NOVEL NEXT chapter 59 - Day 19 of Survival 02
Yun Luohe continued organizing the materials she had gathered.
The expedition’s harvest was very abundant; she had brought back plenty of various supplies. After emerging from the underground cave, she even found some tree seeds and thorny plants in the rift. The rift was filled with many Iron Birch trees. If it had not been raining—making it difficult to use fire—she could have cut down even more Iron Birch wood.
[Corrupted Fecal Crystal ×138, Iron Ore ×486, Refined Steel ×25, Iron Birch Wood ×173, Crimson Moss ×150, Bat Wings ×192, Blood Crystal Fragments ×181, Blood-Red Bat Wings ×181, Blood Crystals ×9, Blood Crystal Core ×1, Bat King Chest Armor Blueprint ×1, Bat King Heart ×1, Obsidian ×10, Blood Crystals ×10, Bat Venom ×20, Bat King Poison Fang ×2, Bat Statue ×3, Iron Birch Wood Seeds ×6, Thorny Shrub Seeds ×4]
Besides these gains, she had also awakened a trait, gaining the sensory skill: Scan Eye.
Today she planned to craft the Bat King Chest Armor blueprint and the Soul-Drinking Twin Blades blueprint, and then plant the Iron Birch tree seeds.
The vegetables in the field also needed to be harvested.
After so many days, the earthworms she had been cultivating previously also needed to be transferred to larger containers; otherwise, there were too many worms tangled together, almost knotted.
She still needed to contact Si Qi and Cheng Xuening.
While Yun Luohe was working, a bowl of shredded pork and greens noodles was ready.
She and Ròubāo each had a bowl; after eating, they had to start working.
—
The tomatoes in the vegetable patch had ripened a bit more; they had not finished eating the last harvest, yet new ones had already grown.
Cucumbers, potatoes, soybeans, and Chinese cabbage were all ripe.
Yun Luohe made a large vegetable basket and spent over half an hour picking before finishing. Seeing the basket full of fresh vegetables, a sense of satisfaction welled up inside her.
Now she was already able to live a self-sufficient pastoral life.
Thinking back to when she first entered the game—the reef had been barren, completely empty—and now there was so much produce she could not finish it all.
Yun Luohe sorted the vegetables into the refrigerator, preparing to cook some new dishes in the evening.
She had not returned all day yesterday; the shells had all been retrieved by Ròubāo, who surprisingly gathered five full shells. She put them in the corner and decided to open them all at once.
[Opened Gray Pearl, obtained Coral Stone ×4, Wool Hat ×1, Cotton ×2, Canvas ×1, Worn Towel ×1, Sponge Dishcloth ×1]
[Opened Gray Pearl, obtained Detergent ×1, Toilet Paper ×1, Torn Woven Bag ×1, Moldy Steamed Bun ×1, Salted Duck Eggs ×2]
[Opened White Pearl, obtained Woven Mold-Resistant Mattress Blueprint ×1, Apple ×1, Latex Pillow ×1, Iron Ore ×1, Redwood ×2, Refined Steel ×1]
[Opened White Pearl, obtained Iron Ore ×2, Clay ×4, Lime ×2, Moisture-Proof Thermal Coating Formula ×1, Storage Cabinet Blueprint ×1, Milk ×1, Pumpkin Porridge ×1]
[Opened Golden Pearl, obtained Advanced Water Purifier Blueprint ×1, Diving Card ×1, Damaged Speargun ×1, Tin Storage Box ×1, Rose Seed ×1, Camphor Tree Seed ×1, Diving Fins Blueprint ×1, Grape ×1]
Opening five shells in a row felt quite exhilarating.
She had not been on the reef for a whole day, and quite a lot of trash had accumulated without recycling.
In the past two days, she had mostly used the “Turn Waste into Treasure” skill, since she did not have time to recycle trash in bulk for materials.
Yun Luohe first took out the blueprints and recipes.
