Chapter 199, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: The Special System of the Huo Family Army (Bug Fix)...
Is this the sea?
"It's huge!"
The Huo family's personal guards looked at the boundless sea before them, marveling at it and discussing it enthusiastically.
"I wish we could come to the seaside during droughts."
"How silly! Seawater is undrinkable; it's said to kill people. Even if you come here, it won't help."
"Even if I can't drink it, at least it'll cool me down."
Not far away, Huo Tiankuo, who was standing with Lu Xuan, was also admiring him.
"I never thought that after living for so many years, I would be able to travel to the coastal area. The sea is indeed more vast than rivers and lakes. Standing here and looking out, I feel that my own existence is extremely small."
Lu Xuan said calmly, "Being insignificant doesn't prevent us from striving to survive."
Huo Tiankuo was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Indeed."
Lu Xuan: "We are about to return to the village. General, you and your guards can stay and collect more seafood. All kinds of conch, shellfish and fish taste very good."
Huo Tiankuo already knew that they had been fishing on the beach for the past seven days and had a good catch.
If so many fish could be caught during winter fishing in frozen lakes, there would only be more fish in the sea, and there would be no need to worry about overfishing.
Huo Tiankuo was naturally tempted, but...
"Boat……"
Lu Xuan: "I can provide the general with a suitable fishing boat."
Next, Lu Xuan told Huo Tiankuo about the features and prices of several different types of ships.
It can only carry three to five people in small kayaks. It is small in size and cannot go to the open sea, but it is very convenient to move around in the nearby waters. The price is only five hundred to one thousand catties of supplies, and the mutated food can be doubled.
Larger fishing boats are more robust than kayaks and can travel to farther places. They can accommodate five to ten people. With a space ring, if there is no need to store a large amount of fish, fishing in shallow waters is basically enough. The price is 1,500-3,000 catties of supplies. Similarly, mutated food is doubled.
Larger yachts are faster, more robust, and more functional, capable of carrying 100 to over a thousand people. They have rooms for living, as well as restaurants, cargo warehouses, etc., and are priced between 50,000 and 250,000 kilograms of supplies, with mutated supplies being worth double.
Further up, there are large ships, some even the size of cruise ships.
Lu Xuan hasn't been unlocked yet, so he can't be sold to Huo Tiankuo; otherwise, Huo Tiankuo could have made a fortune.
Verbal explanations are not convincing enough, so Lu Xuan even released the corresponding ships on his body and showed Huo Tiankuo around.
During the process, many of the soldiers who had initially been looking at the sea with interest gathered around.
The Lu family's own No. 1 ship was even more beautiful on the outside and luxurious inside, which Huo Tiankuo and his personal guards envied.
As for whether they want it or not, the answer is definitely yes; who wouldn't want something good?
In terms of practicality, Ship No. 1 is clearly unsatisfactory. It is obviously designed for wealthy and powerful people to enjoy themselves, and is not suitable for them.
Ship number two is different; it can accommodate more people and has many small rooms, allowing more people to stay on board, making it significantly more cost-effective.
Although it was far from enough to house only one or two hundred people for Huo's army, the entire ship was made of materials even more durable than refined steel. For this reason alone, Lu Xuan's price was so cheap that Huo Tiankuo simply couldn't refuse.
Lu Xuan also summoned Zhang Chengming and a few others, and had them take their personal guards on a couple of rounds around the area in kayaks of different sizes, both manual and engine-driven.
He then took Huo Tiankuo on a small fishing boat first, and then drove the second boat around, explaining how to use the radar detector along the way, including finding large schools of fish, identifying seabed topography, and searching for other ships or creatures that appeared nearby.
Huo Tiankuo became even more excited upon hearing this and couldn't help but say, "If the navy had such convenient ships, our dynasty would no longer be afraid of naval battles."
Lu Xuan remained noncommittal.
The Covenant ships are definitely much more versatile than ancient wooden ships; if pushed to the limit, they can even ram into each other and break the wooden ships apart.
However, these fishing boats and yachts are ultimately just civilian vessels, without any long-range weapons, so they are not quite suitable as naval vessels.
The Covenant does have ships equipped with cannons, but they are not yet available in the store.
