Qin Haonan was startled and a little speechless. "Fine, we’ll trade. What are you yelling for?"
The other man looked a little sheepish, but he was still buzzing with excitement.
"Sir, you don’t understand. I’ve been starving for two days, and I haven’t eaten any fresh fruits or vegetables in ages. I think I’m starting to get scurvy!"
"Alright, let’s trade. Just put the plant you’re holding into my basin," Qin Haonan said, immediately placing ten Cherry Tomatoes into the basin and tossing it toward the man.
The basin quickly floated over to the other man’s small boat. The survivor eagerly pulled it in. Seeing the ten Cherry Tomatoes inside, he couldn’t stop swallowing.
The last time they met, Qin Haonan had been carrying a rifle, so the man didn’t have the slightest intention of just gobbling down the Cherry Tomatoes and reneging on the deal.
He took out the Cherry Tomatoes, placed the bamboo stalks he was holding into the basin, and then carefully set it back on the water.
"Sir, it’s done!"
Qin Haonan nodded, pulled the basin back, and retrieved the two bamboo stalks. He said, "If you find any more plants in the future, save them for us. We’re always looking to trade food for them!"
The man had already stuffed a Cherry Tomato into his mouth. Hearing Qin Haonan’s words, he nodded repeatedly. "Okay, I’ll be sure to save them for you, sir. But I’m getting ready to go to the Aircraft Carrier Base, so I’ll probably be operating around there from now on."
Qin Haonan nodded slightly. "That’s not a bad choice, but there are a lot of survivors there, which will make it harder to find plants."
The man paused for a moment, then replied with a resigned look, "I know, but at least I can survive there."
"Fair enough." Qin Haonan waved and walked back into his cabin. "Good luck!"
Qin Haonan looked at the two bamboo stalks and thought, ’It’s still just bamboo, but at least I didn’t come back empty-handed!’
Then he continued toward the next Second-level Wind Sea Region.
Meanwhile, the reconnaissance squad from Dawn Base had returned. They handed over the seeds from the Spray Melon, as well as the fragments and seeds of the Iron Melon.
They also submitted video footage of their previous battle to the higher-ups.
After watching the video, the captain of the Dawn Cruise stared with wide, shocked eyes.
"Was that damage really caused by a plant?"
His secretary placed the seeds turned in by the reconnaissance squad leader in front of the captain.
He observed them for a moment before giving an immediate order. "Get the botany experts over here to identify these at once!"
"Yes, sir!" The secretary turned and walked out.
Soon, two middle-aged, bespectacled men walked in.
"Quick, take a look at these," the captain called out.
The two men nodded, then took out magnifying glasses and began their observation.
Soon, they stood up, conferred in low voices for a moment, and then one of them reported, "Captain, this long, black, oval-shaped seed belongs to a Spray Melon, and the other one is from an Iron Melon."
The two then explained the characteristics of these plants. When the captain heard that the Iron Melon could explode and the Spray Melon could eject its seeds, his eyes immediately lit up.
"In other words, it’s entirely possible for these two plants to be used as weapons?"
"Under normal circumstances, they aren’t nearly this lethal," one of the botanists said, shaking his head. "But the whole world is different now. Maybe they really can be turned into weapons."
Hearing this, the captain burst out laughing. "Excellent! The reconnaissance squad has performed a great service this time! They should be rewarded handsomely. Give them each a kilogram of rice!"
"Yes, sir!" The secretary beside him jotted down the order.
Only three members of the reconnaissance team had returned. As for those who died, the captain wasn’t particularly concerned.
In his eyes, trading seven lives for two types of weaponizable plants was a definite net gain.
Most importantly, they now had the seeds. As long as they could cultivate them, their Dawn Base would have an endless supply of botanical weapons!
Besides, plants are easily overlooked, making them perfect for an ambush!
"You two, organize a team and focus on cultivating these Iron Melons and Spray Melons. Request whatever resources you need directly from me. You must succeed in cultivating them!" the captain said to the two botanists, his voice low and serious.
"Yes, sir!" the two men replied in unison, visibly thrilled.
They knew this was their chance to make a name for themselves.
The captain waved a hand, dismissing them. The two men bowed respectfully, took the seeds, and departed.
"That speedboat," the captain began, frowning, "have we seen it before?"
His secretary nodded and pulled up the photos that had been taken of Ren Yuanyang and his group.
"There’s no speedboat in this picture," the captain said, glancing at the photo and growing more puzzled.
The secretary swiped past the first few photos to a screenshot of a chat log. The screenshot showed a picture of the speedboat and the camouflaged container together.
"When our drone first spotted them, they only had a small boat and that strange, large box. Later, another survivor discovered them and traded a tree for some Cannibal Fish. The speedboat only appeared after that. Our intelligence department combined these pieces of information," the secretary explained.
At that, an idea struck the captain. "The tree they traded for the Cannibal Fish—what kind of tree was it?"
The secretary was taken aback for a second before shaking her head. "The survivor didn’t say what kind of tree it was at the time."
"Can you still find that survivor’s ID?" the captain asked immediately. "Send him a private message and ask."
"Yes, sir!" The secretary immediately started searching.
Soon, she found the user’s ID, Black Dragon, and immediately sent a friend request.
Surprised by the sudden friend request notification, Black Dragon paused. He hesitated for a moment before accepting.
"Hello. I wanted to ask about the time you traded a tree for some Cannibal Fish. Do you remember what kind of tree it was?" the secretary asked, getting straight to the point.
Black Dragon was taken aback again. He hadn’t expected someone to add him as a friend just to ask about that.
"Why are you asking?" Black Dragon shot back, not answering the question.
"We encountered the people you traded with and faced a very strange plant-based attack. We suspect the tree you traded to them might have evolved," the secretary explained, following the captain’s instructions.
"What? The tree I traded them was an Evolutionary Plant!" Black Dragon exclaimed in shock.
These days, as long as the word "evolution" was involved, even a common weed was worth a fortune.
"Damn it! No wonder they were willing to trade fish meat for a big, inedible tree!" Black Dragon cursed.
Seeing the incoming message, the captain immediately instructed his secretary to reply, "Can you recall any specific features of the tree you traded? That will tell us whether or not you actually lost out on the deal."
"Features?" Black Dragon frowned, trying to recall. "I think... it was covered in green-skinned watermelons!"

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