74
After closing the singularity, the sticky substance stuck on the wooden strip disappeared clearly and visibly.
Tao Sai watched silently, his heart sinking for a moment.
When the singularity opened on the sea surface before, the sea water and air also collapsed towards the center of the singularity and completely disappeared, but she didn't feel anything, because new sea water and air would soon fill the original position, as if nothing had happened.
And now, the collapse of the viscous substance allowed her to visually see the disappearance of the object. It collapsed into particles invisible to the naked eye and merged with the singularity.
The disappearance of collapse is different from the disappearance of losing something, because you just can't find it or see it anymore, but it still exists somewhere in the world.
It's not like something disappearing when you throw it into a furnace and burn it. Although it's reduced to ash and unrecognizable, it hasn't actually disappeared at the microscopic level. It's simply transformed into another form, its molecules or atoms chemically reacting to form other substances. If there were an omnipotent creator who could control the arrangement of molecules and atoms, he could restore the object you burned to its original state.
But collapse is different. Collapse is disappearance in the true sense.
Thinking of this, Tao Sai shuddered, and for the first time he experienced the horror of S-level magical skills.
...However, she still wasted her S-level skills by cleaning up chicken manure.
The adjective "a great talent used for a small purpose" is obviously not appropriate. It should be "a great talent used for a small purpose."
But at least it is useful. She has not found a better use for [Collapse] yet.
"Taotao." Zhou Ning's voice came from behind, and she walked over.
"What's wrong?" Tao Sai turned around and asked.
"We have electricity back on board. But now that we have more rooms, and with more people coming in, I don't think we'll have enough electricity. The generator won't be able to keep up," Zhou Ning said. "Oh, I should have bought more photovoltaic panels. The roof of the new ship is actually quite empty."
Tao Sai nodded in understanding. With more people, electricity would indeed be a problem. After all, the power generation capacity of all the power generation equipment was limited, unless they could get some new generators from somewhere.
There should still be shops or warehouses in Donghai City, but they have no money to buy them. Even if they had money, it would be useless now. This global natural disaster has developed to this point, and the only hard currency is food to fill their stomachs.
Or they could exchange it for food. Of course, the grain reserves managed by Aunt Li in the warehouse could not be touched, because this was their foundation and the guarantee of their survival.
So it is best to replace them with newly grown vegetables.
However, crops grow too slowly. Even the lettuce she planted first, which has the shortest growth cycle, still needs several days to mature. It seems Shi Jiahui's skill [Time Shift] will be needed to assist her.
Zhou Ning looked around the chicken coop and said, "Taotao, do you think our chicken coop could be made a little wider?"
Hearing this, Tao Sai turned around and took a look. Previously, their Level 3 refuge ship had limited space, so the chicken coop was perfectly placed there, out of the way. Now that it had been upgraded to a Level 4 ship, the area of the original location had increased, so they could of course also artificially upgrade the chicken coop.
"I think not only can we widen it, we can also build two, three, or even four stories." Zhou Ning walked over to the chicken coop and gestured excitedly with his hands, his face full of longing. "Once the chicken coop has more space, we can raise more hens and even broiler chickens!"
"But we don't have a rooster, and the old hens can't lay eggs, so we can't hatch chicks." Tao Sai calmly poured cold water on the idea.
"...This is indeed a problem, alas!" Zhou Ning's eyes rolled around and he sighed helplessly.
It’s not that there is no way out. We still have to wait for them to grow vegetables and use them to exchange supplies with the residents on the island.
This is actually a good strategy, because vegetables can be grown again and are renewable resources, while materials such as generators are basically not renewable under current productivity conditions.
When they returned to the kitchen, they had already laid out all the ingredients they needed on the counter.
"Did you get the eggs?" Li Yinzhu asked.
"Yes, there are three." Tao Sai replied, took out the eggs and put them under the faucet to clean the shells.
Li Yinzhu said, "Xiao Tao, put one in the refrigerator and save it for Xia Ruowei to make steamed egg custard for her baby tomorrow. Please help me break up the remaining two."
"Okay." Tao Sai did as he was told.
He opened the refrigerator door next to the kitchen counter and placed one of the eggs in the refrigerator compartment.
Then she took out an empty bowl from the sterilizer and beat the eggs with skillful movements.