Lu Xuan had long ago discovered that the more lethal a weapon is, the harder it is to unlock.
In terms of weapon classification, the most powerful weapon to date is the bomb; the others are either individual weapons or things like hypnotic grenades that won't kill you.
None of the interstellar era energy cannons or particle cannons have been unlocked yet.
The audience didn't mention this aspect, but Lu Xuan could roughly guess that the Star Alliance was worried that some streamers with no sense of reason might take advantage of the live streaming system to cause chaos in this plane with weapons of mass destruction, thus disrupting the peace of the original civilization.
Back on shore, Lu Xuan asked Huo Tiankuo, "Has the general decided what size and how many ships he wants to buy?"
Huo Tiankuo, who had already made up his mind while following Lu Xuan, nodded and said, "I've thought it through."
After the last harvest, he used part of the public resources to buy a lot of weapons and supplies, and finally kept 200,000 catties of grain as a reserve. This time, the purchase of the boat came in handy.
We certainly can't use all 200,000 jin. There are still about ten days until the next harvest. In case there are other places that need supplies during that time, we'll reserve half of it.
Huo Tiankuo said, "I want two ships of similar specifications to your No. 2 ship."
"We need a few small fishing boats of different sizes, totaling ten; fifty small manual kayaks, twenty-five medium-sized motorized kayaks, and twenty-five large motorized kayaks, for a total of one hundred."
Large and small fishing boats can be used by the guards to go out to sea to fish, with engine-powered kayaks following behind. The more boats there are, the more groups they can disperse to search for schools of fish, maximizing their profits.
In case the sea is too rough and the kayak capsizes, you can get onto the fishing boat in time.
As for the small hand-operated boats, the disaster victims could use them in the vicinity, such as to travel to and from the rocky beach mentioned by Lu Xuan.
When there is no major low tide, the rocky beach is still a bit far from the beach where they are, and it is not convenient to walk there. Taking a kayak is just right.
As Huo Tiankuo counted the numbers, Lu Xuanqing checked the amount he had accumulated from the blind box lottery, the number of kayaks he had purchased with the daily discount, and a small fishing boat that was just right. Then he opened the store and bought the missing items at the original price.
Huo Tiankuo reported that all the ships and kayaks needed a total of 95,000 jin of mutated grain.
Five thousand kilograms were saved compared to his budget.
Huo Tiankuo originally thought that he could save money, but unexpectedly Lu Xuan took out a few sets of diving equipment and had several young men in the village put them on and go into the sea to give a demonstration.
Huo Tiankuo and Deputy General Liu couldn't help but have their eyes light up.
Lu Xuan asked knowingly, "Do you want it?"
Huo Tiankuo asked about the specific price.
Upon learning that the entire set of equipment, including the oxygen tank, was priced the same as an upgraded biosuit, he declared decisively, "I want a hundred sets!"
That's just enough to spend the five thousand catties of mutated grain.
Lu Xuan nodded and casually bought a hundred sets of diving equipment from the mall.
The passenger boat was too large to fit in the space, so Lu Xuan simply took the boat out and put it on the sea.
The remaining ships and diving equipment were stored in an empty space ring and given to Huo Tiankuo. The ring could be returned later when it was emptied.
Huo Tiankuo also carried public supplies with him, which could be settled on the spot.
As soon as he got the grain, Lu Xuan didn't keep any for himself and took it all back.
Even after deducting the points spent on purchasing supplies, there were still nearly 20 million points left in the account.
Considering the considerable benefits Huo Jiajun had provided him, Lu Xuan reminded him, "Besides going out to sea to fish, General, you could also leave some disaster victims or your personal guards to dry salt on the beach. The seawater is inexhaustible, so the salt produced will naturally be inexhaustible as well."
Huo Tiankuo was stunned, his mouth agape in astonishment. "You know how to make salt?!"
Deputy General Liu and his personal guards were also shocked, their mouths agape, unable to utter a word for a long time.
Lu Xuan nodded, and before Huo Tiankuo could ask, he succinctly explained the salt-drying method in salt fields, which did not require too many complicated procedures, especially the crucial coarse salt filtration method.
