novelhk Chapter 42 A Bountiful Harvest
Chapter 42 A Bountiful Harvest
The gangplank was retracted, and the wandering bonefish returned to the bow of the Environmental Protection Ship, where it was once again caught in the mouth of the metal swordfish.
The environmental protection vehicle made a 365-degree turn, accompanied by the tinkling of garbage bells and the deep roar of its engine, and gradually drove away, disappearing into the sea.
Standing on the Little Yellow Duck, piled high with spoils and with barely any room to step, Yu Wang watched the departing green dot, let out a long sigh of relief, and then a smile of uncontrollable joy spread across his face.
"What a bumper harvest! This is truly...an unprecedented bumper harvest!"
No wonder Wang was so agitated.
Recalling his past life, every time he and the other survivors encountered environmental organizations, they fled for their lives as if they had seen a ghost. If they were too slow and got caught, they would have to pay a hefty fine to get away!
I've never been treated like this before. Not only was I not harassed or fined, but I was also hailed as an "Outstanding Maritime Citizen" and given a badge.
And in the end, they received such a generous reward!
To be honest, this experience was completely unprecedented for Wang!
He squatted down, picked up a bag of expired but well-packaged PicBee potato chips from beside his feet, opened it, and took a couple of bites.
Aside from a faint desiccant smell and the chips being a bit soft, they were otherwise indistinguishable from freshly made chips.
Looking at the various bottles, jars, and food packaging around me, an extremely surreal feeling welled up inside me.
Without spending a single pearl coin, I made a fortune in food!
Even after being back on the Little Yellow Duck for a while, Yu Wang still felt somewhat dazed, as if he were walking on clouds.
As the orange-red sunset began to sink below the horizon, painting the sea and sky in a magnificent warm hue, and the sea breeze carried a hint of coolness, Yu Wang suddenly woke up and quickly put the food he had obtained on the trading platform.
If we don't clear out the cabin space soon, we won't even have a place to sleep at night!
You're in for a ton of luck: Cheap sale of expired and defective food!
[Goods Type: Various opened/expired/crushed/damp processed foods (biscuits, cakes, potato chips, instant noodles, candy, fruit juice, etc.), some with signs of consumption; please verify the authenticity yourself.]
[Transaction Method: 1 unit of any basic material (timber, stone, fiber, plastic, metal, etc. are all acceptable).]
[Note: The food condition has been accurately described. No returns after purchase. Purchase is voluntary!]
After the link was posted, Yu Wang thought to himself, "The fourth day is almost over. I'm sure everyone is craving processed foods from the real world."
He was absolutely right.
It's more than just "craving"!
How can a tongue spoiled by seasonings adapt to plain food?
Those survivors who could only gnaw on black bread, eat grilled fish, and carefully manage their limited water supply to ensure they didn't die of thirst, looked at the familiar yet distant food terms in the link descriptions and felt as if they could smell the scent of their memories even through the screen.
Less than ten seconds after the link was posted, the private chat notifications and transaction requests in the background exploded like a volcanic eruption!
Almost all the survivors in the 444th division who were still alive and paying attention to the trading market were alarmed!
"Holy crap! Has this guy gone mad?! One unit of fiber can be exchanged for a bag of chocolate cookies?!"
"Expired food? Damaged packaging? So what! As long as it's edible! I'll exchange it! I'll exchange ten portions!"
"Holy crap! I've never thought artificially flavored sweet drinks could taste this good!"
"Even crushed potato chips are still potato chips! Haha! I never thought I'd get to eat cucumber-flavored potato chips in my lifetime! This life is worth it!"
It's almost lunchtime again: "Please! Wake up! This is expired food! It might even have been bitten by someone else! Aren't you disgusted that you dare to eat it?!"
The wind chills my bottom: "What kind of time is this to be so picky? You're about to die, and you're still concerned about hygiene? Just cut off the bite, or just close your eyes and swallow it whole! Everyone, slow down, leave some for me! Holy crap! All the jelly is sold out!?"
Crazy Master: "Exactly! I just traded a box of nails for a bitten strawberry cake. Even though all the strawberry tips are gone, at least I can still eat the cake base and the remaining strawberry bottoms! That's good for vitamins and sugar!"
