NOVEL NEXT Chapter 236 - 233 Setting Sail
Chapter 236: Chapter 233 Setting Sail
Fresh squid is quite chewy; Bi Fang’s jaw muscles grew sore and tired before he finally managed to finish eating the squid’s nine tentacles, each one damp, sticky, and accompanied by a fishy sea smell.
As he bit down on the last one, the suction-cup-covered tentacle kept twitching at the corner of his mouth and even latched onto Bi Fang’s skin.
Bi Fang sucked in an attempt to detach it, but the tentacle was too firmly attached and wouldn’t come off, so he had to peel it with his hand and stuff it into his mouth to continue chewing. The audience felt a psychological shadow watching the scene; it was too fierce.
In the middle of chewing, Bi Fang suddenly remembered something and reminded everyone.
“I forgot to say earlier, when eating squid or octopus tentacles raw, you must make sure to chew thoroughly, never swallow them whole. Creatures like these invertebrates, even when dead, their limbs can still move. If you don’t chew them quickly, they can easily adhere to your windpipe and lead to suffocation.”
After speaking, Bi Fang even opened his mouth to show the audience. Even though it wasn’t as clear as during the day with the night mode on, the viewers could still feel how, even partly chewed, the tentacles kept moving, which was chilling.
[Holy shit, I can’t look at squid and octopus the same way anymore!]
[Damn, that’s hardcore, who else but Old Fang could stomach it?]
[I’ve got goosebumps, disgusting!]
[Crab-roe Pipi Shrimp sends a Meat Bone*1 to the host—awesome!]
[By the way, what species of squid is that? It seems different from what I usually see; I’ve never seen one like that. Are you sure it’s not poisonous, Master Fang?]
[Can’t raw eating cause parasites?]
[What’s there to be afraid of? Seafood has fewer parasites; otherwise, Japan wouldn’t enjoy eating it so much. Besides, it’s not Old Fang’s first time eating raw; didn’t he eat a heart last time?]
The scene of Bi Fang bravely eating fierce seafood indeed stimulated the audience, and in a short while, the barrage of comments expanded to over a thousand. This was despite Bi Fang having set commenting qualifications, duration, and frequency as a triple safeguard in the software’s backend.
Many top streamers at most set two layers of restriction, anything more would appear as though the channel wasn’t popular enough. Who else but Bi Fang would dare to implement triple restrictions and still maintain a barrage of comments so dense and lively?
It’s hard to imagine how explosive the comments would be without those three safeguards; probably in the tens of thousands at the climax, truly astonishing.
Bi Fang skimmed through the comments and selected two with the most questions and misconceptions to explain. The first reply he gave blew the audience’s minds.
“Firstly, regarding the species of the squid, I don’t recognize it either, but it should belong to the family of Spear Squid, based on its appearance.”
Audience: “!!!”
You actually don’t know something?
Many viewers widened their eyes, as if they couldn’t believe the words “don’t know” could come out of Bi Fang’s mouth.
[It’s over, Old Fang has been possessed! Quick, who the hell are you?]
[Kill Master Fang, steal the top spot on the leaderboard, sorry, wrong scene]
Most viewers reacted as above, while Bi Fang could only helplessly roll his eyes. With so many species in the world, it was impossible for him to know every single one, even with the red-level Wilderness Survival Skill; it probably wasn’t achievable to that extent.
Unless he activated the Biological Identification skill specifically for marine life.
“There are hundreds of squid species in the ocean; how could I possibly recognize every single one?”
You’re eating it even though you don’t recognize it?
The audience was even more surprised. Weren’t they afraid of eating something poisonous?
Many people had heard about things like the blue-ringed octopus, a single one of which could poison dozens of people, secreting a neurotoxin a thousand times more powerful than cyanide!
“Surviving in the wild doesn’t mean you have to be familiar with every creature; you need to use our intelligence.”
Bi Fang tapped his head, highlighting a significant difference. Previously, he hadn’t encountered species that were difficult to identify, so this aspect had not been exposed, leading the audience to form a stereotype: eat only what you know, don’t eat what you don’t know.
