Chapter 481: Fish Planted in the Soil

On the deck of the Future, Lei Kedun led the already coaxed Pa Si toward the cabin, and happened to run into Fu Lan Ke coming out from inside.

Lei Kedun glanced at the bucket of oddly shaped mushrooms the other was holding, his mouth twitching slightly as he said:

"Good evening, Fu Lan Ke, what are you preparing to do?"

Fu Lan Ke broke into a bright smile, set the wooden bucket he was holding aside for a moment, and then said:

"Hey, A Er, you finally returned; I was just about to write you a letter requesting a batch of new monster corpses."

"These are mushrooms that failed in development; although they can achieve rapid propagation through monster flesh, they accumulate toxins and contamination inside, and I was about to dump them into the sea."

Lei Kedun looked at those strange mushrooms in the wooden bucket; under the crimson moonlight he could clearly see slight undulations on their surfaces, as if they were faintly breathing.

"No need for pre‑emptive neutralization? What if this thing spreads in the sea and causes disaster?" Lei Kedun sighed inwardly, then, after a pause, said:

"Can the accumulated toxins and contamination be gathered by bearing fruit? If so, everything except the fruit would be usable."

While speaking, he lifted his right hand forward; his palm instantly gathered a slowly rotating mass of Star Sand, and one star after another materialized, dense and dazzling.

The stars rained down beams of light from mid‑air, converging into a blinding white glow that enveloped all the mushrooms in the bucket; the strange, faintly breathing mushrooms were swiftly dissolved by the starlight, collapsing and vanishing.

Fu Lan Ke's eyes lit up at the sight, and, with a hint of excitement, he said:

"This ability is perfect for clearing experimental residues! How convenient."

"No wonder you're Lei Kedun," he thought, then, with a hint of doubt, suggested:

"You could try raising something like a carnivorous plant and feed those discarded experimental products to it."

"Keeping such a thing on the ship is too risky, and my experimental products are too complex; if the accumulated toxins and contamination cause it to mutate out of control, that would be trouble."

Fu Lan Ke shook his head to decline the suggestion, then turned to Pa Si standing nearby and said:

"I've recently developed a plant that can bear fish. If you first place prepared seeds into a live fish's belly, then bury it in soil, within a day the seeds grow into sturdy vines that bear fresh fish, one after another."

"We can freely choose the fish species, but the fish that grow from the vines all share one flavor; their texture may differ from ordinary fish, yet aside from that they're no different from regular fish."

The black cat crouched on the deck, arched its back, staring at Fu Lan Ke as if it had spotted a predator, and said:

"What kind of devil are you! Why would you do this to my little dried fish!"

"To be honest, those fish aren't considered dried fish before they're sun‑dried, so I haven't done anything bad to your little dried fish."

Fu Lan Ke, with a serious expression, corrected Pa Si's statement, indicating he hadn't hurt its beloved dried fish.

Plant a fish in the soil in the morning, harvest a basket of fish by night—should the next step be to grow a Moon Sister?

Lei Kedun's thoughts churned, and, unable to contain his curiosity, he looked at Fu Lan Ke and asked:

"Can we grow organisms other than fish? After all, we're at sea, and various sea fish are never scarce."

"Not at the moment; different species have different body structures, and this plant can only replicate and grow fish bodies right now."

"What would you like to eat? Beef or lamb? Or poultry? When the Future's next supply run comes, I'll have them stock more, and then we should be able to develop plants that grow cattle, sheep, even chickens and ducks."

Fu Lan Ke spoke with growing enthusiasm, his facial expression visibly excited.

"I'm just asking out of curiosity; these meats aren't hard to obtain. I don't think it's necessary to deliberately research such a plant. Instead of studying these novel plants, we could improve existing crops."

"For example, combine coffee, milk, and sugar to directly produce ready‑to‑brew coffee."

"That's a great idea; why didn't I think of it before? Although most crew members on the ship dislike coffee, we could set up a production line, sell these products externally, and use the revenue to fund research."

Fu Lan Ke grew more excited as he spoke, reaching out to clasp Lei Kedun's shoulder and said:

"Come on, let's go to the mess hall for a midnight snack and chat; a flood of ideas just burst into my mind."

The next morning, the Future sailed a long stretch along the whaling route, and the surrounding waters showed noticeably fewer vessels.

Lei Kedun sat on the bow rail of the Future, breathing the crisp morning sea breeze while admiring the sunrise over the ocean.

He casually pulled a pale‑yellow blank sheet from thin air, his right‑hand fingers gently twirling, shaping a translucent pen from starlight that continuously traced the paper, leaving a series of vivid, colorful lines.

Pa Si curled up against the rail, yawning sleepily, and complained discontentedly:

"Meow. Why are you up so early, running to the bow to feel the wind? And why did you drag me out of my nest too?!"

"Do you want to eat the special dried fish Frank prepared for you? The ones planted last night and harvested from the vines this morning."

Lei Kedun, while sketching colorful lines on the paper, said in an even tone.

Pa Si fell silent, lowered its head and curled into a ball, feeling that eating fish grown by Fu Lan Ke would be the greatest insult to a cat.

Ke Lai En, whose arrival on the deck was unclear, pressed his half‑height silk hat with one hand to keep it from being blown away by the howling sea wind, and hesitantly said:

"Fish that have been grown?"

