At the seashore, Xu Yi climbed onto a big rock and took a look.
"The shells have been dried well, they look great. We can lay out another batch today." Xu Yi collected all the dried shells into a round basket, filling it up completely, weighing around four or five pounds.
"That's great, we can come here often to dry them." Lu Ke said happily, after all, without any stored food, people tend to panic easily.
Feeling hungry is an awful experience, and she didn't want to go through that frequently.
"Yeah, we should dry a hundred pounds to make soup." Xu Yi said boldly, then jumped down from above.
"You collect the shells here, and I'll check the sea for any fish we can catch." With that, Xu Yi handed the round basket to Lu Ke, then grabbed the Umbrella Tree Gun at the side and took off his pants.
The umbrella tree was really excellent, the spear's tip was incredibly hard, even after piercing a big snake's head, it hadn't dulled.
Xu Yi thought that making a Hunting Bow out of the umbrella tree should work pretty well, given its flexibility and hardness.
However, to cut down an umbrella tree, at least a day or two's worth of food supply would be needed.
Since Xu Yi needed to go alone, the risk would be slightly lower this way.
If encountering something hard to handle, Xu Yi could use stealth to avoid some crises.
Holding the Umbrella Tree Gun, Xu Yi walked into the sea.
The water temperature was just right, and Xu Yi carefully walked into the sea.
"Isn't Xu Yi being too timid, being so cautious?"
"If you're not timid, you go ahead. Do you think this is the sea from our planet, you fool?"
"This is an alien planet, how do you know it's absolutely safe?"
"Looking for trouble, haha, nitpicker, remember to bring your brain next time you go out."
Xu Yi was cautious precisely because this was an alien place. After all, he didn't know this world or if there were dangers lurking. In case of danger, it might just all end.
Being careful is never wrong.
Suddenly, Xu Yi saw a fish dart past in front of him.
Xu Yi immediately stopped and used stealth.
He crouched over, almost motionless.
"Swish!"
The umbrella gun in Xu Yi's hand plunged into the water, and when lifted, a four to five-pound Silverfish came along.
Xu Yi directly placed it into the backpack, maintaining his quiet vigil.
He knew that he was onto something big.
There were plenty of silver-colored fish here, each around four to five pounds.
One after another, Xu Yi speared them out of the water and put them into his backpack.
After half an hour, Xu Yi's backpack was nearly full.
Xu Yi quickly returned to the shore, his steps somewhat wobbly. After all, it was too heavy, estimated to be over a hundred pounds.
"How much do we have, how much fish do we have?" Lu Ke had noticed Xu Yi catching fish but, to avoid disturbing him, hadn't called out.
Finally, she could ask now.
"One basket." Xu Yi grinned, sat down on the beach with his back facing her, and withdrew his arm.
"Wow!" Lu Ke was stunned, not expecting this much.
Xu Yi dumped the Silverfish onto the beach and said, "Let's clean up these fish today and dry them into fish jerky, adding to our food supply."
With food reserves, Xu Yi could undertake many tasks.
For instance, cutting down an umbrella tree thicker than an arm.
Or, reinforcing the house walls to make them earthen walls.
"That's great, this way we don't have to worry about food every day, and there are lots of things we can do." Lu Ke said happily, as she had also been concerned about food all this time.
"Indeed, only when we don't have to worry about food issues can we do more and have the leisure to search for staple food." Xu Yi nodded, feeling there must be staple food on this island, and quite a lot of it too.
Otherwise, why would only a few teams have been eliminated?
Just as he was thinking.
Xu Yi heard a voice in his head: "Group 08 has withdrawn from the challenge."
"Xu Yi, someone has willingly quit." Lu Ke also heard it and glanced at Xu Yi.
Xu Yi twitched the corner of his mouth, having just said that there was staple food on the island and everyone was doing well, only to be contradicted immediately.
Choosing to abandon means either illness or starvation.
It's already the fifth day, only those reaching the brink of starvation would choose to give up.
"Group 12 has withdrawn from the challenge."
"Group 118 has withdrawn from the challenge."
"Group 355 has withdrawn from the challenge."
"Group 471 has withdrawn from the challenge."
The avalanche started, with prompts ringing continuously in his head, one after another, all choosing to quit themselves.
Xu Yi's expression turned grim, as more than fifty groups had consecutively chosen to quit.
Initially, they were probably gritting their teeth and hanging in there, but when Group 08 jumped out, a whole bunch followed.
"Xu Yi, we can't give up easily, we can't." Lu Ke suddenly stood up and said to Xu Yi.
"Yeah, we're going to win." Xu Yi nodded, he wasn't ready to concede just yet.
"Let's handle the fish, then go back early. The fence isn't secured yet." Lu Ke knew by now that she and Xu Yi were living quite comfortably, with not only a water source and food but also a sturdy house to live in.
All of this was thanks to Xu Yi's efforts; she had always been the one being taken care of.
She decided that she needed to become stronger and learn to hunt as well.
"Alright." Xu Yi grinned, then began assisting Lu Ke in cleaning the fish.
The fish weighed about a hundred pounds, with 32 fish in total, the big ones weighing four to five pounds, even the small ones were a pound or two.
In half an hour, Xu Yi and Lu Ke had cleaned the fish.
Then, Xu Yi laid out 30 fish on the big rock to dry, keeping two for them to eat in the evening.
At noon, Xu Yi and Lu Ke had eaten shells, Xu Yi had not gone back to fishing afterward.
After all, with so many fish already and nowhere to sun more, they didn't have to worry about starvation now.
Although eating fish every day isn't ideal, there isn't much choice.
Xu Yi would also like to have some staple food, but without it, wanting it doesn't make it appear.
If Xu Yi had known earlier, he'd have sown some seeds and cultivated them.
But then again, would doing so be considered cheating?
By around 3 PM, Xu Yi and Lu Ke returned to their shelter.
The shelter showed no signs of damage, it seemed that no animals had shown up.
This was good news, a situation Xu Yi was pleased to see.
Upon returning, Xu Yi checked the outer walls of the clay kiln.
"Hey, it's not burning hot anymore, can we open it?" Xu Yi asked Lu Ke, after all, she was the one who made the pottery.
"Yes, let's open it and have a look." Lu Ke was also quite eager, as inside there were not only bowls and basins, but also the mold Xu Yi wanted.
Thus, Xu Yi lifted the lid.
A rush of heat came forth, but it wasn't scalding anymore.