Ren Yuanyang curled his lips. He just wanted to remind the other party, but he didn't expect that the other party would not appreciate it!
The other survivors also joined in the discussion.
"I think what the brother just said is right. What could be in the water? It must be a fish!"
"But it's a solid wooden door. How much strength would a fish have to have to knock it out?"
"If it's really fish, doesn't that mean we have an extra ration?"
"That's right, I'll go in and take a look!"
The survivor who was hit by the unknown creature on the door panel was still a little hesitant. After seeing this news, he immediately picked up the machete beside him and carefully went into the water from the side of the wooden board.
"Don't be impulsive! What if it's not a fish?"
"Do you think it could be something else?"
"You've read too many ghost stories! Those are all superstitions. You should believe in science!"
"What scientific evidence tells you that it's possible for the Blue Planet to rain for such a long time and even flood the entire landmass?"
"Forehead..."
"That's right, this world is no longer scientific. Please stop using science to explain everything we see!"
"After your analysis, I feel a little uneasy!"
"I used to feel so lonely, but now I feel like I'm surrounded by people!"
"Stop talking, I'm scared!"
At this time, the survivor who went into the water sent another message.
"Wow, it really is a fish, a black fish over half a meter long!"
"No way, a snakehead fish over half a meter long? Is that really that exaggerated?"
"It's no exaggeration at all. When the snakehead fish saw me enter the water, it didn't run away. Instead, it rushed straight towards me. Luckily, I brought a machete with me, so I forced it back!"
"Why don't you kill it when you have the chance? You won't have to worry about food for the next few days!"
"Damn, I wanted to kill it too, but it's so powerful and so fast. I'm lucky to be able to get up alive!"
"There's not much entertainment these days, so having someone tell us stories is a form of entertainment! Just listen, don't take it seriously!"
"Who the hell has the time to tell you a story!"
"Have you ever seen a snakehead fish attack a human? They mainly prey on small fish and frogs. How could an adult like you possibly could be attacked by one?"
I didn't expect the boomerang to hit me so quickly!
Just now he was questioning Ren Yuanyang's words, and now it's someone else's turn to question him!
The survivor didn't bother to explain further, and instead replied, "Believe it or not!"
Then he immediately applied to add Ren Yuanyang as a friend.
Ren Yuanyang pondered for a moment and approved the other party's request.
"Hello, I shouldn't have questioned you just now, please forgive me!" The other party's ID is Tattoo Haonan.
The other party apologized right away. Ren Yuanyang was stunned. Then he shook his head and replied, "It's okay."
"May I ask, how do you know it was fish hitting my wooden board?" asked Tattooed Haonan.
"Because I have encountered it. If what you said is true, the one you encountered should also be an evolved black fish!" Ren Yuanyang explained.
Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I might as well give him some scientific knowledge as a pastime.
"The evolved black fish?" Tattooed Haonan was obviously very surprised.
"Yes, humans nowadays can evolve, so why can't fish?" Ren Yuanyang asked in return.
"I see!" Tattooed Haonan responded, then asked curiously, "What kind of evolved fish did you encounter?"
"I encountered it twice, once it was a bream and once it was a crocodile." Ren Yuanyang tried his best to make his message sound calm and casual.
This time he really got it right!
Tattooed Haonan immediately replied, his shock evident between the lines: "You actually encountered an evolved crocodile? You must be an evolver!"
"Not yet!" Ren Yuanyang replied truthfully.
"You are so awesome! You can even beat off the evolved crocodile!" Tattooed Haonan was shocked.
He had just fought with the evolved black fish and knew how ferocious the evolved fish were.
Not to mention, the crocodiles are already very ferocious, and they will definitely become even more ferocious after evolution.
"It was just luck!" Ren Yuanyang felt that he had already pretended, so there was no need to tell the other party that he actually killed the evolved crocodile instead of repelling it.
"Thank you very much for telling me this. I owe you a favor and will definitely repay you in the future!" Tattooed Haonan replied.
Ren Yuanyang was slightly startled. He felt a sense of chuunibaku aura coming towards him. He smiled and replied, "That's not necessary. It's not important news."
"My words are as good as my words and I will never go back on my word!" Tattooed Haonan is determined to stick to his middle school mentality to the end.
Ren Yuanyang had no choice but to let him go. After all, this promise was just a blank check.
The world is like this now, it's not certain whether they can meet or not, so what's the point of talking about repayment?
Ren Yuanyang shook his head and switched the interface back to the regional channel. Everyone was still discussing the message that Tattooed Haonan had just sent.
"I said he was telling us a story, and I must have guessed it. He got so angry that he logged off immediately!"
"Let me tag him for you, @TattooHaonan."
"Just come out and admit you're talking nonsense. Stop being a coward!"
"I, Haonan, never lie. Believe it or not, it's up to you. I'm too lazy to explain. I just hope that if you meet me in the future, you won't be scared and call for your mother!" Tattooed Haonan couldn't help but reply.
"Why do I feel like what he said is true?"
"Yeah, I remember someone just reminded him that he was a certain kind of fish. Could that person have encountered it before?"
"No way, so many of us haven't encountered it, why did only these two encounter it?"