“Regarding the squid, there’s an important point to note: there is only one species of poisonous squid, and that’s the Flame Squid.” Bi Fang picked up the piece of squid in his hand and gave it a shake, “You can tell from the name, this one is obviously not it.”
Indeed.
The audience nodded in agreement, the squid that Bi Fang had caught looked much like the ones they usually ate, with only slight differences. As Bi Fang suggested, it could be a species of Spear Squid.
“In Wilderness Survival, you don’t need to remember which of the more than three hundred kinds of squid are edible, you just need to remember which ones are not. Otherwise, you’d foolishly try to memorize over three hundred species, wouldn’t that exhaust you to death?”
Thinking about a problem from a different angle can make it much simpler.
Moreover, squids are not protected animals, and the few rare kinds are deep-sea squids, which even Bi Fang would not be able to catch.
“Then there’s the issue of parasites. Many people think that saltwater has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, so they believe there are fewer parasites on sea fish. How is that possible?
Sea fish have no fewer parasites than freshwater fish; in fact, there are even more. The most resource-rich place in the world is the ocean, where the earliest cells appeared. Marine biodiversity far exceeds that on land, and the marine ecosystem is very complete, so there are definitely a lot of marine parasites.
You have this misconception solely because of osmotic pressure. Marine parasites, being unable to adapt to the osmotic pressure inside the human body, have a much lower survival rate compared to freshwater ones. The infection rate is lower, creating the false impression that there are fewer marine parasites.”
As he spoke, Bi Fang began gnawing on the squid. Without fire, he could only eat it raw, and squid happened to have fewer parasites, making them somewhat safe to eat uncooked.
To tell the truth, the squid wasn’t very tasty—extremely fishy, with a faint stench. Bi Fang suspected that it was because of its unpalatable taste that it hadn’t made it to the dining table, which is why he didn’t recognize it well.
Had he fire, he certainly would have chosen to cook the food immediately.
But such hope depended on finding an island.
“So everyone should try to eat cooked food whenever possible. In the ‘Three Kingdoms,’ Chen Deng died because he liked to eat raw fish slices. And the descriptions in the historical records are truly horrifying. When Hua Tuo treated him, Chen Deng vomited three liters of worms, all wriggling with their red heads.”
[??? Writhing red heads? What the heck?]
[I’m getting visuals here…]
[It’s just a ball of squirming worms, right? Ew!]
Thinking about vomiting parasites from one’s mouth, many viewers simply couldn’t bear it, especially the red worms, which seemed like a clump of thin red earthworms emerging from one’s organs.
Bi Fang took another bite of squid flesh. The four squids greatly alleviated his survival predicament, giving him something to look forward to.
If a person were an engine, then food would be the fuel. A good car needs good fuel, and this creature has very high protein content. The empty stomach of the Fish King had been idle for days, but now it was at work non-stop, breaking down food and delivering it to the intestines for absorption and digestion. The calories surged up quickly—pure bliss!
The cold in his limbs was driven away, and Master Bi, who had been tired all day, finally could rest well.
He had no intention of saving any for later, devouring an entire squid. Only then was Bi Fang free to do more work, starting with the ink.
Having cleaned the ink from his face, Bi Fang also gathered up excess ink scattered on the life raft, not much but better than nothing. Although the toxicity was low, the ink indeed had a brief paralyzing effect. Fishermen, after catching squids with a landing net, would let them squirt out the ink and then haul the catch aboard to prevent the ink from spraying on people, indicating its substantial effect.
Bi Fang wasn’t sure if it would be useful, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
The real issue, however, was the container. Bi Fang had no choice but to empty another squid and use its head as a temporary container to hold the ink, leaving the audience staring in bewilderment.
All this done, sleepiness came over Bi Fang. Full and content, it was easy to get sleepy, and with night falling, it was time for bed.
After a brief farewell, Bi Fang turned off his live stream. In the live stream room, footage of Bi Fang conquering the storm began to loop—waves piled upon waves, the tiny raft standing against the surf, fearless and Riding the Wind and Waves.
A bunch of viewers stared in the live streaming room, big eyes watching small eyes. This was a new feature of Wolf Fang, where the stream wouldn’t go to a black screen after the host signed off but instead looped over previous exciting moments. It took several minutes for the Shuiyou to realize the live stream had ended, and they departed reluctantly, still longing for more.