With the accumulation of materials, most of the blueprints she had obtained so far were ready for direct crafting.
The best blueprint she had opened this time was the Advanced Water Purifier.
It required coral, peat, and refined steel; its purification capability was five times stronger than the previous small purifier. In one day, it could filter and convert 20 liters of seawater.
The underwater coral was cut into cylindrical segments, alternately layered with processed peat and fine sand inside the device. The filtration effect was much better than the small purifier.
Seawater entered the purifier, passed first through the coral’s coarse filtration, then peat absorption, and finally fine sand’s precise filtration before being collected into the container.
Yun Luohe planned to hand over the Advanced Water Purifier and Diving Fins blueprints to Mu Zitang and have him arrange for others to produce them. Since there was only one copy of each blueprint, she would learn to make them herself but lacked time for mass production. It was better to have players in the association who specialized in production craft them.
Producing many Advanced Water Purifiers would solve the water shortage problem for the association’s players.
The fins could be paired with diving suits and masks to form a full diving set. Players skilled at swimming could dive without a diving card by just buying this equipment.
Yun Luohe contacted Mu Zitang and first gave him the materials for the Soul-Drinking Twin Blades, asking him to pass them to Yang Mian.
Any additional requirements could be discussed directly with Yang Mian. Professional forgers could add some symbols and markings to the weapons; «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Mu Zitang could request detailed modifications.
When Yun Luohe made weapons herself, she would also have some small requests.
The last black weapon blueprint she obtained, she wanted to give Yang Mian some quality materials to work with, but she also had her own ideas.
She wanted a hunting knife suitable for her sensory trait. She liked the bloodsucking effect of the Blood Crystals and Blood Marrow Ore and planned to use them all.
However, there was no rush. The reef had to be developed—building on the reef, planting trees and vegetables, purchasing and upgrading supplies. If she got a diving card, she could gather some underwater materials.
Mu Zitang said, “Yun Jie, the association has organized diving training in the past two days. Tianji Pavilion wrote a diving plan based on intelligence summaries. Everyone follows the plan to dive; they indeed get many more materials and have found some crystals. I exchanged materials for the crystals and will send them to you together. There are also many materials gathered in the past two days and the tree seeds you wanted.”
Yun Luohe replied, “Okay, send everything to me together.”
Yun packed the unused boxes and waited for the next batch.
Although it seemed troublesome, it saved effort during recycling and maximized utilization value.
Different skills yielded different material values when recycling.
Coincidentally, this batch included tree seeds and vegetable seeds, which Yun Luohe planned to plant all at once.
She also ordered two huge earthworm breeding boxes from a player in the management trainee group.
Previously, she had separated some earthworms from the box and placed them along with fertilizer into the field. She added pH neutralizers to the soil, which basically alleviated the acid rain’s effect on the soil. As long as the neutralizer was added daily, it would be fine.
Now, the soil fertility in the reef’s vegetable patch was quite good.
Not only did she add seaweed fertilizer and biogas fertilizer, but now with the Corrupted Fecal Crystal—an advanced fertilizer—the vegetables grown would definitely be of good quality.
She first removed weeds, loosened the soil, and applied fertilizer... and finally sowed seeds.
This time she planted potatoes, soybeans, cucumbers, and Chinese cabbage.
She did not plant too many, considering that only ten days remained in spring.
Yun Luohe worried that after spring ended, some crops would not grow well, so she only planted crops with short growing seasons, some of which could be harvested repeatedly.
Additionally, the strawberries she planted before were almost ripe.
Currently, they only bore very small fruit, but in about two days, they should be ready to pick.
Then there would be endless strawberries to eat, and she could make strawberry jam and dried strawberries. When all materials were ready, making strawberry cake and strawberry bread would not be difficult either.
The apple tree had grown to about one meter tall; in no time, it should bloom and bear fruit.