"I'll help you summon the person involved, @Taoyuanyang."
Ren Yuanyang gave himself the online name Taoyuanyang.
Seeing their argument, Ren Yuanyang smiled and said, "Humans evolved because of a special substance in rainwater. Mobile phones may also have been upgraded because of a substance in rainwater. Then, those fish that originally lived in water would naturally be upgraded and evolved as well. This is not difficult to understand, right?"
Ren Yuanyang paused for a moment before continuing his message: "You haven't encountered any evolved fish yet. It's probably because the water area has suddenly increased by one-third, diluting the original fish. Don't worry, as long as you live a little longer, you'll eventually encounter them!"
"Finally, I'd like to remind everyone to be careful of the evolved creatures underwater. They are very dangerous!"
After reading the message sent by Ren Yuanyang, the regional channel was silent for a while, and then started discussing again.
"This can't be true, right? It's already difficult for us to survive this flood, why do we have to face those evolved creatures?"
"You don't really believe that, do you? They're both in cahoots, they must have been in cahoots with each other! They're teaming up to deceive us!"
"What if it's true? What can they possibly deceive us by doing this?"
"I think what Tao Yuanyang said makes sense. Everyone should be more careful!"
"What sins have we committed to deserve such punishment from Heaven?"
"This isn't a punishment at all. I'm certain this is the work of an advanced civilization. The anomaly in our phones is irrefutable proof!"
Chapter 22: Food shortage, encounter with piranhas
"If this was truly done by an advanced civilization, then what was their motive? Was it just to witness the demise of our Blue Star civilization?"
"Maybe it's true. Don't those upper-class people have all sorts of strange quirks? They might just enjoy watching us fall!"
"You guys really have too much free time. Have you found food for tomorrow? I'm almost starving. What's the point of thinking so much?"
"Aren't you tired of discussing this all day?"
Before Ren Yuanyang joined the group chat, survivors had discussed this issue, and someone mentioned it almost every day. He also saw related records in the group files.
These people discuss the same things every day, and the survivors who joined the group chat at the beginning naturally get bored after seeing so much.
"It's nighttime now, and I can't find food. I can only find some comfort in the group. If you don't like it, you can just block the group messages or quit. No one is stopping you!"
"That's right. Speaking on the regional channel is our most basic right. If you have the guts, ban me!"
"Unless there's lighting, it's better to just chat and rest at night and not waste your energy!"
"Yeah, plus the possible presence of evolved fish, it feels even more dangerous at night!"
"You can use the flashlight in your phone. Haven't you noticed that after upgrading your phone, the battery is always full?"
"I was so hungry I was dizzy and hadn't even noticed the battery issue. Now that you've mentioned that, I finally realized I've been in the group chat for four days. To help with group messages, I've been using my phone most of the time. With my iPhone's battery, I'd be lucky to last a day. I just checked, and it's still full!"
"I discovered it a long time ago, but the flashlight on my phone is too weak and can only illuminate two or three meters. Now it's raining heavily, so the illumination range is even smaller!"
"It's better than being in the dark!"
"That's right!"
"I'm so hungry! I'm almost bloated from drinking rainwater every day. If anyone can give me a bite to eat, I'll be your little brother and go through fire and water for him, without a second thought!"
"Except for the big ship, everyone's food should have been consumed by now!"
"Isn't that nonsense? The food we brought has long been consumed. Ninety percent of those who are still chatting here must have found food in the water!"
"There's less and less food in the water now. At the end of the day, there's nothing to harvest!"
What followed were some messages asking for help and food. Ren Yuanyang simply turned off his phone and put it aside.
Looking at the supplies Lu Jiamei had sorted out from the boat, he muttered, "Let Lu Jiamei take them farther away tomorrow!"
My ex-girlfriend's family has been hanging around their container, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable.
The first half of the night was very quiet. Ren Yuanyang looked at the time on his mobile phone and saw that it was already early morning. He tapped the partition.
"It's your turn to keep watch!"
After waiting for a while, Lu Jiamei's voice came from the other side of the partition: "Okay, boss, you can rest now!"
Then I heard the rustling sound of someone getting up.
Hearing that Lu Jiamei had gotten up, Ren Yuanyang lay down and fell asleep in a daze.
After an unknown amount of time, a prompt suddenly appeared on the system.
[Note: The entangled object struggles violently...]
Ren Yuanyang immediately woke up and sat up. At this time, Lu Jiamei also knocked on the partition and said, "Boss, there is something under the water, and it seems to smell of blood!"
Ren Yuanyang was in a daze at this time. According to the system prompt, the people struggling violently were actually his ex-girlfriend's family who drowned during the day!
"Is he pretending to be dead?"
But he quickly realized that their bodies must have attracted some carnivorous animals.
"It must be the underwater corpse that attracted some carnivorous fish!" Ren Yuanyang replied in a deep voice.
Lu Jiamei was slightly stunned and frowned: "We should have kept them away during the day!"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly.
At this time, the system prompts again.
[Attention: Bitter Grass is under attack by evolved piranhas...]
Apparently, the piranhas had attacked the bitter grass that had entangled the corpse.
