My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 79

At lunchtime, Ren Chenxi finally got her wish and ate a massive bowl of Spicy Sauerkraut Fish. She took a bite of the tender, springy fish meat, followed by a sip of the spicy, refreshing broth paired with fragrant white rice. Even Ren Chenxi, who considered herself to have a modest appetite, accidentally polished off two large bowls of rice.

After lunch, the group took only a brief rest before heading back to the coast with high spirits. In their minds, with Ren Chenxi’s “space” ability, they weren’t afraid of wasting food no matter how much they harvested.

Of course, for this trip to the beach, Ren Chenxi finally brought along the pitiable “stay-at-home” cat, Tantan.

The bus followed the same route as that morning, but Mu Ning called for a stop when they passed the stretch of beach where Qi Sheng had been earlier. That morning, the shore had been busy with Qi Sheng’s men, but now it was completely empty, with not a soul in sight.

When Mu Ning called the halt, Chen Gu reacted immediately. He didn’t believe for a second that Qi Sheng’s people were gone because they had gone back to the base to rest. Most likely, after seeing their haul from the morning, Qi Sheng couldn’t wait to head to the beach they had been using to try his luck, hoping to harvest a Level 6 nucleus of his own.

Since Qi Sheng’s group had likely occupied their morning spot, they didn’t need to drive any further. They could simply use this deserted beach to continue catching various seafood.

To Chen Gu and the others, the low-level seafood on any beach in the South Sea was the same; to Mu Ning, the mid-level seafood in any part of the water was just as good.

Considering that Qi Sheng’s group would definitely pass this area on their way back, Ren Chenxi didn’t store the bus in her backpack. Instead, she had Chen Gu park it just outside the edge of the sand. Everyone filed out of the bus in an orderly fashion, sticking to their groups as they actively searched for seafood.

Mu Ning intended to continue her fishing operations from the morning, but this afternoon, she also had to keep a constant eye on Tantan.

Exactly as Ren Chenxi had feared, the moment Tantan reached the beach, his sensitive nose caught the scent of fresh seafood and he went wild. If Mu Ning hadn’t reacted quickly and restrained him with her vines, the little crazy cat would have bolted straight into the ocean.

Ren Chenxi, with a cold expression, had Mu Ning drag the “cat-zongzi” (bundled cat) over to her. Regardless of whether the cat understood or not, she gave him a stern warning: if he continued to be disobedient and throw a tantrum, he would stay bundled up. Facing Ren Chenxi’s lecture, Tantan put on a pitiful act, meowing softly and sweetly. However, the moment Mu Ning released him and Ren Chenxi looked away, he tried to lunge toward the sea again.

Tantan had always been like this—he would listen to Ren Chenxi’s scolding with apparent humility but never actually change his ways.

But this time, you’re going to change whether you like it or not!

Consequently, Tantan was bundled into a “zongzi” by Mu Ning for the second time.

“Meow meow meow meow…”

Whenever he was tied up, Tantan would act cute to beg for mercy. Ren Chenxi gave him another lecture as usual before letting Mu Ning release him. And Tantan? The moment he was free, he went crazy all over again.

After repeating this three times, Tantan finally seemed to understand that Ren Chenxi and Mu Ning would not allow him to charge into the vast expanse of water where countless delicacies seemed to hide. Ren Chenxi, pushed to her limit by his repeated disobedience, finally lost her temper. This time, she didn’t soften at his sweet meows. She flicked his little forehead quite hard and warned him in an extremely serious voice: “Tantan, if you keep being this disobedient, I won’t have Mu Ning let you go. You’ll stay tied in a ball on the bus! And the next time I come to the beach, I won’t bring you along!”

This time, Tantan finally seemed to grasp her meaning. He didn’t dare act out or meow shamelessly anymore. Instead, he faced Ren Chenxi and let out a very soft, tiny “wu wu” sound, admitting his mistake.

“I’m giving you one last chance. If you mess up again.” Ren Chenxi said, pointing at the bus, “you’ll stay tied up on that vehicle!”

“Meow wu wu wu…”

This time, when Mu Ning released him, Tantan only turned his head to give her a resentful “hiss” before obediently running off to find Sun Jia and the other girls. When Ren Chenxi wasn’t around, Sun Jia and Zhang Tongqi were the ones Tantan spent the most time with.

Mu Ning didn’t mind the hiss. She watched him for a while, and seeing that he really didn’t dare run toward the ocean again, she turned to Ren Chenxi. “Don’t we need to keep an eye on him? Aren’t you afraid he’ll eat the seafood on the beach at random?”

Hearing this, Ren Chenxi gave a disdainful “hmph.” “Let him eat! If he can actually stomach it, that is!”

As long as he didn’t go play in the ocean, Ren Chenxi let him do whatever he wanted with the seafood on the sand.

Based on her knowledge of Tantan, the fish in the sea were his biggest temptation, but the crabs and lobsters crawling on the sand, as well as the shellfish hidden in the dunes or attached to rocks, were also very enticing. Since he was restricted from the water, Tantan would definitely go after the beach seafood. However, digging it up was one thing—actually swallowing it was another.

