Enemies Are All Nourishment for My Fungi-Chapter 144: An Even More Relaxing Second Round of Hunting (4)

The next items were water birds and eggs, just as Ye Nai said, piled up in heaps—it was impossible to count their number, but there was certainly enough to entertain guests at the grand March anniversary feast. The live birds they caught with nets could be kept for attempted breeding.

The most astounding were the fish and shrimps.

Ye Nai sorted them by size, and those skilled at distinguishing fish and shrimp species could see that each pile contained a mix of varieties, grouped together only because their lengths and widths were roughly the same.

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Among the large fish, the biggest of them all, Captain Niu, held one by the mouth, his arm raised high with difficulty, yet the tail still touched the ground.

"Wow, this fish is impressive!"

"Even if we can only strip a third of the meat, like with wild boar, this many fish will be plenty for several meals."

"The shrimp are also great, all so big. If the shrimp meat is intact and as consumable as the water birds, leaving all the meat, that’d be bliss."

"I think this amount should be enough to report back with."

"Sure, reporting back is one thing, but what about after the anniversary? Shouldn’t we keep a bit more for ourselves?"

"Hmm... shouldn’t the guests take some gifts before they leave?"

"Then should we hunt a bit more? After this trip back, we can rest longer too."

Listening to everyone’s enthusiastic discussion, Ye Nai also felt that it would be better to hunt a bit more. With a longer break, she would have more time to spend in the training hall.

The team leaders called her aside for a discussion, which didn’t take long to conclude.

They split into two groups; Ye Nai continued hunting water game in the wetlands, while the team leaders led everyone else to the periphery of the wetlands, where the terrestrial animals were, harnessing their expertise. When Ye Nai returned, she would rendezvous with them before heading back together.

To ensure easy contact, the communications soldier left Ye Nai with a high-power radio and a radio direction finder, teaching her to use both so she could quickly locate the main force on her way back.

The logistics team also tallied up the game she brought back, but left her in charge of it. If stored in someone else’s space, it would decay at a normal rate.

After all, no logistics member’s space could accommodate such a large haul of game.

Ye Nai packed up her belongings and spent a night at the camp, and the next morning, she packed up her tent and continued on her journey in the track vehicle.

The rest of the camp also broke camp and set off. Ye Nai left the excavator and other heavy equipment with them. They loaded the bird cages onto the trailer, connected it to the tractor, with the excavator and forklift following behind, ready to push if the tractor’s wheels were stuck in a slip.

Ye Nai, on the other hand, sped through the wetlands, her interest piqued by this vast and boundless expanse of water. She was aware that the vehicle would record her route, effectively mapping it, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she preferred it that way, so that her superiors could see how far she had traveled to bring back such a bounty of game.

As for the actual hunting, that was, of course, left to her fungus.

She ran non-stop around the water’s edge for about a week, far surpassing the point where she had turned back before, yet still not reaching the boundaries of this body of water. All she saw were traces left by mutant beasts and mutant plants in the muddy ground.

Just when she was considering ending this adventure to rendezvous with the main force, Ye Nai unexpectedly discovered car tracks.

The tracks were not fresh, a few days old, and had she not seen them, any rain would erase these faint marks completely.

The spores flew along the direction extended by the car tracks, Ye Nai drove cautiously following behind.

Half a day later, the spores sent back feedback—there were people.

Ye Nai immediately got out of the car, stored it in her space, and snuck into the tall, dense grass at the water’s edge to approach slowly.

Spores and fungus strands created a safe little path for her, keeping any dangerous animals or plants at bay.

The grasses by the shore swayed with the wind, and no one would notice a person hiding amongst them; at most, they might think an animal had passed through.

Ye Nai ran quickly with small steps, not knowing how far she had gone, until she heard the rhythmic beat of drums and stopped in her tracks, crouching low and cautiously making her way towards the sound.

The drumming grew louder and more rapid, accompanied by the singing voices of people.

Ye Nai peered curiously out from the grass and unexpectedly saw a fireside dance that was neither traditional nor modern.

It wasn’t dark yet, but the bonfire had already been lit, with fifty or sixty black-haired men and women wearing colorful robes dancing and singing around the fire to the accompaniment of drumbeats.

It seemed like an entertainment form of an ethnic minority, but in the environment of the Secret Realm, it appeared somewhat bizarre.

Ye Nai’s first reaction was that enemies from the Otherworld had appeared, and she thought about killing them, but luckily before she acted, their dance ended, and as they spoke in twos and threes, she realized they were speaking her own country’s language. Despite the various accents, she heard several popular internet memes, causing her to hesitate and continue to listen patiently while lying low in the grass.

In that open and unobstructed world, that group of people never imagined that a living person was hidden in the ordinary grass beside them, all speaking loudly as if afraid their voices wouldn’t be heard by those nearby.

As she listened, Ye Nai understood who they were.

They were believers who had come here looking for the entrance to the Otherworld, genuinely convinced that the arrival of the Otherworldly, although bringing war, also brought news of a new world and a shortcut to cosmic travel. They wanted to go to the Otherworld to live a better life.

They believed that the Otherworldly enemies had disappeared without a trace after being driven back to the Secret Realm, and that within it, there must be a secret channel leading to their world. This vast wetland was the most suspicious area.

Some theories even sounded reasonable to Ye Nai.

To maintain the shuttle between two realms, the secret channel must possess enormous energy. Luckily, this time their team included an Awakener sensitive to energy.

Ye Nai thought that just maintaining the vast spatial channel of the Secret Realm would require a considerable amount of energy, and although her spores were also sensitive to energy, they showed no reaction.

If there really were an energy source, it must be hidden in an even deeper and more difficult-to-find place.

Most of the Secret Realm of East Ridge City was plain terrain; where could you hide something on a plain?

Only underground.

Ye Nai turned her head to look back at the surface of the water.

Or, underwater.

Ye Nai retreated the way she had come.

She wasn’t interested in these people; as long as they didn’t harm anyone, let them believe whatever they wanted.

After retreating a good distance, Ye Nai stood by the water and released a large number of spores, letting them sink freely to collect fish and shrimp of the right size for her. Spores that failed to capture prey would settle to the bottom and burrow into the mud, possibly bringing her the answers she sought one day.

Ye Nai set up her tent to rest early, and before falling asleep, she decided to head back home first thing in the morning, or she’d miss the anniversary.

The storage space kept receiving goods; all were big fish and shrimp with a high meat ratio.

In the second half of the night, a vibration similar to an earthquake transmitted through the thick earth, reaching the surface from over a hundred kilometers deep in the rock layer, but the water was deep enough to contain the vibration, causing only a negligible ripple on the surface.