บท 34: Chapter 34: Golden Belly Ink Carp
บรรณาธิการ: Dragon Boat Translation
Puff!
Puff!
Puff!
The faint sound of the Desert Eagle 1.0 handgun echoed sporadically under the shade of trees by the small river bay. The sound would come in a series, pause for a moment, and then resume in another series.
The surrounding trees and passing birds had all become imaginary enemies of the Desert Eagle.
Duke, braving the scorching sun, practiced his marksmanship on the undeveloped farm here. To disguise his actions, he had bought a fishing rod and was fishing by the small river bay.
"It's really hot. It's already four o'clock in the afternoon, and it's sweltering without any breeze."
Perhaps even the fish were avoiding the scorching heat, as he had been fishing for half an hour without a single bite.
Duke wiped the sweat from his forehead, seemingly unfazed.
He wasn't after catching fish, but rather the improvement of his shooting skills.
Practicing shooting in the scorching heat of August, he experienced a state of mind akin to training through the bitter cold of winter and the intense heat of summer. As he observed his shooting skills becoming increasingly accurate, he felt a sense of accomplishment every single day.
Suddenly, the fishing float was pulled into the water, indicating a fish had taken the bait.
Duke waited for the float to stabilize and immediately pulled the rod, but due to his lack of fishing skills, he managed to pull out a small, sleek fish that slipped off the hook and splashed water around.
"Bad luck!" Duke picked up the hook, and the worm on it had already been eaten.
He re-threaded the hook with half a worm and cast it back into the water.
In a little while, the fishing float was pulled into the water again, and Duke once more raised the rod. The same thing happened – he pulled out a small fish only to have it slip off the hook again. Within an hour, Duke pulled the fishing rod seven or eight times.
"Getting on my nerves!" Even though he wasn't seriously fishing, his frustration was getting the best of him.
Leaving the bait by the riverside, Duke stared at the water, holding the Desert Eagle 1.0 handgun in one hand and waiting patiently for the fishing float to go down again. After a few minutes, the float began to sink, revealing a dark silhouette of a small fish near the water's surface. It occasionally bumped into the hook but never actually bit it.
As if aware of someone fishing on the shore, the fish seemed to be playing around.
"I've been too lenient with you, huh?"
Duke's brow slightly furrowed. The crosshairs of the Desert Eagle were already aimed at the shadow of the small fish. As the fish approached the water's surface, he infused his inner battle energy into the handgun, maintaining its stability with powerful force. Then, in the blink of an eye, he squeezed the trigger.
Puff!
The bullet instantly sliced through the water's surface, followed by a huge bubble erupting underwater. When everything returned to calm, several chunks of flesh with black scales floated gently on the water's surface. A faint smile curved Duke's lips as he used a net to scoop up these pieces of flesh.
"Time to fry these up."
Having dealt with the playful small fish, Duke's mood improved. He once again baited his hook with a worm and began practicing shooting while fishing.
As the scorching sun began to dip in the west, the intense heat gradually waned. Duke fired off nine rounds in quick succession, deftly reloading after each round and replenishing the expended energy caused by shooting.
The energy lines remained constant, and the Desert Eagle's bullets seemed limitless.
Closing his eyes, he gazed inward at his Sea of Spirit. In the starlit ocean, a fluorescent screen-like interface appeared beside Nine-Ring Xiaoyi. This was a progress chart that Duke had specifically instructed Xiaoyi to create, outlining the current operations of Xiaoyi.
"Process One: Field Meditation Technique, running at 50% power consumption. Current Sea of Spirit level: 0-ring two-star spiritual apprentice (liquid condensation into threads), estimated promotion progress: 8.7%, time budget: 221 days."
"Process Two: Rainfall Breathing Technique, running at 25% power consumption. Current Sea of Qi level: 0-ring spirit plant servant, estimated promotion progress: 2.1%, time budget: 1052 days."
"Process Three: Desert Eagle 1.1 compensator version, under development with 20% power consumption. Current progress: 42.3%, time budget: 21 days."
