Chapter 79 Bloodworms - A Scalp-Trembling Moment
In a dark corner, Zhu Sha returned dragging a fishing net, just in time to witness the tender moment between Shen Dixin and Yuanbao, the master and pet.
Zhu Sha: Ahhhhh, you scheming turtle!! Secretly trying to please its owner while it's not around!
Zhu Sha shouted silently, threw the fishing net onto the deck, covered it with the new net, and went out to sea.
It's going to catch a hundred pounds of fish today! It wants to show its owner who its most useful pet is!
Shen Dixin curiously peeked out, only to see Zhu Sha's departing figure.
I'm baffled. Why is Little Jellyfish working so hard lately? She's even stopped eating, and the fish she's catching are already two or three tenths of what she used to catch every day.
Zhu Sha hasn't gone far yet, and the contractual communication is still effective. She told Zhu Sha to balance work and rest, as it wouldn't be good for her to overwork herself.
Even during her most demanding period, she only slept twice every three days, for four hours at a time. Unlike Zhu Sha, who didn't need to rest all day long.
Upon hearing this, the jellyfish was quite upset. Why was its owner making it rest? Did he think it hadn't caught enough food? So, resting wouldn't be a problem?
It pretended not to hear and swam even faster.
Shen Dixin remained silent, but she couldn't stop her pets from being ambitious. On the surface, she complained, but in reality, she was showing off to Lu Mingang, mentioning that Yuanbao and Zhusha had been working too hard lately.
Lu Mingang: Is Dixin giving me a warning? Does she think I've been slacking off too much lately, even my pet is working harder than me? The workload during the seven days of Red Tide was indeed much less than usual, I need to get back into shape quickly!
So, another person got all fired up and Lu Mingang simply moved his entire workspace onto the Chen Di Xin ship, just to be closer to the cold storage so that the dishes he made and the ingredients he needed could be stored directly inside.
After more than an hour of busy work, the newly built cold storage room was already two-thirds full, and the remaining space could only accommodate three or four more shelves.
Don't panic. If you really can't fit everything in the shelves, just remove them and pile the ingredients on the floor. Don't waste any space.
The two all-around little sprites that arrived later had completely transformed into porters, lingering around the cold storage.
Everyone got busy, and Shen Dixin patted off the water that had gotten on her and prepared to get to work. She twitched her nose and smelled a strong fishy smell coming from herself.
Ugh, that's a bit disgusting.
Thinking about having to go into the water again and getting covered in fishy smell, Chen Dixin resisted the urge to change her clothes.
Even after the Red Tide ended, Shen Dixin continued to go into the water every one or two days. While other players tried their best to avoid going into the water, she went in three times a day.
After all, the rewards from the seabed were so abundant that even she couldn't ignore them.
These days, Chen Dixin's relationship with Soraya has also progressed rapidly. The little mermaid is not very willing to go on the boat, but she is happy to play with her underwater and even helps catch fish and shrimp. Chen Dixin's mind is much more mature than Soraya's, so it is very easy for her to get along with him.
Even if it weren't for the desire to build a good relationship with the mermaids, Shen Dixin would still try her best to bring Soraya along, given her ability to make the fish jump into her net with a wave of her hand.
Seeing that the appointed time had arrived, Shen Dixin put on her equipment. This was an oxygen cylinder she had just acquired. Using this would not only save on bubble capsules but also reduce her physical exertion underwater by 5%.
Similar equipment includes diving masks and fins, but these are not common items. Chen Dixin has been asking Coffee to keep an eye out for them.
"Di Xin!" Soraya flicked her tail and appeared beside her. Shen Di Xin had witnessed the mermaid's short-distance teleportation many times before.
Soraya had a frown on her face today, unlike her usual cheerful self.
“Dixin, the king wants me to go back immediately. I’ve only been out playing for half a month! I probably won’t be able to accompany you to find food tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that.”
Shen Dixin spoke up for her against her will, "Solaya is a big girl now. I think the people in the tribe are just worried about you, that's why they're keeping an eye on you like this. If you come out a few more times, they'll know you're capable of handling things and they'll feel at ease."
"If you can't come tomorrow, that's for tomorrow. Let's go. Zhu Sha said the place we found today is very special."
Soraya's attention was indeed diverted. "Hmm, is that the active volcano nearby?"
"A volcano?" Shen Dixin was startled. Zhu Sha only said that the area felt very comfortable, so there should be no danger, right?
"Don't worry, it's been sleeping lately and there's been no risk of it erupting for almost a hundred years. Other mermaids don't dare to go near there, but I know exactly what good food is there. The Ink Snail is delicious!"
Soraya patted her chest proudly, finally understanding why the elders in her tribe often kept her in check.
Shen Dixin had never seen a real underwater volcano, but she knew that magma shouldn't coexist harmoniously with water. Staring at the orange-red surging in the seawater, she thought, "It's just a game, so it's normal for it to be a little unscientific..."
The temperature in the crater was significantly higher than usual. Even from a distance of several dozen meters, the temperature was already in the thirties or forties. If you got any closer, it would feel like soaking in a hot spring.
She stopped moving forward, otherwise she wouldn't even know when she'd be cooked.
No wonder Zhu Sha felt comfortable. Candlelight jellyfish naturally prefer hot environments and often appear near volcanoes and underwater heat sources. Thinking of this, Chen Dixin sent a telepathic message to it, asking it to come over as well.
[The player takes 1 point of physical damage.]
[The player has taken 1 point of burning damage.]
