Global Flood: I Survive on Duckweed

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Offering the Meat, a Bowl of White Congee

"I’m no plant expert," Xin Wan said, shaking her head. "I just heard a tour guide mention it on a trip to a southern coastal city a couple of years back. I’ve forgotten everything else but the name. Boss, are you saying this tree can produce gasoline?"

Ren Yuanyang nodded, his certainty absolute. "That’s right!"

"What!" Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan cried out in unison.

"No need for such surprise." Ren Yuanyang immediately explained the properties of the Iron Melon.

When he was finished, they were both stunned.

"So there really is a plant that produces gasoline! This is a real eye-opener!" Xin Wan exclaimed.

Lu Jiamei, however, focused on another one of the Iron Melon’s properties.

"Boss, if a ripe Iron Melon explodes on impact, doesn’t that make it a naturally grown cannonball?"

Ren Yuanyang nodded. "We finally have a way to attack."

Lu Jiamei had been worrying about what they would do if the others came back.

After all, the lure of food was immense. There was no guarantee the others wouldn’t take a desperate risk.

And Lu Jiamei only had two bullets left in her pistol.

The Iron Melons had appeared at just the right time!

"Then shouldn’t we pick those Iron Melons now and keep them handy for when we need them?" Lu Jiamei asked, a little excited.

Ren Yuanyang shook his head. "Not yet. Those Iron Melons aren’t ripe, and my Mental Energy is too low to strengthen them."

"What? Then what do we do? How can you replenish your Mental Energy?" Lu Jiamei asked anxiously.

"Resting is enough to replenish my Mental Energy, but what I need is to raise my cap!" Ren Yuanyang replied. "The only ways I’ve found to raise my Mental Energy cap so far are eating the meat of evolutionary animals and repeatedly using my Mental Energy to its limit!"

Hearing this, the two women froze. They exchanged a look, as if they had come to a decision.

"From now on, only you will eat the evolutionary crocodile meat. We’ll get by on other things to fill our stomachs," Lu Jiamei said solemnly.

Ren Yuanyang paused for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. As for those three half-evolved bream, you two can split them. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely catch more Evolutionary Fish in the future!"

"I have no doubt about that. As long as we’re with you, we’ll never have to worry about where our next meal is coming from!" Lu Jiamei replied with a smile.

Just then, Xin Wan suddenly spoke up. "Actually, those evolutionary Cannibal Fish are edible, you know."

She’d heard that the Cannibal Fish had devoured Ren Yuanyang’s ex-girlfriend and her family, but it was just something she’d heard. Out of sight, out of mind.

Besides, she had spent a week eating nothing but aquatic plants. Anyone who has gone hungry knows to cherish food when they find it, so she wasn’t opposed to eating the evolutionary Cannibal Fish.

Ren Yuanyang froze. "Are you sure you want to eat them?"

"The natural world is one big circle. As long as we’re not eating our own kind, it’s acceptable," Xin Wan replied. "Besides, I didn’t see it happen. I’ll just treat them like any other Cannibal Fish!"

"In that case, go ahead and get them from the boat to prepare," Ren Yuanyang said with a slight nod. "I’ll keep working on raising my Mental Energy. I want to strengthen that Iron Melon Tree as soon as possible."

With that, he returned to the entrance of the shipping container and resumed strengthening the Duckweed and aquatic plants Xin Wan had brought.

Lu Jiamei remained on lookout, while Xin Wan went to the small boat to get the Cannibal Fish and start cleaning them.

Suddenly, Xin Wan rushed out of the speedboat’s cabin, leaned over the edge, and started vomiting into the sea.

"HURK..."

Seeing her reaction, Lu Jiamei instantly understood: while cleaning the Cannibal Fish, Xin Wan must have found undigested human remains.

After devouring the ex’s family, the Cannibal Fish rushed the container, where Lu Jiamei had swatted them dead on the floor. It was very likely that what they’d just eaten hadn’t been digested yet.

Lu Jiamei walked over and patted Xin Wan’s back. "Maybe you should stop. It’s rare for us to get meat, and now you’re throwing it all up!"

At these words, Xin Wan immediately stopped retching. Lu Jiamei could see she was struggling to hold it down, unwilling to waste the food in her stomach.

"Just take a break. The Cannibal Fish won’t spoil that quickly," Lu Jiamei suggested.

Xin Wan nodded. A moment ago, while cleaning one of the Cannibal Fish, she had seen a human eyeball inside its stomach. ’How on earth did it swallow that whole?!’

Lu Jiamei went into the cabin, gathered up the guts and other... tissues... that Xin Wan had removed, and tossed them all into the sea.

"Hey, tossing that in might attract more carnivorous fish!" Xin Wan said, worried.

"Don’t worry!" Lu Jiamei pointed to a Dizzy Fish Grass plant on the corner of the container. "See that plant?"

Xin Wan nodded.

"That’s Dizzy Fish Grass," Lu Jiamei explained. "After the Boss enhances it with his special ability, it gives off a scent that fish hate, so they won’t come near."

Xin Wan’s eyes widened in understanding. "No wonder you just tossed the guts in like that. The Boss has so many special plants!"

"It’s still not enough, though. We need to find as many different plants as we can. The more we have, the better our chances of survival," Lu Jiamei said gravely.

Xin Wan couldn’t agree more.

"Enough about that for now," Lu Jiamei said, changing the subject. "How are you going to husk the rice the Boss gave you? We’re supposed to be having porridge later."

"We don’t have the right equipment, so I’ll have to use the most primitive method: pounding," Xin Wan said with a sigh of resignation.

"How do you do that?" Lu Jiamei asked curiously.

"You put the rice in a mortar and pound it with a pestle. Since we don’t have a mortar and pestle, I’ll just have to find some kind of container and a stick," Xin Wan replied.

Lu Jiamei’s face lit up with understanding. "You’re the expert when it comes to food! I’ll leave you to it, then. I’m going back on watch."

「The sky quickly grew dark.」

Having once again exhausted his Mental Energy, his stomach began to protest. He stood, put on his raincoat, and headed for the speedboat.

Seeing Lu Jiamei still on lookout atop the container, Ren Yuanyang called out, "It’s getting dark. Time to eat and rest!"

"Yes!"

The two of them walked into the speedboat’s cabin together, and the aroma of porridge and meat wafted into their noses.

"I haven’t had porridge in so long," Lu Jiamei said with a sigh.

Ren Yuanyang smiled. "Then hurry up and try it. Let’s see what’s so special about the porridge our master chef cooked up!"

"Alright!"

The three of them took their seats. In front of Ren Yuanyang was a piece of fried crocodile meat and a bowl of plain porridge.

In front of Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan, however, there was only a bowl of plain porridge each.

Ren Yuanyang frowned slightly. "Didn’t I tell you to cook the bream? We don’t have much food, but we don’t have to be this austere. Besides, the bream won’t last forever."

"Boss, we’re more than happy just to have plain porridge," Lu Jiamei replied with a smile. "One meal with meat a day is enough to keep us from being malnourished. We’ll definitely cook the bream tomorrow!"

This was what she and Xin Wan had agreed upon. Since they were just doing support work, they felt they should conserve resources.

"Alright." Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly and didn’t press the issue. "There’s no need to suffer needlessly. In our current situation, we can at least afford to eat our fill. Let’s eat."

"Yes!" the two women replied in unison.