Comprehensive network wizard, magic emperor.

Chapter 12: Growing Mushrooms in the Caves and Practicing Kung Fu on the Seaside

The all-purpose strains purchased from the Duolian Duoyi trading platform may seem ordinary, but they actually have high technical content.

According to the description Lin Bo saw in the product list, the research team had carried out countless genetic trimming and splicing on the strain, and it had undergone the baptism and transformation of magical power, and had unlimited evolutionary potential.

Today's mushroom strains are essentially blank slates, with only the most basic function: breaking down substances to produce nutrients. Evolving mushroom varieties with unique benefits depends entirely on the cultivator's skill and technique.

In different growing environments, fed with different nutrients, and given various directional stimuli, changes in any link will affect the final mushroom type and quality.

Even the original research and development team didn't know what they would become in the hands of players. Whether it was used as food, medicine, industrial raw materials, forging armor and weapons, or even cultivating an intelligent myconid race, it was all possible.

Because of this amazing evolutionary ability, the Duolian Duoyi platform specifically warns buyers that strain cultivation is not 100% safe. If the cultivation operation is improper, it may stimulate malignant genetic traits, causing the fungal mat to spread uncontrollably and forming an irreparable ecological disaster.

East Cliff Grottoes.

Lin Bo lit the whale oil lamp, and the slightly blue flame released a bright light, illuminating the surroundings.

He didn't go deep into the cave when he came last time. Now that he has decided to build a mushroom plantation, he naturally has to explore this area thoroughly to prevent the mushrooms from being eaten by unknown animals as soon as they are planted.

There is a layer of bird droppings on the ground at the entrance, some of which are fresh and some of which have been dried for many years. It seems that gulls from the nearby sea often come here to rest.

Further in, there is a downhill road. The ground is dry and free of feces. The stone wall above the head keeps getting lower and the whole space is narrowing.

The cave is not big overall. The interior space is about the same size as an indoor basketball court, and it is like a trumpet, wide on the outside and narrow on the inside.

Lin Bo bent over and walked to the deepest part, raised the lamp to look, and found a narrow hole. I'm afraid only a child could squeeze through it, but there was a moist air flow blowing out of it.

"There's actually a cave network here. Hmm, the wind is very humid. There must be an underground river inside."

He observed the appearance of the surrounding rock formations and noticed that the cave entrance was eroded, while a layer of fine soil accumulated on the nearby ground. Perhaps it was water carrying a trace amount of sediment pouring out of the cave. It seemed that the water level of the underground river would rise sharply at some point and exceed the height of the cave entrance.

The Windjammer Islands have a maritime climate, with year-round humidity and relatively even rainfall each month. However, hurricanes strike every year, causing sudden increases in rainfall. This rise in underground river levels is likely caused by hurricanes.

"Alright, even if it rains heavily, the water level will only be at the bottom of the cave and won't spread upwards."

After inspecting the environment, Lin Bo expressed satisfaction. He said that the East Bank Grottoes are wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, high on the outside and low on the inside. The whole grottoes can be divided into three sections: the entrance, the atrium and the depths.

The atrium is spacious enough to build a mushroom garden. A small residence can be built at the entrance, and a training ground can be set up to practice skills.

As for the deep part, Lin Bo decided to spend time widening it, connecting it to the underground river, and digging a reservoir. This way, it would be very convenient to get and use water, and there would be no need to worry about the atrium being flooded in the event of heavy rain.

The first step in growing mushrooms is to prepare a culture medium. As long as it can provide nutrients and a suitable environment for the growth of spores, rotten wood, cottonseed hulls, straw, or feces will do.

Lin Bo originally planned to go to the woodland south of Shita Town to select wood, but there was ready-made bird droppings in the east bank caves, so he could use local materials.

Years of naturally fermented guano are excellent fertilizers in their own right. Mixing it with straw compost and sterilizing it can create an excellent mushroom culture medium.

It was not easy for Lin Bo to get straw.

Agriculture in Shita Town was underdeveloped, primarily due to the mediocre soil, which barely allowed for the cultivation of rye, barley, and potatoes. Furthermore, all the cultivated farmland in the area was privately owned by the nobility, and tenant farmers who couldn't make enough money went to the city to work.

So now there are no farmers growing crops in the whole town. If you want wheat straw, you have to try your luck in the nearby villages.

"Forget it." Lin Bo shook his head.

He flipped through "Mushroom Professor's Fungus Agronomy" and found a simple process for making manure culture medium. As long as the clean mud and sand are sterilized and removed by high temperature, and then mixed with fermented manure, the growth needs of the primary fungus can be met.

It can be said that there is no difficulty in operation, thanks to the strong vitality of the all-round bacteria.

Once the mycelium grows and spreads into a fungal mat, the culture medium is no longer necessary. At that time, you can just sprinkle some sawdust on it and it will survive.

He collected mud and sand from the bottom of the cave, dried the sand in the stew pot he usually used for cooking, spread it out to cool, then collected a few shovels of old bird droppings from the entrance of the cave, poured them into the mud and sand, stirred them, filled them into a wooden box, and finally pinched the fungus to spread the spores evenly.

Lin Bo boiled some boiled water to add moisture to the culture medium. The next step was left to time.

He has a lot of tasks on hand, such as training skills and learning knowledge, and there is never enough time.

