NOVPUB
Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Harvest
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Boss?"
Huang Wen and the others called out worriedly.
"Don’t worry, it’s fine."
Yang Xiao’s current defense level was higher than Xu Hua’s Copper Skin, which was one of the reasons he dared to take such risks himself. Moreover, he didn’t want to increase casualties.
Xu Hua responded, then immediately activated his Copper Skin, holding the Black Long Sword, and followed Yang Xiao towards the water hole.
Xu Hua’s Copper Skin had another layer of cultivation. Copper Skin had a total of nine levels, each with different defense strengths that could be continuously upgraded. He was now at the first level of Copper Skin, with an additional 2 points of defense, making his total defense 7 points.
The two of them gradually approached the water hole, and Yang Xiao said:
"Xu Hua, we each take a fish; I’ll handle the one on the left, you take the one on the right. Be cautious, regardless of whether they can retaliate. Let’s charge now and act quickly."
"Alright!"
Suddenly, both of them sprinted. As they neared the water hole, Yang Xiao leaped up, landed on an ice block, and thrust his Golden Short Sword, creating two sword shadows.
With a swish,
the sword shadow streaked across the exposed back of the tilapia. Yang Xiao, not caring about the outcome, dashed over the water hole and stopped about ten meters away on the other side, turning to observe.
At this moment, Xu Hua executed the same move. However, his Longsword pierced directly into the giant fish’s body, almost embedding the entire sword within.
Xu Hua did not retreat but stood confidently on the ice block over the water hole, seemingly mocking Yang Xiao’s cautiousness.
Both giant fish, hit lethally, struggled violently a few times within the ice blocks before stopping, their blood staining the ice a glistening red.
Yang Xiao knew they had succeeded, but he still said to Xu Hua:
"If that big fish hadn’t been frozen still just now, you might not have survived."
Seeing Yang Xiao and Xu Hua successfully kill the giant fish, the people around them erupted in excitement.
Yang Xiao returned to the water hole, standing on the ice block, reaching into the giant fish’s wound, and grabbing its spine. With a swoosh, he pulled out a three-meter-long, six-hundred-pound tilapia and threw it forcefully onto the beach.
The crowd was stunned by Yang Xiao’s immense strength.
"This guy, divine power!"
"My God, this fish must be at least 600 pounds, right?"
"Wow, this Yang Xiao is really something!"
...
On the side, Xu Hua also tried to mimic Yang Xiao, pulling the giant fish out of the water hole. After several attempts, he could only get half the body out before it fell back into the water hole.
Xu Hua looked at Yang Xiao, feeling frustrated.
"Heh, solve it yourself!"
Yang Xiao said, running towards the beach without looking back, leaving Xu Hua with a helpless expression.
The tilapia wasn’t completely dead yet. After being thrown by Yang Xiao, it struggled on the beach. Yang Xiao rushed over and stabbed a sword into its eye, the short sword piercing into its brain.
The giant tilapia twitched a few times before finally ceasing its movement.
Thump, thump, thump...
Several glistening genetic fragments fell from the fish’s head.
Yang Xiao picked them up and saw, to his amazement, that there were 7 genetic fragments and a Black Short Sword.
He picked up the short sword and examined it, finding it to be a simple weapon with +2 Strength.
Seeing Xu Hua struggling to lift the giant fish from the water, Xiao Zhe quickly rushed over to help. Together, they lifted the 600-pound giant fish from the water and carried it to the beach.
Xu Hua gave the mutated tilapia another stab, thoroughly killing it, and 6 genetic fragments fell, along with a Black Long Sword.
Yang Xiao turned to Xiao Zhe and said:
"There are at least dozens of small fish and eels in that water hole. Send people to catch them; now that they’re frozen, their attack power is significantly reduced."
Xiao Zhe found this reasonable, so he ordered people to catch the fish. A dozen boys rolled up their pants and approached the water hole.
Three boys proficient in Wind Element Skills acted together, raising a gust of wind to lift the water and ice from the hole, tossing it onto the distant beach.
After half an hour, the small water hole had reached its bottom, revealing over a hundred various small fish lightly jumping at the bottom. Most of them were around ten to twenty pounds.
These mutated fish originally had sharp teeth and some special attack methods. However, now being frozen and sans water, surviving was challenging, and their aggressiveness was naturally greatly reduced.
The boys skilled in Wind Elements created small whirlwinds to scoop the fish up and toss them onto the nearby beach, while others swarmed in, employing various methods to quickly dispatch these nearly hundred fish, yielding over 30 genetic fragments.
The fish was so long that Yang Xiao couldn’t carry it properly. Instead, he simply lifted it overhead with both hands and, under the watchful gazes of everyone, walked to his tent and dropped it onto the ground with a thud.
"Wow, boss, you’re amazing!"
The girls exclaimed in surprise.
"Alright, enough flattery. Huang Wen, organize people to light fires and smoke all the fish into dried fish. This will preserve them well. Although we won’t lack food in the future, it’s still good to have reserves for any eventuality."
Huang Wen and the others immediately got busy; some went to chop wood, some tended to the fire, and others made racks for grilling the fish. They skewered the ten-pound fish on branches, hanging them on the rack over the fire.
Some of the girls were from rural areas and naturally knew how to smoke and cure fish.
Xiao Zhe’s team was also bustling and in high spirits, busy smoking the fish meat. This was the first time since the disaster that they had such abundant food, especially the high-protein fish.
Xiao Zhe walked over to Yang Xiao and said:
"Yang Xiao, this is just a small pit. There’s still a big pit in the center. If we catch all those fish, we could have several thousand pounds."
Yang Xiao thought for a moment and said:
"We can’t finish that many fish. We’ll only catch the big ones in the Central Pond and leave the small ones for the other students. They’ve suffered for a while too; let everyone quickly complete their mutations."
Xiao Zhe hesitated for a moment and then said:
"For free? We lost a few team members."
"Well, let’s do this. We’ll grab the dozens of mutated giant fish in the water hole, including that fish king. The genetic fragments and other items will belong to us. Even if we let others catch the fish, they can only eat the meat. The genetic fragments must be handed over to us and be evenly distributed among us. Is that fair?"
Xu Hua nodded in agreement and said:
"That works. We can’t possibly eat all these fish ourselves."
"Uh——"
Suddenly, a sharp cry came from the sky. As Yang Xiao and the others turned to look, they saw a giant bird spreading its wings over the pond. The wingspan was at least ten meters wide, with a very fierce presence.
Yang Xiao, with sharper eyesight than ordinary people, took a close look. Wasn’t this a sparrow, the most common bird before? How did it become so huge?
"Uh—"
The enormous sparrow screeched, folded its wings, and swiftly dove down towards the pond below.
