Just like when they tested the Spray Melons, they rowed the boat out twenty to thirty meters and set up the riddled wooden board on it.
"This board of mine has served with great distinction!" Qin Haonan exclaimed. "First it carried me, and now it has to endure a baptism by fire from all these bullets. It’s really had a tough life!"
"Alright, enough. Hurry up and practice. When it finally gives out, you can set up a memorial tablet for it!" Lu Jiamei said, switching the rifle to burst-fire mode and tossing it directly to Qin Haonan.
"I’ll pass on the memorial tablet. I’ll try to aim better and give it a quick end!" Qin Haonan grinned and raised the gun.
"I’ve only fired a few shots at a shooting range myself, so I’m not exactly an expert. Everyone, be very careful of the recoil. You have to brace the stock against your shoulder, or you’ll get hurt. Go on and give it a try!" Lu Jiamei even demonstrated for the two of them.
Qin Haonan and Xin Wan both nodded and began to try shooting.
RAT-TAT-TAT!
The automatic rifles in their hands fired a three-round burst.
As Xin Wan pulled the trigger, she was thrown back two steps and nearly fell flat on her butt on the deck. The bullets flew off to who-knows-where; in any case, they didn’t hit the wooden board.
"Hiss!" Xin Wan rubbed her shoulder. "The recoil on this thing is insane!"
Lu Jiamei replied, "Well-trained soldiers get calluses in the hollow of their shoulder."
Xin Wan shook her head slightly. "I think I’m better suited to using Spray Melons!"
Lu Jiamei paused in thought for a moment, then nodded. "Hmm, you should go and prepare breakfast first."
Although they had acquired some automatic rifles, their ammunition was limited. Training a complete novice like Xin Wan, who wasn’t well-suited for firearms, to a competent level would likely consume a huge amount of ammunition.
It was better to save some and let those more suited to firearms use it.
"Okay." Xin Wan put down the gun and walked towards her speedboat.
As a cook, her battlefield belonged in the kitchen.
Qin Haonan’s performance, on the other hand, was much better. Although he also missed the target at first, he could at least keep the gun steady. After four or five shots, he was able to hit the upright wooden board. It was only the edge, but at least he was on target.
"Awesome!" Qin Haonan shouted, his face full of excitement as he rubbed his shoulder.
While Lu Jiamei and the others were practicing their shooting, Wang Jun contacted the captains of the other two aircraft carrier fleets.
"Gentlemen, that’s the situation on my end. What are your thoughts?" Wang Jun asked after relaying the information he had received from Ren Yuanyang.
Long Zhan, captain of the aircraft carrier *Liaoyuan*, frowned slightly. "Could he be trying to trick us?"
"I doubt it. After all, he said he has the serum. We can get our hands on it for confirmation before completing the trade with him," Ji Yizhi, captain of the aircraft carrier *Lu Ban*, replied in a low voice.
"That’s true. His demands are easy enough to meet. Let’s just make the trade. We can share it three ways afterward," Long Zhan nodded slightly.
Ji Yizhi pondered for a moment. "He’s not asking for food, only seeds. It’s highly likely he’s a Wood-Type Evolver. Should we consider absorbing him directly into the carrier fleet? That way, we could save on the trade items, couldn’t we?"
Wang Jun shook his head immediately. "A single Wood-Type Evolver has a limited impact. We have a Wood-Type on board, and while they can accelerate plant growth, the effect is quite limited. Besides, what if he misunderstands our good intentions and destroys the experimental data? That would be an even greater loss!"
"Exactly. That experimental data is still extremely important. If it can speed up our research and development, we’ll be able to create as many Evolvers as we want!" Long Zhan agreed.
"I was just making a suggestion," Ji Yizhi replied nonchalantly. "In any case, he’s closest to Captain Wang."
"For now, let’s just go along with his demands. The priority is to get the experimental data and the samples first!" Wang Jun said. "Now, let’s discuss how to meet his demands. One fleet can’t be expected to provide everything he’s asking for! Unless, of course, you two no longer want the data."
"Fifty types of seeds, just ten of each—that’s too easy. We shouldn’t need to contribute to that, right?" Long Zhan began. "As for the poultry and livestock, we certainly can’t give him a pair of each kind!"
"How about we just give him a pair of chickens, ducks, and geese?" Ji Yizhi suggested.
"I’ll use that as a baseline for negotiation. If he doesn’t agree and insists on a type of livestock, what do you think would be most suitable to give?" Wang Jun nodded and continued to ask.
"Then it has to be pigs!" Ji Yizhi replied decisively. "Pigs can produce two litters a year, around ten piglets each time. Well-raised sheep might have three litters over two years, but with only about two lambs each. Cows can have at most one birth a year, and they almost always have just a single calf."
Comparatively, pigs have the strongest reproductive ability. Giving away some piglets would have the smallest impact!
Wang Jun nodded slightly.
But Long Zhan said, "Wouldn’t rabbits be even more suitable? Their reproductive ability is even stronger."
Wang Jun was taken aback for a moment, then said with a smile, "That does seem to be the case. I’ll talk to them first and see."
Wang Jun ended the three-way video call, thought for a moment, and then sent a message to Qin Haonan.
"Are you there? We’ve reached a decision on our end."
Ren Yuanyang, who was waiting by Qin Haonan’s phone, heard the app’s notification tone and immediately shouted out of the cabin, "Haonan, get in here! You’ve got a message!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Haonan, who had been stroking the automatic rifle, immediately set the gun aside and walked into the cockpit.
He opened the message from Wang Jun and, following Ren Yuanyang’s instructions, replied, "Tell us the results of your discussion."
"A pair each of chickens, ducks, and geese!"
Seeing this message, Qin Haonan said happily, "Boss, they’re actually giving us three types of poultry! That’s more than we expected. Should we just agree?"
Ren Yuanyang immediately shook his head. "They agreed to three types of poultry so easily, which means this isn’t their bottom line. Reply and ask him: What about the livestock?"
Qin Haonan froze for a second, then immediately replied as Ren Yuanyang instructed.
Seeing their reply, Wang Jun felt a bit helpless, but still responded: "No livestock. Only poultry!"
"That’s not going to work!" Ren Yuanyang declared, his tone exceptionally firm.
After a short pause, another message came from Ren Yuanyang: "Let’s not haggle back and forth. Our bottom line is one type of poultry and two types of livestock. If you can do that, we have a deal!"
After that message was sent, both Lu Jiamei and Qin Haonan stared nervously at the phone screen.
After a long while, a message came from Wang Jun: "You win. A pair each of chickens, rabbits, and pigs. Is that acceptable?"
’If I want that experimental data, I have to make a concession! After all, pigs and rabbits reproduce quickly, so giving away a pair won’t have a major impact.’
"Boss, he agreed!" Qin Haonan was ecstatic.
"Don’t get too excited. Until the trade is complete, any verbal agreement can be nullified," Ren Yuanyang said in a low voice. "Reply to him first!"
Qin Haonan immediately replied, "Acceptable. A pair each of chickens, rabbits, and pigs it is. This isn’t us winning; this is a win-win!"
Seeing this reply, Wang Jun shook his head with a smile and continued to ask, "Then how and where do we make the trade?"

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