"BANG!"
The sound of a gunshot rang out!
At the same time, Lu Jiamei had already pulled the stem off an Iron Melon and thrown it, tackling Ren Yuanyang in the same motion!
It was a subconscious reaction to hearing the gunshot.
Whether it was because Lu Jiamei was too fast or the shooter’s aim was terrible, the bullet didn’t hit either of them.
Ren Yuanyang broke out in a cold sweat and quickly turned off his flashlight.
Leaving the flashlight on had given their position right away!
"BOOM!"
A dull explosion echoed, followed by the sound of screams.
"Dammit, retreat now!" a voice shouted from the other side.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
The sound of rapid paddling slowly faded into the distance.
"Aren’t firearms strictly controlled in our country?" Ren Yuanyang frowned.
"Maybe they’re like me, or maybe they stole it during the riots," Lu Jiamei speculated.
Hearing the people retreat, Xin Wan called out anxiously, "Boss, Jiamei, are you two okay?"
She had just heard a gunshot, but it had come from the other party’s direction, which meant they were the ones who had fired!
"We’re fine, don’t worry!" Ren Yuanyang replied. Then he turned to Lu Jiamei and said gratefully, "I really owe you one for that!"
Lu Jiamei shook her head. "He missed. He probably doesn’t know how to use a pistol very well, or maybe the bright light made him nervous."
"At such a close range, it’s unlikely he just missed. You really did save my life," Ren Yuanyang said, letting out a breath.
"You saved me, too, by taking me in! There’s no way to settle that score, so let’s just stop being so formal with each other from now on," Lu Jiamei replied with a smile.
Ren Yuanyang nodded and changed the subject. "Take two Iron Melons to the speedboat. Leave the other two here in the container, and remind Xin Wan not to pull out the stems!"
"Got it!" Lu Jiamei answered, bringing two Iron Melons onto the speedboat.
Xin Wan looked worriedly at Lu Jiamei as she came in from outside.
"We drove them back!" Lu Jiamei said with a reassuring smile. "It’s all thanks to your warning this time. If they’d gotten close to us with a gun in hand, we would’ve been in big trouble! By the way, is your hearing always this good? You could hear them from so far away?"
Xin Wan froze for a moment, then shook her head. "My hearing has always been normal."
"Hearing the sound of paddling from that far away is definitely not normal!" Lu Jiamei replied. "Could it be that you’ve evolved too?"
"But I don’t feel any different!" Xin Wan said, confused.
"In any case, better hearing is a good thing, so don’t worry about it!" Lu Jiamei took out the Iron Melons she had brought. "Keep these two Iron Melons on the speedboat. Remember not to pull out the stems..."
After hearing Lu Jiamei’s explanation, Xin Wan looked at the two Iron Melons curiously. "Are these things really that powerful? Their screams just now were horrific!"
"I had my doubts before, but judging by how it just worked, they’re definitely powerful," Lu Jiamei replied. "You get some rest. I’ll take the second half of the night."
Ren Yuanyang returned to the container but couldn’t fall asleep, so he opened his phone.
To his surprise, the Regional Channel was buzzing with activity.
"Dammit, @Black Dragon, you bastard, just you wait! When I find you, I’ll tear you limb from limb!"
"What’s going on? You planning to be a midnight slasher or something?"
"The survivors at the location he provided had grenades! My team has one dead and three injured! He’s fully responsible for this!"
"What! How’s that possible? Our country’s gun control is incredibly strict, let alone grenades!"
"Yeah, you must have seen it wrong!"
"Seen it wrong? Are you saying my one dead and three injured teammates are a mistake?"
Seeing the discussion on the Regional Channel, Black Dragon was shocked but couldn’t help feeling a sense of relief.
’Thank god Ren Yuanyang didn’t use a grenade on us. Otherwise, we’d all have been wiped out right there.’
"A pistol and grenades... just who the hell are they?" Black Dragon muttered to himself. He then immediately ordered his underling, "Get away from that speedboat, now."
The underling at the engine was confused. "Boss, why are we moving away? Aren’t we going to reap the rewards after they fight?"
They all knew their boss had exposed the speedboat’s location on the Regional Channel. The plan was to let other survivors wear down the target, then they could swoop in and rob them.
"Reap what rewards?! They have grenades! Get us out of here, now! The farther, the better!" Black Dragon snapped.
Hearing this, the underling didn’t hesitate. He immediately started the engine and steered away from the speedboat.
Just then, Black Dragon posted on the Regional Channel: "My friend, how can you blame me? I was just providing you all with a way to trade for food."
"Dammit, everyone knows what you were thinking, so stop pretending to be a nice guy! I bet you got your ass kicked by them, so you exposed their location to get someone else to do your dirty work!"
"That wasn’t my intention at all. I just saw that everyone was short on food and wanted to let you all know!" Black Dragon would never admit to it.
"If you could see he was trying to get someone else to do his dirty work, why were you dumb enough to go?"
"They have food! I don’t believe you wouldn’t be tempted when you see the word ’food’. You’re all just too scared to act. If you had a pistol, wouldn’t you go check it out?"
"Holy shit, the guy above has a gun?"
"No wonder he went. If I had a gun and was nearby, I’d definitely go take a look too!"
"Nothing wrong with taking a look, but going at this time of night is obviously a sneak attack. Of course they weren’t going to be nice to you. Still, opening with a grenade... that’s one hell of a temper!"
"Guess having a gun doesn’t mean you can be careless. God knows what the other side is packing!"
Watching the discussion on the Regional Channel, Ren Yuanyang’s brow furrowed.
The Iron Melon had repelled the attackers, but it had also revealed one of their trump cards.
Ordinary small boats probably wouldn’t dare to harass them anymore, but if a large ship targeted them, they’d be in real trouble.
’I still need to find a way to get moving!’ Ren Yuanyang thought. He turned off his phone and drifted into a hazy sleep.
The next day, Ren Yuanyang slept until he woke up naturally. He felt that his Mental Energy had fully recovered, so he immediately went to the Iron Melon Tree to try and enhance its fruiting speed.
[Mental Energy insufficient...]
"Huh? Wasn’t my Mental Energy enough yesterday?" Ren Yuanyang paused, slightly stunned.
[Enhancing the same plant, even if for a different attribute, requires at least double the Mental Energy.]
"Since when was that a rule?" Ren Yuanyang’s brow furrowed.
[Each subsequent enhancement to the same plant modifies its very being. The more modifications, the more complex it becomes, and the more Mental Energy is required.]
After reading the system’s explanation, Ren Yuanyang began to understand. A single enhancement might only alter one aspect, but a second enhancement would have to make further changes without negatively affecting the first. It was indeed more complex.
The plants he had enhanced before were all relatively small, and enhancing a single one up to four times never exceeded his Mental Energy limit, so he hadn’t noticed this rule before.
"My Mental Energy cap is still too low!" Ren Yuanyang sighed. "I’ll have to be more conservative with the Iron Melons I have on hand."

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