To transform the East Coast Grottoes into a qualified camp requires a lot of preparatory work. Lin Bo does not expect it to be completed in the short term, so he can only set up a construction plan first.

The rubber training pole was stuck in the ground, spinning in circles, repeatedly being pierced by spears and harpoons, leaving it covered in wounds. The dull thuds scared away the birds, and seagulls gathered on the rocks, clamoring at Lin Bo.

When Lin Bo was exhausted, he sat cross-legged on the platform, lost in meditation. The seagulls, whose resting place had been taken over, flew over and landed on the battered target. They walked around the mage, hopping and skipping, some even boldly landing on his shoulder, strutting arrogantly, or burrowing into his lap, sticking their beaks into his coat pocket to steal bread. Three hours later, Lin Bo opened his eyes. The seagulls, feeling guilty, flew away. He touched his pocket and found that the dried bread he had brought was now dented and bruised.

The wizard was not angry. He smiled and broke the bread, ate half of it himself, and tore the other half into pieces and threw it on the beach to feed the birds.

"I'll bring more bread next time as rent. When the mushrooms I grow are ripe, I'll treat you to some as well." Lin Bo spoke seriously to the flock of birds, but they just cackled and couldn't understand each other.

In the evening, after finishing a day of training, Lin Bo returned to the lighthouse. Even though the cave camp was in an unguarded state, there was no need to worry about theft.

It's impossible for a living person to go through so much trouble to reach this place, to go through so much hardship just to steal a basket of guano soil - as for whether the seagulls steal it? As far as Lin Bo knows, they usually don't eat their own feces.

Once the camp is gradually formed and the mushroom garden expands, we can set up some garrison forces.

The night is long, it’s a good time to read.

A friend on the Internet gave him a large basket of basic theories of mechanics, "Pharmacist's Prescriptions" is a thick book, "Mushroom Agronomy" is also a big book, plus "Frost Sky Flow" is always new to read, so Lin Bo has arranged a full schedule for his evening study.

He would wind the lens rotating mechanism every four hours or so, which counted as a break. Evenings were daytime for him, and he ate three meals a day. During the day, he practiced mantra bending and meditation, requiring four or five meals to keep himself from starving, which meant eight meals a day.

The little food stored in the lighthouse's cellar is almost gone.

Early in the morning, not long after the sun rose, Lin Bo visited the town's bakery. He was not one of the first customers. Some women from working-class families came before dawn to wait for the first batch of baked bread.

Ding-ling-ling—the copper bell behind the door rang.

"Bon appetit, night watchman." The chef and owner of the bakery was a fat old lady who was an old acquaintance of the previous night watchman.

The female customers in the bakery looked at Lin Bo intentionally or unintentionally, and listened attentively to his conversation with the chef.

"Good morning, Mrs. Moore." Lin Bo took out some banknotes and bought 20 kilograms of dry bread at one time. This stuff is very durable and everyone buys it in large quantities regularly.

After he left, the women of Stone Tower began to discuss and inquire about the origins of this stranger. The old lady at the bakery was also a curious person and started gossiping with the women.

If there was an intelligence distribution center in Shita Town, it would undoubtedly be the bakery. In less than ten minutes, they had compiled all the information the locals knew about Lin Bo.

"The clothes he wears look good and suit his face very well." A faint blush appeared on the textile worker's cheeks.

"The boots are nice too," added the female worker at the shoe factory.

"Old Tim was always a frugal man, but this new guy has a completely different style. This young guy is dressed up in a very pretentious way. What is he planning to do?"

The women laughed and said, "Watch your daughter carefully. Don't let her be deceived by that stranger while she is worshipping the Good Mother in church."

"That's not necessary. The new night watchman never goes to church."

Today was Sunday, and even the most unscrupulous factories would give their workers a half-day off to visit the church and worship the Five Gods. When the women returned home, gathered their husbands and children, and met at the church, they saw that familiar stranger again.

"Hey, isn't this the night watchman?" The residents of Stone Tower Town were idle and whispered in their seats.

The old priest walked up to the pulpit. He was not in a hurry to read out the doctrine, but asked Lin Bo to come up and show his face. He happily announced to the townspeople that the Five Gods Sect had a new brother.

Lin Bo waved to them and said, "As you can see, I was rescued from the aftermath of a shipwreck by Tim, a believer of the Five Gods. Since then, I have been alone and inherited the career of guarding the lighthouse.

"Now I worship an old man, one of the Five Gods, and live under the same sky and on the same land with all my brothers and sisters. If you need my help, I will do my best. As long as I remain at the lighthouse, I will always illuminate the way home for you sailors."

The women gave sympathetic applause, and their children followed their mothers in clapping. The sailors focused their eyes on a man with a scar on his face, and when they saw him nod in agreement, they shouted and cheered.

From then on, Lin Bo became a part of Shita Town and integrated into the local social circle as a believer.

Some hooligans would no longer easily target him. Stealing and harming outsiders was fine, but harming the interests of believers would only bring trouble to oneself.

From now on, Lin Bo will attend group worship every Sunday, and as an elderly believer, he will also attend a church gathering on Thursdays. The small circle formed by people with the same faith will also make the relationship between believers closer.

Returning to the lighthouse from the church, Lin Bo logged into the chat channel.

[Lighthouse Guest]: My challenge times have been refreshed.
[Nightingale]: We’ve been waiting for you, log in!

(End of this chapter)