Deputy General Liu and the others subconsciously memorized the steps.
Huo Tiankuo's expression was somewhat complicated. "You're just telling me this secret technique like this? I might not be able to afford the reward."
Lu Xuan said, "No reward is needed. The method of salt production is not something ordinary people can access. Since it is inconvenient for us to use it, it is fine to give it to the general."
There's not much profit to be made from salt here, and the villagers have already stockpiled enough. There's no need for them to go through the trouble of drying salt and risk getting into trouble later. It's better to just give it away as a favor.
Huo Tiankuo might not be unaware of Lu Xuan's thoughts, but that didn't diminish his gratitude.
Most of the salt in this dynasty was obtained from salt wells and mines.
Sea salt also exists, but as far as Huo Tiankuo knows, sea salt tastes bitter and is only consumed by poor people in coastal cities. Eating too much of it may also cause physical discomfort.
Although Huo Tiankuo had not personally tried the coarse salt filtration method that Lu Xuan mentioned, he intuitively felt that it could solve the existing problems with sea salt.
As Lu Xuan said, the seawater is inexhaustible. If sea salt tastes better and does not have any adverse effects on health, the benefits to the country would be immeasurable.
Huo Tiankuo said solemnly, "If there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely recommend Brother Lu for credit."
Lu Xuan nodded, "Then I thank you in advance, General."
Now that Lu Xuan had finished his business, it was about time to go back with the villagers.
Before leaving, Lu Xuan remembered another thing he had forgotten, "Speaking of which, General Huo should have used up all the evolution fluid he brought back, right? How is the awakening going?"
The viewers in the live stream immediately perked up their ears.
[They traded away thirty vials of evolution fluid in one go; that should be enough to awaken ten to fifteen people, right?]
[Sigh, it's so disheartening to see the awakening rates on the streamer's page, and then to see that the Star Alliance hasn't even increased by 10% yet.]
[The Star Alliance has recently acquired a significant number of mutated fruits, and many official and private research institutes are conducting studies on them. Rumors have circulated that the awakening probability has increased, but this hasn't been officially announced due to a lack of reference data.]
[Anyway, I've already used it, so whether the probability increases or not doesn't really matter to me. I just want to know if anyone in the Huo family army has awakened a special type.]
[This is probably what the anchor wants to know as well.]
Huo Tiankuo smiled slightly. "Not bad. A total of fourteen people have obtained immortal techniques. Two of them are wood-type, three are water-type, two are fire-type, and the remaining six are body enhancement types: strength, speed, and hearing."
Lu Xuan nodded and said, "That sounds pretty good."
Although it doesn't have powerful attack types like wind, thunder, and ice, the water type provides water, the wood type promotes plant growth, and the fire type's attack power is not bad either.
The enhanced hearing ability is also very useful. Currently, there is only one Ye Jing in the entire Yunlu Village who has awakened it, which is rarer than the enhanced strength and speed abilities. She should be perfect as a scout for the Huo family army.
But... Lu Xuan did some quick calculations, "Isn't there someone we forgot?"
Huo Tiankuo said, "There's another one that's a bit special, which should be the special system you mentioned?"
Lu Xuan and the viewers in the live stream perked up at the same time.
Another special type has actually appeared?
[Host, quickly ask what special type it is!]
Ah! The streamer is going to gain another superpower. I'm so tired of saying "I'm envious."
Lu Xuan asked, "What kind of ability is it?"
Huo Tiankuo said, "Beast Transformation."
Lu Xuan: "?"
Lu Xuan paused for a moment. Beast transformation? Does that mean a person can transform into a wild beast?
He had never encountered this kind of superpower in the apocalypse.
However, viewers in the live chat were already explaining the Star Alliance's beast-like ability users to him.
The so-called beast-transformed ability user does not completely transform into a beast-like form, but rather gains some of the characteristics and abilities of a specific animal by consuming its blood.
For example, consuming wolf blood can sharpen the five senses, increase speed and endurance, and even grant one sharp wolf claws, among other things.
Animals with strong fighting power, such as tigers, bears, and lions, as well as those with special abilities, such as bats, chameleons, lizards, spiders, octopuses, and snails, can also have unexpected effects.