Inside the helicopter, Jerret sat in the lead seat, flipping through the ratings report with a serious expression, while Pondy, the director of photography, the four-member team, and others around him all looked pleased. However, as the person in charge had yet to speak, they could barely suppress their eagerness to talk.
After Jerret finished reading in detail, his expression became even more solemn, his hands trembling slightly, leading one to wonder if he was showing early signs of Parkinson’s.
The day’s highest rating was 3.6%, with an average rating of 3.1%. Such a performance…
Could it be, could it be that their show was this popular?
Such average ratings of 3.1% for a new show without any reputation to speak of was incredibly exaggerated, wasn’t it?
“`
The most important thing is that today’s broadcast has already squeezed into the top ten of the hot broadcast list, which is simply an unbelievable feat. Had it been on a more popular channel, it might have even made it into the top five.
This kind of adventurous TV program has completely hit the G-spot of foreign youths. Storms, squid fishing without bait, and survival at sea, put them all together and it’s simply exhilarating, alright?
These days, every TV channel faces internet pressure, which has snatched away a large portion of the television audience, leaving TV increasingly vulnerable, like a weak chicken. The Discovery Channel has been thinking creatively, and achieving such a great result undoubtedly proves everyone’s capabilities.
But could he create such great results in the future?
Jerret shook his head with a smile and stopped dwelling on this matter. Either way, today was definitely a day for celebration. He looked around and, leading by example, exclaimed, “Well done!”
Everyone cheered loudly. Pondy looked at Jerret, and upon receiving a nod, immediately brought out the supply box and distributed cans of food. Each person got several, and with canned goods in hand, everyone was even more excited.
Due to their location, even though they could not end up like Bi Fang with nothing to eat, they were only able to get a fixed amount of compressed biscuits, canned food, and the like every day. After three continuous days, they were quite tired of it, so having a canned food feast was indeed wonderful.
As for Bi Fang, there was nothing to be done; he couldn’t join the celebration. Allowing him to eat would be cheating. They would have to wait until his live broadcast ended, and then everyone would find a nice place to have a big meal together.
After all, he was the biggest project!
The next morning, Bi Fang opened his eyes, squinted for quite some time against the piercing sunlight before gradually adjusting.
It was another day with beautiful weather. How long had he slept?
Was it nine or ten o’clock? It seemed like he had slept for over ten hours because of the exhaustion from the day before.
Just waking up, Bi Fang was still a bit groggy, but based on the sun’s position, he estimated the time roughly. He rubbed his head; the headache was still there but not as intense.
The good news was that Bi Fang did not catch a cold. Honestly, with the extent of yesterday’s rain, he had braced himself for a cold, or even a fever, but fortunately, none had come.
It seemed that the training had been very effective, Bi Fang thought to himself.
The underwater training device gifted by the system also had temperature control. More than once, Bi Fang swam in zero-degree water, and with nearly a week of adaptability training, his tolerance was still very high.
And the moment Bi Fang woke up, the director of photography, who had been monitoring the camera, wanted to start the live broadcast immediately. But Bi Fang waved at the camera, then took down the drone that was docked atop the tent, stuffed it inside, stood up from the zipper entrance, and completely blocked the camera’s view.
The director of photography was momentarily stunned, but quickly realized what Bi Fang was about to do.
When nature calls.
Seeing this, he didn’t rush to start the live broadcast, waiting a few minutes until everything was done. Then, under Bi Fang’s direction, he began the live stream.
Following routine, Bi Fang greeted everyone and started today’s broadcast.
[Is Old Fang being lazy today? It’s already half-past nine and he’s just starting the live broadcast. I’ve been waiting for over an hour, refreshing Wolf Fang waiting for you to start!]
[Add one, I’ve also been waiting a long time.]
[You must make it up to us! Extra broadcast tonight!]
[Right! You must compensate with an extra broadcast, otherwise, we’ll just stay in the live streaming room and not leave!]
[Staying and not leaving? Wolf Fang’s boss would wake up laughing from his dream. Please, stay a bit longer.]
