Chapter 50: Encountering Watermelon and Jiang Yu

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Encountering Watermelon and Jiang Yu

[Breeding Space Notification: New species detected: Cow ×3. Added to Breeding Space. Reward: Space area +5 square meters. Current Breeding Space area: 20 square meters.]

Shi Zhile quickly covered her mouth, afraid she would laugh out loud.

’Collecting a new species actually rewards me with more breeding area?’

’Oh my god, why didn’t it tell me about something this good sooner!’

Jiang Jing moved closer. "There are four more. Why don’t you take them all in?"

Once they acted, the other cows would surely be scared off and scatter. The losses would outweigh the gains.

"My Breeding Space isn’t very large. I can take them into the space first, then release them one by one to be killed."

Jiang Jing agreed and handed her the leaves he had pulled off. "Move over there slowly. Get one if you can, but your safety comes first."

Shi Zhile didn’t take his leaves. She bent over and ran out. Everywhere she passed, she would touch a cow, and one would disappear.

When she put the last cow into her space, she laughed out loud.

"Hahahaha, I’ve achieved beef freedom."

She took out a shovel and shoved it into Jiang Jing’s hands. "Dig a pit to kill the cows in. That way, they can’t run. It’s still early, so the sooner we kill them, the sooner we can eat meat."

Jiang Jing rubbed his forehead, took the shovel, and started digging a pit on the spot.

Shi Zhile quickly used the crafting table to make another shovel and worked with him to dig the pit.

An hour later, a pit nearly a meter deep was successfully dug.

"You take the axe. The moment I release the cow, you chop its neck."

Jiang Jing nodded. The next second, a black cow suddenly appeared in the deep pit. He raised his axe and, without a word, swung it down.

As blood spurted out, the cow struggled a few times before collapsing in the pit, motionless.

[Acquired: Beef ×50, Cow Bones ×20, Cow Tendon ×1, Cowhide ×1. Supplies have been sent to your backpack.]

The two repeated the process, working in perfect sync, and soon finished slaughtering all the cows.

Worried the smell of blood would attract other creatures, Shi Zhile pulled Jiang Jing into the Breeding Space while she entered the Planting Space to change her clothes.

The sun was high in the sky. It was already noon, and the temperature had reached twenty-seven degrees Celsius.

Shi Zhile still wore the soft armor underneath a light set of hiking clothes.

She had picked up these clothes by the sea. Aside from the ugly style, they weren’t damaged.

After leaving the space, Shi Zhile took out an iron pot and a spatula. "We don’t have all the ingredients, so for lunch, we’ll have beef brisket soup with rice."

Jiang Jing built a simple stone stove and gathered a bundle of dry wood to burn. Shi Zhile blanched the beef in the pot, then added salt and let it simmer slowly.

While waiting for the food to cook, Shi Zhile took a walk around the area.

There were no special resources aside from wild grass. On her way back, as she passed a small hill, her eyes were drawn to a patch of winding green vines.

She walked closer. ’This really is a game world. There are even watermelons growing on these vines. Huh? Watermelons?’

She took her shovel and prodded the grass, making sure there were no snakes or insects before stepping among the vines.

At the very top, a round, plump watermelon was connected to a green vine. She flicked it with her finger. The sound was crisp; it was clearly ripe.

It was a watermelon vine. She pushed aside some leaves and saw three or four more watermelons in another patch, but these were exceptionally small, obviously unripe.

First, she picked the ripe watermelon, then took out her shovel and carefully dug up the vine.

The vine had spread out quite a bit, so she could only try her best not to damage the part with the watermelons on it. Then, she put the entire thing—vine and all—into her Planting Space.

[Planting Space Notification: New external plant detected: Watermelon Vine ×1, Unripe Watermelon ×3. Plant immediately?]

"Yes!"

’The auto-plant function saves me some trouble.’

[Planting successful. Reward: Planting Space area +2 square meters. Current Planting Space area: 13 square meters.]

’The Planting Space is still too small. It would be great if I could transplant weeds and trees directly.’

Weeds were everywhere. Shi Zhile pulled one out by the roots and put it in the Planting Space, but the space didn’t react at all.

After completely removing the watermelon vine, Shi Zhile noticed many small green shoots underneath.

She pulled one out, and a description popped up on her panel.

[Wild Onion Shoot: A small, verdant wild onion shoot. Can be used in cooking to improve the flavor of food. (Please, I’m begging you, take me with you! That watermelon vine over here isn’t acting like a plant!)]

The wild onions were growing together with the watermelon vine. The vine grew extremely fast, absorbing most of the nutrients from the soil. Over time, the wild onions couldn’t get enough nutrients, and the space they had was squeezed smaller and smaller.

With the vine also blocking all the sunlight, the wild onion shoots ended up in this state of being unable to live well but not quite dying.

Shi Zhile placed one hand on the ground. This time, she didn’t dig. Instead, she chose to absorb the entire patch of soil into her Planting Space.

With a flicker of her thought, Shi Zhile saw all the onion shoots on the ground vanish, yet the land itself was completely undisturbed.

[Planting Space Notification: Wild Onion Shoots detected. Now planted!]

’These two harvests are a pleasant surprise. Since there are cows and watermelons on this island, there must be other resources.’

She headed back the way she came and ran right into Jiang Jing, who had come looking for her.

"You were gone for so long, I thought a cow had eaten you."

Shi Zhile slapped his hand away with a deadpan expression. "I ran into a watermelon vine on the way. Digging it up took some time."

She took out the watermelon, placed it on a rock, and smashed it into several pieces with a single punch.

Watery red juice spilled all over the ground. The sweet, fresh scent of the melon filled the air, and both of their throats felt dry, making them swallow hard.

Handing the largest piece to Jiang Jing, Shi Zhile picked up a small slice and took a bite. "The beef should be about ready to eat, right?"

"I just poked it with a chopstick. It’s tender enough to pierce, but it doesn’t have much flavor. I happen to have a bottle of vinegar, so we can just dip the meat in it to eat."

Shi Zhile nodded. "After we eat, let’s keep searching for supplies. This island is small, but its resources are plentiful. Back there, all we see is yellow sand and other players. There’s nothing good..."

A shocked cry came from the distance. "Holy shit, that’s so much blood! Did someone hold a damn bloodbath here?"

"Keep your voice down. Someone probably set a trap here and killed a large creature."

"There’s someone up ahead!"

’Three voices, and they belong to familiar people.’

Before the two of them could get up, the grass was pushed aside.

Shi Zhile looked up, glanced at Jiang Jing, then turned to the three newcomers. "What a coincidence. Want some melon?"

Wang Peng rushed forward. "Yes, yes, yes! Sister Zhile, I sent you so many messages after we entered the instance, why didn’t you reply? I was worried something happened to you, worried to death!"

He took the melon slice Shi Zhile offered and hastily took a bite. "Is this your new teammate? Ditching your friends for a pretty face, huh, Sister Zhile? With a guy that good-looking, it’s no wonder you haven’t been answering my messages."

Shi Zhile was about to speak, but Wang Peng cut in again. "Bro, what’s your name? What’s your rank on the resource leaderboard? Has Sister Zhile scammed you yet? Interested in joining our team?

Let me introduce us. Our team captain is Jiang Yuxing. I’m Wang Peng, and the ones behind me are Chuyi and Jiang Yu."

Jiang Jing lowered his head, pulled out a piece of cloth from who-knows-where, and used it to cover most of his face.