"Probably," Qin Haonan replied. "But we don’t need it at the moment."
Wang Feng was taken aback for a moment before he understood. They were in the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region; even if they built a wooden boat, it would be useless. It might be a different story if they were in the Second-level Wind Sea Region.
"Besides, it’s not like we have anyone with the skills for that," Qin Haonan said with a shrug.
Hua Lingfang knew some carpentry, and building a simple raft wouldn’t be a problem, but asking him to construct an entire ship was a bit much.
Wang Feng nodded.
Qin Haonan had him help clear ten plots of land, then they stopped.
Ren Yuanyang had only enhanced ten seeds, so clearing any more would be a waste.
"Good work." Qin Haonan took the axe from Wang Feng. "I’ll get you a drink later."
At his words, Wang Feng was completely stunned. "Drinks? Our base can produce those?"
"We can’t make them, no. But didn’t the undercurrent just pass? We salvaged some drinks!" Qin Haonan replied with a smile, then shouldered his axe and walked away.
Wang Feng froze again. Though he had just joined the Peach Blossom Base, he knew it only had twenty or thirty members. They didn’t have any large-scale salvaging equipment; their biggest vessel was the yacht moored east of the forest.
’Judging by how casually Qin Haonan mentioned it, did they really manage to salvage a lot of supplies?’
Soon enough, Qin Haonan returned with two bottles of cola and tossed one to him.
Wang Feng caught it carefully, then voiced the question on his mind. "Haonan, did our base salvage a lot of supplies?"
"Of course. The food we salvaged alone is probably enough to last us several months!"
Hearing this, Wang Feng’s eyes widened. "That much? How did we manage to pull it all up?"
"Did I not tell you?" Qin Haonan tapped his forehead. "I forgot to mention it yesterday. The base has evolved aquatic plants underwater that can entangle the supplies. All we have to do is pull them up!"
"They wrap around things on their own?" Wang Feng was astonished.
Qin Haonan nodded.
’Are the aquatic plants that long? Are they strong enough?’ ...
Wang Feng had many questions, but the answers were obvious.
The fact that Qin Haonan had so casually given him a drink was proof enough.
"Do you know how we’re able to detect the undercurrents the moment they start?" Qin Haonan asked with a smile, taking a swig of his cola.
Wang Feng thought for a moment before replying, "Is it because of those aquatic plants?"
"Exactly!" Qin Haonan said, getting to his feet. "Alright, I’ll let you get back to work. I’m heading off."
With that, Qin Haonan headed deeper into the Banyan Forest.
Wang Feng opened the bottle of cola, took a small sip, and closed his eyes, savoring the moment.
He screwed the cap back on tightly and put the rest away in his room.
’A treasure like this was finite. He had to make it last.’
Qin Haonan returned to the center of the Banyan Forest and found Ren Yuanyang.
"Boss, I’ve cleared out all ten planting holes. When are you going to put the seeds in?"
"Once the seeds sprout," Ren Yuanyang replied.
Qin Haonan nodded. Looking at the cola in his hand, he asked, "Boss, do you think the undercurrents will appear again?"
Ren Yuanyang shook his head. "I have no idea. But it’s true they didn’t show up at all last night."
The night before, he had wrapped a stolon from the bitter grass around his wrist before going to sleep. If the underwater bitter grass had snagged a large amount of supplies, the system would have alerted him.
BEEP BEEP!
Ren Yuanyang’s phone suddenly chimed. He opened it to see a message from Wang Jun.
"Our team got back too late to disturb you yesterday. Thanks for the honey peaches and Cherry Tomatoes you gave us!"
"Don’t mention it, Captain Wang," Ren Yuanyang replied.
"Last night, did your base detect the start of any undercurrents?" Wang Jun asked.
"We didn’t." Ren Yuanyang shook his head as he typed his reply.
"In that case, this undercurrent must be over," Wang Jun’s message read. "The last one also came in two waves."
"Right. But whether it’s over or not, if another undercurrent appears, I’ll know immediately," Ren Yuanyang replied with extreme confidence.
Wang Jun seemed to pause for a moment, then his reply came: "In that case, we’ll be relying on your base for warnings in the future!"
"Not at all! We all have to help each other to survive," Ren Yuanyang replied with a platitude.
After a short pause, another message from Wang Jun came through. "Have the experiments on the Evolution Potion begun?"