Bi Fang just laughed and said nothing more; he had a lot to do. Processing the squid could wait, and although the sun was out, the temperature was still not high. The squid would be preserved for two to three days without any problem, and afterwards, he’d have to consider drying them for storage.
Next were the four squid bones; they were truly good stuff, genuine “hard goods”.
“I should be thankful that what I caught were squids, not octopuses. If they were octopuses, they wouldn’t have this hard ‘bone,’ instead, there would be something like a soft plastic, which wouldn’t be very useful to me. But squid bones are different; they are actually quite hard.”
Bi Fang picked up two squid bones and clacked them together, making a bony clacking sound, proving indeed some hardness.
“Even though squids are invertebrates, they have a bone-like internal shell, which has a specific term known as ‘sea piaoxiao’. Of course, a squid’s bone-like internal shell is different from the bones of humans and many other animals, and it’s not what people usually understand as bones. Its main component is calcium carbonate.”
Calcium carbonate?
“`
Chalk?
Isn’t it the kind that snaps easily?
“Exactly, it’s chalk, but the structure of this squid bone is different, its unique structure gives it a lot of tenacity. Just looking at its hardness and toughness, it’s a pretty good material. It can be used in medicine and also crafted into jewelry. So, I’m planning to grind it into a fish hook…”
Bi Fang gripped a fish bone and snapped it forcefully, quickly breaking it into two pieces. But that wasn’t all; he snapped it two more times, dividing the fish bone into four segments.
While the snap hook is metal and has much better hardness and toughness than squid bone, the only problem is that it’s too small. It can attract squid and other small creatures, but if I were to catch anything else, it would be at most the size of my palm.
The fish bone was split into four; next was the sanding. Without tools, I’d have to use the material itself. Bi Fang used one fish bone to grind down another. Bone powder fell like drizzle, and the process was quite fast. It didn’t take long for the rudimentary shapes of two fish hooks to appear.
The newly made fish hooks were significantly larger than the previous ones and very sturdy. Their overall shape resembled a boat anchor, thin at both ends and wide in the middle, a structure designed as much as possible to prevent the hook from breaking.
After all, no matter how hard it was or how good its structure, it was still made of calcium carbonate, not quite up to par with real bones, let alone modern metal fish hooks. But it was definitely better than the snap hook. Strung with a squid tentacle, it might even catch something big.
The audience watched with great excitement; we finally have tools!
Is it time to show off what I’ve got?
About half an hour passed, and all four fish hooks were completed. Washing them in seawater, they were smooth and thick. One was about as big as a curved little finger, who knows how many times larger than the previous metal snap hook.
Bi Fang couldn’t wait to thread a squid tentacle onto a hook and toss it into the sea, waiting for a fish to bite.
What came next, a long wait?
No, Bi Fang made a move that took everyone by surprise.
He’s dismantling the tent!
Has he gone mad?
The audience couldn’t comprehend what Bi Fang was doing. Why dismantle the tent? What will he do when it rains again?
He hadn’t taken it down even in a storm, so why dismantle it when the sun is shining?
The screen was full of messages trying to dissuade Bi Fang, but he saw them and ignored them, continuing to disassemble the tent. The edges of the thing were seamlessly connected to the raft, and he had to be very careful while slashing with the fish hook to avoid damaging the raft itself and causing a leak.
For the past three days, Bi Fang had been making a mistake, which only became apparent after the storm yesterday inspired an epiphany. This morning Bi Fang had a vague realization of what the problem was.
He subconsciously thought that a life raft was supposed to drift slowly, awaiting rescue, because there were no conditions to allow an inflatable life raft to navigate.
Every survival guide says the same thing: stay put as much as possible, don’t swim around, shoot flares or light fires, eat supplies, and wait for rescue.
But Bi Fang overlooked one thing: was his goal to wait for rescue?
Not at all!
He had to survive for twenty-one days and try to find land in that period!
He had no supplies, no flares, no fire starters, everything depended on him.
Then why not take the initiative to move forward, in search of a continent or an island?
A violent storm had left him clueless about where he had drifted. If Bi Fang hadn’t held down the tent back then, the strong winds and waves could have made him drift dozens of kilometers.
The life raft could move forward; it just needed some simple conditions.
Bi Fang was going to use the tent,
As a sail!