Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 390: Chapter 244: The Collapsed Contestant (Part 2)

Basically, as long as you used it near a body of water, the moment the elastic cord was released, you were guaranteed to catch something.

Especially underwater, the cord’s instantaneous burst of speed far exceeded a fish’s reaction time. As long as you could ensure a straight trajectory after firing, it was basically a guaranteed hit.

"What should I use to test this out..."

He tried stretching the elastic band, his right hand gripping both the harpoon and the cord. Feeling the taut elasticity, he was eager to test the harpoon’s power.

Fortunately, he quickly calmed down. The spearhead, made from a metal can, had limited durability. He definitely couldn’t use a hard material as a test target, or it would be ruined before he even got a chance to spear a fish.

His gaze swept across the area and finally landed on a pile of bamboo leaves inside the house.

His eyes lit up.

’I’ve got it!’

These bamboo leaves and thin branches were cut off while processing the bamboo. He normally used them as kindling; once dried, they became natural fuel.

Without much preparation, he casually scooped up a clump, pressed it together slightly, then used a bamboo strip to roughly bind it into the shape of a target. He set up several of these targets on bamboo poles in different spots across the open ground.

Then, he chose the closest one to get a feel for it.

While Lin Chen was testing the Ejected Harpoon, Big Beard stood quietly to the side, his eyes filled with eager envy.

’If I had known the resources by the sea were this abundant, why would I have stubbornly stuck to the forest at the beginning, worrying about food every single day?’

Thinking of food, his gaze suddenly shifted to the inside of the house, wanting to see how large Lin Chen’s food stores were.

’He just made the harpoon, so he probably doesn’t have much fish stored up, right?’

With this thought, he had already stepped inside.

His eyes swept around, and he saw several rows of sealed bamboo tubes stacked in the cellar, strings of dried fish hanging from a bamboo pole, and a small mountain of coconuts and potatoes.

’This much?!’

Judging by the way the bamboo tubes were sealed, they were most likely fermenting some kind of food.

This was also one of the more common methods for preserving food in the wild, especially for plant-based ingredients.

Without touching anything that wasn’t his, Big Beard leaned against the window and took a deep breath, trying to use the fresh outdoor air to calm himself from the shock.

He had just poked his head out when he saw numerous bamboo stalks laid out neatly under the sun. Each section was filled with many white, lumpy objects.

Farther away, there was even more white, powdery debris, also piled in bamboo tubes and drying in the sun.

’What are these?’

His eyes widened again. He wracked his brain for a long time but couldn’t find any wild material that matched what he was seeing.

In other words, the things before him were beyond his comprehension!

*SWISH*

While he was stunned, a black shadow flashed by, followed by the crisp sound of the bamboo-leaf target being struck.

The Ejected Harpoon grazed the edge of the target, falling to the ground in front of it. A few bamboo leaves were sent flying by the force and drifted down.

"Lin, what are these?"

Lin Chen bent down to pick up the harpoon, glanced over, and said, "The lumpy stuff is sweet potato starch. That other stuff is the leftover pulp after filtering."

"Sweet potato starch? This much?!"

’That must be hundreds of kilograms, right?!’

’Fish, vegetables, sweet potatoes, potatoes, an endless supply of bamboo, a spacious bamboo house with a huge storeroom, a convenient irrigation channel, and a sharp metal harpoon.’

’Wait!’

Big Beard suddenly froze, turning his head to stare at the pile of bamboo at his feet.

’Bamboo... harpoon... bamboo rope... a large quantity of dried fish...’

’Could it be?!’

"You have a bamboo raft, don’t you?"

"Of course. How else could I have caught Flying Fish?"

"Flying Fish? So that’s what Flying Fish are. No wonder their fins look like wings."

’Great, another land-based Hunter.’

’All-around guys like Andre are just too rare.’

’It’s better that they’re rare. I’d rather not have more freaks like that competing with me for the prize money.’

As he was practicing aiming the elastic harpoon, the familiar sound of a helicopter engine grew from a distance, circled overhead for a while, then headed off toward the distant beach.

