sea Harvests |
Luoen did not know the answers to these two questions.
Fish-men had never used crossbow carriages or trebuchets—those things were impractical underwater, and the fish-men simply had not developed that kind of technology.
"Then we can try," Qin Ziwen said immediately.
"My magic is exhausted... I need to rest for half a day," Luoen said, a little embarrassed.
That was precisely why it had waited to enchant until after Qin Ziwen arrived.
Qin Ziwen's expression shifted slightly. After his breakthrough to the Superhuman tier, he had sensed a faint warm current within his body. Based on years of reading novels, he suspected this was the so-called magic that Luoen mentioned.
But because of the nature of his ability, that magic had never had a suitable outlet.
"That's fine, you can try again once you've recovered."
In the evening, Qin Ziwen brought Luoen to the Home node. The Homesickness passed through the node back into Home and moored at the shipyard's temporary dock.
"Guild Leader!" Zhang Chongshan ran down from the ship, smiling. "We had good luck today. We hunted a big fish. Look, it's this one."
"Let me see," Qin Ziwen said, shifting his gaze to the catch.
With a light sound,
he observed that the fish's body was spindle-shaped like a shark, but covered in a thick carapace, making it look incredibly sturdy.
The strangest thing was that its open upper and lower jaws had no teeth. Instead, they had blade-like bony plates. From appearance, it was like a heavy marine warrior.
This Deng fish measured around seven or eight meters long.
Zhang Chongshan laughed and said, "The crew says this thing is called some Deng fish."
"Deng fish," Qin Ziwen corrected. He had just used Insight to confirm this fish was the Deng fish, a species long extinct on Earth.
"Oh, right, that sounds about the same," Zhang Chongshan laughed; to him they sounded alike.
Qin Ziwen was pleased that Zhang Chongshan and the others could hunt a Deng fish by themselves.
Without other Superhuman assistance, the Homesickness being able to hunt such a large sea beast on its own was, to him, progress.
It meant Homesickness could now act independently, becoming a solid piece of the Qin Alliance's maritime power.
"Later have the crew disembark; I'll have Luoen verify it," Qin Ziwen briefly explained Luoen's ability.
Zhang Chongshan's eyes lit up. If the ship could run faster?
That would be wonderful!
If the ship ran fast enough, they wouldn't have to worry about sea beasts catching up; they could kite them indefinitely.
Thinking of this, Zhang Chongshan turned to look at Luoen sitting beside the Guild Leader, clasped his hands together, and wished, "Luo brother, you must succeed."
Luoen, who had been fidgeting awkwardly on a bench, froze at the words, then said sheepishly, "I'll try my best."
The crew quickly disembarked one after another. Luoen, who had recovered his magic, came to the ship's side, rubbed his hands together, and pressed them to the hull.
The scene that had occurred earlier underwater replayed.
This time, however, the blue light pattern only enveloped about one third of the hull before stopping.
Luoen's hands trembled slightly and kept shaking until the glow faded. Only then did it collapse to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Qin Ziwen helped it up.
From the look of things, it had probably failed; the ship might simply be too large. But failure was within his expectations, and he had prepared for that possibility before acting.
Luoen's spirits were low. "Leader, my magic is completely gone. I probably need to enchant it two more times to succeed."
Qin Ziwen held his reassurance inside. He had thought it was a failure; unexpectedly, it had actually succeeded, just divided into three enchanting stages.
"Besides natural recovery, are there other ways to speed up magic restoration?"
"There are some treasures that can help restore magic, and also certain buildings," Luoen said.
Qin Ziwen was silent for a moment. Home did not currently have those buildings or treasures.
It seemed his Home still had a long way to go.
Luoen volunteered, "Leader, it's fine. As long as I'm in the water, my recovery is very fast. Half a day will pass quickly."
That night, while Luoen was still recovering magic, Mogu returned to Home after going to sea to hunt with fish-men.
He carried a Glimmer Clam on each shoulder, and behind him the fish-men together were hauling a huge crown ribbonfish. The crown ribbonfish was twelve meters long, with red dorsal fins and scales that shimmered blue.
In addition, some fish-men carried crab-sized as millstones, others shouldered half-meter-long large lobsters, leaving wet footprints as they marched, jubilant like victors.
"Master, we hunted three Superhuman creatures." Mogu set down the two clams he'd been carrying.
He opened one clam shell and took out two Sea's Tears.
These two Sea's Tears, like earlier harvests, were Level 1 Curios.
Qin Ziwen's gaze fell on the ribbonfish behind him.
[Superhuman · Crown Ribbonfish: ☆☆☆☆★]: Level 1 Water Surge
He tallied quietly in his mind.
Giant Rock Dragon, Silver Thread Snake, Black Nest Sea Urchin, Glimmer Clam, Crown Ribbonfish, Silver Bobbit Worm, Skull Spider, Spirit-Sheath Jellyfish.
That was eight different types of Superhuman creatures.
Of course, the Skull Spider was currently buried under the Blood Sand Gladiator Arena; it had probably long since been flattened. To dig it out would require moving the arena in a week.
"Good work. How did they perform?" Qin Ziwen asked about the fish-men who had gone to sea with Mogu.
"They can endure hardship," Mogu assessed precisely.
"Enduring hardship is enough. As long as they can endure, they'll have endless... cough, abundant rewards," Qin Ziwen almost misspoke.
As the saying goes, position determines perspective. Now that he sat where he did, his viewpoint and priorities were naturally different.
Qin Ziwen asked, "Are there many Superhuman sea beasts down there?"
Mogu replied, "Not many, but there are some. Most Superhumans are actually not as formidable as the Mosasaur. They are usually cases of atavism or mutations after consuming treasures."
Qin Ziwen pondered; he actually already understood that much.
Like when they faced the Mosasaur at sea, even with several Superhumans on board, they had been somewhat helpless against such a giant beast and had to rely on developed devices to hunt it.
"Mogu, next time you go down, try to hunt as many different species as possible, and get curios. That's important. Your main objectives at sea are to kill Superhuman sea beasts and obtain curios. Other tasks are secondary. There's a catch ship for fishing and salvaging food."
"Yes," Mogu nodded in response.
The crown ribbonfish and the Glimmer Clams were stored in the warehouse for cold storage.
Other ordinary seafood was taken to the kitchen and cooked into late-night dishes.
Before long, the air was filled with a delicious aroma.
The biggest change for these fish-men coming to Home was that they tasted cooked food for the first time.
Accustomed to eating raw food, they instantly fell in love with cooked dishes.
Although underwater volcanic eruptions occasionally "cooked" fish, the cold seawater quickly cooled the cooked meat, and volcanic eruptions often released toxins, making those carcasses inedible.
So, a hot, fragrant cooked fish was a marvelous experience for them.