Just this afternoon, he said his Mental Energy wasn’t enough, but by bedtime, he had already finished strengthening the Iron Melon Tree. Could the effects of the evolved crocodile meat be that significant?
Ren Yuanyang only had one more piece than them tonight; everyone had eaten some during the day!
But Xin Wan hadn’t felt any obvious effects.
’Is it because I threw up?’ Xin Wan could only look to herself for a reason. "Jiamei, did you feel anything after eating the crocodile meat?"
Lu Jiamei shook her head. "No. I think it has to do with one’s individual constitution. The Chief is already an Evolver, so his ability to absorb it should be stronger than ours. Plus, he’s been constantly using his Mental Energy to evolve plants and train himself. With all those factors combined, the improvement to his Mental Energy would naturally be very obvious!"
Xin Wan nodded slightly. "I see. Alright, you get some rest. I’ll keep watch!"
"Okay. If anything happens, wake me up immediately!" Lu Jiamei replied, then lay down.
Xin Wan found an opaque piece of clothing and used it to block one side of the Fluorescent Cactus, preventing its light from disturbing Lu Jiamei’s rest.
She pulled the cabin’s curtains open a crack and gazed out at the pitch-black surface of the sea.
In the dead of night, the sound of the rain grew even clearer. There was no telling how much longer it would keep falling!
’I wonder if the Chief will give me my phone back once he trusts me more,’ Xin Wan thought. She walked over to the console to check on the crocodile meat she had curing, then collected the salt from the spartina grass.
After finishing her tasks, she put on her raincoat and carefully went outside.
Mimicking Lu Jiamei, she laboriously climbed onto the roof of the shipping container. Holding up her Fluorescent Cactus for light, she walked a full circuit, inspecting the container’s condition.
Lu Jiamei had told her what to check for during the day.
After confirming everything was in order, Xin Wan returned to the speedboat and stared blankly at the rainwater streaming down the glass window.
An unknown amount of time passed before Xin Wan suddenly heard a faint splashing sound.
She jolted alert, listened intently to confirm it, and then nudged the resting Lu Jiamei.
"What’s wrong?" Lu Jiamei still seemed groggy.
"I hear splashing. I think a boat might be approaching us!" Xin Wan replied immediately.
Lu Jiamei was instantly awake. "You keep an eye on things here. I’ll go get the Chief!"
With that, she quickly put on her raincoat and headed toward the shipping container.
"Chief, wake up!"
The low call startled Ren Yuanyang awake. Seeing Lu Jiamei standing at the entrance of the container, he sat up and asked, "What is it?"
"Xin Wan heard splashing. A boat might be approaching us!" Lu Jiamei replied in a low voice.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly and ordered, "Cover all the Fluorescent Cacti. We’ll go out and take a look."
"Yes, sir!" Lu Jiamei immediately returned to the speedboat to relay the order to Xin Wan.
Ren Yuanyang covered all the cacti inside the container, then glanced at the time. It was just past midnight.
’They made it here in just four hours?’ Ren Yuanyang wondered. ’Were they that close to us?’
With that thought, Ren Yuanyang climbed onto the roof of the container, positioning himself beside the crown of the Iron Melon Tree, where he could easily reach out and grab the few Iron Melons.
Lu Jiamei came to his side and handed him a flashlight.
"It’s the high-powered flashlight Xin Wan brought. It’s fully charged!"
Ren Yuanyang took it.
Lu Jiamei pointed in a certain direction and said in a low voice, "The splashing Xin Wan heard was from this direction!"
Ren Yuanyang tilted his head and listened carefully, but it seemed he could only hear the rain.
"Did she really hear splashing?"
"To be honest, I didn’t hear it either, but there’s no reason for Xin Wan to lie to us," Lu Jiamei replied with a shrug.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly.
The two of them crouched on the container, carefully observing the direction Xin Wan had indicated.
About ten minutes later, Ren Yuanyang and Lu Jiamei finally heard the sound of splashing water.
They exchanged a look of utter astonishment.
Xin Wan had actually heard a sound from that far away more than ten minutes in advance!
But this was no time to marvel at that. They had to deal with their uninvited late-night guests first!
"With visibility this poor, they actually traveled through the night to get here. Do they have a death wish?" Ren Yuanyang’s brow furrowed.
Visibility at night was terrible. Normally, a boat—especially a small one—wouldn’t risk sailing. What if they hit an obstacle? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?
He truly hadn’t expected someone to risk approaching his location in the middle of the night.
"Perhaps they were counting on everyone thinking that way and decided to launch a surprise attack under the cover of darkness!" Lu Jiamei analyzed.
Ren Yuanyang was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "I underestimated the survivors’ desperation for food!"
"It’s a good thing Xin Wan discovered them ahead of time. Otherwise, this would have been a real hassle!" Lu Jiamei remarked with feeling.
"Yeah," Ren Yuanyang responded. He then plucked an Iron Melon from a nearby branch and weighed it in his hand. "Pretty heavy. This has to be at least a kilogram!"
"Chief, is this thing really lethal?" Lu Jiamei asked, still looking at the Iron Melon in disbelief.
"I couldn’t say before, but its lethality is definitely impressive now!" Ren Yuanyang said with great confidence, and began to explain how to use it. "After picking a ripe Iron Melon, you just pull off the stem and throw it. It will explode on impact."
"Isn’t that just like a hand grenade?" Lu Jiamei asked, surprised.
Ren Yuanyang nodded. "Yeah, it’s just bigger and a bit heavy! Here, get a feel for it."
Saying this, he handed the Iron Melon to Lu Jiamei.
"This doesn’t seem too heavy, actually. It’s much lighter than a shot put!" Lu Jiamei said after gauging its weight. "It’s just a little bulky."
In shot put competitions, the men’s shot weighs 7.26 kilograms and the women’s weighs 4 kilograms. This Iron Melon was only about 1 kilogram, so it was indeed much lighter.
"How far do you think you could throw it accurately?" Ren Yuanyang asked after a moment of thought.
"I could probably throw it over ten meters, but if I’m trying to be accurate, the closer the better, obviously!" Lu Jiamei had never thrown such a large, oval-shaped object before.
She had only ever thrown the women’s shot put in school, and her record back then was just over seven meters. Since this thing was only a quarter of the weight of a shot put, throwing it ten meters shouldn’t be a problem.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly and reminded her, "You have to throw it more than five meters away. The blast radius of an exploding Iron Melon is five meters."
"Understood!" Lu Jiamei paused, startled for a second, then nodded in acknowledgment.
The distant sound of paddling grew clearer. Ren Yuanyang narrowed his eyes. "Judging by the sound, they aren’t using a motor. In a moment, I’ll use the flashlight to reveal their position. As soon as they enter your throwing range, you can let it fly!"
Ren Yuanyang could sense Lu Jiamei’s nervousness and offered some reassurance. "Throw it boldly. Don’t worry about being inaccurate!"
"Yes, sir!" Lu Jiamei replied in a heavy voice.
Following the direction of the sound, Ren Yuanyang instantly switched on the flashlight, sending a powerful beam cutting through the curtain of rain.
Just beyond ten meters from the container, a small boat had two rafts tied to its sides. On each raft were three people, paddling furiously!
The sudden, bright light seemed to stun the newcomers.
But the small boat and rafts continued to drift forward on their momentum, quickly closing to within ten meters of the container!

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