Chapter 342 - 220: The All-Powerful Bamboo Strip Craft (Part 2)

Chapter 342: Chapter 220: The All-Powerful Bamboo Strip Craft (Part 2)

SPLASH!

Water flew everywhere.

He felt the distinct impact of striking something soft. The Green Iguana’s limbs twitched, but it still struggled to swim away, its long, slender tail actually snapping right off from the blow.

’Shedding its tail to escape?’

This was a characteristic the guide had specifically pointed out when he first introduced them to the Green Iguana.

Just like a gecko, a Green Iguana can regrow its tail in a short amount of time. Thus, when facing danger, they often choose to shed their tails to escape, using the detached tail to distract their opponent.

A Green Iguana’s tail is longer than its body, so once it breaks off, the main body becomes much less conspicuous.

Unfortunately for this little guy, it had run into a highly intelligent creature today.

SMACK—

Another strike from the bamboo blade came down, landing squarely on the crown of its head.

The immense force smashed the small creature under the water. When it floated back up, it was no longer struggling, and a faint trace of blood was seeping from its mouth and nose.

The Green Iguana, originally almost half a meter long, was now just a palm-sized body. The difference was truly absurd.

He picked it up to take a look, and after confirming its eyes had rolled back, he pulled out his military knife and gutted it. He skinned it, gave it a quick rinse in the seawater to clean off the blood, and tossed it into the bamboo basket on his back.

’I’m not short on protein right now, so there’s no need to go out of my way to hunt Green Iguanas. Having one to taste is enough. The most important thing at the moment is to get that Diving Proficiency skill.’

He pulled up the system panel to check. He had accumulated 8 Happiness Points so far. He just needed 7 more and he’d be all set.

’With the ingredients I have on hand, besides making a new dish with taro, it’s hard to get creative with the rest. Trying to get 7 Happiness Points from taro alone will probably be difficult.’

’The taro here seems to be a starchy, glutinous variety, which happens to be a texture I don’t particularly like. It might suit my taste if I make it into a dessert, but it probably won’t be enough on its own.’

’Maybe... I should try to gather some rope and build a raft?’

Given the difficulty of building a raft, if he managed to make one, it would surely bring a huge sense of accomplishment. And a sense of accomplishment was equivalent to a sense of happiness.

Not only could he farm points, but he could also unlock the ocean map. The reward for that shouldn’t be too small.

He estimated it would be at least three points.

’Oh, right, there’s also the fresh Green Iguana meat. I hope this little guy can give me a pleasant surprise.’

After briefly planning his activities for the near future, he started digging up the larger American Oysters.

He had originally planned to shuck them as he dug them up. But after opening one oyster and seeing the layer of pale white liquid beneath the plump meat inside the shell, he suddenly froze and smacked his thigh.

’Damn! How could I forget about that? Looks like I’ll have to take them back to shuck them.’

The water inside the shells was seawater filtered by the oysters themselves. It was clean, unpolluted, and delicious—perfect for being tossed into a pot and stewed with the oyster meat.

The roots of the Mangrove Forest nearby were all covered in oysters of various sizes. In just ten minutes or so, he had collected a full bamboo basket of them.

’Phew... that should be enough. I can’t carry any more. I’m still recovering from a major illness, so I’d better take it easy. Can’t soak in the seawater for too long either.’

After finishing with the oysters, he also picked a bunch of coconuts on his way back, carrying them in his hand.

On the way back, his mind was consumed with how to secure the bamboo raft.

At first, he was only thinking about what other materials, besides Mulberry Tree bark and vines, could be used as a substitute for rope.

As he thought, for some reason, the image of a summer sleeping mat suddenly appeared in his mind.

Bamboo mats could be said to be an indispensable daily item in the life of Asians.

Thinking of bamboo mats made him think of their flexibility, their lightness.

Then, he thought of the various objects woven from bamboo that he had seen at his grandparents’ house in the countryside when he was a child.

Those items didn’t have steel wire or rope to hold them together; they seemed to be woven purely from bamboo.

’Could it be... that bamboo can also be woven into rope?’

