The salting operation continued.

In total, they used up eight and a half bags of sea salt, nearly 425 kg, just to completely kill the tumour mass.

The final blow came from Yang Yi himself.

He hoisted a full bag of salt and poured it directly onto it, only stopping once it was completely buried.

“Looks like it takes around 400 kilograms of salt to kill a large chunk of flesh…”

Yang Yi mentally tallied the salt used and looked across the deck.

Salt was scattered everywhere, along with jerky-like dried flesh, left behind from the desiccated tumour.

Suna cut off a small piece of the dried meat and soaked it in the pale seawater, to see if it would revive.

This was because the rotting whale, once the size of an island, had previously shown signs of revival.

After nearly five minutes, the soaked meat showed no response at all, which meant the flesh chunk had far weaker regenerative ability compared to the whale.

If ranked, it would likely go: Flesh chunk Whale body Whale core (or Bounty Entity).

Yang Yi also cut off a piece of dried meat and threw it into the Monster Vending Machine.

Once accepted, the flesh scattered across the deck faded, leaving behind only pale sea salt grains.

Once everything was absorbed, the Vending Machine lit up and began whirring.

A sticky, mucus-covered capsule popped out, slightly different than before, as though coated in saliva.

Yang Yi frowned and eyed the octopus vending machine closely.

Seeing no unusual movements or signs of change, he bent down and picked up the capsule.

It immediately transformed into an item, a ship equipment relic that resembled a potted plant.

【Name: Delicious Planter】

【Type: Ship Equipment (Relic)】

【Quality: Rare】

【Description: A special planter. Bury a seed or a piece of fresh flesh and, with regular watering, it will grow into a delicious fruit. The more frequently it’s watered, and the more nutrients provided, the faster the fruit will mature. Caution: The plant is extremely fragile. Do not sprinkle salt on it, this will cause it to wither and die. The planter can be reused. After a fruit is harvested, the plant will die immediately.】

“A planter…?”

Yang Yi was taken aback.

Planters were extremely rare, very hard to come by, and known for their fast growth rate.

Owning one meant the player had some degree of self-sustaining farming ability.

It couldn’t compare to the capabilities of the Farmer-class ship, of course, but for supplying one or two players with fresh food and essential vitamins, it was more than sufficient.

Still, this particular planter seemed a little strange.

Not only could you plant seeds, but you could also bury flesh, and it would grow just the same!

But what exactly would it grow? Yang Yi had no idea. What he could be sure of was that using this planter came with risks.

Whatever sprouted from it might not be friendly… It could even bite.

He tucked the planter into his Scorched Worm Ring, deciding to study it later when conditions were safer, as it wasn’t the time for farming yet.

First, they needed to secure the area, repair the ship, and inventory their supplies…

“What’d you get?”

Suna came over and asked.

She had seen Yang Yi pick up the Vending, freeze for a few seconds, and then quickly stash it away.

“Beg me, and maybe I’ll tell you,” Yang Yi grinned in reply.

Suna narrowed her eyes. The phrase felt strangely familiar, but she frowned slightly and pouted but didn’t press further.

The two of them patrolled the ship, confirmed there were no remaining flesh masses or residues, and then began repairs and resupply.

First, the seawater mixed with oil and salt inside the cabin had to be cleaned up, because if a fire broke out, it would be a disaster.

The skeletal arms began using barrels to collect the flooded water inside the cabin.

The undissolved salt in the water had already been contaminated, and rather than trying to recover it, it was better to spread it directly onto the deck and ship’s hull.

That way, it wouldn’t go to waste and could still harm any delicious meat chunks that jumped aboard.

The seawater and oil could also be separated,

The oil would float to the surface, and once settled, the layers could be separated easily. In a lab setting, this was straightforward.

The oil was probably contaminated too, but it could be used as fuel and burned off first.

Yang Yi was doing his best to salvage as much supplies as possible.

After all, the Bountiful Sea Region was vast, its borders didn’t even appear on the sea chart.

After making general arrangements, Yang Yi checked the resources needed to repair the ship.

The damage had already exceeded what the Nightmare Star could self-repair.

Repairs would require a large quantity of materials, including crystal, wood, stone, fabric, and steel.

Yang Yi ordered the skeletal arms to begin repairs. He would join in later as well.

After all, their numbers had dropped sharply, and some of them still needed to clean the cabin. That meant repairs would be slower.

“The tsunami is massive. I’m not sure how many meters tall it is, but the impact hits about a few dozen seconds after crossing the boundary line. As long as your hull is solid and well-sealed, you can brace through it.”

“I strongly recommend tossing some of your cabin cargo, things will be shaken up violently. Make sure everything is tied down tight, or you’ll get hurt. Also, wear your armour, it’s absolutely necessary! The whole process takes about 15 minutes, give or take depending on ship size.”

“You don’t need to worry about oxygen, as long as there’s no leak. Watch out for strange flesh masses that might latch on…”

Yang Yi hid his ID and posted first-hand intel about the tsunami in the chat channel.

The tsunami was fast, but it moved forwards steadily. It would probably take half a day before it reached the Black Fog zone.

Most players were still in the rear, having not yet encountered the tsunami. Only a handful at the front had experienced the initial impact.

After Yang Yi posted his message, more survivors shared their intel. As long as adequate preparations were made, the tsunami could be survived.

A standard ship needed to be at Level 4 or above, there were no known survivors from Level 3 ships. But then again, since the Frozen Sea campaign, very few players had remained at Level 3.

After all, evaporating sea salt was a steady way to make money, something nearly anyone could do. Even those still on Level 3 ships were likely selling everything they owned to upgrade.

Yang Yi closed the chat channel.

His reason for sharing this information was to avoid a rapid, steep drop in player population, which could cause a total collapse of the in-game market and ecosystem.

If the number of players dropped to just a few thousand while the sea remained this vast, the game’s difficulty would rise to an entirely new level.

“But if it goes on like this, sea after sea, players are going to die out eventually. What exactly is the system trying to do, dragging so many people in here…? Surely, it’s not just to kill us. If that’s the goal, the Black Fog would do the job more efficiently…”

Yang Yi tried to infer the system’s true intentions, but for now, it remained a complete mystery.

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