Chapter 369 - 341: Harvest from the Sea
Lorne didn’t have the answers to these two questions.
The Fishmen had never used Crossbow Wagons or Catapults—they weren’t practical underwater, so the Fishmen had never developed that kind of technology.
"We can give it a try, then," Qin Ziwen said immediately.
"I’ve used up all my Magic Power... I need to rest for half a day," Lorne said, a little embarrassed.
It was for this very reason that he had deliberately waited for Qin Ziwen to arrive before performing the Enchantment.
Qin Ziwen’s expression flickered. After breaking through to the Extraordinary level, he had sensed a faint, warm current inside his body. ’Based on my years of reading novels, this must be the so-called Magic Power he’s talking about.’
However, because of his abilities, this Magic Power had never had a suitable outlet.
"It’s alright. We can try again after you’ve recovered."
That evening, Qin Ziwen brought Lorne to the Node inside Home. The Lost Home passed through the Node and returned, docking at the shipyard’s temporary pier.
The deck was crowded with busy shipwrights who, with the help of a "crane" nearby, worked together to drag the day’s catch ashore.
"Chief!" Zhang Chongshan ran down from the ship, a smile on his face. "We got lucky today and hunted a big fish. Here, this is it."
"Let me see." Qin Ziwen’s gaze shifted to the creature.
He let out a soft sound of surprise.
He saw that the fish had a spindle-shaped body, similar to a shark’s, but it was covered in a thick layer of armor plating, making it look extremely solid.
The most amazing part was that its open jaws had no teeth. Instead, they were lined with bone plates like a guillotine. From its appearance, it was a heavyweight fighter of the sea.
This Dunkleosteus was about seven or eight meters long.
Zhang Chongshan laughed and said, "The crew said this thing is called something like a ’Dung-klee fish’."
"Dunkleosteus."
Qin Ziwen corrected him. He had just used Insight to confirm that this fish was indeed the Dunkleosteus, which was extinct on Earth.
"Oh, oh, right. That’s the one," Zhang Chongshan chuckled. He thought they sounded pretty much the same.
Qin Ziwen was very satisfied that Zhang Chongshan and his crew could hunt a Dunkleosteus on their own.
The fact that the Lost Home could hunt such a large Sea Beast by itself, without the help of any other Extraordinary beings, was a sign of progress in his eyes.
It meant the Lost Home could now stand on its own, becoming a solid piece in the puzzle of the Qin Alliance’s maritime power.
"Have the crew disembark in a bit. I’m going to have Lorne test something out," Qin Ziwen said, briefly explaining Lorne’s abilities.
Zhang Chongshan’s eyes lit up when he heard this. ’Make the ship faster?’
’This is great!’
’If the ship is fast enough, we won’t have to worry about being chased down by underwater Sea Beasts. We could kite them indefinitely!’
At this thought, Zhang Chongshan turned to look at Lorne, who was sitting beside Qin Ziwen. He clasped his hands together and wished, "Brother Luo, you have to succeed."
Lorne, who had been squirming uncomfortably on the bench, was taken aback by these words. He then said, embarrassed, "I’ll do my best."
The crew quickly disembarked. Lorne, whose Magic Power had recovered, walked to the side of the ship, rubbed his hands together, and then pressed them against the hull.
The same scene from underwater replayed itself.
But this time, the blue, glowing patterns only covered about a third of the hull before stopping.
Lorne’s hands trembled slightly. He held the position until the light faded, then plopped onto the ground.
"Are you alright?" Qin Ziwen helped him up.
’It looks like a failure,’ he thought. ’The ship is probably too large. But it’s fine if it failed. That was an acceptable outcome, and I was prepared for it.’
Lorne was dejected. "Chief, I’ve used up all my Magic Power. It will probably take two more Enchantments to succeed."
The comforting words Qin Ziwen was about to say got stuck in his throat. He had thought it was a failure, but it turned out to be a success—the Enchantment was just split into three stages.