Yun Luohe could not help but look forward to it. She also had orange and grape fruits. When the time was right, she planned to process the seeds and grow seedlings in cultivation dishes. They should be ready to plant by summer, as it was not yet their planting season.
After finishing planting vegetables, she moved on to planting trees.
Since she had not been on the reef yesterday, she had not completed the mandatory daily task of planting 20 trees. Therefore, today she planted 40 trees, spending the entire afternoon.
She planted Iron Birch, Camphor, and Banana trees.
These three tree species were all suitable for spring planting—especially banana trees. Now that there was sufficient rainfall, it was beneficial for their growth and development.
Yun Luohe had previously wondered where the banana seeds came from.
The planting guide explained that bananas originally had seeds, but in the real world, farmers produced seedless bananas through various hybridization methods to improve taste. As a result, the bananas people eat generally do not have fertile seeds. They reproduce by underground suckers.
However, in the game, bananas had seeds. Players obtained bananas from opened shells, then used the seeds inside the fruit to cultivate small trees, which they later sold at the trading center.
Coincidentally, Mu Zitang had arranged for association members to buy trees as soon as they saw them.
Although it was already a bit late in the day, it was still in time to plant.
After finishing her work in the field, it was almost dark.
When she returned inside, she was surprised to find that the chicks in the incubator had hatched.
Checking the time, it was exactly the tenth day.
The chicks had broken out of their eggshells but were still stuck inside, moving slightly.
Yun Luohe was both shocked and anxious and hurried over.
She had never raised chicks before. After thinking for a moment, she found a cardboard box, lined it with soft cotton cloth, and placed the chicks inside.
Not all ten eggs had hatched successfully; two had not broken out. Yun Luohe wanted to give those two more time, thinking maybe they were slower. She placed the eight hatched chicks into the box and found a dry, warm place to put them.
At this moment, the chicks had just hatched; their eyes were still closed, their bodies bare, looking very vulnerable. They seemed so weak that even a gentle touch could make them unable to get up.
Ròubāo became visibly excited when it saw the chicks.
“Meow… chickens! We’ve got chickens to eat!” Its eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Yun Luohe corrected it immediately, “These aren’t for eating. They’re for laying eggs.”
Until the number of chickens reached at least twenty, Yun Luohe had no intention of slaughtering any for food. Chickens laid eggs, and eggs had countless uses. Even leveling up her cooking skills could be done by using eggs to make various dishes.
Hearing this, Ròubāo was clearly displeased. In its eyes, chickens existed to be eaten.
After all, back on the island, it often hunted chickens for food.
But if Yun Luohe said no, there was nothing it could do. Nowadays, it was already too reliant on the delicious food Yun Luohe prepared. Even if it were allowed to eat chickens, it was no longer that interested.
But what exactly could newborn chicks eat?
Yun Luohe consulted Qin Sisi, who indeed knew what to do.
She even gave Yun Luohe some millet.
She instructed her to soak the millet until soft, then feed it to the chicks. Or, if there were any egg yolks available, she could mash them with water and feed that to the chicks for better nutrition.
Naturally, Yun Luohe followed her instructions. She still had two eggs left over that had not been incubated and were not stored in her backpack, so they could no longer hatch chicks. She simply boiled them and used the yolks to feed the chicks.
When Qin Sisi heard that Yun Luohe had hatched chicks, she was immediately tempted.
Qin Sisi loved small animals herself, and her daughter had nothing much to do on the reef. If they could raise a few chicks, once they grew up, her daughter could feed them, which would bring her more joy.
So she wanted to trade for two chicks to raise, and told Yun Luohe she could name whatever supplies she wanted in exchange.
Yun Luohe was a bit reluctant.
After all, she only had a few chicks in total and already felt she did not have enough.
She already possessed the Chicken Coop Blueprint. With these chickens, they could slowly reproduce, and over time, the number of chickens would steadily increase.
She still preferred to wait until the chickens started laying eggs before considering trade.
However, that would take at least half a month.