Ren Yuanyang immediately controlled the creeping stems of the bitter grass to release the three corpses, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief.
Adult piranhas are about 20 centimeters in size. Even after evolution, their body length doubles to only half a meter. This size should not pose a threat to containers.
Without the entanglement and pulling of the bitter grass, the corpses slowly floated to the surface of the water.
The piranhas ignored the retracting runners and followed the flesh to the surface of the water.
The sound of rain was mixed with the faint sound of splashing water.
Lu Jiamei, looking nervous, suddenly noticed that the water surface was getting more noisy. She said uncertainly, "Those fish seem to be floating up?"
"I loosened the corpse. These piranhas should have followed the corpse to the surface of the water. I hope they will leave after eating it!" Ren Yuanyang explained.
Lu Jiamei was slightly startled. Although she didn't know how Ren Yuanyang was sure that it was piranhas that attacked the corpses, she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she frowned and asked, "Do we need to confirm the situation on the surface of the water?"
Ren Yuanyang was also a little hesitant at this time. He wanted to observe with a flashlight, but he was worried that the strong light would make the evolved piranhas even more violent.
Although theoretically this small fish poses no threat to the container, these piranhas are evolved after all, and no one can guarantee it.
"Boss, we have to know what the enemy looks like!" Lu Jiamei saw his hesitation and said, "We'll be living on the sea for a long time, so we have to understand them."
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly, made up his mind, took out the flashlight, adjusted the beam, and shone it onto the sea.
Although it was a high-intensity flashlight, the light was still greatly weakened in the heavy rain. Even so, the piranhas were frightened by the sudden light. The water surface seemed to be boiling, and some piranhas even jumped out of the water!
Through the rain, you can vaguely see that these evolved piranhas are not very large.
The three bodies on the water had been torn to pieces, but they were not very clear in the rain.
"Fortunately, the heavy rain helped us blur the scene, otherwise it would definitely be more shocking than the murder scene!" Lu Jiamei sighed.
Ren Yuanyang nodded: "Those evolved piranhas are not very big, that's good news!"
With their small size, they pose less of a threat to the container, and they should be able to eat their fill easily!
After turning off the flashlight, Ren Yuanyang looked at the time and it was already five o'clock in the morning.
"You go take a nap, I'll watch first!" Ren Yuanyang said, looking at Lu Jiamei who looked a little tired.
Lu Jiamei yawned, responded, turned around and walked back.
Ren Yuanyang put on his raincoat and also climbed onto the top of the container, looking in the direction of the piranhas.
As time went by, the visibility became better. There were no more corpses on the sea surface, only a sea of crimson, and occasionally the splashes of water caused by piranhas jumping out of the water.
"We've finished eating, it's time to leave!" Ren Yuanyang was looking forward to it.
The piranhas seemed to have heard his inner expectations and swam towards the container collectively.
[Attention: Evolved Piranhas are approaching...]
The piranhas rushed towards the container and inevitably hit the runners of the bitter grass, so the system gave an immediate prompt.
Hearing the hint that the evolved piranhas were approaching, Ren Yuanyang was completely speechless.
"Are you still not full after eating for three people?"
Ren Yuanyang immediately patted the container and woke up Lu Jiamei.
"Get ready for battle!"
Hearing about the fight, Lu Jiamei immediately woke up and asked, "Is anyone approaching?"
"No, it's piranhas." Ren Yuanyang replied in a deep voice.
Lu Jiamei was stunned for a moment, a little confused: "Aren't three people enough for the piranhas to eat?"
"Who knows? Maybe their appetites have gotten bigger after their evolution!" Ren Yuanyang shook his head and ordered, "Go find a knife that's handy. If they try to destroy the container, we'll fight them to the death!"
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei immediately found a long, thin fruit knife and asked doubtfully, "Boss, can this piranha really destroy the container?"
"I don't know. What if their teeth evolve to an outrageous level? This container can't be destroyed by them!" Ren Yuanyang jumped down from the top of the container, grabbed the boning knife beside him, and was ready for battle.
Ren Yuanyang did not use bitter grass to intercept the evolved piranhas. They had already proved yesterday that the sharpness of their teeth could cause damage to the thrice-reinforced dead grass runners!
In addition, there are so many piranhas that even if Ren Yuanyang uses bitter herbs to intercept them, he will only be delivering food to them.
At this time, the piranhas had already arrived at the container entrance on Ren Yuanyang's side, but they did not attack the container immediately. Instead, they jumped out of the water directly!
Lu Jiamei was quick-witted and grabbed a chair nearby and swung it directly at the flying piranha.
"Bang!"
The jumping piranha was directly knocked away by her!
But as the first piranha jumped out of the water, the others followed!
Suddenly the water surface became lively again!
Lu Jiamei alone could not stop so many piranhas, and many piranhas jumped into the container.
"Boss, I can't stop them all by myself!" Lu Jiamei hurriedly asked for help.
Ren Yuanyang pulled her back and said, "Don't block them, let them come up!"
Lu Jiamei was stunned for a moment, then immediately took two steps back.
Without any obstruction, the piranhas jumped into the container smoothly, but they could only jump around on the floor.
