Now there are no idle fishing rods left, but there is one more person, so accommodation will become an issue in the future. For now, let the three commoners squeeze into the living quarters. When the wooden boat is upgraded later, we can rearrange their living spaces and move Molly out at that time.
While lost in thought, the fishing rod in his hand trembled again. Gu Ning reeled in the rod, and this time he caught fertilizer.
Fertilizer (White): Doubles crop growth speed.
Gu Ning went back to the house and sprinkled the fertilizer into the planting space box. This way, he could enjoy vegetables in just three to four days.
Soon, Gu Ning fished out a blueprint.
Ice Cream Maker (Green): Enjoying a cup of ice cream on a sweltering summer day is an absolute delight.
Construction Requirements: Wood ×5, Copper ×2, Plastic ×3
This item seemed not very useful at the moment, but it could improve the quality of life. Perhaps it could be used to make ice cream for sale, but Gu Ning guessed few people would buy it, as most were still struggling to survive!
Today was a torrential rain! Gu Ning had already checked that his Tier 2 drainage technology could barely drain the water, leaving a tiny residue. If the rain got heavier, he would have to drain it manually.
He decided to put the blueprint aside for now. If there were no good harvests today, he would use this item with his talent at night.
After fishing, Gu Ning checked his white stone count—just over 2,600 remained. Then he opened the [Technology] interface and began searching for "diving." He planned to take the initiative to hunt in the sea, as relying solely on fishing for white stones yielded too little daily.
Clicking "Search," he saw options like:
- Ship Diving Technology
- Ship Diving Technology (Weakened)
- Ship Diving Detection Technology
- Ship Diving Weapon Technology
...
A long list of technologies appeared before Gu Ning. He clicked on Ship Diving Technology.
Description: After construction, the ship gains diving capability with a built-in shield.
Gu Ning clicked [Activate], only to be prompted that it required 5,000 white stones. He silently closed the window—this poor guy couldn't afford it. This is ridiculously expensive! Just to activate it? Even if I did, I probably couldn't maintain it. Upgrades must cost a fortune too.
Next, he tried the weakened version, which required 1,000 white stones to activate. Gu Ning clicked [Activate] immediately—this price was acceptable. Then he clicked [Construct], prompted for 1,500 white stones. No hesitation—you have to invest to gain. If he had more money, he would've gone for the normal version.
Ship Diving Technology (Weakened): Grants the ship diving capability for 1 hour daily.
Only one hour of diving time. Checking the next upgrade cost—3,000 white stones, double the current price. Technology truly eats up resources.
After this, he had only about 100 white stones left. Gu Ning didn't dive immediately; he planned to go in the afternoon. With only one hour of diving time daily, there was no rush. He changed back to his fishing rod and continued fishing.
Occasionally, he caught a fish, and butchering it sometimes yielded 1–2 basic materials, with a higher drop rate than the past two days. Besides fish, he occasionally fished up wooden or iron boxes, mostly containing food—even water was rare. He wondered why water had such a low drop rate.
Chatting with Windsor and逗弄火火 (flirting with Huohuo?), time不知不觉 (unconsciously) flew by to noon. After lunch, Gu Ning asked Molly and the three other commoners to each take a piece of equipment from the warehouse—all non-enchanted.
Then he activated the diving technology. A spindle-shaped white shield instantly enveloped the wooden boat. Though it looked like a shield, Gu Ning knew it only blocked seawater and offered no real protection.
Starting the boat, they began to dive. This time, Gu Ning didn't go too deep—the deeper they went, the more likely they'd encounter powerful sea beasts. Unlike last time, there was no protective shield now. The difference with/without a shield is enormous. With a shield, you don't fear surprise attacks; without it, you must stay alert at all times, which is exhausting. Additionally, with a shield, you can fully recover mana when it runs out; without it, someone has to stand guard.
As soon as they submerged, a school of fish surrounded the boat—all Level 1–2 white-quality red fish, 40 cm long, spitting sticky bubbles that clung to skin. Gu Ning, Molly, and the other three began fighting back. Windsor held back, conserving her strength for emergencies.
Xiao Lan (Little Blue) also joined the attack. Each bite swallowed some fish, reducing the pressure of the swarm. With so many fish, dealing with them would've been troublesome without Xiao Lan's interference.
Gu Ning mainly used Water Arrows, occasionally Ice Freeze. He discovered Ice Freeze had no range limit—he could freeze large areas as long as he had mana.