Chapter 19: Special Fish and Golden Fish

It was definitely impossible to eat the remaining shark meat and organs. Throwing them away would be a waste, so she decided to keep them as bait for later.

With that thought, Lily Rhodes stored the shark meat and organs separately. She listed the shark fins in the trading area and sold them for a good price.

Although she wanted to taste the shark fins, she dropped the idea. There were only two fins; once eaten, they were gone. It was better to trade them for supplies. Besides, she didn’t have any seasonings right now. Cooking the shark fins without them wouldn’t taste good, which would completely waste such excellent ingredients.

Lily brought the shark livers to the edge of the mini ocean. As soon as she appeared, the Baby Orca swam over happily, looking at her with sparkling eyes.

"Baby Orca, how is your mom doing?" Lily asked.

"Mom is in the stream. Her injuries are much better. She told me to thank you. When I grow up, I’ll help you dominate the ocean!"

Hearing this, Lily laughed. "Alright, I’ll be waiting for that day. By the way, I brought you some good stuff. It’s the livers from those two sharks. I wonder if you like eating them?"

"I like them! I like them!" The Baby Orca nodded frantically. Its mom loved shark livers the most.

"That’s good. What kind of fish do you usually like to eat? Right now, it’s just the two of you in this mini ocean. Later, I’ll release some fish in here as food for you. You can tell me if you need anything, and I’ll bring you Healing Water every day."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome. Hurry and take the shark livers to your mom. She’s a patient right now and needs the nutrition."

"Okay."

The Baby Orca swam away, flicking its tail. Lily stood there and gazed across the ocean for a moment before turning to leave.

She now had two Orcas to feed, both of which were clearly big eaters. They would require a massive amount of food every day. Even though she had plenty of fish and whale meat on hand, she couldn’t just sit back and deplete her stockpile.

Lily moved a stool near the water’s edge, hooked a piece of shark meat onto the line of her golden fishing rod, and began to fish.

The golden fishing rod already had a one hundred percent catch rate. However, because her focus had always been on Treasure Chests, she had never used bait before. The fish she caught had been random, mostly small ones. Now that she attached bait—and shark meat at that—she should be able to hook a large fish.

It would be even better if she could trigger that three percent or one percent special catch probability.

Obviously, those tiny probabilities were not easy to trigger. By the time Shelly reached the location of the next Treasure Chest, Lily had caught quite a few fish, but not a single Special Fish or Golden Fish among them. She even began to doubt if those two types of fish actually existed.

After she reeled in the Bronze Treasure Chest from the sea, Shelly continued toward the next chest’s location.

"Why haven’t I encountered a single Survivor these past few days?" Lily looked out at the vast, expansive ocean ahead.

Since arriving in this world, she hadn’t met a single living person. Even if this world was massive, it shouldn’t be this desolate. After all, there were over seven billion people here.

With that thought, Lily opened the regional chat channel and sent a message.

"Has anyone encountered other people over the past few days?"

Although many people were chatting in the channel, someone noticed her question and replied: "No. I shout in the nearby channel every once in a while, but I’ve never gotten a response. It’s probably because of the novice protection period. We’ll only be able to meet other Survivors after it ends."

"That’s the only possibility."

Lily exited the chat channel and opened her private messages. Since it was the final day of the novice protection period, those without weapons were starting to panic.

"Will this item work? This is a fish I caught on the first day, and I’ve never been able to bring myself to kill it. I want to trade it for three Fish Spears."

"Is one not enough? I can add two more."

"Why aren’t you replying? I’ll add three more, plus a Golden Fish. This is my absolute limit."

Lily looked at the last message. It had been sent a minute ago. She then checked the items the person was offering. Just one glance made her eyes widen.

"Goodness, Special Fish and Golden Fish?"

Things she couldn’t catch despite all her hard work had been caught by this person on their very first day. What kind of godly luck was this?

"This Special Fish can actually increase the defense of a vehicle."

Furthermore, the more water it had, the greater the defense boost. After reading the Special Fish’s Introduction, Lily had only one thought left in her mind: she had to make this trade.

As for the Golden Fish, it looked like a thumb-sized fry. It was entirely golden, but unlike the ordinary gold of a koi, it looked as if it were forged from solid gold. Even in a simple picture, it sparkled brilliantly.

"Deal."

Lily’s message had barely gone through when a reply came back immediately.

"Thank you, thank you! By the way, the special little black fish must be kept in fresh water. The larger the body of water, the faster they grow. Seawater will actually stunt their growth. The Golden Fish must be kept in flowing fresh water."

On the other end, a girl glanced at the fish stored separately in several wooden boxes beside her and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I’ve finally gotten rid of these demanding little ancestors."

Her Talent was the A Level Talent, Fishing Master. Its effect was simple: it greatly increased the chances of catching rare fish.

On her first day in this bizarre world, she had caught several black fish. Outwardly, they looked like ordinary freshwater koi, but the System showed they were Special Fish that could increase a vehicle’s defense if raised on board.

At first, she thought she had hit the jackpot. However, she later learned that these fish had to be kept in fresh water to utilize their abilities, and they required a large area to swim in. Both seawater and a small living space would stop these fish from growing.

The Golden Fish could periodically boost a Survivor’s luck, bringing about good encounters, but only if it matured first. Its growth conditions were even harsher than those of the Special Fish, requiring flowing fresh water. Where was she supposed to find flowing fresh water? She barely had enough to drink herself!

Even so, she hadn’t wanted to give up. After all, whether it was the Special Fish or the Golden Fish, raising them to maturity would exponentially enhance her own capabilities. That was why she had held on until now.

With the novice protection period about to end, she had completely failed to develop her own resources because she was too busy tending to these demanding little ancestors. At the same time, over the past few days, she had come to deeply realize that this was a cruel, realistic world, not a game. If she wanted to survive, having just these few fish was not enough.