Chapter 312: Chapter 223: Antarctic Ice Wall, a Peculiar Way to Subdue a Shark
A morning swim has many benefits. The two of them enjoyed a dip in the azure sea, and afterward sat together on the beach to watch the beautiful sunrise, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
Afterward, Li Xiang began preparing breakfast.
They had eaten tuna sashimi the previous night, but eating cold, raw food again so early in the morning wasn’t the best idea. Not that they had to worry about an upset stomach—the weather was warm, and they were Extraordinary Beings, after all.
Still, something warm would be more comforting.
So Li Xiang built a bonfire and simmered a pot of seafood Spirit Mushroom Soup. He also grilled fish, nautilus, queen conch, oysters, sea cucumbers, sea prawns, and squid. Everything was savory, tender, and juicy.
The sea prawns were especially noteworthy. It wasn’t that Li Xiang had never eaten them before; they were quite common in big cities. But you never truly know what delicious is until you have something to compare it to.
The prawns looked ordinary, but once grilled, their flavor was so exquisite you could practically bite your tongue off. They were incomparable to the Frozen shrimp he was used to.
And that was just the prawns, to say nothing of the other types of seafood he rarely had a chance to eat.
They skipped cocktails this time. Instead, he brought out a 116-proof Spirit Wine and two small baijiu glasses for them to sip from. There was also a plate of washed Spirit Fruits for dessert.
"It’s not convenient to make anything too fancy while we’re traveling, so we’ll have to make do with a simple meal," Li Xiang said.
Luo Feifei snorted with laughter. ’This is what he calls simple?’
In truth, if Li Xiang had been alone, he would have just gnawed on some dry rations.
At a little after eight in the morning, the two set off again. Luo Feifei had performed a Divination and determined that the "crisis" was over; no one was searching for them anymore.
For one, their pursuers hadn’t found them. For another, conducting a grid search over such a vast expanse of ocean required an enormous amount of resources; they couldn’t afford to waste them here indefinitely. After all, there were still plenty of matters to attend to in the East Sea and the South Sea.
Li Xiang almost never traveled through the South Sea. This was mainly because it was littered with Beacons and hidden sensors, while the skies above were patrolled by reconnaissance planes and drones.
Those reconnaissance and combat drones were ridiculously powerful, with wingspans of twenty to thirty meters, a range of over 10,000 kilometers, and the ability to stay airborne for forty hours. They even carried hypersonic missiles.
What did "hypersonic" mean? It meant faster than 5 Mach—which was faster than Li Xiang’s current Extreme Speed.
Furthermore, because these drones were unmanned, they never tired. Several could operate in a continuous cycle—when one ran low on power, it would return to recharge while another took its place, allowing for nearly uninterrupted surveillance.
On top of that, the surface of the sea was teeming with countless vessels: fishing boats, coast guard ships, naval warships, merchant ships... This was Asia’s busiest waterway, after all.
Therefore, whenever Li Xiang needed to go to the Southern Ocean, he usually took an overland route through Southeast Asia. His other option was to do what he did this time: travel by way of Japan, then pass through the Philippine Islands.
The first route was much safer. The second... well, this trip was proof of its risks, as he’d ended up being followed. Of course, that was also because Li Xiang had been too careless. Cocky about his powerful abilities, he just had to get a closer look at that strange ship and the dashing girl in its cockpit.
Now that the "crisis" was resolved, Li Xiang led Luo Feifei past some islands south of Indonesia, across the Timor Sea, and onto the Australian Continent.
The Australian Continent was also home to a great many wild animals, such as massive bats and invasive populations of feral rabbits, kangaroos, foxes, goats, camels, and seals. There were also some fiercer creatures, like saltwater crocodiles and wild dogs.
Alright, so Australia had almost no major terrestrial predators. If it did, the feral rabbit population wouldn’t have become such a plague.
In the past, the Australian Continent actually had predators like the marsupial lion and the thylacine. The marsupial lion was likely similar in size to a Sumatran Tiger, weighing around one hundred kilograms, while the thylacine was naturally smaller at about thirty-plus kilograms. Unfortunately, both of these "predators" were now extinct.
Due to its isolated geography, the continent lacked the truly ferocious predators found elsewhere, like tigers, lions, and leopards.
Kangaroos are herbivores, as are fruit bats.
Australian fruit bats are the largest in the world; some species can have wingspans of up to two meters. They are also known as flying foxes, because their heads resemble those of foxes and they have reddish-brown fur.
But despite their terrifying and ugly appearance, these large bats are surprisingly vegetarian. They primarily eat fruit, nectar, and Pollen, especially tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes, durians, and papayas.
The only threat they pose is their potential to carry viruses.
They also defecate everywhere. Roads, gardens, and car roofs are all covered in their droppings. If residents aren’t careful, they risk getting shat on.
If those droppings happen to carry a deadly virus, the problem becomes much worse. Their feces are also quite slippery; one wrong step and you’ll go sprawling face-first.
It’s even worse for dog owners, since dogs have a penchant for eating feces. They can also get infected if their paws come into contact with the bat droppings.
And with more feces comes more flies and other insects.
And that’s just one species, the fruit bat. There are plenty of other animals that have run rampant.
Li Xiang had never been here to hunt before, but he planned to return when he had time. He figured there probably weren’t any High Tier Mutated Creatures with much potential here anyway.
They didn’t linger on the Australian Continent, passing straight through it instead. Luo Feifei’s time was limited; she had a commercial to shoot in a few days.
Luo Feifei was actually already thinking about retiring, but her mother was a bit of a money-grubber and relentlessly booked new gigs for her. As an obedient daughter, Luo Feifei could only go along with her mother’s wishes to keep her happy.
Besides, she was still young and had no idea what she would even do after retiring. She guessed that even if she did, her mother would probably just find her a school and make her study.