The injury warning sound was turned up to the maximum by Chen Dixin, so she noticed the damage as soon as she lost blood. Otherwise, the damage would only be a drop or two, which is more severe than a mosquito bite.
She looked down, her scalp tingling.
Because of the lack of facilities, Chen Dixin wore only the most ordinary clothes, which was inconvenient when going into the water, such as the clothes not being able to fit her body.
Right now, her trousers were rolled up to her knees by the water, and her bare calves were covered with soft, slug-like creatures!
Their entire bodies were a dried, blood-red color, with vein-like structures pulsating on them, each about half the size of a palm.
Shen Dixin pursed her lips, drew her sword, and dismembered them one by one, then stomped them to death with disgust.
Soraya noticed the situation and came over to take a look. She said with a regretful expression, "Dixin, you flattened all the bloodworms! They're delicious, especially after sucking animal blood. But it's okay, there are plenty here!"
Shen Dixin: ...She may never be able to appreciate this kind of delicious food in her lifetime.
Upon closer inspection, Shen Dixin understood why Soraya had said it was all of them.
The reddish-brown color on the ground was nearly half caused by bloodworms crawling on it. Even Shen Dixin, who had seen many horrific scenes, couldn't help but swallow hard.
"All of them!"
She calmed herself down and quickly realized that being full of bloodworms meant she could use one compartment to store hundreds or even thousands of bloodworms. Even if each one was small, they would add up to a lot.
"Is this really tasty? Eat it raw?"
Even after receiving Soraya's affirmation, Shen Dixin was still a little hesitant, but her hand reached out very decisively to a blood cotton worm that was crawling towards her fearlessly.
She would pick them up and put them in her mouth. Eating insects was a regular thing for her when she was hungry. Although these soft, slimy insects were a bit hard to accept, she still said that they had eight times the protein of beef!
Chew, chew, and Shen Dixin understood why Soraya said it was delicious. Compared to other insects she had eaten, the blood cotton worm was even considered sweet. The burst of juice in one bite was like some kind of fruit juice gummy she had eaten, with a slightly salty aftertaste.
"It's really good!"
She easily abandoned her principles, accepted Soraya's taste, and rushed towards the large swarm of bloodworms. In Shen Dixin's eyes, the clumps of worms had become a delicious delicacy.
Two fists can't fight four hands. Even if Shen Dixin could kill a whole bunch with one slash, he still couldn't avoid being gnawed on by other bloodworms sucking his blood.
After a bloodworm had been sucking blood for a while, Chen Dixin suddenly received a notification.
[The player is attacked by Bloodworms and suffers a localized Paralysis status.]
She tried to lift her leg and found that a muscle had completely lost control, and the stinging pain from the insects biting her had completely disappeared.
Shen Dixin suddenly realized something, and his expression turned serious.
Soraya rushed over to check on her. "Dixin, are you alright?" She waved her hand to dispel the paralysis, and Shen Dixin's legs could move again.
But she waved her hand, indicating that Soraya didn't need to help her remove the buff, and enthusiastically pinched a bloodworm onto her leg, staring intently at it as she sucked blood.
Soraya tilted her head, puzzled. The venom of the schistosome should only have a paralyzing effect and not damage the head, right?
Trusting in her own experience, Soraya eventually walked away, looking back every few steps.
They left Shen Dixin behind to test the toxin, since the two of them together would hinder each other from collecting blood flukes.
After several experiments, Shen Dixin was completely certain that schistosomes could be used as an anesthetic!
It will inflict a paralysis effect after biting a spot for two minutes, and the affected area will be completely numb for five minutes. The area is small, only about the width of a palm.
Moreover, the damage from blood flukes is very low. It deals one point of physical damage every thirty seconds and one point of burning damage every fifteen seconds. Even if you let it bite until you become paralyzed, you will only lose 12 points of health.
The impending disaster will require "anesthesia," Chen Dixin thought with certainty. Now, the schistosomiasis has become a treasure, but how can they be kept alive?
Chen Dixin was in a dilemma: raising insects...
Aha! Isn't Xiaoyun a Gu Master? She should have a solution.
Chen Dixin sent a message to Yunshiwo: "Xiaoyun, I need your help urgently! Do you have a container that can hold a lot of insects? At least several thousand!"
My luck was about to change when ten things that looked like alchemy furnaces were sent to me. They were all made of metal and were very heavy!
【Item Name: Gu Refining Furnace】
Item Quality: Blue
【Durability: 200/200】
[Item Description: You can use this to store your Gu worms, but if you don't want to end up with only one left, don't leave them inside for too long.]
These are treasures of Gu Masters. When I sent her ten of them in one go, it almost emptied her pockets, and her Gu worm breeding had to be put on hold for a while. But since Shen Di wanted them, she took them without hesitation.
Having the Gu Refining Furnace makes things much more convenient. Shen Dixin also asked Soraya to catch some insects. Blood Cotton Worms are marine creatures, and the mermaid's aura works on them. In fact, because they don't have much brains to think, they are the kind of creatures that absolutely obey.
At Soraya's command, they lined up and jumped in, very obediently!
Although the Gu-refining furnace containing the Blood Cotton Worms can no longer be stored in the spatial dimension, without the Red Tide blocking the way, Lu Mingang and the others can now help out up there.
Go up and bring the ropes down. Shen Dixin used them to tie the full Gu-refining furnace, and then Lu Mingang pulled it up.
This furnace is essentially a conceptual container that is actually connected to another space, just like the white-faced man's cloth bag, which won't get wet in the sea.
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