The story of the black silk female knight

Chapter 50 Discoveries While Eating Fish

"It tastes great?"

Valensa completely ignored the comment about it being poisonous; her eyes lit up as she looked at the two freshly dug pieces of clam meat.

"Can I have a taste?"

"...But it's poisonous!"

Seeing Valencia reach for the poisonous shellfish, the chef, who was processing the shellfish, was both amused and exasperated and quickly stopped her:

"If you want to try seafood, we have many healthy and delicious options here. This toxic ingredient is very harmful to the body."

"fine."

Valensa casually patted her hemispherical breastplate twice:

"Can't you see I'm a paladin? I know detoxification magic, so eating poisonous food is a form of magical training for me. Besides, didn't you just say this poison has hallucinogenic effects? That means it can also temper my will, making it perfect for me to eat."

"Ah this..."

It seemed that Valensa's serious explanation made too much sense, and coupled with the fact that she was a beautiful young woman in black stockings, the chef found it hard to refuse... and in a daze, he gave her a few pieces of clam meat, as well as some other seafood ingredients that were poisonous but tasted great.

With these ingredients in hand, Valensa returned to her room.

As the most luxurious room on the ship, Valensa's room was not only spacious and furnished with luxurious furniture, but also had a small terrace... Of course, on a ship, such a terrace should more accurately be called a small, independent deck.

While Tia and Thousand Leaf Grass were still playing cards and chatting in the room, Valensa took the ingredients to the terrace, took out various kitchen utensils from the storage space, and tried cooking.

These ingredients taste great but are poisonous... Since everyone knows they taste great, it means that someone must have eaten them before, and there must be suitable cooking methods left behind.

Valensa learned a lot about how to cook poisonous ingredients from the chef she had spoken to before. She then categorized and processed the ingredients according to those methods, some by stewing, some by frying, and some by grilling on a hot plate.

Soon, the entire room was filled with the aroma of the ingredients.

"What did you make, Big Sister? It smells so good!"

Thousand-leaf grass quickly came over and reached out to grab a piece of clam meat that had already been grilled on the iron plate.

But as expected of an excellent anti-demon ninja, she stopped herself before Valensa could stop her and warn her that the food was poisoned, and expressed her surprise:

"Huh? I remember this stuff is supposed to be poisonous... a potent hallucinogenic poison. I have one of my poisons that contains this ingredient."

Then, Chiba's gaze swept over the other fragrant foods, and her little face quickly fell:

"Big sister, are you bullying us? Why are all these ingredients poisonous?"

"Just like how the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie, many ingredients are more delicious the more toxic they are."

Valensa, in a showy manner, grabbed a piece of grilled clam with her bare hand, dipped it in a sauce made of sesame oil, minced garlic, and chili powder, and then began to eat it with gusto.

"It's rare that I have such a good appetite that I can eat anything. Wouldn't it be a waste not to enjoy these delicacies that ordinary people can't eat? ... Mmm, this clam meat really tastes amazing. It's smooth, tender, and crispy, and it even has a hint of milky flavor. It's so delicious."

Go, go, go.

Just like she was deliberately craving a thousand-leaf clover, Valensa ate it loudly, juices spilling out.

"Hey, hey, hey~~"

Thousand-leaf grass was indeed starting to feel the strain.

She first looked at Tia, who was still very calm in the room:

"You think you can handle this?"

"?"

Tia gave Thousand Leaf Grass a strange look:

"What's so unbearable about that? If you're craving something sweet, just get some non-toxic ingredients and have her cook it for you herself, right?"

"Yes."

Thousand-Leaf Grass suddenly realized, then looked at Valensa with a hint of expectation:

"You'll make this for Cao Cao, right, big sister?"

"of course."

This time, Valensa didn't deliberately bully Chiba, and nodded with a smile:

"I don't know what you want to eat, Cao Cao? All the ingredients I brought back this time are poisonous. Why don't you go to the kitchen and check for yourself, Cao Cao?"

"no need."

Suddenly, however, the thousand-leaf clover became very interested:

“I grew up on an island, so I don’t care much for the seafood that’s common on boats, and there’s nothing I particularly want to eat… so I’ll just go with the flow and eat whatever I catch.”