"Are they committing suicide?" Lu Jiamei's eyes still contained the confusion of someone who had just woken up.
Ren Yuanyang pointed at the battered crocodile nearby and said, "It must be the smell of the crocodile's blood that attracted them!"
Lu Jiamei was slightly startled, then immediately reacted, her face full of disbelief: "Even if they smelled blood, they can't be so crazy! They are fish, how can they come ashore?"
"If they can think about this, we'll be in danger!" Ren Yuanyang shook his head and ordered, "Kill all those who jump up. Be sure to pay attention to safety."
Lu Jiamei nodded in agreement, then frowned and asked, "Boss, you don't want to use them as food, do you?"
These piranhas have just eaten a dead body. If they really treat it as food, it would be really disgusting!
It would have been fine if they hadn't seen it, out of sight, out of mind, but the two of them witnessed the piranhas devouring three corpses.
"Don't worry, these piranhas will not be our food!" Ren Yuanyang replied.
Lu Jiamei finally felt relieved and began to deal with the piranhas that jumped into the container.
The evolved piranhas became extremely ferocious. Even out of the water, they were still not so easy to kill and they jumped happily in the container.
Lu Jiamei simply took the oars from the boat and started hitting the piranhas wildly.
She couldn't kill the piranha with one shot, so she could only shoot it a few more times until the piranha stopped moving!
Just when Lu Jiamei felt her arms starting to ache, the piranhas suddenly stopped jumping into the container.
"call!"
Lu Jiamei breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the piranhas on the container floor: "Is that all?"
Ren Yuanyang shook his head: "Definitely more than that!"
After careful observation, he found that the piranhas at the entrance of the box had actually left!
"The rest have left!" Ren Yuanyang frowned.
"Leaving? That's great!" Lu Jiamei put the oar aside and rubbed her sore arms.
"This is not a good thing." Ren Yuanyang looked at the surrounding sea vigilantly.
Lu Jiamei was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized: "Boss, do you mean that a stronger creature is coming?"
"Very likely!" Ren Yuanyang nodded.
Lu Jiamei became nervous again.
At this moment, Ren Yuanyang suddenly received a prompt from the system.
[I discovered four Buddaria plants. Should I strengthen them?]
After receiving this prompt, he checked the direction of strengthening and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Strengthen the toxicity!"
[Strengthening successful.]
[Buddaria (+1): Its toxicity has been enhanced, emitting an unpleasant odor that keeps aquatic creatures away. The effective range is ten meters. If aquatic creatures accidentally ingest its branches and leaves, they will become anesthetized...]
The original Buddaria is slightly poisonous. If it is crushed and thrown into the river, it can anesthetize live fish. This is the origin of its name. Therefore, Buddaria is not planted next to fish ponds. However, the flowers of Buddaria are very beautiful and emit a fragrance. It can be used as an ornamental plant and is often used in landscaping.
Ren Yuanyang bent down and observed carefully for a while. Sure enough, there were some tiny purple flowers on the water surface, which were the petals of Buddlejaw.
"So that's how it is!" Ren Yuanyang suddenly realized.
Lu Jiamei, who was standing by, saw Ren Yuanyang's strange movements and looked confused.
"Boss, what are you doing?" Lu Jiamei asked curiously.
"I think I know why those piranhas left!" Ren Yuanyang pointed at the purple flowers and said with a smile, "It must be because of this!"
"This should be a kind of flower, right?" Lu Jiamei was even more confused. "Can this flower drive away piranhas?"
Ren Yuanyang explained according to the system prompts: "This is the flower of Buddleja spp.... The evolved piranhas are more sensitive to the scent of Buddleja spp. These petals make them very uncomfortable, so they left!"
After hearing the explanation, Lu Jiamei sighed again: "You know so much about plants!"
Ren Yuanyang waved his hand and ordered, "First, sort out the piranhas that have jumped up. These compressed biscuits are for breakfast today!"
Looking at the compressed biscuits handed over by Ren Yuanyang, Lu Jiamei suddenly thought of a problem: "Boss, we need to consider the issue of salt now! Fortunately, we have some compressed biscuits that can provide some salt, but after these compressed biscuits are eaten, if we can't find salt, it will be a big problem!"
Ren Yuanyang was slightly stunned, then smiled and asked, "Do you know why I asked you to deal with the crocodile?"
Lu Jiamei was stunned. The topic changed too quickly and she could hardly keep up.
"Aren't we discussing the issue of salt? Is it related to the treatment of crocodiles?" Lu Jiamei looked confused.
"Of course it is related. If there is not enough salt, the crocodile meat will go bad even if it is processed, right?" Ren Yuanyang replied.
Hearing this, Lu Jiamei asked in surprise, "Did we catch salt?"
"Not really." Ren Yuanyang shook his head.
Lu Jiamei was stunned: "Since we haven't caught any salt, where can we find it?"
"We have this!" Ren Yuanyang pointed to the rice grass beside him and said with a smile.
Lu Jiamei took a look at the rice grass and became even more confused.
She had seen Ren Yuanyang fish this grass out of the water before, but she didn't know what kind of grass it was.
