Chapter 450 - 440: Sailing Carnival 42

Instead of learning how to pilot the ship, Moira Lynch decided to focus all her attention elsewhere.

During this time, even though the players on the ship knew they could complete the mission, they couldn’t help but feel restless after drifting at sea for several months.

After all, the mission was unprecedentedly long. While not encountering danger had its benefits, it also had its drawbacks.

Namely, life had become incredibly boring and monotonous.

Furthermore, the food on the ship was terrible—a veritable disaster for the people of Cathaya, who placed great importance on their gastronomic pleasures.

At first, people were fascinated by the vast variety of fish in the sea. But after months of eating them prepared in every conceivable way, the novelty faded, replaced by numbness.

The next day, when Moira Lynch went out on deck, she saw a player yanking hard on his fishing rod. Soon, a fresh, wriggling fish was pulled from the water.

The player glanced at the fish casually, then expressionlessly picked up a gutting knife nearby. After a quick cleaning, he began to eat it raw.

Moira Lynch recognized the species. It was a Jellyfish, with flesh that had a jelly-like texture, making it perfect for eating raw.

Scenes like this were a common sight on deck.

Everyone held a fish in their hands, eating with blank expressions.

Just then, a "COO COO" sound came from overhead.

The Ghost Cat Owl had returned.

Moira Lynch looked up and waved at the Ghost Cat Owl. It soon landed precisely beside her.

The others who saw this only spared it a brief glance before returning to gnawing on their fish.

At first, it might have been a novelty, but similar scenes played out countless times each day, and they had long since grown used to it.

After placing the fish it had caught in front of Moira Lynch, the Ghost Cat Owl flew off again.

Moira Lynch herself hadn’t been idle either.

With Patience’s help, she had been constantly capturing edible fish. It was safe to say her harvest during this period had been bountiful.

With the variety of fish she now possessed, she could open her own marine museum.

This continued until noon, when Moira Lynch finally paused her search.

It wasn’t that there were no more edible fish in the sea, but rather that some species weren’t suitable for cultivation on Cloudsea Planet at this time, so she gave up on them for now.

Standing on the deck and gazing at the boundless ocean, she knew that if all went as expected, this would be their last noon here. By this time tomorrow, the game should be over.

Just then, Moira Lynch’s brow suddenly furrowed. She seemed to sense something. ’There’s something up ahead,’ she thought, ’and it’s huge.’

"Moira, can you hear me?"

Just as Moira Lynch was about to investigate what it was, Hugh Finch’s voice suddenly sounded in her ear, capturing her attention.

"What’s wrong?" Moira Lynch asked.

Since she rarely stayed in the cockpit, she had kept the Communication Corridor with Hugh Finch open so he could contact her at any time.

"According to the biological radar, there’s a massive obstruction a thousand kilometers ahead. Go check it out and clear it away."

’An obstruction? That must be what my spiritual power just detected.’

"Do you know what the obstruction is?" Moira Lynch asked.

Hugh Finch answered quickly. "It appears to be some kind of plant. It’s enormous—so long that it exceeds the radar’s detection range. Going around it would take a lot of time, so you’d better be quick."

Hearing the urgency in Hugh Finch’s voice, Moira Lynch’s expression grew serious.

"Okay, I understand. At the freighter’s current speed, how long until we reach the obstruction?" Moira Lynch asked.

"Five minutes. No, less than five minutes."

Upon hearing Hugh Finch’s answer, a section of a green plant had already appeared in Moira Lynch’s hands.

It was a vine, broken off at both ends, about as thick as Moira Lynch’s calf. A huge leaf was still attached, covered in fine, soft hairs that were very pleasant to the touch.

"Patience, what is this?"

When encountering something unfamiliar, the first thing to do was, of course, ask Patience.

"Master, this is a Xisuo Vine, also known as a ’Marine Nursery.’ You see the white, downy hairs on its leaves? Many fish love to lay their eggs on them.

Research has shown that in waters where Xisuo Vines are present, the reproductive drive of fish greatly increases, and the hatching rate of their eggs also rises. It is a very magical plant.

Not only that, but the Xisuo Vine is also edible."

It had to be said, Patience understood Moira Lynch very well.

Just moments ago, when Moira Lynch learned that the Xisuo Vine could increase the hatching rate of fish, her eyes had shown only a flicker of interest.

But when it mentioned that the Xisuo Vine was edible, her expression changed in an instant.

Her beautiful eyes lit up immediately.

"It’s edible? Then tell me more. How do you eat it? What does it taste like? What’s the yield?"

This rapid-fire questioning left Patience momentarily unsure which to answer first, so it simply addressed them one by one.

"The edible part of the Xisuo Vine is the vine itself, but the outer skin is inedible. You cut open the skin to reveal the noodle-like substance inside. After removing it, you can boil it in water to cook it.

This food is called Xisuo Noodles. It’s nutritious, but eating it alone tastes a bit like eating grass. It’s best paired with fish.

As for the yield, the Xisuo Vine, much like the Qio Vine and Full Vine you discovered earlier, Master, belongs to the category of plants with incredibly tenacious Life Energy."

’Yes, yes, perfect! The Xisuo Vine ticked all her boxes.’

To think she would discover such a treasure right at the very end.

While Moira Lynch was learning about the Xisuo Vine, the freighter was drawing ever closer to it.

Though it wasn’t yet visible, at the freighter’s speed, they would likely collide with it in less than two minutes.

With this in mind, Moira Lynch wasted no time. She released her spiritual power, enveloping the distant Xisuo Vines entirely.

What she hadn’t expected was that what she had just scouted was only a fraction of the whole. Underwater, the Xisuo Vines formed a complex, tangled web, like an underwater Bastion.

Seeing this, Moira Lynch held nothing back. She unleashed her spiritual power to its absolute maximum and, in one fell swoop, pulled all of the Xisuo Vines into her storage space.

In an instant, Moira Lynch’s vision went black, and her head started ringing.

It was a sensation she was all too familiar with: spiritual power depletion.

Pale-faced, Moira Lynch sat down on the deck, her back against the railing, gasping for breath.

An unknown amount of time passed before the frantic work of the Healing Device finally made her feel much better.