"We’re still discussing the experimental protocol. You know how tricky this kind of research can be." Ren Yuanyang didn’t reveal that the licorice soup was effective in relation to the Evolution Potion.
"That’s true. I’m getting ahead of myself," Wang Jun replied. "By the way, why is your base so focused on acquiring licorice plants?"
"It’s mainly because my health isn’t great. I have a persistent cough, and licorice is the main ingredient for my medicine," Ren Yuanyang casually fabricated a reason.
Wang Jun’s reply came after a pause, a hint of a frown in his words: "Have you been avoiding contact with the rainwater since the downpour started?"
Ren Yuanyang was taken aback by the question. "Why do you ask, Captain Wang?"
"Haven’t you noticed that everyone’s health has improved since the downpour began? I bet hardly anyone on your base gets sick, right?" Wang Jun replied with a question of his own.
Ren Yuanyang paused, frowning in thought. He’d had a fever once right after he transmigrated here, but his situation had been unusual—he’d been clubbed over the head and had spent a long time soaking in the water.
As for everyone else, their health did seem to be excellent. ’Whether it’s Lu Jiamei or Si Youqin and her friends, have any of them ever been sick?’
"Now that you mention it, that seems to be true. Can the rain really strengthen everyone’s constitution?" Ren Yuanyang typed back.
"Yes. The rainwater doesn’t just contain various nutrients; our lab even managed to extract antibodies from it. And they’re a type of antibody that everyone can absorb and utilize!" Wang Jun explained.
"The rain is really that amazing?" Ren Yuanyang was surprised.
"It is. The rain at the very beginning probably wasn’t great because Blue Star’s atmosphere was in a terrible state, so it naturally contained some harmful substances. But after being washed for so long, the concentration of those substances is extremely low now," Wang Jun continued.
"So, are you suggesting I drink some of the rainwater, Captain Wang?" Ren Yuanyang asked, a little uncertain.
"I’m merely sharing the intelligence we’ve gathered. After all, we still don’t fully understand the nature of these foreign antibodies, but for now, they seem to be beneficial to us." Wang Jun was very diplomatic; he had shared the information, but it was up to Ren Yuanyang to decide what to do with it. He wasn’t going to give a direct recommendation.
"I understand. Thank you for sharing this information, Captain Wang," Ren Yuanyang replied with a smile. "I don’t suppose the Aircraft Carrier Base has any licorice plants?"
"If we had any, I would have included them in our trade just now." Wang Jun’s reply sounded resigned. "Things were pretty dire, so we prioritized protecting seeds for various agricultural crops. We couldn’t be thorough enough to save every other kind of plant. However, we do have some traditional medicinal herbs in stock. If you need some, we can provide them."
"Okay, I’ll contact you if we need them," Ren Yuanyang replied.
After ending the conversation, Ren Yuanyang felt that this incessant, world-changing rain was becoming more and more surreal.
Qin Haonan, who was standing nearby, asked curiously, "Boss, did Manager Wang need something?"
"Nothing important. He was just asking about the undercurrents and why we’re acquiring licorice," Ren Yuanyang said, then turned to him. "Have you gotten any response to the notice we put out about prioritizing the acquisition of licorice plants?"
Qin Haonan shook his head. "I’ve received a few photos of plants from other survivors, and I had Elder Hua look at them. He confirmed that none of them were licorice."
’I can’t tell if the Aircraft Carrier Base truly doesn’t have any licorice seeds, or if they’re just holding back on us.’ Ren Yuanyang didn’t completely trust what Wang Jun had told him.
’Then again, Wang Jun probably didn’t fully believe what he’d said, either.’
"Without the licorice plant, doesn’t that mean research on the Evolution Potion will slow down again?" Qin Haonan asked with a slight frown.
"We can’t rush it. We’ll have to leave it to fate," Ren Yuanyang said, shaking his head with a sigh.
Meanwhile, aboard the Dawn Cruise, a plant expert was holding a plant and declared with absolute certainty, "Captain, this is licorice!"
Hearing the plant expert’s assessment, the captain smiled. "So this is what the Peach Blossom Base is so eager to acquire?"
"Yes, sir," the plant expert affirmed.
A staff officer at his side suggested, "Captain, since the Peach Blossom Base is prioritizing this plant, perhaps we could use it to trade with them for some of those offensive plants of theirs?"

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