Tao Sai actually learned to cook from a very young age. Back then, her grandfather often took tourists to faraway places, delaying their return home. She would prepare meals for him after school. However, she learned her cooking from him, so naturally, her cooking was rough. She used almost exclusively salt as a seasoning, never marinated meat with cooking wine before stir-frying, and never peeled eggplant, tomatoes, or potatoes. Her cooking methods were monotonous, and her menu was limited. It wasn't until she graduated from university and shared a house with Zhou Ning for a year, when they began cooking together, that she began to refine her cooking.
Li Yinzhu poured the cooked and cut meat slices into the oil pan. When the hot oil came into contact with the meat slices, a sizzling sound came out of the pan and the aroma of the meat began to spread.
"It smells so good." Tao Sai sniffed.
Li Yinzhu stir-fried the meat slices with a spatula and said with some regret, "Xiao Tao, do you know? In fact, the essence of twice-cooked pork is to add fermented black beans. Alas, it's a pity that we don't have it."
"It's okay, Aunt Li. I bought black bean seeds. I guess Xiaojia has already planted them in the soil. When the black beans are ripe, we can make our own fermented black beans." Tao Sai comforted.
"Really? Xiao Tao, you even considered the black bean seeds. That's great! I've learned how to make fermented black beans before, so it's no problem." Li Yinzhu's mood suddenly became cheerful.
Zhou Ning once said that food is an indispensable hobby in Li Yinzhu's life. If her mother were ten years younger, she would definitely become an excellent food blogger.
"Auntie, making pickled vegetables like kimchi seems like a good idea. It keeps for a long time and is delicious with rice. When the vegetables in the field are ripe, we can make something else besides fermented black beans." Tao Sai suddenly had an idea. "Beans can be made into sour beans, and their Korean kimchi can be made into sour radish. Radish strips can also be pickled into spicy dried radish."
"Of course!" Li Yinzhu affirmed.
In just one morning, the work of re-installing the circuits and organizing supplies on the ship was almost completed.
The shelves were assembled and placed in the empty space on the deck, but the crew members who followed Lan Xiaojia to the mountain to dig the soil had not finished digging. However, Tao Sai also invited everyone to come back and have a meal together, and continue in the afternoon. People are made of iron and rice is steel, and they will feel hungry if they don’t eat a meal.
When lunch was served, there weren't many types of dishes, including shredded potatoes with green peppers and seaweed egg drop soup, which I had eaten countless times. But in this end times of scarcity, it was still considered a sumptuous meal.
Tao Sai's first move with her chopsticks was, of course, to pick up a piece of twice-cooked pork that she had been craving for for a long time. She put the meat into her mouth and chewed it carefully. Her teeth bit through the slightly crispy surface of the meat, and the seasoning absorbed it. The aroma of the meat filled her lips and teeth.
Aunt Li specially uses pork belly to stir-fry the twice-cooked pork, which has just the right amount of fat and lean meat. It is not greasy because of too much fat, nor too dry because of too much lean meat.
Two words, delicious!
After finishing the meat happily and taking two mouthfuls of rice, Tao Sai picked up other dishes with her chopsticks, tasting a few bites of each dish.
Of course, she was just tasting the food, as she would still need to drink the nutrient solution later. Because her appetite had increased dramatically, if she was full, then the others would have nothing to eat.
Ten minutes later, Tao Sai was the first to leave the table. Although he felt a little bit reluctant and wanted to take a few more slices of twice-cooked pork, he still resisted the urge.
Tao Sai calmly unscrewed the lid of the nutrient solution, sipped it like drinking Youyi C after a meal, and climbed the stairs all the way to the captain's room on the third floor.
She sat at the desk by the porthole, opened her laptop, and prepared to make a plan for subsequent developments.
As the shelter ship was upgraded, the table in the room was also upgraded and enlarged. She and Zhou Ning could both study and work on it without disturbing each other.
There is Season S1, and there will naturally be Season S2. Although we don’t know when it will start exactly, we should still have to wait for a while. They should make full use of this time to recuperate and grow stronger.
Try to bring in some more refugees, and then develop new crew members from them. The more people on board, the more experience points and gold coins you will gain from the system every day.
Of course, as the number of people increases, the supporting facilities on the refugee ship must also keep up, such as the power supply problem that needs to be solved urgently.
As for accommodation, the newly added rooms and beds were essentially empty shells, requiring all new bedding, including quilts, sheets, and pillows. Although Tao Sai had previously prepared some cheap supplies in the warehouse, they were still insufficient.
As for food, crops were slowly growing in the soil. Their sea farm had become quite large, with 100 five-layer shelves and over 190 plastic bins filled with crops. Furthermore, when planting, Tao Sai had specifically instructed Lan Xiaojia to plant more wheat in the bins. After the harvest, the wheat could be ground into flour, a very filling product. If all else failed, there were fish in the sea. With a bit of skill, they could find schools of fish at sea and catch them with a single net, which would provide them with enough seafood for several days.