"Process Four: Chat conversation program, reserved 5% power."
Since Rainfall Breathing Technique wasn't run continuously 24/7, the estimated days for the promotion to 0-ring spirit plant servant were much higher than the displayed 1052 days.
Duke only kept Rainfall Breathing Technique running when he needed to stay alert during outings. Occasionally, he took time to nurture the 0-ring spirit plant servant, the Earth Orchid, that he had discovered while hunting the Black Jade Serpent. He hoped to cultivate it into a blooming state, which might allow him to refine his spiritual energy.
During other times, he was too lazy to practice.
The reason was simple. Just like cultivating the Sea of Blood, cultivating the Sea of Qi had limited potential. After opening the Sea of Qi, most people would remain at the level of 0-ring spirit plant servants for decades, with only a very small number advancing to become 1-ring great spirit plant servants. As for the subsequent 2-ring spirit masters, it was almost impossible.
Throughout Chenjiao City, you could count the number of people who reached the level of a 2-ring spirit master on one hand.
After all...
Becoming a 2-ring spirit master required forming a contract with a spirit. Spirits were born from spirit plants, and their probability of birth was much lower than the evolution of spiritual beasts into phantom beasts.
Therefore...
When Rainfall Breathing Technique wasn't running, Xiaoyi's idle power was devoted to the Desert Eagle development series. Currently, as per Duke's instructions, she was working on improving the silencer.
Upon discovering that the silencer almost completely eliminated noise, Duke realized that he couldn't limit this 1-ring arcane artifact with real gun data.
A supplementary silencer could achieve complete noise reduction, stabilize bullets, increase range, and more.
All it needed was a well-constructed spell model.
Thus, the Desert Eagle 1.1 compensator version was born. It added compensator effects on top of the silencer, making the bullets more stable, capable of greater range, and even more powerful.
"Xiaoyi's computational power still isn't very strong!"
After a brief sigh, Duke opened his eyes and continued shooting and fishing.
Pop, pop, pop!
Raising his hand, three shots rang out. A small bird that had just flown by was precisely hit by one of the bullets, instantly exploding into a mist of blood.
The bullet power of the Desert Eagle 1.0 was too ferocious for ordinary small animals.
To the point that even when Duke aimed to shoot some birds as an offering, he couldn't do it. Once the bullet grazed a bird, it would burst into a mass of bloody fragments.
Just at that moment...
The fishing float was once again pulled under the water. Another fish had taken the bait.
Duke focused his gaze and saw another unremarkable black fish below the water. It bit the hook and then spat it out, teasing back and forth.
"You want to experience the sensation of exploding too?"
Duke employed the same technique, pulling the hook up to the water's surface, aiming the Desert Eagle at the surface. When the fish once again playfully bit the hook, he pulled the trigger in an instant.
Puff!
Bubbles emerged from underwater, but there were no shattered fish pieces. Instead, a small fish with black scales on its back and yellowish belly floated on the water's surface. A bullet hole was visible through its tail, which had half of its fin blasted away.
"Hmm?" Duke smiled brightly as he picked up the net. "That shot was pretty good, left the body mostly intact. I'll steam this little fish tonight... Looks like a crucian carp, a bit like a carp, and the color is quite nice."
Just as he was about to put the fish in the bucket, it suddenly thrashed around – it hadn't died.
The bullet hole in its tail was still oozing blood.
"Lucky little fellow." Duke happily placed the fish back into the bucket. "Very few small prey manage to remain intact under the Desert Eagle's barrel. This little fish can actually survive!"
Xiaoyi suddenly reminded him, "Master, this little fish might be a 0-ring Spiritual Beast - Golden Belly Ink Carp."
"Spiritual Beast? Golden Belly Ink Carp?"
Duke looked at the lively fish in the bucket, about thirty centimeters long, not exactly small, but a bit flattened in shape. Upon closer observation, he could distinctly sense a faint spiritual aura emanating from the fish.
Indeed, it was a 0-ring Spiritual Beast – the Golden Belly Ink Carp.
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