At this thought, he hurriedly searched his memory bank for information about bamboo.

He skipped past the useless information about growth environments and the like. As he scrolled through, a particular term caught his eye.

’Bamboo splints?’

Honestly, it was the first time in his life he had ever heard the word.

To put it simply, it was a general term for anything made from bamboo that had been split into thin strips.

He had previously taken his identity as a Da Xia person for granted, wandering through the bamboo forest every day without ever reading the detailed information about bamboo.

He hadn’t even considered that bamboo could be made into rope when he was weaving the very basket on his back.

He had made three bamboo baskets in total, all woven from peeled bamboo strips.

But according to the information, the bamboo skin itself was a natural material for textiles and weaving, with far superior toughness and flexibility compared to the inner layers of the bamboo.

In particular, the bamboo skin could be further thinned through a process of splitting it into layers, thereby achieving the function of a rope.

’Holy shit?’

’The problem that’s been bothering me for days... turns out the solution was the bamboo skins I’ve been burning as firewood all this time?’

The thought made his pace quicken involuntarily. He wished he could rush to the bamboo forest right now and chop down a few more stalks.

Besides serving as rope, the bamboo splints could be used to weave many things.

Things like landing nets, slotted spoons, dustpans, brooms, even tables and chairs... its practicality was far greater than wood.

Beyond weaving, he could also use the bamboo splints to reinforce his shelter, which would prevent it from being blown apart the next time a storm hit.

He hurried back to the shelter and set the heavy bamboo basket on the ground. A new problem presented itself.

What kind of container could he use to cook oyster sauce?

It took about five kilograms of oyster meat to produce a mere 200 grams or so of oyster sauce, but he also had to add water to the meat while cooking, which meant he needed a large enough container.

This was obviously unrealistic.

If he had something like that, he would have been using it to make soup long ago instead of using bamboo tubes and coconut shells as disposable cookware.

’Bamboo, it’s always bamboo. I really can’t survive without this stuff.’

After some careful thought, it seemed the only way to cook down the oyster sauce was by using bamboo tubes.

He didn’t have a large pot, so he would just divide the task among countless small pots.

From 8:00 AM to past 2:00 PM, a full six hours, Lin Chen shuttled nonstop between the bamboo forest and his shelter.

Since he had moved his shelter, he could no longer use his old automatic slide path to transport the bamboo. His only option was to cut more at once and, like an old ox pulling a cart, drag the stalks by their branches, using the downhill slope to help move the heavy bamboo along.

To make transportation easier, he only cut bamboo that was two to three meters tall, never more than four meters at most.

Bamboo of this height hadn’t been growing for too long, so it was relatively easy to cut. Its weight wasn’t too excessive, and its length was manageable.

After hauling the last batch of bamboo into the shelter, Lin Chen plopped down on a stalk, panting heavily.

"1, 2, 3, 4... 29, 30."

’This should be enough, right?’

Fortunately, the bamboo wasn’t excessively heavy, with each stalk weighing between 4 and 8 kilograms. Otherwise, he really might not have been able to drag them all back so easily.

He took a short half-hour break, rehydrating with some coconut water to soothe his throat, before relentlessly diving into the work of cutting bamboo tubes.

To keep his bamboo knife from wearing out too quickly, he now used his sharp military knife to score a circle around the bamboo’s surface. He would then stand the stalk upright, jab the knife’s tip in, and finally, use his bamboo knife as a hammer to strike it.

Cutting bamboo tubes was strenuous work. Without a saw, it often took a long time just to chop off a single section.

After cutting just two sections, he felt this wasn’t working. The efficiency was too low.

So he switched methods. He held a bamboo stalk upright and used his knife to start a thin split from the top. He then worked the blade into the crack and pulled it down toward his body, while his other hand held the bamboo and guided it outward.

Once it was split more than halfway, he threw it on the ground, pinned it with his foot, grabbed the pried-up half, and pulled sharply upwards, easily tearing the entire stalk in two.

After splitting three bamboo stalks in a row, he shouldered them and headed for the creek, grabbing a fire starter on his way out.