About ten minutes later, the three familiar faces of Robert, Daniel, and Ariana appeared, walking along the irrigation channel.

"Lin, you’ve really surprised us."

The moment Robert finished speaking, Ariana walked straight past him toward Big Beard, her medical kit already open at her waist.

Lin Chen, of course, knew what Robert was referring to, but he wasn’t sure if he could talk about it, so he just shrugged and said nothing.

"Sometimes luck is just like that. When it’s bad, you can’t find anything. When it’s good, you can find everything."

Nearby, Big Beard, who was undergoing a medical check-up, thought they were talking about all of Lin Chen’s various finds and couldn’t help but remark with emotion.

"No wonder you won last season. Skill is certainly important for survival and hunting in the wild, but luck accounts for at least half of it."

"No matter how skilled you are, it’s useless if you can’t find any prey."

"You’re right about that."

Daniel nodded in agreement and gave Ariana a meaningful look. She pretended not to see it and continued with the check-up, only putting away her medical kit with a cold expression after she was completely finished.

"There’s nothing seriously wrong with your body, just malnutrition. Go back, eat some good meals, and rest for a few days, and you’ll be fine."

"Let’s go. We’ll record your withdrawal statement over there so we don’t disturb Lin."

Robert didn’t say anything more to Lin Chen, either. He just gave him a deep look before leading Big Beard away in the direction where the helicopter had landed.

Since he didn’t make a big deal of it, Lin Chen felt relieved. He continued to stretch the rubber loop, holding it in his palm while aiming the harpoon at the bamboo-leaf target in the distance.

*WHOOSH—*

The moment the elastic cord was released, the harpoon shot out like an arrow from a bow, but it flew erratically and struck the target’s surface sideways.

He shook his head and walked over to pick it up again.

"I didn’t expect the Ejected Harpoon to be this difficult. It feels much harder than archery. I can’t control the direction at all. Or maybe I’m supposed to practice aiming this thing in the water?"

’A harpoon is a harpoon. The name itself implies it’s specifically designed for catching fish.’

’Maybe it feels different in the water?’

’Then again, that might not be it.’

He calmed down and thought for a moment, feeling like he must be doing something wrong.

’When I watched those variety shows, the people using them were hitting their mark every time. How come I can’t even aim straight with it? This doesn’t make any sense.’

’I have Basic Bow Mastery, after all. Even though this thing is different, there should be at least some overlap in the skills required.’

He closed his eyes and replayed clips of the Ejected Harpoon in his mind, trying to find where he was going wrong.

While reminiscing, he continued to stretch the rubber loop with his hands, raising the harpoon to aim at the distant target.

Just as he was testing the rubber loop’s maximum tension, his grip suddenly slipped, and the harpoon flew out with a *WHOOSH*.

He hadn’t expected the harpoon to suddenly slip from his grasp and instinctively grabbed the rubber cord in his palm.

*THWACK!*

The harpoon hit the target dead-on and then sprang back under the tension of the rubber cord.

?

Lin Chen’s expression froze. He stared blankly at the harpoon dangling and swaying in mid-air as a flash of insight struck him.

As he slipped the rubber loop over his right wrist, the fuzzy memory fragments finally began to clear.

"That’s it! Yes, that’s how it’s done! I think you’re supposed to wear it on your wrist!"

He once again held the harpoon forward, stretching the rubber cord. His right hand gripped the base of the harpoon as he raised it with one hand and aimed at the target.

He let go.

*WHOOSH—*

*THWACK!*

The harpoon once again pierced the target accurately.

"So that’s how it works! I get it now!"

When the rubber cord was stretched, it stored potential energy like a slingshot. The harpoon’s trajectory was also similar to aiming a slingshot; the rubber cord had to be as close to the harpoon’s tail as possible to ensure it flew straight forward upon release.

The farther the rubber cord was from the harpoon shaft, the greater the directional error when fired.

He tried a few more times in a row, hitting near his intended target with precision each time.

He smugly put the harpoon away.

"I’ll try it out for real tonight. It’s just a shame the range on this thing is so short. Otherwise, it would probably be great for hunting crocodiles."