Chapter 49: The Bright Moon Over the Sea

To ensure the "gems" met the dwarf-orcs' requirements, Chu Jiu had indeed specifically made these candies to look exactly like the ones in the confectionery's decorative paintings.

Looking at the weeping little squirrel in front of him, Chu Jiu immediately thought of the old grandfather in the candy shop.

What was the old grandfather muttering back then?

"Without the gems, I won't be able to see my friends..."

Chu Jiu's heart skipped a beat again, just as it had when he first heard those words.

He squatted down in front of the white-eared little squirrel and honestly told it that these "gems" of his were made as replicas.

In the shop that originally sold these gems, there was a very elderly grandfather who seemed to know the special purpose of these gems.

However, Chu Jiu couldn't be sure whether that old grandfather was the "friend" the blacksmith mentioned.

By this time, the blacksmith had calmed down considerably.

He raised his paw to wipe away his tears and said:

"I, understand."

"Pardon me, excuse me."

He tried his best to recover his solemn and profound expression, and asked Chu Jiu:

"You, where are the ores?"

"First, hand over the ores, then, forge."

He could only deduce one useful piece of information: this kind of fragment was very important, and he should try to collect as many of them as possible.

"So interesting! So interesting!"

Chu Jiu didn't quite understand and planned to think carefully about how to use this skill when he had time.

"I, will write it down, I, will read along."

This fish had long since been gnawed into an empty shell.

Chu Jiu immediately said: "Please speak."

Chu Jiu hadn't thought anything was amiss at first, until he was holding the little canned cat and calling the little squirrels to come up one by one and sit down, when he suddenly realized:

The shield-skin fish that had been blown up a few days ago, at first glance, was still lying motionlessly sprawled on the bank.

The little squirrel pointed to a pile of black materials beside it and wagged its tail, saying, "Here, here, they're all right here!"

No need to guess, it was naturally Little Canned.

If enough of these fragments could be collected, perhaps something extraordinary might happen?

I am... just thinking about how I wasn't by your side back then makes me so angry with myself.

The bodies of the other two trembled slightly, as they too thought of that "over-sweetened" shield-skin fish.

Then if they were gems, how should they be exchanged?

What an embodiment of calmness in the face of danger, steadfast as Mount Tai.

Chu Jiu: "...Uh..."

Chu Jiu pondered for a moment and said: "Would you like to go to that gem shop and see that old grandfather?"

They were ferocious carnivorous fish that usually ambushed in the river. When the scent of food drifted from the bank, they would frantically beat their pectoral fins to "fly" out of the water and rapidly tear into their prey.

To other animals, this fallen shield-skin fish was nothing short of a suddenly opened buffet, attracting who knows how many freeloading diners.

The little squirrels instantly perked up and looked at Chu Jiu with boundless anticipation.

It glanced at the spread of food below, pretended not to care, and looked at Chu Jiu with a blank face.

The little squirrels removed the [Dwarf-Orc Dedicated Gas Mask] that Chu Jiu had temporarily made, and looking at this completely intact skeleton, they sighed in admiration, wondering how Chu Jiu had subdued such a massive opponent.

The little squirrels processed it very cleanly, dismantling every usable part into [Smeltable Shield-Skin Fish Bone Plates] or [Shield-Skin Fish Material Usable as Brick Substitutes].

I only said "spear," and he drew the spear that suited me best. He must be...

The iron-pickaxe-carrying little squirrel drooped its tail: "We don't know how to forge."

[The host has learned the active skill "Spiritual Body Exchange". Please use it with caution.]

And in the dwarf-orcs' system of measurement, "one portion" was roughly the amount a little squirrel could hold in its two little arms at one time.

This experienced old blacksmith would make a comprehensive estimation and judgment based on the nature, quantity, and characteristics of the materials, and finally tell the customer: what kind of item this material was best suited to forge, roughly what grade the finished product would be, and whether it had any special effects.

He knew that Little Canned would definitely be fine.

It looked at Chu Jiu, no longer trying hard to disguise its expression as it usually did. Instead, its eyes lit up with a rare gleam, and its kitty face was filled with unadulterated surprise: "It's exactly as I imagined! You, you, you knew what I was thinking?"

Hehe, Chu Jiu knows what I'm thinking!

Chu Jiu's first reaction was a bit of worry, wanting to call it back, but he immediately swallowed the words back down.

He broke off half a piece of fish meat and put it in his mouth: the skin was crispy, the inside juicy, fragrant without being greasy—truly a fine piece of fish!

"Delicious, right?"

Having finished discussing the "big business" with the chieftain, Chu Jiu hurried over to the blacksmith shop and handed the shield-skin fish bone plates to the white-eared squirrel.

Before Chu Jiu even had time to step back, he saw a black shadow flash past like a whirlwind, meeting the oncoming army of piranhas head-on—

Little Canned rested its kitty chin on Chu Jiu's shoulder, half-closed its eyes in thought for a long while, and meowed: "I want a spear, the kind that can be thrown."

Actually, Chu Jiu's heart was also pounding with embarrassment, sighing that he was becoming more and more like an unscrupulous merchant.

This skill is valid for 10 minutes.