After finishing her sentence, Chiba walked to the edge of the terrace and glanced at the sea beyond the railing:

"Hmm, this height should be about right."

Then she went back to her room and started rummaging through her storage bag.

"What? Cao Cao, you can fish?"

Valensa ate grilled clams while cooking mixed fish soup, and looked curiously at Thousand Leaf Grass:

"There were so many fish in the pond next to our dorm before, I've never seen you fish there."

"What's the point of fishing? If I want to eat fish, I just catch them directly, humph."

Chiba quickly found the fishing tools she used, walked to the edge of the terrace, activated the wood-attribute ninjutsu energy within her body, and shot three beams of green light into the sea.

Valensa could see clearly that what was wrapped in the three streams of ninjutsu energy were three special tender leaves of Thousand Leaf Grass that had been nurtured by her body heat. These tender leaves had a very fragrant aroma, and Valensa loved to use them to make tea.

The fragrance on the tender leaves, now aroused by the energy of wood-attribute ninjutsu, spreads rapidly through the seawater, quickly attracting many aquatic creatures to come and snatch the food.

There were various kinds of sea fish of different colors, as well as lobsters and crabs longer than a person's arm, but no dangerous monsters were seen. It was probably because Chiba Grass deliberately controlled the attraction range of the bait using ninjutsu.

"Whew~~ Let me see what I should eat tonight!"

Chiba was clearly very satisfied with the large number of aquatic creatures gathered there. She took out a grappling hook launcher, put it on her left arm, aimed at the water for a while, and then launched the grappling hook.

The hooks, which can easily pierce and grip walls, make catching fish on the surface of the water even easier. Immediately, a red snapper weighing about 2 kilograms was caught by Chiba and brought to the terrace.

"This fish sashimi is delicious, but it would taste even better with your dipping sauce, big sister... Please, big sister~~"

"no problem."

With a swift movement, Valensa's knife flashed, sending dozens of blades sweeping across the red snapper at incredible speed. Within seconds, the fish was transformed into dozens of evenly sliced ​​pieces on the plate. As for the sauce, the sauce Valensa had used earlier for the grilled clams could be used directly.

"Hehe, then I won't be polite."

Chiba quickly grabbed a slice of fish and dipped it in Valensa's sauce to eat.

The two of them were enjoying a delicious seafood feast on the terrace, and even opened a bottle of wine, clinking glasses every now and then.

Tia, who had intended to read by herself, soon couldn't sit still and joined in.

Tia is also not good at fishing, but she has her own little tricks for catching fish.

Just as the school of fish attracted by the leaves of the Thousand Leaf Grass had not yet dispersed, Tia controlled a magic card inscribed with a spatial link spell to fly into the water and teleport all the fish she had her eye on back.

Valensa didn't slack off either. Following Tia's desired cooking method, she quickly turned the fish into delicious dishes, either steamed or made into soup. The three of them ate and chatted together on the terrace.

Most aquatic products don't actually have much meat, and cultivators generally eat more than normal people... Absorbing more energy from food is also a way for cultivators to become stronger.

So after eating the fish they caught at the beginning, Tia and Thousand Leaf Grass quickly used their respective fishing skills to attack the aquatic creatures again, and Valensa joined in after eating all the poisonous ingredients.

There are so many creatures in the ocean that even someone like Qianyecao, who grew up on an island, couldn't possibly recognize every kind of fish and shrimp. So they simply started catching whatever fish and shrimp looked good and trying them.

"what?"

When Tia used the spatial link to teleport several fish to the terrace again, Thousand Leaf Grass suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the small blue fish, which was only the length of her index finger, with a puzzled look on her face.

Without waiting for Valensa and Tia to ask any questions, she dipped the small blue fish directly into the sauce Valensa had prepared, and then ate it in two bites, starting from the head.

After finishing her meal, Qianyecao smacked her lips twice, initially showing a look of enjoyment, but then became even more puzzled:

"The taste is right...it really is cartilaginous crucian carp."

"...Is there anything strange about this fish?"

Valensa and Tia exchanged a glance and realized they had never heard of this kind of small fish before, so they asked Thousand Leaf Grass out of curiosity.