For players surviving on the reef, half a month was an exceptionally long time.
Qin Sisi understood Yun Luohe’s hesitation, but she truly wanted the chicks, so she decided to show real sincerity.
“How about this? I’ll trade you a High-Grade Diving Card for one.”
A High-Grade Diving Card—this was something Yun Luohe genuinely needed.
Yun Luohe replied, “You can only have one.”
Once these chicks grew up and started laying eggs, their numbers would naturally multiply. Losing one chick now would not impact things much. But with the High-Grade Diving Card, she could explore the Deep Sea Ruins…
That was a high-priority task as well.
“Deal. Just one chick.”
The two of them completed the trade. Knowing Qin Sisi only wanted it to be a pet for her daughter, Yun Luohe specifically picked the cutest-looking chick from the eight for her.
Although they had not grown much fluff yet and looked nearly identical, Yun Luohe had a feeling this one would grow up especially cute.
She was probably right.
That evening, Yun Luohe recycled trash into the resource bin while crafting blueprints.
She contacted Lin Zhu and traded for dozens of Blood-Red Bat Wings. To craft the Bat King Chest Armor, she needed two hundred Blood-Red Bat Wings. She was short by just over ten pieces. Originally, she had planned to hunt a few more Blood-Red Bats, but unexpectedly, she had ended up in the Bat Priest’s underground cave.
At the time, she was worried that Lin Zhu might also be short on supplies and unwilling to trade, but he readily agreed, offering to exchange for Crimson Moss.
Neither of them had anticipated how valuable Crimson Moss would be. After returning, Lin Zhu obtained a formula for crafting Hemostatic Agents, which specifically required Crimson Moss.
Lin Zhu’s team had not collected much of it at the time, but Yun Luohe had brought back a large stash.
The description for Crimson Moss had only mentioned it being used to craft Cold-Blooded Potion, and at the time, she did not know what that was for. She never expected it could also produce Hemostatic Agents.
Yun Luohe was not sure what Lin Zhu needed the Crimson Moss for, but she only traded the exact amount required—just over ten Crimson Moss—for the Blood-Red Bat Wings. She still had more than a hundred left, so if they turned out to be extremely useful, she would have them on hand.
—
With the materials for the Bat King Chest Armor complete, Yun Luohe immediately placed them on the heavy-duty sewing machine to craft.
This was top-tier armor. Having it would greatly increase her safety.
Suddenly, she thought of the mural she had seen on Bat Island.
Since Bat Island and Spider Island were interconnected, perhaps the materials obtained from both islands could be researched together.
Yun Luohe found the storage chest containing the Spider Island materials.
[Purple Mushrooms, Mutated Mycelium, Silver Web Silk, Golden Web Silk, Energy Essence, Venom Essence, Golden Shell Fragments, Venomous Pincer Limb, Ancient Amber]
Mycelium and moss, Bat Poison Fangs and Venomous Pincer Limbs—their functions seemed quite similar…
As for Bat Wings, they were comparable to spider silk.
Spider Island had spiders in gold and silver variants, while Bat Island had black and red bats.
Both provided materials for crafting defensive gear.
So perhaps Spider Island also had an item equivalent to the Blood Crystal Core, something she had simply missed.
Or… was it this Ancient Amber?
Yun Luohe picked up the amber and examined it carefully.
[Ancient Amber: Spider Egg sealed in amber for over a millennium, hardened into a stone-like substance.]
This had been obtained from the Spider Queen’s treasure chest.
At the time, its use was unclear, but Yun Luohe had exchanged for it anyway.
Back in the Spider Queen’s lair, the giant tree was covered in spider eggs, but those were different from this one. The eggs on the tree were transparent, and the spider embryos inside were visibly active.
But this one—the spider egg inside showed no movement, curled tightly together, impossible to make out its form, clearly fossilized. Yun Luohe had sensed a faint energy fluctuation from it back then, but she had not thought much of it.