Survival at Sea: I Became Number One by Growing Mushrooms

Xu Jiawei looked at the long-legged flame that was only as tall as her calves. It was slowly and waddling forward, seemingly dutifully acting as a street lamp, and she couldn't help but find it amusing.

This suddenly reminded Xu Jiawei of a certain 4399 mini-game, the Forest Fireboy and Watergirl.

Thinking about it, one unconsciously follows its pace.

Now that they had reached the bottom of the crack, they might as well explore it and see if they could make any new discoveries. Xu Jiawei began to wander around the crack.

The fissure doesn't seem to have formed recently; there are many signs of weathering and erosion on the rock walls on both sides, suggesting that the fissure may have appeared a long time ago.

Xu Jiawei observed the surrounding environment. The ground was bare and empty, seemingly devoid of any vegetation, and the temperature was extremely cold, causing Xu Jiawei to shiver involuntarily.

The surroundings were completely quiet; the only sounds were my own heavy breathing and my own heartbeat inside the protective suit. It was eerily quiet.

The quiet atmosphere was almost maddening, but Xu Jiawei had already experienced several natural disasters, so she could still bear the psychological pressure.

Suddenly, the sound of wind passing through the cave came. Xu Jiawei lowered her breathing to listen, but the sound seemed to have disappeared. It seemed like her imagination.

All around, only her own voice could be heard.

"In this kind of environment, would you be experiencing auditory hallucinations?" Xu Jiawei shook her head, suspecting that she was under too much mental stress and that something was wrong with her brain.

Thinking that she would go back and have a good meal to relax, Xu Jiawei continued walking forward. Soon she heard the faint sound of wind again.

Xu Jiawei heard it clearly this time; it wasn't a hallucination. She listened carefully to the direction from which the wind was coming and walked in that direction.

The further they went, the louder the wind became, and the fog grew thicker. Even with Little Pink as a light source, a thin mist still appeared around Xu Jiawei.

What's going on? Why is the fog getting thicker?

She looked around, and the surrounding mist gradually compressed, eventually forming a solid black cloud-like aura that surged and churned.

Xu Jiawei immediately realized that this might be the place the system had indicated, meaning that this was the origin of the white mist.

After figuring out all of this, Xu Jiawei became even more cautious, and the rumors grew louder and louder.

Xu Jiawei could only barely see the road ahead by holding Xiaofen in her arms. After walking about a hundred meters, Xu Jiawei looked up and was so shocked by what she saw that she was speechless.

Thick, gray smoke billowed out of a hole, like a heavy industrial chimney, relentlessly turning the surroundings gray. The smoke then seeped into countless tiny holes in the cliff face, creating gusts of wind.

This explains why Xu Jiawei heard the wind, and why she couldn't see anything even though she was above the crevice. Without coming down, no one would know that this place would be like this.

These insects all flew out through these gaps to various places, and didn't fly out from above the cracks at all. It seems that she made the right decision to come. Now Xu Jiawei suspects that the system deliberately didn't warn her so that she would fall down.

So now the goal is to get into that cave, right? I wonder if her protective suit will be enough to keep her out.

These little insects seem to be corrosive. When Xu Jiawei woke up today, she found various small white spots on the exterior wall of the house, making it pitted and uneven.

But nothing happened during the day, so she wondered if only the insects at night were corrosive.

Xu Jiawei sighed. There was always a solution. It was better to leave than to stand there. To avoid any accidents, Xu Jiawei put on a layer of light purification on her body before going inside.

Once inside, the white mist seemed to solidify and compress, resembling black smoke. The thought of these tiny insects trying to crawl onto her body, burrow into her ears, eyes, and even her nose and mouth sent a chill down Xu Jiawei's spine. So she cast another layer of light purification on herself.

Xu Jiawei's visible range is now limited to the area of ​​light purification.

The Light Purification was only released close to her body, which barely kept the small insects away.

Now that she can't see anything, it's like a blind person groping around in a cave. Xu Jiawei can only take out her long knife and use it as a guide cane.

She slowed down considerably, but she had no choice but to go slower so as not to trip.

Xu Jiawei even suspected that this was what it looked like after nightfall. The black fog surrounding her house was just as thick, no, perhaps even thicker than this.

Even though this is clearly the origin of the black fog, Xu Jiawei doesn't understand why the black fog at night is even denser than at its source.

Taking one step at a time, Xu Jiawei lost track of how long she had walked. She felt like she was being bumped as she moved forward, and she began to consider retreating. She didn't know if the Light Purification could still protect her.

But turning back now wouldn't be easy, so Xu Jiawei could only grit her teeth and keep moving forward, determined to succeed or die trying.

With these thoughts in mind, Xu Jiawei's steps became even more determined.

She didn't know how long she walked inside, maybe several hours, when her stomach started growling. Xu Jiawei brought up her system panel, thankfully it was right in front of her.

Therefore, Xu Jiawei was able to see clearly.

I opened the panel, and I was shocked to see that it was already 6 PM! How fast!

She clearly didn't feel like it had been that long. Wouldn't she be completely trapped inside if the insects doubled in number again at night?

But so much time has passed, it's too late to back out now. Since I'm already dead, I might as well die knowing why.

As she spoke, Xu Jiawei continued walking forward. The further she went, the greater the resistance became. Xu Jiawei even suspected that what she was seeing was a pile of flesh made of insects. She took back what she had said earlier; there weren't this many insects at night.

Even if Little Pink wanted to burn it, these bugs would extinguish it.

Unable to move forward any further, Xu Jiawei was trying to figure out how to break through the mountain of flesh when she saw it move, surging out of the cave entrance one after another. Xu Jiawei's face darkened; this was bad, these insects were about to leave. Xu Jiawei checked the time; it was already 6:30 PM.

Does this mean that these insects mostly hide in caves during the day and only come out at night?

What about those insects that go out during the day? Are they in different states?

Now is not the time to think about this. I should hide my body first, or I'll be crushed into a pulp by these bugs. Thinking this, Xu Jiawei didn't care about the mana consumption and released Photon Meteor directly.

Soon, a small hole was blasted open in the insect. With the help of Xiaofen's light, Xu Jiawei saw a boulder not far away. Crouching down, she could just avoid being crushed by the insect.

Xu Jiawei moved with difficulty toward the stone, but she was still pushed off her position by the insects. Xu Jiawei gritted her teeth and released another photon meteor, taking advantage of the fact that the insects had not yet moved over a large area, otherwise she would really be turned into a meat patty.

She blasted a path open with flames again, and Xu Jiawei took the opportunity to roll and get behind the rock.

She then squatted down, and sure enough, the pressure behind the rock lessened considerably. The insects tumbled and surged out. Xu Jiawei checked the time; it was still not over by 7 p.m.