"This cartilage carp itself is nothing special. It's just a snack for us islanders, and only we islanders like to eat it. It's normal that you Fran people haven't seen it before."

As she spoke, Qianyecao grabbed another cartilaginous crucian carp, dipped it in the sauce, and handed it to Valensa and Tia:

"The bones of this small fish are very soft, making it easier to eat raw than stewed cartilage. The flesh is also quite fresh and tender. More importantly, this small fish doesn't eat random things; it only needs to absorb the elemental energy from seawater to survive. Therefore, its body is quite clean and has almost no odor. It's best eaten raw with your favorite sauce... Why don't you try some?"

"Row."

Since Qianyecao had said so, and she had just eaten one raw, Valensa and Tia didn't hesitate much. Following Qianyecao's example, they dipped the small fish, about the length of their index fingers, in the sauce and ate them in half.

"Wow, it tastes really good, refreshing and crispy, it's great as a snack."

Tia first gave the small fish a high rating, and then asked curiously:

"Isn't this fish delicious? Are there any other problems?"

"Have."

Chiba's face still showed confusion:

"Cartilage carp is a very famous local snack in our Four Islands Alliance. Almost everyone... at least all fishermen know that this kind of fish can only be found in the southern waters of Chizhi Island."

As a special type of fish that can survive in seawater without needing to eat food, cartilaginous crucian carp have very high requirements for the marine environment... especially the temperature and the concentration of elements in the seawater.

The waters south of Chizhi Island are warmer than here, so cartilaginous crucian carp generally live at depths of 10 to 20 meters.

The fact that you were able to use area teleportation to catch the cartilaginous crucian carp just now, Tia, means that their activity area is very close to the water surface... It must be because it is too cold in the deep water that they have to stay close to the water surface.

But this is very strange... Cartilaginous crucian carp live perfectly well south of Chizhi Island, so why are they appearing in this completely different sea area?

"Could this... just be an isolated incident?"

Valensa guessed.

She wasn't a biologist, but she had seen news reports in her past life and remembered that there were instances of marine animals getting lost, such as penguins or seals swimming in the wrong direction and ending up swimming thousands of kilometers into human territory.

"Probably...not right?"

Even Thousand Leaf Grass isn't entirely sure:

"These fish are quite sensitive to water temperature and environment, so they shouldn't get lost easily. And the fact that Tia can catch two of them with just a flick of her wrist means there are probably quite a few more in the water."

"Let me take a look first."

Upon hearing this, Valensa immediately went to the edge of the terrace and looked at the water.

With the combined effects of divine insight and enhanced vision from mental powers, Valensa could see everything clearly within a kilometer radius and in water nearly a hundred meters deep:

"There are indeed some small fish in the water... but not many. There are only about thirty or forty of them within a kilometer of our boat."

"No, this number is already a lot."

Thousand-leaf grass frowned:

"This is enough to show that the appearance of cartilaginous crucian carp in this sea area is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather that they have encountered some kind of change."

But no one can say for sure what exactly happened... The ocean is still too mysterious. The human civilization on Eve still does not have the ability to conduct stable ocean voyages. Safe communication between continents relies entirely on ultra-long-range space teleportation.

Thousand-leaf grass could only tell the captain about this discovery and let him make his own judgment.

"How come creatures that shouldn't be in these waters have appeared?"

The captain took this discovery very seriously:

"Those unexpected and dangerous sea monsters may also attack... It seems we must have the ship's guards be on high alert."

The captain was an experienced seaman with nearly 30 years of sailing experience. Valensa respected his judgment and didn't sleep too soundly that night, remaining prepared for battle at any moment.

However, apart from the rough seas that nearly shook people off their beds, we didn't encounter any dangerous attacks from marine monsters during the night.

However, what is destined to happen will eventually come.

According to statistics on port entry and exit records of Fran and the Four Islands Alliance, the probability of an ordinary merchant ship traveling between Fran and the Four Islands Alliance not being attacked by sea monsters on each voyage is less than 5%.

That is why every large merchant ship is fully armored and armed, and even has elite guards and powerful warriors escorting it.