"AHH!"
A woman’s shriek pierced the sky!
Ren Yuanyang, who was busy controlling the bitter grass runners, jumped in fright. He instantly realized the dark figure was a woman.
Immediately after, a powerful beam of light shot through the curtain of rain toward him!
Not knowing if she had any ranged weapons, Ren Yuanyang didn’t dare to act rashly. He hid in a corner of his tent, controlling the bitter grass runners to approach her from underwater while observing her movements.
Although the rain was heavy, the powerful flashlight beam made it possible to spot the tent from five meters away.
The woman’s eyes widened as she stared at the tent bobbing on the waves.
She immediately pointed the flashlight at the base of the tent. ’For this tent to be floating on the water, it must have something buoyant supporting it from underneath!’
Through the dense curtain of rain, she vaguely saw a patch of green floating at the tent’s base.
’Could it be that he found the same kind of highly buoyant Duckweed I did? It looks like he has a lot more than me!’
As she was thinking this, the raft beneath her suddenly lurched to one side. She quickly pressed down on the upturned plank, struggling to keep her balance.
’I only found two patches of Duckweed, and it’s not stable enough. If I could get a few from here, I wouldn’t have to keep lying prone. I might even be able to stand up and move around a bit!’
At this thought, the woman picked up a dustpan beside her and began to paddle with it in the water.
At the same time, she tightly gripped a pistol in her other hand. The gun was wrapped in plastic film.
Watching her actions from a short distance away, Ren Yuanyang knew he had been discovered. However, he still didn’t command the runners to attack. ’Since she’s approaching on her own, she’ll definitely be on high alert for anything in the surroundings. It’s not a good time to strike.’
Soon, she was only about three meters away.
"Excuse me, is anyone there?" the woman actually shouted.
Ren Yuanyang was taken aback.
’Is she probing for a reaction?’
He didn’t let his guard down just because she was a woman and remained silent.
"You have so much mutated Duckweed here. Could you spare a few plants for me?" The woman seemed to realize her request was a bit much, and she quickly added, "I can trade for them!"
Ren Yuanyang’s eyes narrowed slightly. He then asked, "What do you have?"
The woman was clearly stunned for a moment. At that exact instant, Ren Yuanyang immediately commanded the bitter grass to wrap around her!
She was horrified and tried to dodge, but she was too close and couldn’t react in time. Plus, she had to maintain her balance on the plank beneath her, leaving her completely constrained.
The strengthened bitter grass runners were incredibly sturdy, like ropes, and their twice-strengthened toughness was even greater.
Ren Yuanyang felt that he had her under control. He then used the remaining bitter grass to check again if anyone else was around.
Having survived this long against the odds, he knew you could never be too careful.
After confirming no one else was present, Ren Yuanyang controlled the bitter grass to slowly pull her over.
Once he pulled her next to the Duckweed platform, Ren Yuanyang finally saw a long-haired beauty in a uniform, tied up in a rather artistic fashion.
He swore he had only ordered the runners to entangle her; he never told them to bind her like something out of an adult film.
The woman glared at him, her face a mixture of shame and anger.
Ren Yuanyang didn’t waste words with her. He just started searching her directly.
When he saw a pistol clutched in the woman’s bound hands, Ren Yuanyang felt a pang of lingering fear. ’Good thing she didn’t just start shooting!’
However, thinking about the uniform she was wearing, Ren Yuanyang had a moment of realization.
Although the great flood had submerged most of the land, it had only been three months. A sense of public order and decency still remained in people’s hearts.
Besides, the uniform itself was a symbol of justice, so it was somewhat normal that the woman hadn’t opened fire!
Thinking this, Ren Yuanyang took her pistol. He then commanded most of the runners to loosen, leaving only her hands and feet bound. Of course, a length of it was still draped near her neck.
Seeing Ren Yuanyang’s actions, the woman frowned at him. "What are you trying to do?"
"Not what you’re thinking!"
Ren Yuanyang replied curtly, then continued moving the woman’s supplies into his tent.
The woman was clearly taken aback for a second before she realized what he meant. Her face flushed slightly as she said angrily, "Pervert!"
Ren Yuanyang ignored her and continued to take stock of her supplies.
Three packs of compressed biscuits, each weighing two hundred grams.
One bag of unhusked rice, about five kilograms.
The rest was a pile of miscellaneous bottles and cans tied to the wooden plank, which she had probably salvaged along the way.
And, of course, the one-piece raincoat the woman was wearing!
After tossing the compressed biscuits and rice into his tent, Ren Yuanyang casually asked, "How did you find my Duckweed?"
"Your Duckweed?" The woman was surprised. "You mean all this mutated Duckweed belongs to you?"
"Of course!" Ren Yuanyang replied as if it were obvious.
"Tch, you’ve got some nerve! This is unowned, mutated Duckweed. It belongs to whoever finds it. How is it yours?" The woman pursed her lips.
But as soon as she said it, she immediately realized that the things binding her seemed to be a type of aquatic plant!
’Since he can control aquatic plants, it doesn’t seem impossible that he could also enhance the buoyancy of this Duckweed.’
Ren Yuanyang couldn’t be bothered to argue. Instead, he continued asking, "What’s your situation? Have you been surviving on just this plank the whole time?"
"Of course not. I was kicked off a boat!" The woman’s teeth clenched as she spoke.
"Kicked off a boat? Why wouldn’t they keep you on board? With your looks, they should have been tempted, right?" Ren Yuanyang raised an eyebrow and continued to probe.
The woman retorted irritably, "Didn’t you just take my pistol? If I didn’t have a weapon, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
"It seems we’re in the same boat, then," Ren Yuanyang sighed.
The woman paused. "You were kicked off a boat, too?"
Ren Yuanyang shook his head. "Not kicked. I was knocked off a boat. I still have the lump on the back of my head!"
The woman was stunned for a moment, then her eyes widened in anger. Full of righteous indignation, she said, "Isn’t that treating human life as worthless?!"
But she immediately thought of the current state of the world and shook her head with a helpless sigh. "Sigh... there’s nothing to be done. The higher-ups’ reach is too short now."
"The higher-ups have to survive first before they can worry about anything else," Ren Yuanyang said, a note of pessimism in his voice.
Although the country was trying hard to maintain the pre-flood systems, it was now losing its grip.
Every boat, every single floating object with people on it, was now an independent kingdom.
In this kind of situation, there would always be someone who wanted to become a king and control everything.
The woman wanted to refute him. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"What are you collecting all those bottles and cans for?" Ren Yuanyang pointed at them with his flashlight and asked.
"To increase buoyancy. I also have plastic bags full of flowerpots hanging around the plank. I use their weight to stabilize my board." The woman seemed to have accepted her fate, revealing her situation completely. "The soil in those flowerpots will be a resource in the future, too."
Ren Yuanyang was slightly taken aback. He hadn’t expected her to think so far ahead. If the entire planet were submerged by the flood, soil would definitely become a resource.
’Who says big boobs mean no brains?’
He gave the woman a thumbs-up, then started searching through the soil. Whether he could use it in the future or not, it was better to take it first and ask questions later.
Just as he opened one of the plastic bags, the system prompt immediately sounded.
[Beep. Dripping Lotus discovered. Strengthen?]

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