Ren Yuanyang picked up a small spoon beside him, scraped some crystal powder from the veins of the rice grass, and handed it to her, saying, "Try it."
Lu Jiamei was stunned for a moment, as if she had thought of something. With a look of shock on her face, she stretched out her finger and touched the powder, then brought it to her lips and touched it with the tip of her tongue. Her eyes immediately lit up.
"Is this salt?" she couldn't help but confirm again.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly: "This is rice grass, it can secrete the salt it absorbs..."
"There is such a plant?" Lu Jiamei felt like a country bumpkin, so ignorant!
"Of course, there are many salt-secreting plants, such as petal-scale flowers, strange willows, etc. These plants have salt glands or salt vesicles, so they can secrete salt." Ren Yuanyang explained.
Lu Jiamei understood, and then asked, "How efficient is this rice grass in secreting salt?"
"It's okay. Even if a few more people come, they won't be able to finish it!" Ren Yuanyang replied with a smile.
At this moment, Lu Jiamei suddenly remembered that Ren Yuanyang had said that there was plenty of purified water, so she asked cautiously, "Is purified water also produced by plants?"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "Don't worry about water and salt. We have food too. What we lack is the tools to cook it. It would be best if we could find a generator to solve the problem once and for all!"
"Generator? I guess that's only available on big ships!" Lu Jiamei replied with a wry smile.
"Yeah!" Ren Yuanyang couldn't help but sigh. "Even if we find a generator, we still need energy to make it work. There are so many things we're missing!"
Lu Jiamei shook her head helplessly.
"Take your time!" Ren Yuanyang smiled and said, "We're doing fine now. Let's finish breakfast quickly and get to work!"
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei replied.
Three days ago, she was still lying on the wooden board, enduring the wind and rain!
Now I have a place to live. Although it is not big, it can shelter me from the wind and rain.
Although there was not much food and water, it was enough.
There were even some spare clothes and some basic daily necessities.
Of course, all this is thanks to Ren Yuanyang's ex-girlfriend's family.
Be content with what you have.
Lu Jiamei ate half of a compressed biscuit, took a few sips of purified water, and immediately put the piranhas she had killed into an empty can and sent it to the cabin of the boat.
Lu Jiamei initially collected these empty cans just to increase the buoyancy of her wooden boards, but she didn't expect that they can now be used in so many places.
All the plants that Ren Yuanyang grows in the containers also require the use of those bottles and jars.
However, he did not plant the newly strengthened Buddaria in a pot, but planted it in the center of the circle near the four corners of the container, and then fixed them with bitter grass.
In this way, Buddlejaw can play the role of driving away aquatic creatures!
If you put it in a jar or container, it will naturally not have this effect.
Although this may prevent them from catching fish, at least it is safe!
Even if you really need to catch fish for food, you can row a small boat out of the range of the Buddlejaw and then go fishing.
After arranging the position of the Buddlejaw, Ren Yuanyang came to the hanging crocodile again and prepared to cut it up himself.
Although Lu Jiamei had eaten crocodile meat before, after seeing her knife skills yesterday, he knew that Lu Jiamei was indeed only suitable for eating, not for being a chef.
Both of them are amateurs, so it doesn't matter who does it.
Besides, she still needs to stand guard outside, she can't keep exploiting her employees!
Just as Ren Yuanyang picked up the boning knife, Lu Jiamei's voice suddenly came from above.
"Boss, another small boat has appeared, about thirty or forty meters away from us!"
Upon hearing this, Ren Yuanyang immediately asked, "Did it drive here on its own, or did it drift here?"
Lu Jiamei was startled for a moment, then replied, "I didn't see anyone rowing, nor did I hear the sound of an engine. It must have drifted over!"
Ren Yuanyang immediately handed over the pistol: "Follow my orders."
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei took the pistol and responded in a deep voice.
The small boat was getting closer and closer, and Ren Yuanyang and the others finally saw its true appearance.
It turned out to be a miniature aluminum alloy speedboat with a shed covered with waterproof cloth on top.
"You just lie in ambush up there, and I'll distract the enemy!" Ren Yuanyang whispered.
"Okay!" Lu Jiamei lay on top of the container and pointed a gun at the speedboat.
When Lu Jiamei was ready, Ren Yuanyang immediately shouted to the speedboat, "Is anyone there? You're about to hit us! Turn quickly!"
"Sorry, we'll turn right away!"
A weak female voice mixed with a hint of panic came from the speedboat.
Hearing the female voice, Ren Yuanyang was slightly stunned.
Lu Jiamei, who was lying in ambush on top of the container, suddenly asked, "Are you Xin Wan?"
Ren Yuanyang was stunned again, thinking to himself, "Can I even meet someone I know here?"
The woman on the speedboat seemed stunned for a moment: "Who are you?"
"Do you remember Mei Lan?" Lu Jiamei asked instead of answering.
"Mei Lan?" The other party seemed to react for a moment, then replied, "Of course I remember. It's rare for someone this old to still pursue fashionable food and learn to cook from me!"
"I'm her daughter. We've met before, but you may not remember me!" Lu Jiamei introduced herself.
