18: Chapter 18 Lazy Su Mei (5)

The sea breeze blew gently.

Yun Jinxin was on the deck, lost in a daze.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside the cabin was exceptionally cozy.

Xia Zhi had changed into a set of loose gray loungewear; it was a men's style Li Taiping had found in the storage room, and while it looked a bit loose on her, it had a unique, lazy charm.

She sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a bright red apple, and took a "crunchy" bite, with juice overflowing.

"Although I don't want to admit it, Sister Mei's Talent is indeed more practical than mine."

Xia Zhi chewed while evaluating indistinctly, "In this apocalyptic environment, being able to provide an unlimited supply of fresh fruit is simply a miracle. This apple is really sweet."

After speaking, she looked up into the distance.

In the center of the cabin's spacious living room, Li Taiping was holding the cold iron sword, shirtless and sweating profusely.

The sword tip sliced through the air, making a "swish" sound.

His movements gradually became smooth and fluid, starting from clumsiness.

Thrust, lift, hack, chop; every basic movement seemed to have been tempered a thousand times, as standard as a textbook.

"Captain," Xia Zhi swallowed the fruit flesh in her mouth and called out, "Next time there's a sword-type weapon, remember to save one for me~"

Li Taiping flicked his wrist, spun a beautiful sword flower, and sheathed the sword backhand while standing still.

"Don't worry, there will be one for you."

He looked at his new Talent: Swordsmanship Mastery.

Normal grade, upgradable.

All the basic sword moves seemed to be engraved in his DNA; the feeling was like a trainee who had practiced swordplay for two and a half years suddenly having an epiphany.

Although he hadn't reached the level of a sword grandmaster, he had at least bid farewell to the "flailing turtle" style of blind slashing. Combined with his physical fitness, which was five times that of an ordinary person, his combat power had soared by more than one level.

"Creak—"

The cabin door was pushed open, and Yun Jinxin walked in with a blushing face, her eyes wandering, not daring to look at Li Taiping's bare upper body.

Li Taiping glanced at the survival manual on his wrist.

[Current time: 18:00]

[Countdown to the black tide eruption: 14 hours.]

Time was running out.

"Let's eat first to replenish our energy," Li Taiping waved his hand.

Dinner was simple.

Sliced spiced beef, soft white bread, and a bottle of mineral water for each person.

This configuration would only be considered passable before the crossing, but in this world where Survivor are still fighting over a sip of fresh water, this was a top-tier lavish feast.

The key was—unlimited supply!

Xia Zhi ate quickly but didn't appear rude, exuding a decisive and efficient air.

Finishing the bread and beef in a few bites, she pulled out a tissue to wipe her mouth and looked directly at Li Taiping:

"Give me a fishing rod."

Li Taiping was drinking water and was slightly stunned upon hearing this: "So urgent?"

"Now is the golden period to expand our advantage." Xia Zhi tidied the loose hair by her ear, her eyes calm, "I know you have collected quite a few fishing rods."

"Before the black tide arrives, the refresh rate of supply boxes in the sea should be relatively stable. One more person means one more chance."

Is this the consciousness of a professional woman?

Li Taiping secretly praised in his heart.

Currently, the "Many Children, Many Blessings" Number has an overflow of normal supplies, such as transformation materials, food, and basic resources.

But the "normal fishing rod" has a chance to fish up a stone treasure chest, and stone treasure chests have a very low probability of containing "good grade" supplies.

This point is crucial.

With a thought, he pulled up the ship's upgrade panel.

[Second-rank "Many Children, Many Blessings" Number → third-rank duozi duofu hao]

[Upgrade requirement: energy stone (normal) x500, energy stone (good) x10]

[Upgrade reward: Randomly rescue two new crew members.]

[Next stage Talent upgrade progress: (3/5) 60%]

Normal energy stones are easy; just rely on Su Mei's treasure basin to copy them.

The difficulty lies in those 10 [energy stone (good)].

The treasure basin can currently only copy normal-grade items; to break this limit, Su Mei's Talent level must be improved.

And improving the Talent level requires gathering 5 crew members!

