Chapter 304 - 201: Idol’s Treatment (Part 2)

Chapter 304: Chapter 201: Idol’s Treatment (Part 2)

For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

’Is an Erica who doesn’t ramble on still the Erica I know?’

"It’s still early. Besides me, there are thirty-one other contestants. Including Andre, all the strong competitors should still be in the game. The ones eliminated so far are just amateurs."

"Hey, do you think the waterspout might have tossed seafood from the deep sea onto the beach?"

"?"

Lin Chen’s mouth twitched.

’Seriously? One second we’re talking about contestants, and the next, it’s about seafood?’

Yep, that was Erica’s style, all right. The familiar feeling was back.

"Theoretically, it’s very possible. During a storm, the waves are violent. They’ll hit the shore with much more force than usual, naturally bringing more seafood with them."

Before he could finish, Erica was already on her feet. In a flash, she climbed up to ground level and poked her head out the door to look around.

"I think the rain’s letting up. Are we going?"

’Going where?!’

"Didn’t you just finish off over a pound of grilled stingray wings? Are you hungry again already?"

"Not really. It’s just that a question occurred to me."

"What question?"

"Since the weather here is so terrible, with storms every other day, the contestants surviving in the forest will definitely be struggling for food. But at the same time, more seafood will be washing up on the beach."

"If we could use this opportunity to gather some seafood and dry it, and also reinforce this shelter of yours, wouldn’t we be able to hold out for much longer?"

’Whoa.’

Lin Chen gave her a thumbs-up. "Not bad, you little brainiac. You don’t seem like a first-timer to coastal survival. You even figured that out faster than I did."

Her reminder made him realize she had a point.

His original plan was to wait until he could redeem the Basic Diving Mastery skill, which would let him easily catch seafood in the ocean. Then he would build a smokehouse or a drying rack to store some dried fish in advance.

He hadn’t expected to run into a waterspout. Given the nature of the phenomenon, it would indeed suck up large amounts of seafood from the deep sea and scatter it across the surrounding area.

’My clothes aren’t dry anyway, so why not just take this chance to make a trip to the beach?’

Once the idea popped into his head, he couldn’t sit still. He immediately put his damp clothes back on, buried the bamboo charcoal embers under some dry soil, and left a small gap for oxygen to get in.

The rain outside had clearly lessened by about sixty percent compared to half an hour ago, but its current intensity was still only a little weaker than the downpour from the past two days.

"You just managed to dry your clothes. Maybe you shouldn’t go. You could get sick from getting soaked over and over again, right?"

"Underestimating me, a North American Forest guide, are you?"

With her hands on her hips, Erica said nothing more, simply taking off her camo jacket and tossing it onto the pile of bamboo leaves at the bottom of the pit to hang. Wearing only a tight-fitting tank top, she shouldered her bamboo basket and strode out into the rain.

"Whew..."

Lin Chen breathed a silent sigh of relief. ’Good, the girl showed some restraint and only took off her jacket.’

If she’d been traveling through the forest in her ’swimsuit’, the livestream’s viewer count would have probably skyrocketed.

The two didn’t head into the forest. Instead, they cut through the tobacco field and followed the creek all the way to the coast.

This creek was the dividing line between the rocky shore and the sandy beach.

From a distance, they could see massive waves relentlessly crashing against the shore’s reefs, sending up huge plumes of spray.

Lin Chen had been here before during high tide, and even at its peak, the water level couldn’t completely submerge the entire rocky shore.

But now, as far as he could see, not a single reef was visible; they had all been swallowed by the waves.

Fortunately, as the rain gradually weakened, the force of the waves also began to subside, and a faint light started to peek through the gloomy gray clouds.

"It’s too dangerous to go to the shore right now. Why don’t we find a couple of suitable branches and make some fish spears first?"

"Alright, whatever you say."

The leftover piece of the wooden spear Erica had brought with her had already been burned as firewood, so they had to find new materials.

They didn’t go deep into the forest, just scouted around the edge, and soon found many branches on the ground that had been snapped off by the storm.