Ren Yuanyang also understood. It turned out that the person on the speedboat was a gourmet expert who taught Lu Jiamei's mother how to cook delicious food!
"Is the world so small?"
Ren Yuanyang sighed in his heart, and then whispered a reminder: "Be prepared to fight at any time, there may be more than one person on that speedboat!"
Hearing this, Lu Jiamei was slightly stunned, then lay down again and looked at the speedboat vigilantly.
She knew she was too impulsive and exposed herself easily.
If there were other people on the speedboat and they attacked her directly, she would be in great danger!
But now is not the time to admit mistakes. I should deal with the speedboat in front of me first, and then apologize!
At this time, Xin Wan was lying on the seat in the speedboat, with a small pile of duckweed and water plants beside her, emitting a fishy smell.
She has been out of food for a week. During this week, she has been relying on these aquatic plants to fill her stomach and has barely survived until now.
Before the rainstorm flooded the land, Xin Wan spent a full million to buy this customized speedboat.
At first, she thought that this kind of heavy rain would last for a month at most, and she had prepared three months of food, which should be more than enough.
Unexpectedly, this has lasted for more than three months, and there is no sign of stopping until now.
In the past three months, she has been chased by other ships more than ten times. If this speedboat had not been specially customized, she would have been caught up long ago.
As for the consequences of being caught up, she knew from the crazy roars of those people that it would be very tragic!
But now the diesel reserves on the speedboat have been used up. If she encounters other ships again, she will have no choice but to surrender.
Rather than falling into the hands of other strangers, it is better to join the team in front of you. No matter what, it is like meeting an acquaintance!
The most important thing is that there is Ms. Lu Jiamei in this team, and from her shouting just now, Xin Wan can feel that she is free!
In the current environment, it is very rare for a woman to remain free in the survivor team.
Of course, Xin Wan had no choice now. Her speedboat had no power. What she had said just now about turning was actually a lie to Ren Yuanyang.
At that time, she thought that she could delay it as long as possible, and even considered how to end her own life if she fell into the hands of the other party!
Lu Jiamei's call rekindled her hope of life.
"I'm sorry, I just lied to you. My speedboat is out of gas and can't turn. I'm the only one on it, and I want to join you!" Xin Wan put down the dagger in her hand and shouted, "I hope you can take me in!"
Her voice was trembling, perhaps because she had exerted too much force or was too hungry.
Ren Yuanyang was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he whispered to Lu Jiamei for confirmation: "Is she really a chef? Could she be promoted by a professional team?"
In his opinion, there is a team behind every internet celebrity, and even if you don't have the ability, you can still make them famous.
Lu Jiamei also whispered back, "Her cooking skills are indeed amazing. Because my mother wants to learn culinary arts from her, I specifically investigated her. She has reached the highest level of chefs, the level of senior technicians!"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly and replied loudly: "Since you said you are the only one on the speedboat, then open all the curtains and come out yourself!"
Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan had only met once, and neither of them was sure about Xin Wan's character.
So be careful!
The reason why Ren Yuanyang considered accepting her was actually because he was attracted by her speedboat.
Generally speaking, speedboats have power systems. Even the simplest power system is what Ren Yuanyang needs now.
Besides, he originally needed a cook, so naturally he was not opposed to letting Xin Wan join in.
Of course, the prerequisite for Xin Wan to join his team is to completely obey his orders.
After hearing what Ren Yuanyang said, Xin Wan knew that the other party must still have some doubts. She propped up her weak body, pulled open all the curtains around her, and then walked outside with heavy steps.
At this time, the distance between the speedboat and the container was only two or three meters. Ren Yuanyang stood at the entrance of the container. Because of the height difference, he could not see clearly what was happening inside the speedboat cabin.
But Lu Jiamei, who was on top of the container, had a clear view.
"Boss, there are a lot of duckweed and water plants in the speedboat cabin!" Lu Jiamei's tone was full of surprise!
Seeing Lu Jiamei looking at the water plants she had picked up with surprise, Xin Wan felt a little helpless: "It seems that this team has no food left."
She thought that by joining this team, she could not only have enough to eat, but at least she could have something normal to eat. It seems that she still needs to eat aquatic plants!
Hearing Lu Jiamei's feedback, Ren Yuanyang was slightly stunned, then he became excited and asked, "Are there any other people?"
"Nothing found!" Lu Jiamei replied immediately.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly, grabbed a boning knife, climbed onto the top of the container, and ordered, "When her speedboat approaches, we'll go over and take a look. If we find anything unusual, shoot!"
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei gripped her pistol tightly and continued to stare at the speedboat slowly drifting towards the container.
Ren Yuanyang held a paddle to hold the speedboat back. The speedboat was originally drifting over at a very slow speed, and with this resistance, it slowly stopped next to the container.
This way there will be no collisions, and even if there are some scratches, they are within an acceptable range.
The speedboat stopped and Ren Yuanyang boarded it, while Lu Jiamei looked vigilantly at Xin Wan who was standing beside her.
When Ren Yuanyang walked into the cabin, a fishy smell hit him in the face. There were a lot of duckweed and water plants piled in the cabin.
