Chapter 785 - 145: Nightwalker
"Target acquired!"
"Right ahead, not far from here."
"The ’Gray Sparrow’ has reduced its speed to the minimum. We’ll glide through the remaining distance."
On the sea surface not far away, a faint orange light was floating, rising and falling with the waves.
The orange light was somewhat dim. If one didn’t look closely, it would indeed be difficult to distinguish in such drizzly weather.
"Is there any special method to salvage them?" Han Zhan stood on the deck, drenched in the drizzle, turned his head to look at Youwei, and asked.
"No," Youwei shook her head. "At least it’s not written in that comprehensive cookbook."
With Youwei’s confirmation again, Han Zhan nodded slightly.
He then cast the fishing net in his hand down.
The net was thrown into a large circle, instantly sinking into the sea.
Next, he pulled back with both hands forcefully, the submerged net contracted from the edges to the center, dragging it back out of the water.
Together with the net, a large amount of dark green lamp bulb seaweed was pulled from the sea, bearing many round, orange, bulb-shaped fruits.
"It really is lamp bulb seaweed!"
Seeing what was caught in the net, a cheer of delight erupted on the ’Gray Sparrow’.
Nothing was more exciting than discovering new ingredients.
As Han Zhan continued to tug, combined with the constantly undulating sea, more and more lamp bulb seaweed got caught in the net.
However, this also made the net increasingly heavy.
The ’Gray Sparrow’ wasn’t a specialized fishing boat but an outright wooden warship.
Fishing things from the sea wasn’t easy, but luckily, there were two warriors on the ’Gray Sparrow’.
Seeing Han Zhan struggle, Feng Xiaozao immediately lent a hand.
With the combined strength of Feng Xiaozao, possessing a Divine Body and Tier Nine Supreme Flesh Body, they successfully hauled up the heavy net full of lamp bulb seaweed from the sea.
The wet net, and a whole load of lamp bulb seaweed, nearly filled the entire deck of the ’Gray Sparrow’ instantly!
"Don’t rush to get close yet."
At this time, Han Zhan spoke up, stopping Youwei from eagerly wanting to pick the fruits.
"They are covered in seawater, there might be evil curses."
"Let’s leave them here, let the ship’s inherent buffs purify them a little, reducing the possibilities of evil curse contamination."
As Han Zhan spoke, he glanced at the haul, roughly calculating it was more than adequate.
If they could truly collect these as reserve ingredients, it would be a massive harvest.
While thinking, a faint white glow started to appear on the ’Gray Sparrow’s deck.
Under the glow, the surface of the lamp bulb seaweed emitted faint black smoke.
In the darkness, there seemed to be many fierce faces roaring, twisting, and then all evaporated into the sky, disappearing completely.
Everyone waited for a while until the white light dissipated, and no more black smoke ascended; only then did they eagerly approach their harvest.
Each "lamp bulb" of the lamp bulb seaweed was palm-sized.
Fortunately, the shell wasn’t hard, and with the Moonlight Longsword, it could be easily sliced open.
Inside the sliced fruit was indeed as recorded in Youwei’s cookbook, a mushy liquid accompanied by an intoxicating rich aroma, seemingly akin to an old wine sealed for many years.
"The fruit of the lamp bulb seaweed becomes tastier as it ages over the years."
"Based on the seaweed’s color, these lamp bulb seaweed we fetched are likely over fifty years old."
Apart from the first three years without fruit, that means these seaweed bulb fruits are at least over forty years old.
As she spoke, Youwei lifted up the shell sliced by the Moonlight Longsword, pouring it into the large prepared wooden tank.
These large barrels were likely used to store alcohol, indicating that the previous crew of the ’Gray Sparrow’ lived quite well.
Seeing Han Zhan and Youwei’s actions, other Contracted Spirit Girls joined in, replicating the process together.
With everyone’s concerted effort, it took more than an hour to process all the lamp bulb seaweed.
They threw the seaweed with the fruits removed back into the sea.
They moved the two large barrels of orange liquid soup back to the food storage room next to the kitchen.
Everyone had a satisfying smile of accomplishment on their face.
They began to look forward to what different kind of dishes Youwei, as a chef, could prepare.
...
On the ruins of Ilamut Port.
Seafarer Fan Pique rowed his small boat leisurely in large circles around the ruins.
It was Jian Beifang’s request, and Fan Pique didn’t dare refuse.
After the small boat completed a circle, Jian Beifang stroked his stubbled chin, muttering to himself:
"There are three different attribute shells."
"One of them should be from the Curse System, another from the Space-Time System, and the final one, judging from the decayed wood debris, let’s assume it’s also an unusual curse."
Three kinds of attribute shells meant the opponent had at least three cannoners with Talent SSS Level.
Even in his era, on the Water Planet, it was an extravagant and rare sight.
"Could it be, the central battlefield has settled, and someone from the three major powers came to a small place like Ilamut Port, just to plunder my ship?"
That possibility couldn’t be ruled out.
"If, and I’m just saying if, could it be the work of new adventurers?" Seafarer Fan Pique spoke up at this time.
For some reason, the human figures he had just met yesterday involuntarily popped into his mind.
Could it be them?
"You think it’s the work of new adventurers?" Jian Beifang scrutinized Fan Pique with hawk-like eyes, a smile playing on his lips.
"If it really was newcomers, it would be... so interesting indeed!"
"I’d hope it is true because it would turn the stagnant Water Planet into boiling water, hahaha, boiling water!"
Thinking of this, Jian Beifang laughed loudly before sitting back down.
"Let’s go, to the next port outpost. On the Water Planet, it’s necessary to get a boat to survive the early stages."
Unexpectedly, Fan Pique didn’t act immediately after hearing Jian Beifang.
In a stuttering voice, he said, "I reckon we might not be leaving anytime soon."
"It seems, we’ve been surrounded by a fleet of warships!"
Right as he finished speaking, warships emerged from the endless misty rain, surrounding the area completely.
Leading them was the infamous ship in this sea region, the ’Nightwalker’!