Long-winged Gull Crashes In

Taking advantage of Magikarp's unconsciousness, Yu Hai set about preparing it.

Really, for all that this dumb thing was practically a salted fish, Magikarp was quite pretty just based on its appearance. Just looking at it could whet one's appetite.

Magikarp was a large red fish, likely modeled after the red carp from his previous life. It had long catfish-like whiskers by its mouth and a golden crown-shaped dorsal fin on its head. Male Magikarp had yellow whiskers, while female Magikarp had white ones.

After reaching out to stroke Magikarp's hard scales and admiring it for a moment, Yu Hai began scraping off its scales.

Since Magikarp's scales were rather tough, he chose to cut open its belly first. Then, he felt a handful of grainy objects.

When he held the yellow, grainy things he had pulled out under the firelight for a closer look, he finally realized what he had found.

Fish roe—the eggs Magikarp had yet to lay.

He wasn't surprised in the slightest that he had found them.

The reason Magikarp could spread across every corner of the world was because of another trait it possessed, aside from its tenacious vitality.

It could breed. It could breed especially well. That was Magikarp's survival strategy; relying on its astonishing reproductive ability, Magikarp had spread throughout the entire world.

Magikarp's reproductive capacity was terrifying. According to the fish-selling uncle who had scammed Jiro, every female Magikarp laid as many as a thousand eggs each year.

However, Yu Hai felt that the fish-selling uncle had been conservative. Factors like hatch rates and Survival Rates had to be considered, so Magikarp probably laid even more eggs than that.

So the fish-selling uncle hadn't exactly been lying. Magikarp really could turn chickens into eggs and eggs into chickens.

But... damn it, Magikarp simply wasn't worth any money. No matter how well it could reproduce, it was meaningless. Magikarp was the most common thing in the water.

Only Magikarp that could evolve into Gyarados were truly valuable Magikarp.

But it was like Schrödinger's cat. Until the box was opened, no one would ever know whether the cat was dead or alive.

Magikarp was the same. Before a Magikarp evolved into Gyarados, no one knew whether it could evolve into Gyarados or not.

If a Magikarp painstakingly raised at great cost failed to evolve into Gyarados, wouldn't all that investment go down the drain?

No Trainer would do something so thankless and laborious. It was far more convenient and efficient to simply catch a fully evolved Gyarados.

Unless that Trainer had money to burn and could raise any Pokémon they wanted. After all, they didn't lack money.

While lost in thought, Yu Hai finished preparing Magikarp.

To avoid repeating the same mistake and having Kingler steal the fish innards again, he didn't leave any more fish organs behind as bait.

He planned to use the roe, some edible fish organs, fish oil, and other ingredients to stew a pot of seafood soup in the frying pan.

Fortunately, he was making seafood soup, which already had a salty taste. Otherwise, going without salt for too long would definitely leave him weak all over.

He roasted the remaining Magikarp skeleton until it was dry and crispy, planning to use it to supplement Poliwag's calcium intake so it could adapt to life on land sooner. Otherwise, its soft little legs would stay weak and wobbly even when it walked.

Well then! Xiao Xia really hadn't been wrong. Magikarp truly didn't have much meat. Aside from its organs, there were only bones left, along with a little muscle still attached to them.

It would have been nice if it were Farfetch'd. Pokémon that came with their own side dishes were rare.

As he thought about it, drool trickled from the corner of Yu Hai's mouth without him noticing.

Tonight's dinner was pretty good: one grilled fish and a pot of kelp, shellfish, and fish roe soup.

Since Magikarp really didn't have much that was edible, he used the shells and kelp he had picked up, along with the fish roe, to make a pot of seafood soup.

Watching the kelp, shellfish, and fish roe continuously tumble in the frying pan while the aroma drifted into his nose, he couldn't help sucking in the drool at the corner of his mouth before secretly swallowing it.

It was just a hodgepodge stew with no technique to it whatsoever. He was only trying to solve the problem of getting full, not the problem of eating well.

The difference between those two was huge. If someone was used to delicacies from land and sea, they definitely wouldn't have much appetite for this pot of stew.

But he was different. Hunger made everything taste better. After tangling with that dumb thing all day and going without food for the entire day, he was starving.

The frying pan was full of fish organs, which should cook rather quickly. Before the fish bones were even done roasting, the various ingredients in the pan were already churning away, nearly fully cooked.

Today, he wouldn't take it down to let it cool. He planned to eat it like hot pot, using broad leaves as bowls. A leaf had been placed in front of both him and the little tadpole.

"Yoyo? Yoyo?" Poliwag kept sniffing the fragrance coming from the pan. It was hungry again, and it was craving the food too.

Meat was far more filling. Eating grass wasn't filling at all. Its mouth hadn't stopped all day, constantly chewing kelp. It ate quickly, but it got hungry quickly too.

"Don't rush, it'll be ready soon," Yu Hai said. Seeing Poliwag's huge black eyes staring fixedly at the frying pan, as though its eyes were about to stretch into the pan, he hurriedly used bamboo chopsticks to pick several pieces of fish organs for it.

"Yoho, yoho," Poliwag immediately opened its mouth to catch the fish organs the moment it saw them. It took one bite, only to spit them out after being scalded by the freshly cooked organs. It kept blowing out huge breaths, apparently having burned its lips.

"Don't rush. You got burned, didn't you?" Yu Hai was both helpless and amused. He quickly filled an iron cup with freshwater for Poliwag.

The cool water was immediately brought to Poliwag's mouth. Poliwag didn't refuse, gulping down the entire cup in a few swallows.

But the cool water did nothing to ease Poliwag's scalded pink lips. It was still gasping heavily, its lips still hurting terribly. The pain made Poliwag roll around nonstop.

"Poliwag, did you forget Soothing Mist?"

"Yo?" Hearing Yu Hai's reminder, Poliwag stopped rolling. Its bright black eyes froze for a moment before it suddenly understood. That's right, I have Soothing Mist. How did I forget that?

"Yoyo, yoyo," once Poliwag realized it, it saw the barely visible smile at the corner of Yu Hai's mouth and knew it had thoroughly embarrassed itself. How humiliating for a tadpole!

It actually needed someone else to remind it of its own move. That was so embarrassing.

Poliwag wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the sand and bury its head in it, so it wouldn't have to feel embarrassed anymore.

But before Poliwag could use Soothing Mist to treat its burn, another burst of laughter enraged it so much it nearly burst apart.

"Woo-oh, woo-oh, woo-oh..."

"That annoying Long-winged Gull is here," Yu Hai said as he heard the cry. He helplessly raised a hand to his forehead, feeling that things were about to go badly.

Poliwag, which had just been rolling around in pain, no longer felt any pain after hearing Long-winged Gull's laughter. Instead, it was furious. Turning toward the Long-winged Gull standing on a reef not far away, it opened its mouth and fired Water Gun.

Unfortunately, Poliwag had only learned Water Gun recently. Its range wasn't even enough, much less its accuracy...

Thanks to Starry Sky Fox for the one hundred Book Coins, and to Gui Youbai for the monthly ticket. Thanks...