"I didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain!" Ren Yuanyang was a little emotional. He immediately carried the duckweed and water plants out and scattered them on the duckweed at the mouth of the container.
They were piled together, some of them had begun to rot, and Ren Yuanyang needed to save them.
These duckweeds are all round-heart duckweed, a type of duckweed with a relatively large leaf area. In the current environment, only this type of duckweed is relatively conspicuous. Those that are smaller cannot be seen clearly in the heavy rain and are even more difficult to catch.
Those aquatic plants are also common bitter grasses.
"Have you been relying on eating duckweed and water plants to fill your stomach recently?" Ren Yuanyang asked Xin Wan who was kneeling beside him.
Xin Wan nodded: "I've been eating it for almost a week!"
Hearing this, Ren Yuanyang felt a little heartbroken.
A week! How much duckweed and water plants must have been eaten!
"Where did you find these duckweed and water plants?" Ren Yuanyang continued to ask.
Xin Wan shook her head. "I don't know where I was, I just happened to come across a large patch of water plants. I was so hungry at the time, so I scooped them all up!"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly, stood at the door of the speedboat cabin, and glanced at the entire cabin again. It was obvious that this cabin was modified later. Under normal circumstances, this kind of micro speedboat would only have a simple shed at most.
He also saw two power sockets as he wished, one marked AC220V and the other DC220V.
The electrical system should also have been modified!
"The power output is quite complete, with both AC and DC!"
Ren Yuanyang was very satisfied with the speedboat, and the next step was to discuss the conditions for its recruitment!
"If you join us, this speedboat will be mine. After you join, you'll be responsible for logistical support, including but not limited to cooking, cleaning, and any other tasks I assign!" Ren Yuanyang laid out his terms. "Agree?"
Xin Wan was slightly stunned, then immediately nodded and said, "I agree!"
Cooking is something she is good at, and the other tasks don't sound difficult either!
As for the speedboat, the oil was all burned up, so there was no point in keeping it for herself. Giving it to the other party would have no effect on her at all.
So these requests are not even requests to her!
The most important thing was that the young man in front of her didn't make any excessive demands, which made her like Ren Yuanyang even more. At the same time, she began to doubt her own charm.
"Have I become ugly after eating water plants for a week?" Xin Wan didn't expect that such a thought would come to her mind at this time.
"Lu Jiamei, take some compressed biscuits and let her eat them. After she finishes eating, clean the speedboat and organize the supplies!" Ren Yuanyang ordered.
"Yes!" Seeing that Ren Yuanyang had accepted Xin Wan's joining, Lu Jiamei put away her pistol.
Ren Yuanyang returned to the container and began to strengthen the duckweed and water plants he had just obtained.
Xin Wan caught too many duckweeds and water plants. With his mental strength, he could only strengthen them a little, rest for a while, and repeat this cycle over and over again.
On the other side, Lu Jiamei had already arrived on the speedboat with a small piece of compressed biscuits.
"It's raining heavily outside, let's go inside to eat!" Lu Jiamei called.
Xin Wan was slightly startled and asked cautiously, "This speedboat already belongs to him. Is it appropriate for us to go in like this?"
Lu Jiamei was stunned for a moment, then replied with a smile: "Our boss just said that the ownership belongs to him, and we can still use it. If we can't use it, he will tell us in advance."
Xin Wan was stunned again: "Boss, is it really that good?"
"Yes, you made an extremely correct choice!" Lu Jiamei handed over the compressed biscuits with a smile.
Hearing this, Xin Wan was slightly startled, but when she saw the compressed biscuits in Lu Jiamei's hand, her eyes turned green.
In the past, she would not even look at this kind of food, but now she feels that it is comparable to delicacies from mountains and seas!
"Hold it!" Lu Jiamei urged, then asked, "Do you have a cup here? The bottle in my hand is what I've been using. If you mind, you can use your cup to pour water over there."
Xin Wan immediately replied: "I don't mind, I don't mind!"
Although we can use rainwater to quench our thirst now, the environment on Blue Star is already very harsh, and no one can guarantee whether the rainwater is clean.
If there were other options, Xin Wan would naturally not choose to drink rainwater.
She took out a water cup from the side, and Lu Jiamei unscrewed the mineral water bottle and poured her a full cup.
"Pure water is basically in unlimited supply. If you need it, just go to the head." Lu Jiamei continued to introduce.
"Unlimited supply?" Xin Wan widened her eyes and even forgot about the food in her hand.
Lu Jiamei nodded: "Yes, you will slowly understand how powerful our leader is in the future!"
Xin Wan became even more curious, but Lu Jiamei didn't continue talking, so she knew better and didn't ask any more questions.
Lu Jiamei took a look at the cabin of the speedboat and was a little surprised: "It's not easy to find such a modified speedboat!"
"I spent over one million yuan to custom-make this a week after the heavy rain." Xin Wan replied while eating compressed biscuits in big mouthfuls.
Lu Jiamei was slightly stunned, then gave her a thumbs up: "You are still foresighted!"
Xin Wan smiled bitterly: "Even if I had foresight, I wouldn't have thought this rainstorm would last so long!"