This is a closed loop.

To get stronger resources, you have to upgrade the ship; to upgrade the ship, you need good grade energy stones; to mass-produce good grade energy stones, you have to gather people!

"We really need to try our luck."

Li Taiping didn't hesitate anymore; with a flip of his palm, two normal fishing rods with decent durability appeared in his hand and were tossed to Xia Zhi.

"Thanks."

Xia Zhi took the fishing rod, without any nonsense, turned around, and walked towards the deck.

Yun Jinxin, who was on the side, was stunned.

She looked at the hurried Xia Zhi, then looked at her own empty hands; a sense of panic that "I am a waste" arose spontaneously.

"Cap...Captain!"

The Little Girl summoned her courage, stuttering as she raised her hand, "I... I want one too! I can work too! I used to fish for goldfish in the park!"

Li Taiping looked at her nervous appearance and couldn't help laughing out loud: "Okay, go ahead, just don't fall into the sea."

Another fishing rod was thrown over.

Yun Jinxin treated it like a treasure, hugging the fishing rod and trotting out after Xia Zhi.

Only Li Taiping and Su Mei were left in the cabin.

Li Taiping turned his head, his gaze falling on Su Mei, who was leaning lazily on the sofa.

Su Mei keenly sensed this gaze.

She instantly sat up straight, crossed her arms, and looked with exaggerated shock: "What? Why are you looking at me? You aren't going to make me blow in the sea breeze and stare dryly at the boring sea surface to fish, are you?"

Li Taiping blinked, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"Are you disgusted with me?"

Su Mei's eyes instantly widened, and the next second, tears welled up in her eyes; the speed of her face changing was comparable to Sichuan opera, "Wuwuwu... Scumbag! This is a scumbag! Pulls up his pants and doesn't recognize people! Not long ago he was still calling me 'sweetie' in bed, and now he thinks I'm lazy!"

Li Taiping had black lines on his forehead: "I didn't say I was disgusted, it's just..."

Before he could finish, Su Mei had already leaned in.

A wave of fragrance rushed over, and her whole body, soft as if boneless, pressed against Li Taiping.

"Captain brother~"

Su Mei's voice was cloyingly sweet, her peach-blossom eyes full of cunning, "You are responsible for earning money to support the family, and I am responsible for being beautiful; isn't this division of labor quite reasonable?"

She leaned into Li Taiping's ear, breathing like an orchid: "Besides, my [treasure basin] is the economic lifeline of this ship. As the greatest contributor, I want to be lazy, is that okay? Is it okay~"

Saying this, she gently shook Li Taiping's arm, and the surging waves trembled with it.

"Stop, stop!"

Li Taiping hurriedly raised his hands in surrender; even an immortal couldn't withstand this combo.

"You should go rest. The current advantage is indeed thanks to you."

This woman is simply a demon.

But she was right; without the unlimited copied supplies as a backing, they would probably still be worrying about a piece of bread.

"Hehe, I knew the Captain loved me the most~"

Su Mei instantly put away her tears, smiled like a flower, pecked Li Taiping on the face, and then stretched a big stretch, revealing her curves.

"Then I'm going to take a beauty nap~ See you tonight~"

Watching Su Mei sway gracefully into the bedroom, Li Taiping shook his head helplessly and muttered in a low voice: "Lazy girl."

As the bedroom door closed, the smile on Li Taiping's face gradually faded, and his expression became serious.

The goal now is clear: get those 10 good grade energy stones.

Relying on Xia Zhi and Yun Jinxin to use normal fishing rods to gamble on that extremely low probability is obviously not enough.

Must use heavy-duty equipment.

Li Taiping flipped his wrist, and a fishing rod that was pitch black all over and glowing with a faint cold light appeared in his hand.

[Alloy powerful fishing rod (good grade)]

[Durability: 10/100]

good grade fishing rods have a very small probability of fishing up a black iron treasure chest, but after fishing 90 times, he hadn't seen a shadow of a black iron treasure chest.

The remaining 10 chances... are they reliable?

Looking at the fishing rod's attributes, Li Taiping fell into deep thought.