The number of abilities a superhuman can possess is also limited depending on their level. Level one users can only have one beast transformation ability, level two can have two, and so on.
[In the history of Star Alliance superpowers, there was once a Level 5 superpower user who acquired the abilities of five powerful mutated beasts, making him stronger than a Level 6 attack-type user.]
By the way, besides claws, the most obvious features of furry animals are their ears and tails. They may not always have a tail, but they will definitely have ears!
Wolf ears, tiger ears, etc., so cool!
[The Star Alliance also has a very famous beast-transformation ability user, but this person is a celebrity who takes a cute approach. They have a level four ability and have acquired beast forms such as a cat, rabbit, fox, and deer—each one adorable! They have 2 billion fans within the Star Alliance.]
[The streamer definitely won't go for the cute and cuddly route; they'll probably be like that one in the history of superpowers, using the blood of ferocious beasts to enhance their combat abilities.]
[I imagined what the streamer would look like with cat ears or fox ears, and it actually sounds pretty good. I kind of want to see it. *slurps*]
[I have a question: If a streamer consumes snake blood, will they grow two extra penises?]
【？？？】
Lu Xuan: "...?"
Huo Tiankuo said, "My subordinate didn't quite understand how to use this beast transformation ability. At first, he thought it hadn't been awakened yet. But a couple of days ago, he happened to eat a meal of steamed wild boar blood, and then... pig ears suddenly grew on his head."
As he continued, Huo Tiankuo's expression became subtle.
Deputy General Liu and several other guards pursed their lips slightly as they recalled the appearance of their comrade with long pig ears.
Lu Xuan: "..."
[Pfft, pig ears? I didn't expect that.]
[While wild boars are quite capable of charging, their ears... sorry, I really can't help but laugh.]
[It's such a rare ability, yet they only used pig's blood—what a waste!]
[Still steamed pig's blood! Beast transformation abilities need fresh, vibrant blood to reach their maximum effect! Unless this person works hard to reach level two and obtains the blood of a powerful beast, he's practically useless.]
Lu Xuan relayed the various introductions about the beast-transformed superhumans mentioned by the audience to Huo Tiankuo, who also felt a little sorry for his subordinates after hearing it.
But then I thought, no matter what, having the ability is better than not being awakened at all.
Although pig ears are not very aesthetically pleasing, they can still be stored away.
The opponent's strength has increased even more in the past two days than that of a strength-enhancing type, which is already very good.
As for whether he could advance to level two... Huo Tiankuo thought of the catastrophe that would continue for many years to come.
There's a good chance of another beast attack next winter, and maybe then we can put up a fight.
Lu Xuan asked, "Did this beast-transformed ability user come with the general?"
Huo Tiankuo nodded and called over one of his personal guards.
When Lu Xuan and the viewers in the live stream saw that the personal guards who came were handsome and had upright posture, their sympathy for them grew stronger.
However, Lu Xuan didn't show it on the surface, but simply touched the other person's shoulder with his hand.
Zhou Qing, the bodyguard, paused for a moment, thinking that Lu Xuan was comforting him like the other brothers. He was about to say that he didn't mind having the wild boar's abilities when he heard Lu Xuan say, "I can copy other people's abilities and use them for my own. Your abilities are not bad. In exchange, I can provide you with supplies of equal value to a bottle of evolution fluid. What do you want?"
Zhou Qing: "!"
Huo Tiankuo: "!"
Deputy General Liu and the others: "!"
Huo Tiankuo had vaguely heard that Lu Xuan had this ability before, but he didn't really believe it because it sounded too exaggerated.
I never expected it to be true.
After the initial shock, Zhou Qing realized the meaning behind Lu Xuan's words, and his eyes lit up instantly. He subconsciously looked at their general.
Huo Tiankuo nodded and said, "Since Brother Lu is willing to give, just ask for whatever you want. The ability is yours, and you don't need to hand over the resources you obtain. You can keep them for yourself."
Upon hearing this, Deputy General Liu and several other personal guards all showed expressions of envy.
Zhou Qing couldn't help but grin.
He didn't hesitate for long and quickly told them what he wanted.