"Besides natural recovery, are there any other ways to restore Magic Power more quickly?"
Lorne replied, "Some treasures can help restore Magic Power, and some buildings can as well."
Qin Ziwen fell silent for a moment. The main problem was that Home had no such buildings or treasures.
’It seems my Home still has a long way to go.’
Lorne took the initiative to say, "It’s alright, Chief. As long as I’m in the water, I recover very quickly. Half a day will pass in no time."
That night, while Lorne was still recovering his Magic Power, Mogu returned to Home from his hunt in the sea with the Fishmen.
He was carrying a Glowing Tridacna on each shoulder, and behind him, a group of Fishmen were working together to carry a massive Emperor Fish. This Emperor Fish was twelve meters long, with red fins on its back and scales that glinted with blue light.
In addition, other Fishmen were carrying millstone-sized crabs and half-meter-long lobsters. They left wet footprints as they walked, looking as cheerful as if they had just won a great victory.
"Master, we hunted three Extraordinary Creatures." Mogu set down the two Tridacna from his shoulders.
He pried open the Tridacnas’ shells and took out two Tears of the Sea from within.
These two Tears of the Sea were the same as the previous ones, both Level 1 Marvels.
Qin Ziwen’s gaze fell on the large fish behind him.
[Extraordinary Crowned Ribbonfish: ☆☆☆☆★]: Level 1 Water Flow Fluctuation
He silently made a quick tally in his head.
Giant Rock Dragon, Silver Thread Snake, Black Nest Sea Urchin, Glowing Tridacna, Crowned Ribbonfish, Silver Bobbit Worm, Skull Spider, Spiritual Sheath Jellyfish.
’That makes eight different types of Extraordinary Creatures.’
Of course, the Skull Spider was currently crushed beneath the Blood Sand Arena. It had probably long since been turned into a spider pancake. To dig it out, he’d have to wait a week until the arena could be moved.
"Good work. How did they perform?" Qin Ziwen asked, gesturing toward the Fishmen who had gone into the sea with Mogu.
"They can endure hardship," Mogu evaluated succinctly.
"Enduring hardship is good. As long as they can do that, they’ll have more than they can eat... *ahem*, I mean, endless blessings to enjoy." Qin Ziwen almost misspoke.
As the saying goes, where you sit determines how you think. Now that he was in a different position, he naturally had a different perspective and saw things differently.
Qin Ziwen asked, "Are there many Extraordinary Sea Beasts on the seafloor?"
Mogu said, "Not many, but they exist. Most of these Extraordinary creatures are actually weaker than a Mosasaurus. They just got lucky and had an atavistic regression, or they mutated after eating some treasure."
Qin Ziwen grew thoughtful. He was actually aware of this.
It was just like when they faced the Mosasaurus on the sea. Even though there were several Extraordinary beings on the ship, they were still somewhat powerless against a Giant Beast of that magnitude and could only rely on their specially developed equipment to hunt it.
"Mogu, from now on when you go into the sea, try to hunt as many different species of Sea Beasts as you can. And Marvels—those are also very important. Your main objectives underwater are to hunt Extraordinary Sea Beasts and acquire Marvels. Everything else is secondary. We have dedicated fishing boats to gather food."
"Yes." Mogu nodded in acknowledgment.
The corpses of the Crowned Ribbonfish and the Glowing Tridacna were sorted and moved into the refrigerated warehouse.
The other, more ordinary seafood was taken to the kitchen and cooked up for a late-night meal.
Before long, a fragrant aroma filled the air.
For this group of Fishmen, the biggest change since coming to Home was eating cooked food for the first time.
The Fishmen, who had always been accustomed to eating raw food, fell in love with cooked food the moment they tried it.
Although volcanoes sometimes erupted on the seabed, "cooking" some of the fish, the seawater was cold and the cooked fish would cool down quickly. Moreover, volcanic eruptions released toxic substances, making most of the carcasses inedible.
Therefore, the fragrant, hot, cooked fish was a wondrous experience for them.
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