NOVPUB
Chapter 46: Chapter 46 Even a Mosquito Is Still Meat
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Feifei’s magic hair whipped through the air, sweeping away dozens of mosquitoes at once and smashing them against the hard rocks.
Yang Xiao stood at the front, holding a golden short sword, without moving.
After the first round of long-range attacks, about half of the mosquitoes were killed or injured, and dozens of shiny genetic fragments fell to the ground.
The remaining hundred or so mosquitoes continued to fly forward.
Yang Xiao, with Dai Yun and the close-combat warriors leading, charged ahead and engaged in a fierce battle. The mosquito swarm immediately descended into chaos, flying erratically.
Over thirty girls quickly advanced to besiege them, delivering a fierce barrage, and in more than ten minutes, almost all the mutated mosquitoes were exterminated.
Yang Xiao’s defense attribute was 5 points, plus 2 points from his cloth armor, totaling 7 points in defense, making his skin extremely tough. The mosquitoes attacked him madly but couldn’t penetrate his skin.
Dai Yun’s defense attribute was 3 points, plus 2 points from his cloth armor, totaling 5 points in defense. The mosquitoes could only lightly bite his skin before being slapped dead without breaking through.
During this battle, more than a dozen girls were bitten by mosquitoes. Even though some were wearing jeans, the mosquito’s long needle pierced their bodies.
Those who hadn’t completed genetic mutation had poor resistance and immediately swelled to an egg-sized lump, painful and unbearably itchy.
Those with stronger resistance had much smaller swollen bumps.
From her high vantage point, Huang Wen was not attacked by any mosquitoes, and since she flew faster than the mosquitoes, they couldn’t catch up with her.
In this large-scale battle, Huang Wen contributed significantly and felt very happy, a sense of achievement filled with confidence.
The ground was littered with dense layers of mosquito corpses and nearly fifty or sixty genetic fragments.
"Boss, can these mosquitoes be eaten?" someone asked.
Yang Xiao smiled and said, "Isn’t there an old saying? Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat. Besides, these mosquitoes are so plump, of course, we can eat them. There are so many that we can’t finish them all. Let’s pick some for a barbecue lunch; we’ll continue moving forward."
Ahead lay thick fog, and although Huang Wen, transformed into a Blue Peacock, was guiding the way, they dared not proceed too quickly.
Hidden in the fog were a plethora of mutated creatures. Yang Xiao and others had only walked a few meters when they encountered a swarm of ants, prompting everyone to unleash a barrage of attacks.
Yang Xiao charged into the ant swarm, pursuing one of the golden ant queens. With a lightning-fast stab of his golden short sword, he pierced the golden ant.
However, only one round genetic fragment and a black spear were dropped this time, with no secret manuals or cultivation techniques.
Thirty-some girls managed to resolve the ant swarm in more than ten minutes, collecting another forty to fifty genetic fragments.
Yang Xiao grabbed the black spear, about 2 meters long, and his genetic data system informed him that this spear added 3 points to Strength, with no other attributes and no additional magical attacks.
Yang Xiao casually gave the spear to a girl to use; she was overjoyed, expressing her gratitude repeatedly:
"Thank you, boss, thank you, boss."
The group continued onward, and after dealing with several waves of mutated creatures, they finally arrived at the edge of a pond.
Yang Xiao instructed everyone to scout around, repelling the thick mist, before temporarily settling down in the center of the road to rest.
"Cut down a few nearby trees. I’ve never had grilled mosquito meat in my life; today, I finally have the chance to try it."
The girls before him were no longer the weak individuals they had once been; each was now as fierce as wolves and tigers. Upon hearing Yang Xiao’s order, Feifei led a dozen girls to chop trees. She wrapped her hair around the trunk of a bowl-sized tree and pulled it forcefully, breaking it with a crack.
Dai Yun also swung his sword, cutting down a tree with a single strike, while the other girls employed similar methods.
Yang Xiao watched, laughing: "It’s just for a barbecue lunch, are you having a tree-cutting contest? You can burn for days and nights with this many trees."
Everyone laughed heartily.
A moment later, they dragged over several large trees, breaking off branches and piling them up.
Starting a fire was even simpler; they no longer needed a lighter. Three girls in the team had awakened to Fire Elemental Skills, each launching a fireball, immediately igniting a roaring flame.
Watching these confident and energetic girls, Yang Xiao felt some emotion; in just under a month, they had become completely different people. The pitiful ones who were bullied and ignored had vanished, replaced by a group of self-assured, hopeful, and spirited girls.
Mosquitoes had no hard bones, only soft cartilage. After roasting over a fire, all small hairs were burned off, leaving a crispy golden surface that smelled delicious, resembling roasted chicken from the outside.
Chen Fei placed a small dish of salt in front of Yang Xiao and whispered mysteriously, "Boss, want to add some chili?"
Yang Xiao was surprised.
Chen Fei pulled out a small bag and sprinkled some chili powder into Yang Xiao’s salt dish.
Feifei was about to speak up, but Chen Fei shushed him.
"Keep it quiet; it’s only a little chili powder. If you shout, there won’t be enough to go around."
After speaking, she added a little more to Yang Xiao’s salt dish, indicating that Feifei and Yang Xiao could share.
Yang Xiao smiled, sprinkled salt and chili powder on the roasted mosquito meat, and returned it to the fire to roast slowly. The air was soon filled with the aroma of chili.
Yang Xiao took a bite and found that mosquito meat tasted much like chicken—tender, smooth, and fragrant—especially with the added chili, making it deliciously spicy.
Yang Xiao consumed four large mosquitoes in one go, thoroughly enjoying them.
Feifei ate even more, devouring five while exclaiming that she needed to lose weight and shouldn’t eat anymore, eliciting another round of laughter from everyone.
Huang Wen led everyone in tallying the morning’s harvest, collecting nearly 200 genetic fragments in total.
"Boss, what are our plans for the afternoon?" Huang Wen asked.
Yang Xiao pondered and replied, "Same as the morning, we’ll keep advancing along the mountain road. As long as we don’t delve into the jungle, the dangers won’t be too great. This is the simplest and fastest way to obtain genetic fragments. Once everyone has acquired some genetic potions and improved their genetic attributes, we can gradually venture into the forest, where there are larger mutated beasts requiring higher and stronger combat skills."
While barbecuing and chatting, a commotion arose from the mountain base, and shortly after, Xiao Zhe led dozens of people up.
"Yang Xiao, not bad, you’re ahead of us today... Hmm, smells great, damn, barbecued mosquitoes, you guys really know how to eat," Xiao Zhe joked as he approached Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao nodded and asked, "Where are you planning to hunt mutated creatures?"
Xu Hua laughed and said, "Yang Xiao, isn’t there a water monster in this pond? We’re planning to hunt it today. That creature in the water must weigh several hundred pounds by now, right? Once we kill it, we’ll give you some of the meat to eat."
Seeing Xu Hua and the others brimming with confidence, Yang Xiao calmly remarked, "Don’t say we didn’t warn you; I’ve seen the water monster in the pond, and that was before it finished mutating. Even then, it was terrifying. Now that it’s completed its mutation, it’s likely even more ferocious. I’d advise you to leave that water monster alone. Besides, it’s in the water, and you’re on the shore, how do you plan to hunt it?"
