Survival at Sea: I Became Number One by Growing Mushrooms

Xu Jiawei looked up at the sky, speechless. All she could say was that all her efforts had been in vain. The entire cave was in ruins, especially the ceiling, which had huge cracks. Living here, she didn't know when it would collapse and she would be buried underneath.

Xu Jiawei had no choice but to reluctantly give up this cave. However, it was too late to find a new cave now, unless it was very close by. The innermost space was uninhabitable. Fortunately, this cave was long enough, so she could live in the outer passage.

Xu Jiawei asked Rainbow to search for the cave again, while she prepared some things she would need for going out that night.

Si Yunming's words gave her a lot of inspiration. Coupled with the battle just now, she no longer intends to exterminate these ticks. Instead, she can raise some to deal with those priests, giving them a taste of their own medicine.

Hehe, since the insects have mutated, it doesn't matter whose blood it sucks, so why not let it do something for me?

Moreover, these insects are quite resilient. Xu Jiawei can live for a long time even without feeding them, and they might even suck blood more fiercely then.

To prevent the insects from escaping, Xu Jiawei made some low-cost insect repellent, which only immobilized the insects to make them easier to catch. The effect lasted only three hours, but that was enough.

She even took out some bottles specifically to hold these insects; everything was ready except for the final step.

As night fell, the mutated creatures did not come looking for her this time. Perhaps the insects had already digested her blood yesterday, so they couldn't find her this time.

She tightened her trouser legs, covering her head, arms, and even hands, before stepping out of the cave.

Knowing what she was there tonight, Xu Jiawei asked Rainbow's underlings to do it, since her hands were wrapped up like dumplings and she couldn't perform such delicate activities.

The task of spreading the pesticide was left to the guards. They fenced off a piece of land and sprinkled the pesticide on it. The insects lost consciousness and fell asleep on the back of the grass.

The mushroom guards plucked the ticks off along with their leaves and stuffed them into a glass bottle. Xu Jiawei felt a chill run down her spine. Even though she wasn't the one who did it, seeing the dense swarm of insects made her feel uneasy, as if she herself had been infested with bugs.

Three hours later, Xu Jiawei had collected a lot of insects, which should be enough. She decided to leave them with Rainbow and carefully sealed the bottle to prevent the insects from escaping.

The pink and red earthworms that were originally guarding the surrounding area, as well as the rainbow's little brothers, were also summoned back by Xu Jiawei. She wanted to continue exploring and find out where the source of the pollution was.

Taking advantage of the darkness and higher energy levels at night, it is easier to pinpoint which area is more polluted.

However, the island was too big. Even though Xu Jiawei sprinkled medicine powder on her body, some ticks still stuck to her clothes. She shook them off and persisted for an hour. Xu Jiawei knew she should go back. Fortunately, she was not far from the cave.

This is really troublesome. I wish the purification effect could be stronger when it becomes more effective. Back in her cave, Xu Jiawei relied on the purification passive skill to silently recover from the pollution. Looking at the dark fog outside the cave, she was a little worried.

[...: Do you still have the medicine powder?]

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: Do you still need the powder? The powder lasts for three days, even if you take it internally, it will last for three days. The ticks won't bite you, right?]

[...: I disturbed a tick nest, so the pesticide powder is no longer effective.]

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: Do ticks still have nests? You're amazing, finding such an important clue in such a short time.]

[...]: I guess my luck is just low; it probably isn't an important clue. I never encounter important clues anyway.

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: What color are the ticks over there? Have you encountered any other players?]

[...The color looks like it should be black, and I haven't encountered any other players yet.]

[AAA Mushroom Fairy: What an unlucky guy! Even though I don't have a Light attribute talent, I was assigned to a heavily polluted area.]

[...: It's alright, the pollution doesn't make much difference to me, it's just that these monsters are acting like madmen, constantly coming after me.]

As expected, she was unlucky. Xu Jiawei delivered some medicinal powder and then waited for the recovery to finish. After resting for two hours, Xu Jiawei could drink one less bottle of energy potion every day. Although she still had a lot of herbs to refine again, she didn't have enough glass bottles, as they were all filled with insects.

Two hours later, Xu Jiawei opened her eyes, still feeling a bit tired, but thinking about how everyone was still working hard, she couldn't rest any longer.

So she stood up and continued exploring. This time she changed direction and encountered all sorts of mutated creatures along the way. In the midst of this intense battle, the system's announcement came again.

[Ding! Experience points full. Player has reached level 71 and received 1 free attribute point. The first player to reach level 71 will receive a game reward with three options: 1. Obtain a positioning compass; 2. Obtain a random gold equipment; 3. Obtain 3 random attribute points.]

Xu Jiawei thought for a moment. This island was so big that she didn't know when she would be able to explore it all and find the source of pollution. Therefore, the positioning compass was the most useful for her. As for random gold equipment, Xu Jiawei's current equipment was enough, so she didn't need to upgrade it for the time being.

As for random attribute points, Xu Jiawei believes this is the worst option.

She still chose the positioning compass.

[Location Compass: Special equipment that can locate the approximate direction of pollution sources.]

Xu Jiawei picked up the compass and saw the needle start spinning before settling steadily in one direction. She glanced at the sky; there were still five or six hours until dawn. With her current purification speed, she should be able to hold out unless something too unexpected happened. She decided not to go back to the cave and just have Rainbow Brother pack up and bring the items back.

She walked in the direction the arrow pointed, thinking that she could purify herself of the pollution when it got light.

If we happen to encounter a cave along the way, we can simply set up camp there.

Holding a compass in one hand and a magic wand in the other, she was completely wrapped up. Anyone who didn't know her would think she was a necromancer who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, except she looked more like a zombie, like the old zombie in Plants vs. Zombies who held a sun scepter and absorbed the sun. If anyone saw Xu Jiawei, they would be scared to death in the middle of the night.

Because visibility was poor at night, Xu Jiawei walked unsteadily, her clumsy movements making her look even more like a zombie.

Behind them followed a mushroom-shaped monster, a pink will-o'-the-wisp, and a hair-like vine with outstretched claws; none of them looked human.

Fortunately, there were no other players on the island, so Xu Jiawei didn't have to worry about scaring anyone.

However, being wrapped up too tightly was a huge burden for combat, making it impossible to dodge. Xu Jiawei had no choice but to remove everything during the battle and then wrap herself up again afterward.

There was really no other way. Seeing the dense swarm of insects, Xu Jiawei didn't want to take another step. After all, she couldn't tell the insects from the last time, but this time she could clearly see the ticks' swollen abdomens, sharp serrated teeth, and waving limbs after they had sucked their fill of blood.