These thick branches, which should have been growing in the tree canopies, now lay in piles on the ground, their ends still covered in numerous forks and dense leaves.

Using the bamboo knife, they chopped off two straight, walking-stick-length branches. With practiced ease, they sharpened the tips, and only then did the two of them return to the shore.

In the ten or so minutes that had passed, the shoreline had clearly receded, and some of the dark reefs were beginning to reveal themselves.

Both of them were already soaked to the bone and couldn’t care less about getting wet. After stepping into the area, they simultaneously switched on their Hat Lamps and began scanning the water’s surface.

"Oh my god!"

The moment she switched on her Hat Lamp, Erica let out a cry of surprise, and with a SWISH, she viciously stabbed her wooden spear into the water.

"No way, that fast??"

Lin Chen curiously moved closer, wanting to see what prey the girl had found.

Suddenly, a jet of black ink shot out from the water, heading straight for him.

Caught completely off guard, he was sprayed right in the face. His vision went black, and all he could feel was a sticky substance on his face and neck, along with a salty, fishy taste in his mouth.

"Pfft..."

"Hahaha, Lin, are you trying to be the comic relief?"

Erica leaned on her spear with one arm, using the other to point at Lin Chen, whose face was now pitch black. She bent over laughing and even made sure to aim her camera at him for a few extra moments.

"I can’t, that expression is too funny! This is definitely going to become a classic meme. I have to record some footage for you."

"Oh, thank you so much!"

Lin Chen spat a few times and wiped his face, managing to get his eyes open.

His only consolation now was that it was still raining, which would quickly wash the ink from his face. Otherwise, if it dried, it would probably stain his clothes.

"Such a powerful jet of ink... could it be an octopus?"

Squid and cuttlefish also spray ink, but an octopus’s ink sac is typically larger, and they tend to be bigger overall, so the force of their spray is naturally greater.

"Yes, it’s an octopus. I think I hit it."

This time, Erica didn’t rush to grab it. An octopus isn’t like a regular fish; its tentacles are covered in suckers. If one latched onto you, it would be impossible to pull off.

They have incredibly tenacious life force. Even with their heads cut off, they can still control their tentacles for a short time through nerve reflexes. She did not want to get tangled up with a creature like that.

As a fairly common ingredient in Western cuisine, Erica was quite familiar with information about octopuses; this was just her first time seeing a live one.

Lin Chen tilted his head back, letting the rain hit his face full-on to wash away as much of the ink as possible.

After a full ten minutes under the downpour, Erica finally nodded to indicate that his face was clean.

His face was clean, sure, but all the ink had been washed onto his clothes, turning them into something resembling an ink wash painting.

The commotion under the water had long since died down. The mud and sand kicked up by the octopus’s struggles had gradually settled, revealing the creature tightly wrapped around the tip of the spear.

She tried to lift the spear with one hand, but its heavy weight was far beyond what she’d imagined. She quickly brought her other hand up to help.

SPLASH

A huge octopus broke the surface of the water, impaled through the head by the spear and lifted high into the air.

Just when they thought it was completely dead, the octopus’s tentacles suddenly began to writhe again, and it shot another jet of ink right at Erica’s fair face.

"Waaah!!"

Erica jumped in fright. She instinctively opened her mouth to scream, and in the next second, got a face and mouthful of ink.

"Pfft..."

Lin Chen couldn’t help but cover his mouth and snicker. He also raised his chest-mounted camera.

"Come on, give us a smile. I’ll record some footage for you, too."

Erica froze for a second, then wiped her face. She looked down at her hands, now covered in black ink, then grinned widely at Lin Chen’s camera and flashed a V-sign.

"Awesome! Idol-level treatment! I heard octopus ink is good for your skin, too. This octopus is a real one. As a reward, Lin, what’s the best way to cook it?"

"Boil it first, then grill it. If you want sashimi, we can also slice it thin and try it, but we don’t have any dipping sauce, so most people probably wouldn’t be able to handle the texture."

"Can we make takoyaki?"

"Takoyaki??"

Lin Chen was stunned. He never, ever would have expected Erica to ask such a question.