Chapter 321 - 210: The Wilderness Chef’s Handiwork

Chapter 321: Chapter 210: The Wilderness Chef’s Handiwork

Bartel’s thinking was simple. If he couldn’t even catch three lobsters within a week, with his reputation in the Hunter Realm, continuing on would just be a joke.

He might as well just withdraw from the competition.

Besides, his real expertise wasn’t wilderness survival, but tracking deer herds.

Even without the bet, his original goal hadn’t been to rush for a top spot. He just wanted to challenge himself and see how long he could last.

"Go ahead and gather your own firewood, then. Feel free to come get an ember whenever you need to start a fire."

Bartel nodded and turned, heading into the forest.

Lin Chen didn’t stay idle. He and Erica took the venison and potatoes down to the stream. After giving the meat a quick rinse to wash off the blood, they peeled all the potatoes.

He found a stone by the stream with a very coarse surface. Taking a potato in hand, he began to grate it by rubbing it in circles against the stone.

With each rotation, fine bits of potato were scraped off by the stone’s rough, uneven edges.

He collected the grated potato in a bamboo tube, filled it with water, and then simply let it be.

"Is this for the giant octopus balls?"

Erica helped grate the potatoes, staring curiously at the murky liquid in the bamboo tube. She clearly didn’t understand what Lin Chen was planning.

"If I remember correctly, you used this same method in Alaska. It’s for extracting starch, right?"

"But didn’t you say the main ingredient for octopus balls was flour? Can starch be a substitute?"

"It can’t," Lin Chen said with a mysterious smile. "You’ll see. Come on, let’s go back and take care of this venison first."

He left the bamboo tube with the grated potatoes to soak, showing no intention of bringing it back with them. He just casually left it by the stream.

By the time they returned to their shelter, Bartel had already started a small campfire a short distance away.

The campfire looked almost exactly like one you’d see in a video game—just a few logs arranged in a circle with a flame burning in the center.

He clearly didn’t intend to build a large fire, letting it burn quietly while he dug a pit into the earthen wall at the base of the hill.

Bartel had chosen a spot near the far end of the slope’s base, over a hundred meters away from them.

After just a few glances, Lin Chen had a good idea of what he was planning.

"What’s he doing? Digging a shelter?"

Erica tilted her head, her curious gaze landing on Lin Chen’s face.

"No, he’s building a smokehouse."

Lin Chen set down the bamboo basket from his back and rolled his shoulders. Grabbing a bamboo slat from inside the shelter, he also started digging into the earthen wall nearby.

"Smokehouses are very useful in warm climates. Smoking food extends its shelf life, and with salt, it can be preserved for even longer."

"Speaking of which, we’re almost out of salt. If you don’t mind, could you head down to the beach and make some?"

"Sure, you can count on me!"

’The venison might be Lin’s personal property, but the octopus is mine. And I gathered almost all of that seafood myself.’

’I’m sure Lin will let me try his venison dishes.’

’Besides, those giant octopus balls I’ve been planning on also need salt.’

’Even if it’s just for those, I have to get the salt ready.’

「The sun sank in the west.」

Golden-red sunlight spilled across the ocean’s surface. The glittering waves were calm and vast, lapping gently against the shore.

Erica stood up and shook the bamboo tube, watching the small mound of white sea salt inside. She nodded in satisfaction.

’This should be about right. This amount should be enough for cooking.’

When she returned to the shelter, Lin Chen had already finished digging two pits in the nearby earthen wall, connected in a shape that resembled a dumbbell.

A pile of charcoal was burning quietly in the lower pit.

A flue had been carved out diagonally above the fire, leading to the other pit.

The upper pit was clearly much wider and deeper than the lower one.

Many branches had been inserted horizontally across the left and right sides of the pit, and from these branches hung chunks of venison, all of similar size and shape.

The surface of the venison chunks had already begun to change color slightly from the smoke, looking like a dish presented with dry ice at a high-end restaurant.

Lin Chen was sitting at the mouth of the shelter, weaving a bamboo net. When he saw her return, he immediately got up to greet her.

"The salt?"

"Here. Is it enough?"

He took the bamboo tube, glanced inside, and nodded. "Should be enough. We can just use a little less if we have to."

After getting the salt, he immediately grabbed a palm-sized leaf from where he had been sitting. On it were crushed allspice seeds and chopped bay leaves. He added a moderate amount of sea salt, mixed it all together, and then rubbed the mixture onto the surface of the deer leg and the remaining venison.

Lin Chen had already butchered the large cuts of venison into various shapes; some of the cuts even looked familiar to her.

"Hungry?"

He glanced at the sky, which was quickly growing dark.

Erica touched her flat stomach. Although she didn’t feel any hunger pangs, she was probably hungry.

’How could anyone surviving in the wild not be hungry? I must be so used to it that my senses have just gone numb.’

Seeing her gesture, Lin Chen gave a knowing smile. He immediately grabbed the most prized cut—the venison tenderloin—and sliced two thick, two-finger-wide medallions from its thickest part.

The charcoal fire on the ground hadn’t gone out yet. He tossed in a few more pieces of firewood, then set up the bamboo-mesh grill rack they had used before.

"Grilled venison steaks?"

Erica’s eyes lit up, and she subconsciously swallowed.

"Nope."