"You have. You’ve made the absolute right choice," Lu Jiamei said with a smile, handing her the compressed biscuit.
Xin Wan froze at her words, but when she saw the compressed biscuit in Lu Jiamei’s hand, her eyes practically glowed with hunger.
In the past, she wouldn’t have given this kind of food a second glance, but now it seemed like the most exquisite delicacy imaginable.
"Go on, take it!" Lu Jiamei urged. Then she asked, "Do you have a cup? This bottle is the one I always use, so if you’d rather not, you can take your own cup to our leader and get some water from him."
Xin Wan immediately replied, "I don’t mind, I don’t mind at all!"
She could use rainwater to quench her thirst, of course, but Blue Star’s environment had become so hostile that no one could guarantee the rain was clean.
Given any other choice, Xin Wan would never drink the rainwater.
She grabbed a cup, and Lu Jiamei twisted the cap off a plastic water bottle, pouring it full for her.
"The supply of pure water is basically unlimited. Whenever you need more, just go get some from our leader," Lu Jiamei continued.
"Unlimited supply?" Xin Wan’s eyes widened. She even forgot about the food in her hands.
Lu Jiamei nodded. "That’s right. You’ll soon understand just how powerful our leader is."
This made Xin Wan even more curious, but since Lu Jiamei didn’t elaborate, she was sensible enough not to press the issue.
Lu Jiamei glanced around the speedboat’s cabin, surprised. "It can’t have been easy to find a custom-modified speedboat like this."
"I had it custom-made for over a million about a week after the downpour started," Xin Wan replied, taking large bites of her compressed biscuit.
Lu Jiamei paused, stunned for a moment, then gave her a thumbs-up. "You’re the one with real foresight!"
Xin Wan gave a bitter smile. "Even with all that foresight, I never imagined this downpour would last so long."
"I know, right?" Lu Jiamei nodded in agreement. "Does this speedboat of yours still have electricity?"
Xin Wan paused, then replied, "There should be a fair amount left. But what good is electricity now?"
Lu Jiamei’s face lit up. "We can at least have a hot, cooked meal!"
"You mean we have rice and flour?" Xin Wan asked, surprised.
Lu Jiamei was coy. "Finish eating first, then take care of what the leader asked. After that, we’ll get to see your cooking skills in action! I’m going back on watch. We can chat more later!"
Xin Wan nodded. She quickly finished the compressed biscuit, finally feeling something in her stomach. Then, she collected a basin of rainwater from outside and started cleaning the speedboat’s cabin.
Perhaps wanting to make a good impression on Ren Yuanyang, or perhaps driven by curiosity about the hot meal Lu Jiamei had mentioned, Xin Wan swiftly cleaned the cabin and then organized her supplies, sorting everything into categories.
Once all that was done, she put on her raincoat and went back outside.
"Leader, the speedboat is clean and the supplies are organized!" Xin Wan said, adopting the same title Lu Jiamei used.
Ren Yuanyang, who was in the middle of restoring his Mental Energy, heard Xin Wan’s voice and called out, "Lu Jiamei, bring her over here."
"Yes, sir!" Lu Jiamei replied, her voice filled with excitement.
But Xin Wan’s heart sank. ’So I can’t escape this after all!’
’But I’ve already come this far. There’s no turning back now!’
While she was lost in thought, Lu Jiamei led her over, and they jumped to the opening of a shipping container. When Xin Wan saw what was inside, her eyes widened in utter shock.
’This isn’t a boat!’
’They have electric lights in here?’
’Is that a crocodile? It looks like a Siamese crocodile!’
Xin Wan’s face was a mask of utter disbelief.
"If this was a boat, we would have moved. Do you think we’d just wait for you to crash into us?" Ren Yuanyang retorted. He then explained, "This is a shipping container. What you think are electric lights are just Fluorescent Cacti. As for that crocodile hanging there, we don’t know what species it is. We called you over to process it."
Xin Wan was left reeling from the barrage of information. A dozen questions flooded her mind.
’Can an open shipping container float on water?’
’Do Fluorescent Cacti really glow as brightly as light bulbs?’
’How did they manage to kill such a huge crocodile?’
Standing nearby, Lu Jiamei spoke up. "I know you must have a lot of questions. You’ll understand everything eventually. For now, it’s time to show us your professional skills. Prove your value."
Xin Wan flinched slightly, then nodded.
’In an apocalypse like this, only those with value won’t be abandoned!’
Ren Yuanyang put his hands in his pockets and stepped aside to make room for her. Tucked away in one of those pockets, of course, was a handgun.
Xin Wan picked up a Boning Knife from a nearby table and approached the suspended crocodile.
Looking at the crocodile’s mangled body, she asked with a puzzled expression, "Was your fight with this thing that intense?"
Clearly, Xin Wan assumed all the cuts on the crocodile were from the fight.
"AHEM. Not exactly. We were just trying to bleed it," Ren Yuanyang said, coughing twice to hide his embarrassment.
Xin Wan, who had been about to make her first cut, froze. The corner of her mouth twitched.
Lu Jiamei, on the other hand, felt no embarrassment. "We had no idea how to process it. If we hadn’t run into you today, we probably would have just hacked it into pieces, salted it, and thrown it aside."
"What did you just say? You were going to salt this meat?" Xin Wan asked in astonishment.
Ren Yuanyang nodded.
"But even if you have salt, you can’t just waste it like that! Surely you know how important salt is these days!" Xin Wan couldn’t help but point out.
"Of course I know that," Ren Yuanyang replied. "Just process the meat first. When you’re done, I’ll have Lu Jiamei explain everything to you."
Xin Wan nodded and began to break down the crocodile carcass.
"This is definitely a Siamese crocodile. Judging by its size, it’s about three years old..."
She explained as she worked, expertly processing the crocodile while giving Ren Yuanyang and Lu Jiamei a running commentary.
In less than half an hour, the entire crocodile had been transformed into various cuts of meat. The whole process was a display of artistry.
When she was finished, Xin Wan cleaned the Boning Knife and placed it back on the table.
Ren Yuanyang couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up. "A true professional! Your speedboat still has power, right?"
"It does, but I don’t know how much longer it will last," Xin Wan replied. "Without diesel, I can’t keep the generator running."
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "Then we’ll have to be frugal with it. Turn off the refrigerator for now. From now on, we only use electricity for cooking."
"Understood," Xin Wan nodded.
’Storing the crocodile meat in the fridge would preserve it better and make it taste better later, but this is no time to be picky about texture. It’s better to save the power and cook a few more hot meals.’
Ren Yuanyang gave his next order. "You two move all the meat to the speedboat. Then, clean up in here and take one of the Fluorescent Cacti with you for light."
"Yes, sir!" Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan replied in unison.
Ren Yuanyang returned to his chair at the container’s opening and resumed strengthening the Round Duckweed and bitter grass that Xin Wan had brought.
The two women transferred the butchered crocodile meat to the speedboat, then started cleaning the inside of the shipping container.
Xin Wan’s technique was so clean that she hadn’t dirtied the container floor at all. The existing mess had been made by Ren Yuanyang and Lu Jiamei earlier.
Just then, a thought occurred to Ren Yuanyang. He turned his head and asked, "By the way, is the crocodile blood edible?"

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