Although Ren Yuanyang saw this, he could tell Yu Ren was holding back completely. ’Perhaps he and the others from Jianghu are just sparring,’ he thought, so he didn’t press the matter.
"Did we manage to pull up any of the fish that attacked our Banyan Forest yesterday to examine them?" Ren Yuanyang asked.
Hua Lingfang nodded. "We did. The fish have rotting spots on their bodies. They must be mutated fish!"
The body of an Evolutionary Fish is identical to a normal fish’s. Only mutated fish are likely to show signs of bodily decay.
Fish that are still active despite their bodies rotting are, by definition, mutated fish. The way they frenziedly attacked the Banyan Forest proves they were full of life!
"It’s a good thing their bodies were rotting," Xin Wan added. "Otherwise, the Chief’s bitter grass might not have been able to entangle them. They’re much stronger and faster than ordinary fish!"
Hua Lingfang nodded in agreement. "True. And we only managed to buy enough time to kill them because there was so much of the bitter grass."
Ren Yuanyang had originally planted a large amount of bitter grass beneath the Banyan Forest to catch items from the undercurrent. He never expected it to play such a huge role in their defense!
"No matter how much bitter grass we had, if you all hadn’t gone down there to kill them, the mutated fish would have destroyed it all sooner or later. This is all thanks to you!" Ren Yuanyang said emotionally. He then stood up, picked up a glass from the side, and looked at the crowd still devouring their food. With a smile, he announced, "Everyone, let’s pause for a moment! To celebrate our base’s successful defense against the mutated fish, let’s raise our glasses together. Pick your poison—alcohol or other beverages!"
Hearing Ren Yuanyang’s words, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing. They went to the drinks area and filled their glasses with their choice of alcohol or other beverages.
Seeing that everyone had their drinks, Ren Yuanyang raised his glass high. "Cheers!"
He then tilted his head back and downed the liquor in his glass. The other members roared in agreement and did the same.
After he finished, Xin Wan immediately refilled his glass. Ren Yuanyang continued, "A second toast! To welcome our new members! Cheers!"
"And a third, to a better and better future for our base!"
After the three toasts, Ren Yuanyang said, "Alright, from here on out, it’s a free-for-all! But pace yourselves and know your limits!"
"Yes, Chief! Thank you!" the crowd responded in unison.
Ren Yuanyang sat back down, and the party finally kicked into high gear.
At first, everyone’s attention had been focused on the food—or more precisely, on the chicken, fish, meat, and eggs!
Now, with their stomachs full, they were no longer in such a mad rush to eat. They found their preferred drinks, started sipping and nibbling, and fell into conversation.
"Chief," Xin Wan proposed, "our stock of alcoholic drinks and other beverages will be gone after a few more parties like this. Should we try brewing our own?"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "We definitely need to."
"Looks like we’ll have to get some brewer’s yeast from the Aircraft Carrier Base, then!" Qin Haonan said, a little excited. This meant he’d have an excuse to go out again.
Ren Yuanyang shot him a look and replied, "We don’t necessarily have to buy it from the Aircraft Carrier Base. We have our own."
"We have our own?" Qin Haonan’s eyes widened.
Hua Lingfang smiled and explained, "There’s wild yeast in nature. On grape skins, for example. To make our own wine, all we need are grapes and granulated sugar—nothing else! Of course, that means no spraying pesticides for twenty days before the grapes ripen, or we’ll kill off all that wild yeast."
Qin Haonan was enlightened. "Oh, I see!"
Hua Lingfang was describing the conventional method. But Ren Yuanyang had already fully unlocked his enhancement of the Biological Realm. Combined with his ability to project his Mental Energy, he could sense the microorganisms in his surroundings. Finding yeast wouldn’t be difficult at all.
"The ingredients aren’t an issue, but we still don’t have enough people," Lu Jiamei chimed in. "We can only brew it in small batches."
Ren Yuanyang nodded. "Right. We don’t have that many people right now anyway, so demand isn’t high. Small-batch production will be fine."
"Okay," Lu Jiamei agreed with a nod.
While the members of the Peach Blossom Base were enjoying a feast, a search party from the Xi’an Base was gnawing on dry rations on the outskirts of the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region.
"Fuck! What is this shit? It’s disgusting!"
"Be glad we have anything to eat at all."
"Yeah, rations for field missions have been getting smaller and smaller. We’re lucky if it just fills our stomachs. I’m starting to worry we’ll be sent out on an empty stomach soon."
"It can’t get that bad, can it?"
"We don’t have much in the way of food reserves!"
"What about the people in charge of agriculture? Are they all idiots?"
"Farming takes time, and those Evolutionary Plants aren’t easy to come by!"
"I hear the Peach Blossom Base has some Evolutionary Plants."
"Looks like us coming to find the Peach Blossom Base isn’t just about that last conflict. The higher-ups at our base must have other ideas."
"Isn’t that obvious? You guys didn’t actually think we were hunting for the Peach Blossom Base because of the team members who died in the last skirmish, did you?"
"Sigh... Of course not. To the top brass, whether we live or die is completely irrelevant. If we die, we die. They’re not going to start an all-out war with another base just because a few grunts kicked the bucket."
"Enough. If word of this gets back to the higher-ups, we’re screwed."
"We’ve been searching here for so long without seeing any sign of a fleet. Is the Peach Blossom Base really around here?"
"We’ve almost used up all our power, but command still won’t let us head back. It’s obvious they’re convinced it’s here."
"Sigh... who knows how much longer we’ll be drifting around out here."

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