Chapter 316 - 289: Black and White Twin Fiends
’Interesting. Two pets, one black and one white,’ Qin Ziwen mused.
Qin Ziwen took out the Heaven-Reaching Fruit, seriously considering whether or not he should feed it to the little one.
"Home, calculate its maximum potential weight."
Home’s small orb of light materialized.
[Esteemed holder of Level 4 Authority, the calculation function is a temporary feature enabled during breakthrough missions and is not currently active.]
Qin Ziwen frowned, looking down at the white Little Ice Dragon in his arms.
Then he glanced over at Black.
He decided to hold off for now. ’The little thing is so cute; I’d hate to turn it into an idiot.’
The fruit’s side effects were pretty severe.
Black had eaten so much of it and was only just now slowly recovering. Sometimes he still seemed a bit dim-witted. Of course, that could just be a trait of the Tyrannosaurs species—there was a limit to their intelligence.
"ROAR ROAR ROAR." Seeing Qin Ziwen holding the Little White Dragon, Black squeezed over and tried to climb onto him.
"Easy there, easy." Qin Ziwen freed a hand to quickly catch him.
Perhaps due to his size, Black’s two forelimbs hooked onto Qin Ziwen’s shoulders. His two thick hind legs were scrunched up, and his tail was stretched out ramrod straight.
"Good thing I inherited some of your strength. If you get any bigger, I won’t be able to hold you," Qin Ziwen teased.
It was hard to say if Black understood, but he nudged Qin Ziwen twice and curled up his tail, perhaps thinking it would make him look smaller.
"COO COO." The white Little Ice Dragon chirped twice. It was hungry.
Qin Ziwen placed it on the ground, letting it nibble on the broken pieces of its eggshell.
Qin Ziwen called for someone to bring meat. "Go get some meat."
A large portion of the fresh meat from the last Giant Rock Dragon hunt was still refrigerated in the cellar.
The Beaked Eagle and Black both ate this meat on occasion.
Qin Ziwen, Qin Ziwu, and even some of the Qin Alliance’s top brass also ate it from time to time.
After all, it was the meat of Extraordinary Dragon Creatures, which sounded far more valuable than ordinary meat.
Unfortunately, despite eating it for so long, Qin Ziwen hadn’t noticed any special effects. It tasted pretty much like regular dinosaur meat.
The only downside was that it tended to raise one’s internal heat.
Soon, someone delivered the meat. The Little Ice Dragon, having just finished its eggshell, caught the scent of fresh meat and began sniffing the air. Its tiny baby teeth had just emerged, so it struggled to tear at the strips of meat.
Qin Ziwen wasn’t worried about it eating meat at such a young age; he had fed Black the same way as a hatchling.
Once it had eaten and drunk its fill, the white Little Ice Dragon let out a yawn. It crawled over to Qin Ziwen’s feet and tugged on his pant leg, wanting to be picked up.
Qin Ziwen bent down and easily scooped it up.
The little creature was very clingy, even more so than Black had been as a hatchling.
Qin Ziwen began to stroll around Home, accompanied by his "Black and White Terrors"—the two dragons.
At the Ghost Ship Dock, a large vessel nearly twenty meters long had already taken shape, its exterior looking complete.
It was a fishing boat, equipped with a working deck at the stern for handling nets. It also had compartments specifically for storing nets, fishing lines, and hooks.
When Tao Fu saw Qin Ziwen approaching, he quickly finished giving instructions and disembarked to greet him.
"My Lord." After speaking, his gaze fell on the small white dinosaur in Qin Ziwen’s arms. It was too eye-catching to ignore.
"How soon can the ship set sail?"
"It can set sail today," Tao Fu replied.
"That fast? Have we found a crew for it?" Qin Ziwen asked.
"I don’t know." Tao Fu shook his head. "I’m only in charge of building the ship. I don’t get involved in other matters."
"Hmm, I’ll go check on that later." Qin Ziwen had high hopes for the fishing vessel.
If the ship proved effective at fishing, it could completely solve their food problem.
That afternoon, the ship was slowly launched down the slipway.
Outside the dock, hundreds of people had gathered. They watched with bated breath, their hopes high.
Due to the nature of the map, many people struggled to obtain enough food. This was true not only for those from Hongding Mansion and the Urban Village but for the residents of the Gated Community as well.
The seafood gathered from the mudflats after the daily low tide, once distributed evenly, amounted to only a small portion per person.
Venturing into the sea was too dangerous; five people had died recently for various reasons.
Some had been stung by venomous sea creatures, while others were accidentally swept away by the currents. The ocean could drown a person with terrifying speed, claiming a life in minutes.
Even at beaches in modern cities, a significant number of people drown each year.
In this environment, the cost of food within the Gated Community was steadily climbing.
"If they can catch a lot of fish, the price of food should drop," someone by the dock said hopefully.
"Of course it’ll work! A ship this big... one good haul could feed us for a month."
"Don’t exaggerate. It still depends on the fishing conditions. If they’re good, the haul will definitely be impressive."
With its bow lifting, the fishing boat passed through the Node and slowly vanished from sight.
"Go outside and look!"
"Quick, let’s go see!"
The crowd swarmed out in a hurry.
Outside, on the distant horizon, the ship appeared, standing tall on the water. After a moment, it began to slowly approach the island.
"It didn’t sink!"
"The ship is sailing!"
A massive cheer erupted from the shore.
Even the launch of the Lost Home hadn’t caused such a stir. That was because it wasn’t a fishing boat, and its launch hadn’t been publicized.
But this vessel was different. It was a large boat built specifically for fishing, something that concerned everyone.
After a good while, the vessel slowly approached the island’s reefs, stopping about a hundred meters out.
Getting any closer risked hitting the submerged reefs.
Twenty-five people stood arrayed on the deck.
They weren’t professional fishermen, but "elites" handpicked from the Gated Community.
Some of them had worked in fishing-related industries, some were excellent swimmers who had been instructors, and others were hobbyists with relevant knowledge.
But now, they were all gathered on this ship, carrying the great hopes of the Gated Community.
The rarest of them all was a resident who had been a seaman for four years. He had real, practical experience. And while there were differences between modern and ancient ships, that kind of hands-on experience was invaluable.
He had sailed on the Lost Home before being recalled to captain this new vessel.
On the ship, about twenty or thirty people were bustling about on deck.
Their movements were somewhat clumsy. A group of them huddled together, attempting to cast the net.
Since it was their first time, they tangled the net several times and ended up struggling with it for over an hour.
Finally, they succeeded in casting the net. The ship began to move forward, dragging the net behind it.
Watching the ship sail away, Qin Ziwen narrowed his eyes, raising a hand to shield them from the glaring sun. "Do you think they’ll succeed?"
Jia Liangcai bowed and said, "My Lord, the sea may be unpredictable, but the will of the people can be united. Since they stand together as one, they will surely bring something back!"
Qin Ziwen chuckled. "’Since they stand together as one, they will surely bring something back.’ A fine sentiment. You only said they’d bring *something* back, not *how much*. You really leave no room for error, do you?"
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