Time flies.
It has been six days since Chen Ming caught the little hamster.
Hunting remains a daily, unyielding task for Chen Ming, although lately, failures have been far more frequent than successes.
But each success means a substantial increase in meat stocked in the spaceship's cold storage.
And very fortunately, Chen Ming's two successful hunts did not encounter any infected animals.
The space in the cold storage has already been taken up by about half with meat.
And in these few days, the three crops Chen Ming planted have already blossomed and borne fruit under the efficient cultivation in the hydroponic chamber, providing Chen Ming with a batch of vegetarian harvest.
So, although the remaining half of the cold storage isn't full, it's also holding many results of the three crops cultivated in the hydroponic chamber.
And the amount of crop harvest also confirmed one thing for Chen Ming.
The yield of one growth cycle in the hydroponic chamber can completely ensure the food needed for survival in the next production cycle.
In other words, Chen Ming could even pilot the spaceship and set off now.
As long as each batch of crops in the hydroponic chamber matures healthily, he can live to reach that Pirate Space Station.
However, Chen Ming will not choose to take risks.
Of the crops he planted, especially the berry-orange fruit, its yield from one growth cycle can even meet the needs for two growth cycles, and it's the one with the shortest growth cycle among the three crops Chen Ming found.
The second batch of berry-orange fruits Chen Ming planted in the hydroponic chamber after the last harvest has even bloomed.
Even the vine of the first batch of berry-orange fruits planted outside, without the optimal environment provided by the hydroponic chamber, already has some small fruits that are about to ripen, growing with extremely remarkable efficiency.
With just a little more time, waiting for the outside crops to mature, the second batch of crops in the hydroponic chamber to be harvested, or hunting to succeed once or twice more.
Ensuring that the existing food stock can support the entire journey before setting off is clearly a more prudent approach.
Moreover, although berry-orange fruits are good, they also have some drawbacks.
The consumption rate of nutrient liquid is very fast.
For this, Chen Ming must take time every day to dig some fertile soil by the riverside and bring it back to extract nutrient liquid.
Half of the planting chamber's space is filled up with piled iron cans of nutrient liquid.
But if Chen Ming wishes to ensure the crop's growth efficiency for more than half a year in space, these nutrient liquids alone are not enough, he needs to prepare more.
Therefore, the departure cannot be rushed, and more waiting is needed.
These days, apart from constantly monitoring food, Chen Ming is also observing the little hamster that willingly came to him.
Through the temptation of tender shoots, after a few days of training, Chen Ming can even keep the little hamster on his shoulder all the time.
Chen Ming even gave it a name, Little Stone.
After all, it has the nickname of stone hamster, and upon first meeting, it drilled a hole in Chen Ming's minerals.
After roughly taming Little Stone, Chen Ming even took it out twice during hunting.
During each hunt, Little Stone actively remains quiet, not disturbing him at all.
When he gets tired of waiting for prey to appear, reading a book, he can slightly play with it.
And today, the fourteenth day since the spaceship landed, was no different.
After finishing the routine farming work, Chen Ming took Little Stone for his usual hunting venture.
He searched along the river for signs of animal herds drinking water marked on his map.
With Chen Ming's hunting frequency increasing recently, he can clearly sense the decreasing number of animals leaving traces by the riverbank.
He must walk a bit farther to discover fresh trails.
Just like his current target, he must walk about an hour and a half northeast along the river to reach it.
Chen Ming had no complaints about this; to gain results, effort must be invested.
Some physical exhaustion is practically nothing to Chen Ming.
With Chen Ming deliberately quickening his pace, he reached the predetermined marked location in an hour.
As before, he found a tree nearby, climbed up, and started waiting.
But this time, with Little Stone by his side, he wouldn't be accompanied solely by books as he waited.
However, it seemed like Chen Ming's previous luck had run out.
Chen Ming waited until the afternoon, having eaten the berry-orange fruit he brought as lunch, without seeing any sign of animals.
And just then, the weather suddenly turned cloudy, looking as if it might rain at any moment.
The gloomy sky brought a sense of oppression to Chen Ming's heart.
This should be the first rain since he arrived on this planet.
Moreover, he is now about six kilometers away from the spaceship; walking in clear weather is fine, but when it rains, it's best not to take risks and head back as soon as possible.
Chen Ming stretched his somewhat stiff limbs, patted Little Stone, who was sleeping in the crook of his arm by the opened terminal, preparing to leave.
But just as Chen Ming was about to climb down the tree, something faintly appeared in the woods across the river.
Chen Ming immediately perked up, grabbed Little Stone, who nearly rolled to the base of the tree, and placed him on his shoulder, directing the terminal's camera function towards that spot.
Then, Chen Ming saw an image of a very large animal, with a pair of horns like an ox, appearing somewhat plump and bulky.
After taking a picture, the terminal immediately retrieved information about this species.
"Bull Beast, a social omnivorous animal, docile outside of the breeding period, while females with young during the breeding period are combative and easily angered..."
Seeing the word social, some thoughts inevitably crossed Chen Ming's mind.
These bull beasts, with a size close to a hippopotamus, could sustain Chen Ming for a considerable amount of time if he hunted even one of them.
Not to mention they are social animals; he wouldn't need many, just two, and Chen Ming could leave those crops which were growing in the fields, and depart.
Driven by this thought, Chen Ming opted not to return immediately but stayed in the tree to see if there might be an opportunity.
The bull beast herd soon got close to the riverbank, one after another jumping into the water.
Their hefty forehooves pawed at the not-so-deep river bottom, digging out those bizarre crustaceans Chen Ming had seen before, smashing them and starting to enjoy the meat inside.
During this process, several bull beasts already had their flanks positioned perfectly for Chen Ming.
Although their muscle and fat layers were very thick, they surely couldn't withstand the power of Chen Ming's modified handgun.
But just when Chen Ming was aiming, he suddenly heard a "squeak."
This was the first sound Little Stone made since Chen Ming caught it until now.
Right after making this sound, its tiny claws gripped Chen Ming's protective suit on his shoulder, shaking vigorously, trying to get Chen Ming's attention.