Lei Kedun, without looking up, nodded and said:

"You've probably already met the ship's first mate, Fu Lan Ke; he's a druid whose greatest hobby is studying all kinds of strange plants and animals."

"He recently achieved the feat of burying fish in soil at night and harvesting a whole vine of fish by morning; he's now vigorously promoting his product to others. If you go to the mess hall now, every fish dish you see was grown by him last night."

"It's hard to judge, but there shouldn't be a shortage of fish at sea, right?"

Ke Lai En's mouth twitched; from his limited observations since last night, he thought the Future's crew had some issues. This Star Admiral was bringing a whole ship of problematic youngsters, including the man and cat before him.

While they talked, two whaling ships appeared on the sea ahead; the moment they spotted the Future's fluttering flag, they reacted swiftly.

The two whalers quickly shifted position, aligning their sides toward this side, with a cannon on each side of their rails primed to fire.

Lei Kedun's eyes flashed a deep blue‑purple light; his gaze spanned the distance, clearly seeing the situation on the two whaling ships.

The tall, light‑gold‑haired fishermen from the Jia Er Jia Si Qun Dao held steel harpoons and guns, standing or squatting, watching the Future's direction with extreme vigilance.

At the front was a woman of towering stature, almost a small giant, whose body exuded a particularly heavy, combat‑ready presence.

"Guardian? With that strength, she must be a leader among the Jia Er Jia Si Qun Dao natives," Lei Kedun mused briefly, then stopped pondering the matter.

The Future paid no heed to the two whalers' reaction, passing straight by them and heading deeper into the whaling route.

After sailing for nearly half an hour more, several pirate ships appeared ahead, each flying different flags, seeming not to belong to the same pirate crew.

As the Future approached, the pirate ships, like startled birds, fled quickly.

"What are they doing?" Ke Lai En, puzzled, turned his head toward Lei Kedun seated on the rail.

The latter's eyes again swirled with deep blue‑purple light; after gathering the surrounding information through his secret‑sight, the glow faded as he looked toward the nearby sea and whispered:

"Someone discovered a so‑called Quaternary relic on the seabed here; those pirates must have just been preparing to send someone down to investigate."

KeLaiEn recalled that the rumors he had heard earlier in the bar at Nasi had already spread, no wonder the pirates had been so carefree in broadcasting the news back then.

Thinking of that, KeLaiEn looked at LeiKeDun with curiosity and asked, "Does that Quaternary relic really exist?"

LeiKeDun reflected on his own situation, chuckled lightly, and said:

"It's not really a relic, just a deep‑sea borehole that, because of its depth, connects to things far beneath the earth."

A borehole? Could the technology of this era carve a borehole in the deep sea? Does it rely on extraordinary power? Could it be something LuoSaiEr left behind while searching for oil?

Thought after thought raced through KeLaiEn's mind; he vaguely grasped something, but it vanished in an instant, leaving him unable to truly understand.

LeiKeDun's calm gaze swept over KeLaiEn, then passed beyond him to rest on the crew members of the Future who were emerging from the cabin.

Before he could take the initiative to greet them, FuLanKe and NiNa had already moved toward him.

"Good morning, AEr, and GeErMan, you both got up early; I didn't see you in the mess."

"PaSi, you little heartless one, as soon as AEr got back on board you abandoned me, right? Do you know I tossed and turned alone in bed last night and couldn't sleep?"

NiNa exaggeratedly half‑crouched, and before PaSi could react, she scooped him into her arms, squeezing him hard against her somewhat oversized chest; the sea breeze brushed her, carrying a sharp whiff of alcohol.

"Mew— help me~"

"I can barely breathe now."

PaSi struggled in NiNa's embrace for a while, and only after great effort managed to pull his head out, his weak, helpless gaze turning toward LeiKeDun.

LeiKeDun slightly averted his eyes, pretending not to see PaSi's pleading look.

"Hey, AEr, good morning, where's that rabbit of yours that wears a suit and a bow tie? Where is it? Call it out so I can play with it."

NiNa, while still kneading PaSi in her arms, gave LeiKeDun a brief greeting, then began asking where Tu Ba Ge was, glancing around as she spoke, searching for Tu Ba Ge's silhouette.

"I left it on the Southern Continent; the place I'm heading to is dangerous, so I can't look after it."

"Besides, you can't be eating what's in the bowl while thinking about what's in the pot."

As he spoke, LeiKeDun pointed his finger at PaSi, who was still in NiNa's arms.

NiNa pressed the head‑peeking PaSi back with one hand, and, disdainfully, said:

"Isn't that normal? You men are the same—who isn't coaxing the family on one side while thinking about the Red Theatre on the other?"

That was a bit of a misfire; though I wander the seas, I have no family and would never go to a place like the Red Theatre—if I did, it would only be to complete a mission. KeLaiEn justified himself in his mind, recalling the other's information.

"Sea‑bottom Assassin" NiNa, helmsman of the Star Pirates, bounty 3600 pounds. Having seen so many wanted notices, sometimes when I see a wanted person I can't immediately recall their details.

While KeLaiEn was recalling her identity, NiNa had already begun introducing herself:

"Good morning, Mr. SiPaLuo, I am the helmsman on the Future, also the deputy to the navigation chief, NiNa."

(End of Chapter)