The little squirrels had long since smelled the sweet aroma of chestnuts and were cheering as they were about to leap forward, when the axe-carrying little squirrel remembered something, tugged at the hem of Chu Jiu's trousers, and pointed at an inconspicuous little pile of materials: "That! That one is different!"

Old Blacksmith: "I want to go to the human city to see my friend."

Chu Jiu held it in his lap and said softly:

The little squirrels estimated that it would take about five or six hours to harvest all the harvestable parts of this fish.

Chu Jiu originally wanted to use gems or nuts as a reward, but the old blacksmith shook his head and refused.

Even if time began to accelerate unexpectedly, this stone, and the area covered by the stone, would remain unaffected.

Without high-hardness tools, one couldn't gather advanced materials; without advanced materials, one couldn't get high-hardness tools—was this a dead loop?

If used to make armor, high-quality equipment could be obtained, but agility would be sacrificed.

The three little ones chimed in unison: "We will help you!"

He stopped mentioning the scene from back then, lowered his voice, and asked softly: "Little one, are you... unhappy?"

Chu Jiu held back a smile and spared no praise, saying: "How amazing! You caught so many fish in such a short time! And they're all very dangerous fish, the kind that will bite you if you're not careful! Little Canned is just too amazing!"

While telling himself in his heart why his tone and demeanor were increasingly resembling a bad guy deceiving kindergarten children, Chu Jiu said:

At the same time, Chu Jiu also received a system prompt:

The iron-pickaxe-carrying little squirrel hissed twice: "Too precious! Too precious!"

[Congratulations to the host for triggering the hidden condition "Wealthy Gem Merchant"! ]

As for the bone plates Chu Jiu brought back this time, the white-eared squirrel touched and tapped them to test them for a long time, and concluded that:

The three little ones had already eaten their fill of chestnuts, but upon seeing these gems, they drooped with saliva and wanted to put them straight into their mouths.

The three brothers shook their heads frantically: "Humans have very short lives. Perhaps it wasn't him, not him."

The old blacksmith slowly pulled out a leaf: "We, speak, with difficulty."

Looking at Little Canned, whose entire cat body had stiffened, Chu Jiu finally realized something was wrong.

[Flying Piranha: The body is triangular, with the mouth occupying a full half of the head. Inside the mouth are two rows of small, sharp, barbed teeth.]

Chu Jiu had originally thought of borrowing an iron pickaxe or shovel from the little squirrels to gather materials together with them, but the little squirrels sternly refused, stating that "dwarf-orc tools are not to be lent out."

With a strike of the little squirrels' iron pickaxe, a piece of black bone plate fell away in response.

Chu Jiu bit his lower lip and asked softly: "You... do you remember anything from the few days you lost your memory?"

Chu Jiu thought for a moment, walked over to the corner, and asked Little Canned: "Do you want any weapons? Besides your current bow and arrow, do you want a sword as well?"

Probably for the little squirrels, these iron pickaxes and shovels were like their personal sidearms. Let alone lending them out, they probably wouldn't even let others touch them.

In this body of water, besides this ferocious shield-skin fish, there were also some small, edible fish.

Huh? Didn't Lu Qingyan say earlier that outside the underground mine cave, Little Canned had been staying with the dodo birds?

*

After all, when he set up the "trading post" for the chestnut sprite, he had already realized that trading with other non-human races might similarly bring a high degree of exploration.

He cleared his throat, looked down at the leaf, and read out word by word:

"I, have a request."

Suddenly, the axe-carrying little squirrel realized: "Sweets! Cannot be too many!"

Could there be some very important details that he hadn't noticed yet?

[Time-Defying Stone Fragment: It is said that all things in the world cannot resist time. But this kind of stone seems to be an exception.]

Having obtained its exclusive spear, Little Canned could hardly contain its excitement, wielding it with extreme agility in its paws, leaving the bow and the three brothers dumbfounded.

After a short while, the flour turned golden brown.

As expected, sweets shouldn't be eaten in excess!

Within just a few seconds—Chu Jiu didn't even see whether Little Canned had landed or paused in the middle—that fiercely charging school of piranhas all dropped onto the bank with plops.

Little Canned looked up at him: "Meow?"

The white-eared squirrel's tail flickered uneasily, and it hesitatingly spoke:

The little squirrels' eyes instantly lit up: "Really, can we?"

[Regional exploration progress increased to 10.5%!]

He immediately set up a frying pan, added plenty of oil, coated the cleaned headless fish and trefoil fish in a layer of seasoned coarse flour, and tossed them into the hot oil to fry.

Chu Jiu thought for a moment and told them honestly: "I gave it a lot of sweets."

"For me, going to 'Sanctuary Valley' to mine takes way too much time, and my tools aren't that easy to use. If you guys can help mine, it would be so convenient."

[Congratulations to the host for leveling up! You are now an 8th-tier Explorer.]

The three brothers hadn't mentioned at all that forging equipment here required bringing your own materials!

Chu Jiu was immensely gratified: "Terrific! Come eat some chestnuts."

Chu Jiu read this prompt back and forth several times, but couldn't make sense of it.

When the water above finally cleared up, Little Canned lightly tapped its hind legs on the surface of the water and leaped back to Chu Jiu's side.

Under what circumstances would someone need so much spiritual power all at once? Even if crafting items, one could break them down and forge them slowly, recovering spiritual power through sleep and eating in between.