A 100-cubic-meter space, a hoverboard, a quantity of essential supplies such as nutrients, salt, sugar, bio-clothing, and medicine, as well as beef and mutton, a small amount of mutated fruit, etc., totaling exactly 10,000 jin of supplies.
Lu Xuan packed all the supplies into the corresponding sized space and handed it to Zhou Qing on the spot. The latter immediately put the ring on his index finger and kept touching it, unable to put it down.
Huo Tiankuo waved his hand at him, "Alright, you can go back now."
When Zhou Qing returned to his other brothers, they noticed the spatial ring on his hand and asked him what had happened.
After learning the reason, everyone else was incredibly envious.
The guards who hadn't had their turn yet were initially annoyed by their bad luck, but now they suddenly felt no regret. They were only hoping that they could not only awaken smoothly later on, but also awaken a special type.
The supplies are worth 10,000 jin! Even if the spatial ring takes up a small portion of them, the rest is enough to last us a long time.
·
Yunlu Village.
Lu Qing lay comfortably on the sofa and sighed, "Finally home."
Lei Yan and Lu Chen also looked relaxed.
The beach is certainly fun, but home is still where they feel most relaxed.
Lu Xuan, however, was not so carefree.
I was away for seven days and didn't give the orchard any wood-type abilities, which delayed its growth. I need to make up for it as soon as possible.
By the time he returned from the orchard, it was already dinnertime.
For the past few days, we've had seafood for every meal. It was delicious, but after eating it so much, it got a bit greasy.
Therefore, the first meal the Lu family had after returning home consisted of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, cold wild vegetables, stir-fried shredded potatoes, pickled bamboo shoots, stir-fried mutton with scallions, and yam and pork rib soup, which were relatively refreshing.
After eating and drinking their fill, the group, who had been exhausted for several days, went back to their rooms to rest early, which was quite unusual.
Lu Xuan, on the other hand, didn't rush to end the broadcast after returning. Instead, he gave away a batch of seafood to the viewers.
There were oysters that the audience wanted, as well as various kinds of sea fish that were later caught, totaling 20,000 catties.
As before, those who drew the winning ticket were overjoyed, while those who didn't crawled around in gloom.
However, as someone brought up the beast-transformation ability again, the audience immediately put the lottery results aside.
[Speaking of this, I'm no longer sleepy!]
[Host, tell us quickly, what kind of beast blood are you planning to collect?]
[Are we talking about jackals, tigers, leopards, snakes, insects, rats, and ants—powerful or cute? Any ideas?]
I don't think it's necessary to pursue powerful ones. After all, the ancient plane only has primitive species, and even if they are powerful, they are still just so-so. It's better to choose something more special.
[That's right. Chameleons and octopuses, for example, possess the ability to mimic. If a streamer could collect blood and consume it to gain this ability, wouldn't that be equivalent to having another special ability?]
[It's not just one! The streamer is a level seven ability user, capable of contracting with seven different animal species. Just imagining it makes my scalp tingle with excitement.]
So what exactly are the streamer's plans?
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Plans? I have no plans whatsoever."
Since everyone knows that the original species are generally weak, how could he possibly waste his abilities like Zhou Qing did?
Even the top-ranked fan, who usually only speaks up at crucial moments, commented: "There's no rush; there will be more suitable opportunities in the future."
Lu Xuan's lips curled into a smile, further confirming the suspicion that had long existed in his mind.
Lu Xuan said, "My current abilities are sufficient for the situation here; we can put the beast transformation ability aside for now."
However, there was one thing he was certain of: he would never use snake blood.
Two penises or something, that sounds inappropriate.
He would never use it even if there was only the slightest possibility!
Viewers expressed their regret, and many people protested in the live chat.
Lu Xuan skipped all the others and opened the shop to buy his daily dose of evolution fluid.
Just as my finger touched the evolution fluid option but before I could press it, a temporary pop-up window that had never appeared before suddenly appeared in front of me.
[Limited-Time Holiday Flash Sale]
Lu Xuan's gaze subconsciously swept over the items listed on the flash sale page. His expression paused slightly, and his body, which had been relaxed and leaning against the edge of the bed, involuntarily straightened up a little.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com