Agriculture has begun to take shape, and fisheries can also develop. The only thing left is animal husbandry. The chicken coops must be expanded to increase the number of laying hens. Find a way to get a rooster with good genes so that the hens will lay eggs and hatch chicks continuously.
Tao Sai is also considering raising other livestock. Pigs aren't practical because they require a pigpen, which takes up too much space and would make the deck space feel cramped. Raising rabbits is possible, however. Rabbit cages don't require a lot of space, and you can build a multi-story cage like a chicken coop. Rabbits are also very fertile, giving birth to seven or eight puppies at a time. After just a few months of care, they can become a delicious spicy rabbit head for the dinner table.
Thinking of this, Tao Sai swallowed unconsciously and continued typing on his notebook.
Ducks can also be raised, but instead of being kept flat on the deck, a cage is set up on the stern platform. Opening the cage's gate allows the ducks to be released into the water. Of course, the ducks shouldn't be ordinary freshwater ducks; saltwater ducks like sea ducks are preferred. Ducks need to be free-range and have ample living space, which improves the texture and taste of their meat. Tao Sai's grandfather had raised ducks before, so she had some experience and learned the techniques for calling ducks back to the cage.
Tao Sai wrote down the things she needed to buy and would exchange them when she had hard currency.
The last important thing is to find the real murderer who killed Hailan and clear himself of the dirt.
In reality, because players' coordinates are hidden from each other and they're so far apart, even though the entire Hailou team on the world channel has become a pariah, it's mostly just a verbal attack. There's no judgment or punishment involved, and no actual harm can be done to them. It's actually fine to just keep swallowing your anger.
But Tao Sai didn't want to bear the stigma, not even for a second, and the murderous intent in her heart did not diminish in the slightest with the passage of time.
Over the past half day, the members of Hailou have been in tacit agreement and often speak on the world channel to create a weak position.
Tao Sai has been trying to observe and search for clues revealed by the real murderer in his speech on the world channel. Of course, this is not easy.
She was still pondering a question. According to the description of the Tiger Guard members, the murderer had directly opened a space tunnel behind Hailan and took advantage of her unpreparedness to complete the attack.
The location of this wormhole was so precise and chilling that even top players like Hailan couldn't react.
So how did the killer pinpoint Hailan's location? Even if the killer possessed the same [Energy Perception] skill as her, allowing them to detect players' positions from a distance, it would be impossible for them to precisely create a wormhole behind Hailan. Another question remains: since the players' identities are hidden from each other, how did the killer know who Hailan was?
This matter was strange from beginning to end, and Tao Sai fell into deep thought.
At this time, the door of the captain's room was pushed open. Zhou Ning walked in and saw Tao Sai by the porthole. "Hey, Taotao, you're here. Do you want to take a nap?"
"It's so hot, why don't you turn on the air conditioner?" Then she went to get the air conditioner remote control.
Tao Sai looked up at her and said, "Tuantuan, you're smarter than me. Help me think of something."
The room temperature is adjusted to a comfortable 26°C, and the hot air is replaced by cool air.
Zhou Ning sat next to Tao Sai, listened carefully to the whole story, and began to think.
Five minutes later, Zhou Ning had a clue. "Taotao, I have an idea. Since the murderer was able to launch a precise sneak attack, could he be one of the Tiger Guards? Not necessarily a player, but perhaps a player character or something like that."
"No, I forgot to tell you that teammates in the alliance are immune to damage, and player characters are also immune." Tao Sai said.
Zhou Ning pondered for a moment, and suddenly thought of something. She looked up at Tao Tao and was about to express her thoughts, but Tao Sai had already tacitly read the answer from her expression.
"Are you trying to say that a spy within the Tiger Guards leaked Hailan's location to the real culprit?"
Zhou Ning nodded vigorously. "That's very possible. The traitor must know a lot of information, such as the strength of S-level skills and Hailan's weaknesses. But he couldn't act directly, so he leaked the information and cooperated with the insiders and outsiders to complete this sneak attack."
"This is a good idea. If we catch the traitor, we can find the murderer." Tao Sai said in a deep voice, with a cold light in his eyes.
There were a total of 10 Tiger Guards in the Alliance, excluding Hailan, and there were 9 others. Two of them were in Bohai Bay at the time, so they could be temporarily ruled out as suspects. This was because the insider should have teamed up with Hailan, and only by her side could they have accurately reported the coordinates to the murderer.