Pickey as he was, Tantan would never be willing to eat uncleaned seafood covered in sand.

Just as Ren Chenxi predicted, after Tantan ran to Sun Jia and the others, he quickly used his skills to dig a large razor clam out of the sand. But facing the sand-covered clam, Tantan only sniffed it a few times, batted it with his paw, and then moved on to dig elsewhere in disappointment.

Sun Jia and her friends had been finding seafood purely by luck since they didn’t have Ren Chenxi’s mini-map prompts. For large crabs on the surface, they could swarm them and break their legs to catch them, but for creatures hidden in the sand, they had to rely on experience looking for small holes and trying a shovel. With good luck, they’d find a large razor clam or a sandworm; with bad luck, they’d just get a shovel full of empty sand.

Now, with Tantan’s help and his sensitive nose accurately pinpointing the seafood, Sun Jia and the others found things much easier.

Mu Ning watched for a while longer, and after confirming Tantan wouldn’t act up again, she finally relaxed and focused on fishing. This time, she decided to use a Level 6 nucleus as bait. Just as ability users on land absorbed nuclei and mutant beasts devoured them, sea creatures were naturally attracted to them. Furthermore, mutant fish were more likely to be attracted to nuclei of their own level; a nucleus higher than their own level might actually intimidate lower-level seafood.

The Level 6 nucleus Mu Ning used as bait immediately scared off the Level 4 and 5 creatures. As a result, the frequency of bites in the afternoon was much lower than in the morning, but… almost every big fish that bit was Level 6. In three hours, Mu Ning caught seven Level 6 mutant fish, leaving Ren Chenxi, who was watching nearby, feeling somewhat numb.

In less than a day, the nuclei Mu Ning harvested were actually more than what Ren Chenxi made from selling items in the Apocalypse Mall! Initially, this result made Ren Chenxi both envious and jealous. She even almost opened the Mall to look for durable fishing gear to try it herself. But the thought vanished as soon as she saw Mu Ning’s thirty-meter-long vines.

First, even if the Mall sold fishing gear, the line wouldn’t necessarily be as long as Mu Ning’s vines. Second, even with a thirty-meter line, she wouldn’t necessarily be able to haul the catch onto the shore. Fishing lines weren’t as flexible as vines; she might not only fail to catch the fish but also lose the nucleus used as bait.

Then, Ren Chenxi realized something. Mu Ning was fishing so desperately perhaps to save up enough nuclei to trade for that Level 8 nucleus.

With this thought, Ren Chenxi’s mindset calmed down significantly. She watched as one big fish after another was caught; without her having to lift a finger, Mu Ning would kill them with ice spikes and have Chen Gu haul them onto the shore. Ren Chenxi even found herself daydreaming about the various ways to cook mutant fish.

She watched Mu Ning for a while and checked on Tantan occasionally, finding him still very active in helping find hidden seafood. Soon, Mu Ning had another bite. But this time, it didn’t seem to be a fish.

“Wait, why is it so light?”

Before Chen Gu, who was helping pull the vine, could react, Ren Chenxi turned her head and saw a white, translucent mass firmly caught in the vines. Suddenly, a thin, long tentacle whipped out from the mass, lunging toward Mu Ning.

“Watch out!” Sensing something was wrong, Ren Chenxi shoved Mu Ning aside. As Mu Ning narrowly dodged the tentacle, Ren Chenxi fired an SR-rank “Explosion Card” directly at the white mass still entangled in the vines.

Over the past week, although Ren Chenxi hadn’t used her remaining crystals to draw cards, her five daily free draws had allowed her to synthesize an SR Explosion Card. This white monster was only Level 6; under the attack of an SR card, it was a guaranteed “headshot.”

Well, since the white mass had no discernible head or body, when the card entered its form, the creature simply exploded.

The sudden blast startled Chen Gu, while Mu Ning reacted quickly, turning her head to look at Ren Chenxi. Ren Chenxi ignored her and walked straight toward the deeper water.

“What are you doing!” Mu Ning wasn’t scared by the explosion, but she was terrified by Ren Chenxi’s movement. She didn’t even bother controlling her vines and reached out with her free hand to grab Ren Chenxi.

“The crystal nuclei of mutant beasts I attack will fall out of their bodies!” Ren Chenxi explained in a low voice, trying to shake off Mu Ning’s hand to keep going. If she didn’t hurry, the nucleus might be swept into the deep sea by the waves.

“Forget it! Don’t go!” Mu Ning gripped her tightly, refusing to let her go forward. “It’s just one Level 6 nucleus. I’ll catch two more for you.”

“But…”

“No buts. The water is deep there; are you sure there aren’t other monsters hiding underneath?”

Hearing this, Ren Chenxi glanced at her mini-map. Indeed, the map showed quite a few red dots in the water ahead. It really wasn’t worth risking her life for one Level 6 nucleus.

“Tch! Fine then, you owe me two Level 6 nuclei!” But that was still 100,000 crystals! Ren Chenxi sighed regretfully and grumbled to Mu Ning.

“Deal!” Mu Ning replied, still holding Ren Chenxi’s hand as she nodded.

Mu Ning is certainly being protective!

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