Global Flood: I Survive on Duckweed

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Got the Potato, Want to Join Me?

”Tie the cable from the speedboat to that boat and pull it over!” Ren Yuanyang ordered Lu Jiamei beside him.

”Right!” Lu Jiamei put away her pistol, immediately jumped into a dinghy, and paddled over.

As she passed by Qin Haonan, Lu Jiamei gave him a thumbs-up and praised, ”Nice job!”

Qin Haonan was taken aback by her praise.

He knew the big shot had people with him, but he never expected one of them to be a woman.

’This must be the boss’s wife,’ Qin Haonan thought.

Lu Jiamei paid his thoughts no mind. She paddled to the other boat, tied the cable to it, then returned to the speedboat and began pulling the smaller vessel in.

Qin Haonan looked again at the spot where the two men had fallen into the water. There were no splashes at all, just the occasional bubble rising to the surface.

’Did the boss use the Fishing Device to drag them underwater?’

It was no wonder Qin Haonan thought so; the Evolutionary Black Fish from before had disappeared in the exact same way.

By now, Ren Yuanyang had boarded the small boat and found the sprouting potato.

[Potato discovered. Enhance?]

After a quick glance at the system prompt, he happily tucked the sprouting potato into his clothes. Another staple food! Food would become more and more plentiful from now on.

However, he had just used up his Mental Energy, so he’d have to wait a while before he could enhance it.

After stowing the potato, Ren Yuanyang walked to the stern. His target from the very beginning had been the outboard motor.

If they hadn’t tried anything and had just completed the trade honestly, Ren Yuanyang wouldn’t have necessarily been able to stop them.

With that outboard motor, even if Lu Jiamei had managed to throw an Iron Melon onto their boat, they still would have had a chance to get away. After all, Ren Yuanyang’s group had no means of propulsion and couldn’t possibly give chase.

As the saying goes: men die for wealth, and birds die for food.

Ren Yuanyang’s eyes lit up when he saw the outboard motor. Based on the markings, it ran on gasoline!

This meant they would finally have a motorized boat—and one with a potentially unlimited range!

’I need to enhance some Iron Melon Trees for higher oil-production rates,’ Ren Yuanyang mused. ’For now, there’s no need to make every plant an all-rounder. Specialization is the best approach.’

Limited by his Mental Energy cap, Ren Yuanyang couldn’t have it all. He could only cultivate plants with specialized enhancements. Once his Mental Energy was higher, then he could clench his fist and declare, ’I’ll take everything!’

The outboard motor had clearly been a later addition. Inside the boat’s cabin, he also found some repair tools and half a can of gasoline.

This boat was even smaller than the one Ren Yuanyang had found before, and its cabin was a makeshift construction.

After a moment of thought, Ren Yuanyang decided to install the outboard motor on his own small boat.

He was a man of action. He immediately picked up the tools and began dismantling the outboard motor from the stern.

This type of outboard motor was a simple piece of equipment to begin with; as long as you could get to the mounting bracket, taking it off wasn’t complicated.

With the tools from the cabin, Ren Yuanyang removed it with ease and hoisted it out of the water.

”This isn’t as heavy as I thought!” Ren Yuanyang muttered. Then, he froze for a second. ’Could the Evolutionary Crocodile meat have improved my physique?’

He was only now realizing that climbing onto the container roof had been much easier lately. At first, it had been quite a struggle for him!

He carried the motor out, jumped over to his own small boat, found a suitable spot on the stern to mount it, and installed it.

Once it was installed, Ren Yuanyang shouted over to the speedboat, ”Does anyone know how to work this thing?”

Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan both shook their heads.

With a sigh, Ren Yuanyang turned to look at Qin Haonan, who was sitting on a wooden plank in the rain. ”Do you?” he asked.

Qin Haonan’s eyes brightened. He answered honestly, ”No, but I’ve seen it in the movies. I can give it a try!”

Ren Yuanyang’s lip twitched. ’He probably learned his wannabe-gangster act from the movies, too.’

”We’ll test it later.” Ren Yuanyang shook his head. ”When you fell in the water, why did you climb back onto their boat instead of swimming away? Weren’t you afraid they had more people on board?”

”You put me in charge of the trade, so I figured you wanted to take their boat. Naturally, I had to help you achieve that goal!” Qin Haonan replied. ”As for their numbers... the top dog of Tongluo Bay is never afraid of a crowd, and neither am I!”

Ren Yuanyang rolled his eyes. ”We’re not gangsters. Don’t act like such a thug.”

Qin Haonan just grinned.

”Are you interested in working with me?” Ren Yuanyang asked.

Hearing this, Qin Haonan, who had been sitting on the wooden plank, immediately shot to his feet.

”I am!”

The plank wobbled, and he staggered, hastily steadying himself. His gaze was fixed on Ren Yuanyang, burning with intensity.

”If you want to join me, you’ll need to follow my orders without question. Any problem with that?” Ren Yuanyang added with a faint smile.

”No problem! Whatever you say, Boss!” Qin Haonan immediately promised, thumping his chest.

Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. ”Then we’ll see how you perform.”

’Hearing that, Qin Haonan knew he had one foot in the door. As long as he performed well, he’d definitely become a full member of the team!’

”Do either of you want to come over and try?” Ren Yuanyang asked toward the speedboat again.

Xin Wan immediately waved her hands. ”I’d better not,” she replied. ”I’m a terrible driver, let alone trying to handle an outboard motor!”

”I’ll give it a try!” Lu Jiamei responded.

Besides her interest in the outboard motor, Lu Jiamei also came over to ensure Ren Yuanyang’s safety.

She had overheard the conversation between Ren Yuanyang and Qin Haonan. ’Qin Haonan is new, after all,’ she thought. ’It’s best to be cautious.’

Lu Jiamei came to Ren Yuanyang’s side, keeping her pistol on her.

Seeing Lu Jiamei arrive, Ren Yuanyang then said to Qin Haonan, ”You can come over now.”

”Okay, Boss!” Qin Haonan subconsciously clamped his watermelon knife between his teeth, about to jump in and swim over. But then he seemed to realize something, dropped the knife, and dove straight into the water.

In one powerful movement, he reached the side of Ren Yuanyang’s boat. Clinging to the edge, he asked, ”Boss, can I come aboard?”

”Come on up,” Ren Yuanyang said with a wave.

Qin Haonan nodded and easily pulled himself aboard.

”No wonder those two didn’t notice you boarding the boat. You’re pretty nimble,” Lu Jiamei remarked.

Qin Haonan grinned. ”I used to sneak out to go swimming all the time as a kid. It’s from practice!”

”Haonan, you try first,” Ren Yuanyang said, pointing to the motor and gesturing for Qin Haonan to take the controls.

Qin Haonan nodded, stepped forward, and studied it for a moment. He shifted the gear to neutral, grabbed a pull cord, and gave it a sharp tug. The outboard motor immediately roared to life.

’This kid’s full of surprises.’