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei nodded in agreement, then asked, "Is there still power on your speedboat?"
Xin Wan was slightly startled, then replied, "There should still be a lot of electricity, but what good would it do?"
Lu Jiamei became happy: "At least I can eat some hot cooked food!"
"Do we still have rice and flour?" Xin Wan was a little surprised.
Lu Jiamei kept it a secret: "Eat something first, then do what the boss told you to do. From now on, it's up to you to cook! I'll continue to keep watch, and we'll talk later!"
Xin Wan nodded and quickly finished the compressed biscuits in her hand. She felt like there was finally something in her stomach. Then she fetched a basin of rainwater from outside and began to clean the cabin of the speedboat.
Perhaps to show off in front of Ren Yuanyang, or perhaps because she was curious about the cooked food Lu Jiamei mentioned, Xin Wan quickly cleaned the cabin and then sorted her supplies into categories.
After doing all this, she walked out in her raincoat.
"Boss, the speedboat has been cleaned and the supplies have been sorted out!" Xin Wan chose the same address as Lu Jiamei.
Ren Yuanyang, who was recovering his mental strength, heard Xin Wan's voice and said, "Lu Jiamei, bring her to my side!"
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei became excited.
Xin Wan's heart sank: "Could it be that I can't escape this disaster?"
But she has come this far and there is no way to turn back!
Just when she was distracted, Lu Jiamei had already jumped with her to the container entrance. When she saw the situation inside, her eyes widened.
"This is not a ship!"
"There's actually a light here?"
"Is that a crocodile? Looks like a Siamese crocodile!"
Xin Wan's face was full of disbelief!
"If we were a ship, we would have moved out of the way earlier. Would we have waited for you to hit us?" Ren Yuanyang replied, then introduced himself. "This is a shipping container. The electric light you mentioned is just a fluorescent cactus. We don't know what species that suspended crocodile is. We asked you to come here to deal with it!"
Xin Wan was a little confused by this series of information, and a lot of questions popped up in her mind.
"Can an open container float?"
"Does a fluorescent cactus emit light like a small light bulb?"
"How do they kill such a big crocodile?"
Lu Jiamei, who was standing nearby, said, "I know you must have a lot of questions in your mind, but you'll slowly understand them in the future. Now, why don't you show us your expertise and demonstrate your value!"
Xin Wan was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
In such an apocalypse, only valuable people will not be abandoned!
Ren Yuanyang put his hands in his pockets and moved to the side to make room for her. Naturally, there was a pistol hidden in his pocket.
Xin Wan picked up the boning knife on the table beside her and walked up to the hanging crocodile.
Looking at the battered crocodile, she asked doubtfully, "Was the fight between you and the crocodile so intense?"
Obviously, Xin Wan believed that the knife wounds on the crocodile were caused by fighting.
"Ahem, that's not the case. We just want to let it bleed." Ren Yuanyang coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.
Xin Wan, who was about to cut, paused for a moment, then twitched her lips.
Lu Jiamei wasn't embarrassed at all: "We didn't know what to do with it. If we hadn't met you today, we might have just chopped it into pieces, pickled it, and put it aside!"
"What did you say? You want to marinate this crocodile meat?" Xin Wan asked in surprise.
Ren Yuanyang nodded.
"There's no need to waste salt like this, right? You should know how important salt is now!" Xin Wan couldn't help but remind them.
"Of course I know this. You deal with it first. When you're done, let Lu Jiamei have a good talk with you." Ren Yuanyang replied.
Xin Wan nodded and began to cut the meat from the crocodile.
"This is indeed a Siamese crocodile. Judging from its size, it should be three years old..."
While she was quickly dealing with the crocodile in front of her, she continued to introduce it to Ren Yuanyang and the others.
In less than half an hour, the whole crocodile was turned into various pieces of meat, and the whole cutting process was extremely artistic.
After finishing the process, Xin Wan cleaned the boning knife and put it back on the table.
Ren Yuanyang couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up. "Professional indeed! I think there's still power on your speedboat, right?"
"Yes, but I don't know how much longer it can last," Xin Wan replied. "After all, without diesel, we can't generate electricity continuously."
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly: "Then use it sparingly. Temporarily stop using the refrigerator and only use electricity for cooking!"
"Okay!" Xin Wan nodded in response.
Although crocodile meat will taste better if stored in the refrigerator, now is not the time to pursue taste. It is better to save electricity and make more cooked meals!
Ren Yuanyang continued to instruct, "Move all the meat onto the speedboat, then clean up this place and bring a fluorescent cactus over to use as lighting."
"Yes!" Lu Jiamei and the other person answered in unison.
Ren Yuanyang returned to the chair at the container entrance and continued to strengthen the round-hearted duckweed and bitter grass brought by Xin Wan.
Lu Jiamei and the other person transferred the cut crocodile meat to the speedboat, and then began to clean the container.
Xin Wan was very skilled and did not dirty the floor of the container. The dirt on the floor was caused by Ren Yuanyang and others before.
At this moment, Ren Yuanyang suddenly thought of a question and turned around to ask, "By the way, can crocodile blood be eaten?"