In a few days, if I really get severe mouth ulcers or nutritional deficiencies, I'll eat anything someone else has bitten or even sucked on, without batting an eye, as long as it can save my life!
Riding the Waves: "@It's almost time for dinner again. If you're so tough, why don't you just not eat!"
It's almost mealtime again: "Pah! I'd rather jump off a boat than eat this!"
……
White and black striped zebra: "I'm reporting this. They want me to buy food for them again when it's almost lunchtime."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"(In a high-pitched, choked voice) I'd rather jump off a boat than eat this!"
"I laughed so hard my head almost came back in!"
……
Transaction requests came in like snowflakes.
Since this is about building a reputation, there's no need to care about what the other party is offering in exchange; just agree without thinking.
So even ducklings were able to join the work this time, and the speed was incredibly fast!
The mountain of food packaging on the Little Yellow Duck began to decrease at a visible rate, turning into streaks of white light and disappearing.
Meanwhile, all sorts of basic materials began to flood into Yu Wang's storage space: wood, stone, fiber, plastic, glass, small iron nails... Although the value of each item was low, the quantity was enormous and the variety was extensive, covering almost all common basic resources!
Yu Wang also faces a happy dilemma.
There are too many types of items, and the 200 storage slots on the Level 2 Little Yellow Duck are not enough.
He could only pile up small, non-perishable items directly on the floor, in corners, and even next to the cockpit in the cabin.
As a result, the cabin space that had finally become a little more spacious after upgrading to level 2 was reduced to its original state, and even more cramped than before.
You have to walk very carefully to avoid kicking or stepping on things.
This trading extravaganza lasted from sunset until nightfall.
As the crimson glow of the blood moon once again painted the sky, the mountain of food packaging piled up on the deck of the Little Yellow Duck finally came to an end.
All that remained were the decent-looking foods that Yu Wang kept for himself.
He wiped the sweat from his brow, lit the fish oil lamp, and its warm, orange light illuminated the now empty ship.
Yu Wang indulged himself by cooking a self-heating hot pot for dinner, enjoying it slowly with a bottle of soda.
Because it was expired, the heating pack of the self-heating hot pot didn't heat up well, so Yu Wang had to transfer the ingredients inside to a portable pot to cook.
After eating hot and spicy food,
It brings a warmth and satisfaction that spreads from the stomach to every part of the body, greatly soothing the tired body and mind.
He brought up his personal panel to check:
[Spirit: 75/100]
[Rationality: 81/100]
[Stamina: 40%]
After a full day of rest and recuperation, his sanity finally returned to a healthy level.
As for the mental value, which hardly changed, Yu Wang couldn't do anything about it either, since it's not easy to recover.
Although eating, being in a good mood, or feeling happy can occasionally trigger a recovery prompt, the chances of this happening are very low, like winning a scratch-off lottery ticket.
Just like how people rarely feel genuinely happy at any given moment.
To give a rough analogy,
So, losing sanity is like getting a haircut; it recovers quickly and has almost no impact on the body.
Even if it's low, it's just doing things that are hard for normal people to understand, with a small chance of accidentally killing yourself.
Mental health is like a bleeding wound; without any tools, you can only wait for it to slowly and naturally recover.
And during the 'recovery' period,
A person's natural magnetic field becomes very fragile, making them more susceptible to negative influences such as shadowy figures and whispers.
Even the chances of encountering monsters at night are higher than others!
The whispers of the abyss, the shadow monsters, the monsters of the night, etc., are the "certain beings" mentioned in the game's description of the "spirit" attribute, which states that "...if too low, it will cause thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or attract the favor of certain beings."
Next, Yu Wang looked at the person who had not fully recovered and only had 40% of their strength.
"Phew... I can't do dungeons today."
Well, it's good that I've had this windfall; it takes time to process it, and I need to fully recover. I might as well get a good night's rest and recharge.
just,
Yu Wang recalled the monster he had encountered last night.
The other party probably won't let this go easily; I wonder if they'll come again tonight.
Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered the "Environmental Guardian" badge that the fishman captain had given him during the day. He had been busy sifting through the garbage mountain at the time and hadn't had time to look at its attributes in detail.
He covered the remaining hot pot broth, thinking he could use it to cook breakfast tomorrow, and then took out the badge.