Chapter 171 - 170: New Discovery of the Mysterious Fruit

Chapter 171: Chapter 170: New Discovery of the Mysterious Fruit

This reward made everyone around them extremely envious. Crystal Stone Powder was actually Energy Crystals harvested from Level 5 Monsters. For ordinary people, it could slightly boost the activity of their Mental Power, making it a highly precious resource. Studying comfortably in a classroom as warm as spring without needing to venture outside, all while enjoying abundant resources—anyone would be envious.

Among the Awakened, a few individuals also demonstrated decent Rune Talent and were assigned to different study groups. Learning resources began to skew toward the talented, and the goals of the entire research team became much clearer. As for people like Vice President Zhao—muscle-heads who were obviously more suited for combat—they were no longer forced to study Runes. Instead, they focused entirely on leading the combat squads. Meanwhile, the more mediocre individuals had to learn at a slower pace. That was just how human talent worked; sometimes, the gap between two people was even wider than the gap between a human and a pig.

...

One evening, Han Ning had just finished another round of accelerating the growth of the Jade Potato Field and was about to go check on the Moxiang Wood.

"Boss, there’s a major discovery regarding that Seaweed Fruit!" Professor Ye hurried over to him, his face bearing a mixed expression of excitement and confusion.

"Oh?" Han Ning stopped in his tracks.

The professor pulled Han Ning toward his temporary laboratory. On the workbench, the dark green Seaweed Fruit lay quietly in a petri dish. The water was now much clearer and more transparent than before, but Professor Ye wasn’t pointing at the water. He was pointing at the fruit itself.

"Look here!"

Professor Ye used tweezers to carefully part the dark green, seaweed-like roots that were still slowly growing at the top of the fruit, revealing a small patch of the fruit’s main body underneath. The dark green skin was now covered in a thin, nearly transparent gelatinous layer that shimmered with a pearlescent gleam.

"This is..." Han Ning stared intently.

"This appeared when I soaked it in diluted seawater mixed with some Energy Stone Powder, trying to simulate an environment with a surplus of Energy." Professor Ye spoke rapidly. "At first, I was just curious about its reaction to Energy. But a few hours later, this gelatinous layer appeared. I’ve tested it, and it’s incredibly bizarre!"

He picked up a fine metal needle and gently poked the gelatinous layer. "In the air, it’s soft and elastic, just like... well, High Level silicone."

Then, he carefully dripped a drop of ordinary seawater onto it. The moment the seawater touched the gel, the originally soft gelatinous layer actually hardened at a speed visible to the naked eye. When he poked it with the needle again, it let out a faint TAP-TAP sound.

"Not only that!" Professor Ye picked up a sharp-edged thin flake polished from Black Snake Monster Scale Armor. "I tested its strength."

He forcefully scraped the scale across the hardened gelatinous surface.

SCRATCH.

A shallow white mark appeared, but the gelatinous layer was not cut open.

"The Defense Power is quite good, far exceeding ordinary leather and even approaching some alloys! Moreover..." Professor Ye pointed at the white mark. "As long as it’s out of the water for a few minutes, the hardening effect fades away, and the gel becomes soft again. This scratch will also gradually disappear during its slow self-healing process.

"Furthermore, it remains completely unaffected in areas with intense water pressure. I feel it’s a pressure-resistant material highly suitable for making diving suits and the like...

"If we extract this gelatinous material and attach it to ordinary clothing, our Awakened’s underwater combat capabilities could see a massive improvement.

"When that time comes, Awakened who aren’t of the Water Element won’t have to stay on the shore all the time, too afraid to fight in the water."

"Then why didn’t I see those Fishmen utilizing this property of the fruit when I encountered them?" Han Ning asked in confusion.

Professor Ye speculated, "It might be because the strength of those Fishmen was relatively low, unable to reach the Energy threshold required to precipitate the gel...

"Now that I think about it, Boss, when you killed their Leader back then, it didn’t even drop an Energy Crystal."

"It seems so... Professor Ye, excellent work." Han Ning’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, not holding back his praise at all. "Then I’ll have to trouble you to further optimize the soaking environment formula. Find the ideal ratio of Energy Stones to seawater salinity that yields the maximum output and the highest quality gel.

"Next, figure out a method for stripping and collecting the gelatinous layer. Conduct more experiments to see if we can harvest it sustainably without damaging the fruit. I need the most detailed data possible.

"Finally, regarding the breeding of this mysterious fruit, do you have any leads?"

Professor Ye shook his head. "I haven’t found a way to breed it yet. I tried looking for seed-like structures or directly transplanting parts of the flesh and seaweed, but all attempts failed.

"It might have a unique method of reproduction. My current speculation is that it requires an environment with abundant Energy and water that is exceptionally clean for them.

"I’m currently running this experiment, but it requires a special cultivation environment.

"In addition, I’ve personally tasted it. This Feather Fruit can purify seawater. The resulting fresh water doesn’t have the aura of the Black Tide, and there seem to be no other side effects.

"Oh... Feather Fruit is the name I gave to this fruit.

"I think we can dig a reservoir specifically for the pure water purified by the Feather Fruit. We can use it to irrigate the vegetation or cultivate them," Professor Ye suggested.

"We can give it a try. We can act on this immediately; it just so happens I have some free time right now." Han Ning nodded. He had always been very supportive of Professor Ye’s scientific research. And so, they sprang into action.

...

A moment later.

Han Ning and Professor Ye stood side by side at the edge of two newly dug pits. The walls of the pools had already been hardened by Snow Cake manipulating the Earth Element.

"This is the place." Han Ning pointed to the slightly larger pool on the left. "The seawater drawn in will be stored here first for the seaweed to purify. The pool on the right will be used to store the purified fresh water.

"So, I’m leaving it to you guys." Han Ning turned his head and spoke to the several Water Awakened standing by on the side.

"Leave it to us." Long patted his chest and exchanged a few words with his companions nearby.

He took the lead, running down to the col beneath the cave, and made a grasping motion with both hands toward the fast-flowing floodwaters below.

SPLASH.

The surface of the water rippled. A column of water, roughly the size of a palm in diameter, was sucked up from the surface, forming a long stream that spanned a distance of dozens of meters. Then, another Water Awakened standing over a dozen meters away from him caught the stream. Just like that, one after another, they acted as human water pumps, forcefully directing the current into the pool.

Gradually, the murky floodwater, carrying foam and fine impurities, SPLASHED into the reservoir on the left. The water level rose rapidly.

"The pool is almost full," Professor Ye said, staring at the water.

The pool was quickly filled with the muddy floodwater, impurities swirling within. Han Ning walked to the edge of the pool. His body twisted and expanded, transforming into the Molten Gold Battle Tiger. A massive tiger paw plunged into the water, brilliant golden flames flickering in its palm.

HUMMM.

An invisible shockwave swept across the entire pool. The water churned violently, and fine bubbles surged up. All microscopic organisms and insect eggs invisible to the naked eye were instantly vibrated to death.

"We can start the Purification now," Han Ning said, reverting to his human form.