Chapter 31

The river valley has a significant elevation difference between its upstream and downstream sections, causing the water to flow rapidly.

Less than a hundred meters downstream from where the second squad was fishing, there is a natural dam formed by a landslide, creating a small lake in this area. This is why the several-hundred-pound Tim fish have taken up residence in these waters. The river valley is lined with pebble beaches, where the stones, roughly the size of fists, have been smoothed and rounded by years of erosion.

On the wooden cross, the remains of the wild boar were reduced to a skeleton, and the hemp rope used for climbing the rock face was frayed, with some parts looking close to breaking.

The warriors of the second squad, exhausted, sat under a tree. The old willow by the river seemed to have just survived a storm, with broken branches and fallen leaves scattered everywhere.

Occasionally, a Tim fish would leap out of the water and spray a jet of water toward the willow tree.

These water jets, of course, did not reach the warriors, but they did strip the leaves from the old willow tree almost entirely.

Sitting under the tree, the warriors felt the water jets explode above their heads, like a light rain.

...

Although the Tim fish had not awakened to basic intelligence, these level-one magical beasts were not completely mindless. By midday, no more Tim fish were willing to bite the large fishhook.

Fifteen Tim fish, each weighing two to three hundred pounds, were laid out on the pebble beach. Their heads, covered in green scales, were split open with a sharp axe, and the magic cores inside their skulls were extracted by the bearded young man, Kager. Unfortunately, out of the fifteen Tim fish, only five dragon-eye-sized magic cores were found. Due to their small size, the chances of these cores containing magic crystals were low.

Despite this, the members of the second squad were still very excited. Even without the magic crystals, just selling the magic cores would be worth about fifty silver coins each.

To avoid the attacks from the Tim fish in the river, Suldak ordered the squad to drag the fish to a nearby thicket, farther from the river.

Suldak, who had good skinning skills, squatted beside one of the Tim fish and used a sharp skinning knife to remove the entire fish skin. This fish skin is excellent material for making fish leather scabbards, boots, or belts, and merchants in the market outside the camp are very willing to buy such low-level magical beast materials.

...

"A pity none of these Tim fish have natural magic patterns. Otherwise, we could have made a bit more money," Suldak muttered, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand, which held the skinning knife, showing some dissatisfaction.

"It's still pretty good. If we sell these magic cores and fish skins, the money we get will be about equivalent to a month's allowance for the infantry. No wonder so many adventure teams are willing to come here to explore," Red Socks Garcia said, squatting beside Suldak, looking very pleased.

Since the topic of loot distribution came up, Suldak sat on the grass, took a drink of water, and then pointed to the magic cores in front of him. "If we sell these magic cores to Larkin, we'll probably get about 250 silver coins. There are thirteen of us in the squad, so each person would get about 19 silver coins."

He Boqiang, who had been staying in Larkin's tent for a few days, often helped the curly-haired boy Gabi with his stall, which also displayed a few pigeon-egg-sized magic cores. Therefore, he was very familiar with the prices of magic cores. The current market price for such cores was indeed around this amount.

He picked up a magic core and held it in his palm. The core still had a faint fishy smell, and each one had a very hard outer shell. Only by polishing away this outer layer could the magic crystal inside be seen.

Suldak said to the squad members, "Each of us will also get one Tim fish skin. You can sell it privately or take it home later. A Tim fish skin can fetch at least ten silver coins in the market here, but if you take it home, the price could double."

The fifteen Tim fish skins were divided among the thirteen squad members, with the extra two going to the captain and the skinning expert, Suldak.

The bearded Kager seemed unsatisfied with the harvest, looking at the magic core in He Boqiang's hand and sighing, "It would be great if these magic cores all contained magic crystals."

Augustus, sitting beside Kager, his eyes bright, asked tentatively, "Dare to take a bet? If one of these five magic cores contains a magic crystal, our earnings could double."

Kager rolled his eyes and countered, "What if none of them do?"

Augustus spread his hands, looking indifferent, "Then we get nothing. We'll just have to take a Tim fish skin home."

Red Socks Garcia, looking cautious, said, "I think it's already a good deal to sell these magic cores. There's no need to take a bet."

Seeing that some people's eyes lit up at Augustus's words, Suldak decisively waved his hand and said to Augustus, "I've seen people open these dragon-eye-sized magic cores, and even after opening twenty, they didn't find a single magic crystal. The yield from level-one magical beasts is still too low! If you want to bet, you'll have to buy these magic cores and take the risk. If you get a magic crystal, all the earnings will be yours."

Augustus spread his hands, looking helpless, and said, "If no one supports me, then forget it!"

...

He Boqiang quietly put the magic core back in place.

Just then, He Boqiang suddenly noticed a faint aura seeping from the magic core in his hand. This faint aura traveled up his arm and reached his shoulder.

In that instant, in his spiritual world, he perceived countless stars in the void, clustering around his body's projection, which was dim. The second star on his shoulder, which had been lit a few days ago, had stabilized. As the faint aura from the magic core entered his body, a dim star adjacent to the second star began to glow faintly.

The aura from the magic core could actually light up the stars in his spiritual world.

He Boqiang quickly put the magic core back. When he withdrew his hand, he subconsciously picked up another magic core. He held it in his palm, but the faint aura did not appear again.

He Boqiang picked up the other magic cores one by one, but only the first one gave him a sensation.

...

The weather was hot, and the Tim fish would spoil quickly if left out.

Now, they were lying in the shade of the thicket, and the second squad's warriors were cutting the best meat from the fish, slicing it thinly and laying it on clean, large rocks by the shore to dry. Each fish weighed about two to three hundred pounds, and the fifteen Tim fish would yield at least a thousand pounds of meat. Even when dried, it would still weigh several hundred pounds, making it impossible to carry all of it. They could only select the best pieces to dry.

The Tim fish meat was tender and delicious, and their lunch was a pot of fragrant fish porridge. In the wild, they couldn't cook it elaborately, so it was just a simple meal.

Due to the presence of native people nearby, the second squad couldn't stay there for long. As the sun was about to set, they packed some of the dried fish into food bags, and each person carried about twenty pounds of dried fish back to the temporary camp.

...

He Boqiang was sleeping soundly in his tent when he heard Red Socks Garcia's voice outside: "Captain... Suldak!"

It seemed that calling him "captain" didn't work, so Red Socks Garcia boldly reverted to calling him "Suldak."

Hearing someone call out, Suldak, who was lying at the tent entrance, immediately woke up and asked in a deep voice, "What is it?"

He Boqiang forced himself to open his eyes and looked outside. It was just dawn, the sky gradually turning blue, the stars fading, and a bright white band appearing on the horizon.

Red Socks, wearing heavy armor, half-squatted outside the tent and reported to the just-awakened Suldak, "Captain, the native people are stealing fish from the other side of the river!"