The traitor is most likely among the remaining seven people.
To find the murderer, one must first look for the traitor. After changing his mindset, Tao Sai felt as if he had suddenly seen the light, and the truth was slowly coming to light.
She connected the known information with reasonable guesses, and the picture became clear in her mind.
Hailan first unleashed a powerful S-rank skill, drawing the attention of his allies. One of these allies happened to have close connections to players outside the alliance, potentially even an undercover agent within the Tiger Guards. In short, they began conspiring in the shadows, sharing information and devising a flawless plan, determining the timing and how to deflect the blame, shifting the players' attention to the scapegoat, Cx330 and his Sea Tower.
When the points are calculated at the end of the season, it is the moment when vigilance is the weakest. The murderer hides in the dark, and the insider reports the coordinates. The murderer holds the ultimate move in his hand, opens a wormhole, and kills the enemy with one blow the moment he appears.
Since they dared to attack top players and set the pace in the world channel, Tao Sai reasonably suspected that there might be more than one murderer, and it should be a team of players, or maybe another alliance.
Tao Sai opened the [Interaction] module on the panel and browsed the alliance list. Among the 21 alliances now, "Jian Ge" came into Tao Sai's sight.
Most members of "Jian Ge" use "Yi Jian" as the prefix of their nicknames.
Of the ten members, five begin with "Yijian": One Sword, One Thought, One Sword, Cutting Mountains and Rivers, One Sword, Guanghan Nineteen Provinces, One Sword, Once a Master of a Hundred Million, and One Sword, Slaying Azure Dragon. The first three are familiar faces on the world channel and frequently contribute, while the last two players rarely speak, yet hold higher rankings. The leader of Jiange is none other than "One Sword, Once a Master of a Hundred Million." He ranks eleventh on the leaderboard.
Since the [Interaction] function is only enabled after the player reaches level three, nicknames are also set starting from level three, and the alliance appears later. They took similar nicknames in advance and then joined an alliance. It is not difficult to see that these people know each other in real life.
"Jian Ge" ranks lower than "Hu Ben" and "Hai Lou" on the leaderboard. Ranking and strength are generally positively correlated, so their strengths are comparable. Alliance leader "Yi Jian Zeng Dang Bai Wan Shi" is ranked eleventh on the leaderboard, a position that's actually quite high, considering he can't teleport large numbers of survivors like Hai Lou, nor does he possess S-rank divine skills.
There is another important piece of evidence. After Hailan was attacked and killed, the members of "Jian Ge" created a lot of rhythm on the world channel. Especially at the beginning when public opinion had not yet formed, several members of "Jian Ge" seemed to be coordinating with each other. Some spoke tactfully, some were direct, and some were angry and jumped up and down, but without exception, they were all throwing dirty water on her and Hailou.
Tao Sai narrowed her eyes slightly and listed "Jian Ge" as the first suspect. At the same time, she will continue to keep an eye on the words and actions of the other seven members of "Hu Ben".
He fell asleep for a nap and slept until the evening. Maybe it was because his body had consumed too much energy this season, and the air-conditioned room was quite comfortable, so Tao Sai slept very soundly even without using [deep sleep].
When I woke up, I saw Zhou Ning already studying. His eyes were fixed on the pages of the book, and he was writing non-stop with a ballpoint pen. He was very meticulous and focused. If you didn't know him, you would think he was a senior high school student who was going to take the college entrance examination tomorrow.
Tao Sai couldn't help but complain: "Tuantuan, why didn't I realize you love studying so much before?"
Zhou Ning said, "Oh, I used to give up after a while, maybe because I wasn't smart enough. I always slacked off. But now it's different. These things don't bother me at all. I have a good memory, so once I start learning, I can't stop. I even think I might be a little addicted."
Tao Sai nodded in agreement. This must be the reason. People are naturally afraid of difficulties and tend to retreat when faced with them. Learning the necessary knowledge easily is, of course, addictive.
Tao Sai took the empty water cup on the table and prepared to go downstairs to get a glass of water for her "college entrance examination candidate".
When they reached the door, Zhou Ning called her, "By the way, Taotao, please give me some more intelligence attributes. I feel like I've fully adapted. My brain is craving knowledge now!"
Tao Sai nodded. "What about other attributes? How is your strength adapting?"
Zhou Ning waved his hands repeatedly, looking embarrassed. "No, no, no, I won't increase the strength for now. I still can't walk in a straight line."
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